Rain + Cold = Luxury??

 Saturday, October 24, 2020

Well, today we were in for something completely different.  We went from summer to fall basically overnight.  We awoke to rain and a bit of a chill in the air.  The temperatures fell all day long from a morning high of 59 all the way into the mid-40's later in the day and overnight.

Daniel and Emily did manage to get in a short bike ride in the morning.  But, after that we were in for the duration of the day basically just enjoying the nice, luxury cottage and watching movies.  No complaints here.  It was super nice to slow down and just relax.

   

Fun on the Water - Kayak Style

 Friday, October 23, 2020

We were not done with our fun on the water just because we had to turn in the pontoon.  Nope, not yet.  Since the weather was so amazing, we headed down to rent kayaks and keep the fun going.

Three singles later, we were back on the water and paddling off for more adventure.  This trip was really nice because, while it was still definitely warm, it wasn't as hot as when we did this in August.

   

We decided to paddle through my favorite little tunnel and then down to the cabin area.  The colors were so beautiful and it made for a wonderful trip.  I worried that maybe boating in pants (no bathing suits) might be a challenge, but we stayed surprisingly dry with only the occasional drips from paddles coming up out of the water.

   

   

   

I was really taken with all the leaves floating on or just below the surface of the water.  They were all really beautiful, but here are a couple of my favorites.  I love how the sun sparkled on the water on some of them and in the first one, the water reflected the sky.

   

   

When we finished on the kayaks, it was time to head back to the cottage and make dinner.  Emily made a visit to our "beach" while dinner was cooking.  I was able to capture these pics during the "golden hour" right before sunset.  I love how everything has a beautiful autumn golden orange hue.  Beautiful way to close out our day.

   

Fun on the Water - Pontoon Style

 Friday, October 23, 2020

Today was our day to fill with all kinds of water related activities.  The weather was gorgeous - sunny with just some patchy clouds and a high of about 80.  Amazing.

We had a relaxing morning in the cottage complete with pancakes and syrup.  Then about 11:30, we place a dock & dine pick up order for lunch and headed to the marina for our pontoon boat rental!

   

 

Once we had a short tutorial on boat operation, we were off!  And it was amazing!  Our first stop was down to the dock & dine pick up spot at the resort to pick up our lunches.  We got burgers and pizza and it was all really good.  Maybe lunch on a boat just tastes better.

   

Then we were off with a plan on heading up to see Stonewall Dam.  On our way we got to ride past the cottages.  

  

It took about 20 minutes to make the trip up to the dam and it was definitely worth it.  The colors were beautiful.  

Along the way, Emily got to enjoy the ride and even took a turn "driving" the boat!  Everyone enjoyed our time on the lake quite a bit.  In fact, Daniel shopped for boats later in the evening!  HA!

   

   

When we returned (sadly) to the marina, the boat guys gave Emily an entire bag of food to feed the fish.  They were HUGE and definitely accustomed to be being fed from the dock.  They followed us everywhere we walked.  We were told these big guys were carp.  This reminded us of our favorite fish feeding spot at Myrtle Beach - the patio at Landry's!  We sure did miss that this year.

   

Fall Luxury at Stonewall Jackson Lake

 Thursday, October 22, 2020

After school today, we headed north to Stonewall Jackson Resort.  We had been looking forward to this weekend since summer because this time we rented one of the luxury cottages!  These cottages are new this year and they have a beautiful lakeside location with fabulous covered decks to enjoy all the beauty of autumn.

Our cottage had 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, a family room with a gas fireplace, a nice kitchen and dining room and did I mention the beautiful outdoor patio?  Yeah, it had one of those too and it was amazing!

   

   

After we settled in a bit, we had dinner on the beautiful patio, went on a walk down by the lake and then got in a round of cornhole.  Who knew we would enjoy this little game so much?  We were really lucky to have such gorgeous weather today.  

   

With the sun setting on our first night in the luxury cottage, it was time for s'mores!  We still had to use the grill for toasting (not quite he Hallmark firepit moment I pictured) but they certainly were yummy!  We did up our s'mores game with new marshmallow toasting forks.  :-)

Fear on the Farm

 Saturday, October 22, 2020

Emily had the chance to go to a haunted farm with her classmates this weekend.  She had really been wanting to go to Fear on the Farm and was thrilled to get the chance to experience it with her friends.  I did not go.  She is enjoying some freedom these days...this means I don't have many pictures.  But, she did have a very good time.

Stacked Shake & Sandwich

 Saturday, October 10, 2020

In this era of Covid, you really have to make your own fun.  Today was a rainy and kind of miserable day so as soon as freestyle was over, we all piled into the car and headed to St. Alban's to try out Stacked Shake and Sandwich shop.  We figured if we got there really early there wouldn't be hardly anyone there and we were right!  There was only one other family there so it worked out great.  We had sandwiches for lunch and then we settled on a s'mores shake and a chocolate peanut butter shake and then we shared.  They were so good!  About the time we were finishing up, several groups arrived so that was our cue to head out.  It was really fun and I am sure we'll be back.