We couldn't do a resort wide treasure hunt this year, but I was told in no uncertain terms that there were Expectations. Matthew suggested I could just give them candy but some of the other kids felt that the treasure hunt was part of the fun.

I didn't have the mental energy to do a proper hunt with clues so instead we did a series of activities like "How many cottages are named after trees?" and "How many hubcaps are there in the hubcap collection?"

I'm not quite sure how building a big sand castle morphed into building a sand castle on Daddy but it was amusing...

They got one word (out of order) for every clue they completed.

I had literally buried the treasure at the shoreline and when they had finished their clues they figured out the sentence: "Dig 2m off of Clover Dock" Sadly my burial job was inferior and it had been uncovered by errant waves during the hunt. Also the little kids didn't get to help find it. So I buried it again and they dug it up for photo purposes and it was all declared a great success.

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It was super misty in the morning and this time we actually managed to get out onto the lake before it dissipated. The older girls found it a bit disconcerting to disappear completely into the mist and not be able to see anything but the water immediately around their canoe.  Luckily for them we found them in the pea soup and brought them some cookies.

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Sometimes, albeit rarely, daddy takes artsy photos that aren't of wildlife or flowers.

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The wildlife was pretty cooperative this year at the cottage. There were about two billion ducks, many, many geese and a whole assortment of smaller birds.  The loon was around although sadly Daddy didn't get any close up shots of it.  The number of ducks was truly astounding.  Daddy's theory was that with less traffic on the lake in the spring the survival rate was way higher this year.  Anyway whatever the reason they were very very plentiful.  A heron made an appearance as well but only from a distance.

The real stars were probably the hummingbirds this year.  There was a feeder set up at Jay and Jane's cottage which aside from a brief incident with raccoons provided a steady stream of hummingbirds to attempt to photograph.  Daddy spent many hours finger on the shutter button waiting for them to hold still for a fraction of a second while also not hiding behind the feeder.  In the end he got a few nice shots and we all learned many interesting things about hummingbirds.  They apparently flap their wings roughly 53 times per second as well as being able to move them in all kinds of different directions independently of each other.  Their tails can be used as an air brake and and their tongues can stick out the end of their beaks by at least a good centimeter.  Their feathers are also really interesting in that depending on the direction the light catches them they appear anywhere from dull grey to sparkling red or green.  Their wings are also so thin that you can see right through them.

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With the whole pandemic thing going on our time at the cottage was a little different this year.  Instead of going for daily outings to the various local attractions we mainly stayed put and spent more time exploring the grounds and making sure the beach and the lake were still there.  We played games (bocce ball), caught frogs (to the squealing delight of the older girls), chased geese and generally spent much quality time outside.  We shopped as little as possible and only adults went for groceries and sticky treats.  We mainly picked up orders placed by phone and really limited shopping excursions.  The one big family outing we did undertake was to get ice cream in Dorset where the poor S.S. Bigwin was high and dry. Daddy says he really didn't mind all the staying put...

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With the gaps between stays at the cottage this year the normal schedule had to be completely reworked and Jay and Jane were most anxious to make sure we were all at the cottage at the same time so they could see the kids.  Fortunately it all worked out and we were able to be a cottage bubble with them.  Everyone had great fun feeding the ducks and various other birds and just generally chatting for hours on end.

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