Chidester's Cottage



        For the sixth consecutive year, we spent a week at the Chidester cottage near Vermillion, OH.  We are so grateful for Sharon and Bill's generosity.  Many wonderful traditions and memories have grown up around our annual visits.  The children are getting old enough to begin to remember events and recall them as we gather the rest of the year. 

        Our visits there are a blend of traditions and new experiences.  Certainly, visits to the beach are part of every week.  The kids are able to make good use of all that water.  The sand is also a great place to try out your truck loading skills.  Of course, after you have been in the water for a while, it feels good to snuggle up to someone is who is warm and dry.  When it is time to go back in the water, guess who is left wet and cold?  Ah, but that is what grandpa's are for.

      

        One of the traditions involves Belgian waffles for breakfast on one morning, at least.  An evolving tradition is that the children get to help mix the batter.  Alex was not as interested as the girls, but they certainly do get into it - in more ways than one.  One might think that Kris is saying, "is this going to turn out ok?"  In reality, the girls do a great job and we really enjoy the waffles, especially with strawberries and whipped cream on them.  Didn't do much for our diets, but the whole week was a food journey. 

       



We gave Kris and Brett a pasta maker and it went on its maiden voyage at the cottage.  These two pictures show the making of the pasta and then, the best part, getting to eat it.  You could hear the loud sucking sounds of spaghetti being slurped up for miles around. And not just by the kids either.  As we said, the cottage is not a place for diets.

    
        Another tradition that we started last year was the "Happy Birthday to Everybody" celebration.  Since, we are usually unable to celebrate all of the family birthdays together, we celebrate them all at the cottage.  Grandpa and the grandchildren are charged with ordering and getting the cake.  Grandma is charged with the task of keeping little fingers out of the icing until it is time to cut the cake.  The latter is more difficult than the former.  Guess who gets to lick the icing off the candles after we blow them out?

        This year we started what may become another tradition, the visit to the African Safari animal park.  It consists of a drive through section and a park.  They give you a cup of food and you drive along a road where the animals are freely roaming.  As Pavlov noted so long ago, conditioning is a powerful motivating force.  The more aggressive animals stick their noses into the cars to get the food.  They are very successful at getting the whole cup out of your hand.  You can also get Dad to hold you out the window to feed a hungry giraffe.  All in all, it was a great adventure and Mira talks a lot about the hungry animals. 


       
There were animal rides in the park and the kids got to ride on a pony and an old camel.  It was a fun day with lots of great memories.

        However, the Chidester cottage provides us with a chance to be together.  To talk, share memories and make new ones.  It gives the children a chance to keep in touch as they grow.  Hopefully, these bonds will grow stronger providing incentive to keep in touch and share these memories as they become adults.   Here are some of our favorite images.