Since moving away from Montreal, the thing I’ve missed most – more than anything else- is being able to spend time with my family. The nice thing, though, (I guess) about living farther away, is that it becomes such a treat when you finally can all get together. The last time my parents and sister came to Toronto to visit, we all drove out to a cottage my Mom rented in the Muskoka region, and the whole weekend was perfect.

This post is a little out of context, seasonally speaking, but with the weather being all cold and gray and dreary lately, I was already missing Summer, and then I found these old photos in my nightstand drawer, and got even more nostalgic for bare feet and breakfasts of honey dew. And so, this post was born.

The cottage my Mom picked out was rustic-in-the-best-way, and had canoes and a dock for jumping off. The whole thing was surrounded by woods and the inside of the cabin had walls of books, a wood burning stove, bunk beds with old family heirloom-y quilts and it smelled like cedar wood and campfires.

We spent the weekend doing tons of reading, and watching scratched up Liam Neeson VHS movies and swimming and eating (we made s’mores in the oven when it was raining out one night – it was my Dad’s first time eating one!). My sister, Allie and I went for a canoe ride out to a little island and jumped in the water, but we both got a little spooked by how dark the water was and we hopped right back in our canoe and paddled back home.

It was a perfect weekend and ended all too quickly. I was really sad watching them all drive away, but now Christmas is coming up and I can’t wait to spend a few more days making crafts and singing old camp songs with my sister, and baking cookies with my Mom, and gossiping about neighbors with my Dad.

– Posted by Meaghan