Blue Spruce Resort

Algonquin area - September 2002

For our vacation this summer we decided to do something different. We rented a 3 bedroom cottage with Steve and Julia and had a great time relaxing with them and the kids.  It was lots of fun introducing Tyler to fishing and S'mores and generally hanging out with them. During our vacation we also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  It was really nice to have some time alone for that as well as lots of time with our best friends to mark this occasion.  Here are some photos from our trip.  Many of the photos were taken by Steve and Julia.  Thanks for sharing!

Carlene and Andre on the steps of the cottage.

The Blue Spruce had a number of cottages of various sizes.  We stayed at The Ranch which was the most remote cottage.  This is the view from our deck at the cottage.

Our cottage had this great deck with a table and BBQ.

Here is Steve cooking some great hot dogs.

There was also a beautiful garden nearby that Julia and I enjoyed painting.

Here are a couple shots of the group of us on the steps to the cottage.  Notice that Devon will look anywhere but at the camera.

This time we were more successful at getting Devon's attention.  Too bad Tyler was tired of taking pictures.

So... we tried again :)

Steve and Julia and the boys bought us these beautiful flowers to help celebrate our anniversary.  They also cooked us a fabulous meal.  WOW!  It was great to be spoiled.

Here are some more shots of the flowers.

The anniversary dinner - look at that STEAK!

The next cottage was a honeymooners paradise with King size bed, satellite TV, soaker tub, sauna and a 6 person jacuzzi on the deck.  We rented that cottage for one night and had Steve and Julia over for drinks and a soak in the hot tub.  It was great watching the stars and satellites while enjoying ourselves.  Thank goodness for baby monitors which made the whole thing possible.  (The boys were asleep next door and didn't wake which was AWESOME!)  Unfortunately none of us were smart enough to take any photos during this interlude.  DOH!

The resort had a great beach with lots of toys.  One of the boys favourites was the slide.

In the lake there was a water trampoline that the guys really enjoyed.  First, Tyler got to get ferried out in an inner tube.

Steve was the best 'bouncer'

One day Carlene caught a baby snapping turtle at the beach.  We kept it long enough for everyone to see it and then let it go.

Treats from Henrietta's bakery down the road were well recieved.

During the vacation there was lots of playing with the kids and hanging around.

Tyler built a new train design every day.

Tyler got a Mr. Potato head toy that we all enjoyed playing with.

Tyler was also forced to share with Devon who was keenly interested in eating, I mean playing with, all of his toys.

Andre went fishing a few times with Tyler and even caught a couple of small fish.  They were quickly returned to the water after a short photo shoot.

One day we went for a drive and took a short hike.  Tyler was asleep so much of our time was spent quite close to the car.  However, the views were beautiful.

After a bit, Andre and I hiked a bit further and Steve, Julia and the kids went for their afternoon nap drive.  Here are some of the views we saw.

We eventually hiked around and sat on this nice piece of Canadian Shield.  We also really enjoyed seeing the leaves changing.

 

Near the end of the trip Andre and I went canoeing.  Notice how the trees were slowly showing their fall glory.  (Thanks Julia for taking our picture.)

Andre spied this Great Blue Heron and we canoed near it and scared it away :(  However, it was fun getting close to it.

We also had a lot of fun teaching Tyler how to roast marshmallows and make S'mores.

Blowing to cool down the marshmallow.

The first bite - MMM!!!!!

I think Tyler liked it.  Now we have one sugar hyper kid.  What have we done!

After the kids were in bed the adults followed the S'mores with Dom Perignon and apple pie from Henriettas.  YUM!  (I'm sure the true connoisseurs out there would be outraged.)

So... we had a great time with Steve, Julia, Tyler and Devon.  Thanks for sharing your vacation with us.  It was a blast.  Definitely the perfect way to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

Compiled October 15, 2002