Jim Dalrymple.com

Yesterday was my father’s birthday and Monique’s mother’s birthday, too. Kind of strange isn’t it, having our parents with the same birthday. It certainly has presented some challenges for us over the years, planning and executing the day, but this year was pretty relaxed.

We didn’t leave the cottage for either birthday this year, which made the decision on what to do really easy. We sat out by the lake and enjoyed a relaxing day of doing nothing.

My parents drove up for the day, so we had a little celebration dinner at a restaurant down the road. Actually, it’s more like a truck stop, so the portions are really big. We were all stuffed by the time we left.

We gave Dad his presents and then we all went out on the wharf and sort of played Trivial Pursuit. Dad and I teamed up against the girls, Michael asked the questions and Nicole kept score. Dad and I won.

Sometimes no matter what you do, it’s just wrong. That’s what happened to Monique and I on Sunday when friends of ours and their kids came up to the cottage for the day.

Nicole and Michael were lobbying for their friends to stay overnight at the cottage even before we left for vacation. We said that we would think about it and let them know the day they came up.

Dave and Brenda showed up and we sat around talking and had a few drinks. Later in the day we had a few burgers on the grill. The whole time Nicole and Lindsey were hinting about the sleepover.

It didn’t matter to us if the kids stayed or not, but Dave and Brenda couldn’t come back on Monday and pick them up. They decided to just take the kids home and we could arrange for a sleepover some other time at home.

Michael and his friend Andrew were disappointed, but accepted the news. Nicole and Lindsey on the other hand started crying and wailing like two year olds.

It was so bad, it was actually funny at first, but then it got old really quick. They wouldn’t stop and it was one of those stupid crying fits that you knew was planned if the news didn’t go their way.

Monique and I have never allowed ourselves to fall victim to such antics, so Nicole should have known a temper tantrum was not the way to win us over. Instead, acting like that only strengthens our resolve.

To make matters worse for Nicole, she will be punished for her actions. I’m not sure what yet, but I believe that she has to learn that there are consequences for her actions, good or bad.

Well, that news didn’t go over well with her, but I’m her parent, which means I’m not always her friend. That also means that I do what I think is right. If she thinks she can get her way by pulling stunts like this now, she may pull stupid stuff like this again.

Not on my watch!

If there were a theme for today it would have to be lazy. Besides taking the dog for a walk we didn’t venture to far away from the cottage all day. Most of the day we sat on the wharf and just talked.

We did manage to pile everyone in the car and go to the farmers market after supper to get an ice cream, but that was the extent of our driving today.

Michael and I went in the paddleboat and went across the lake—that was damn tough on an old guy like me. Michael was just paddling along with no problem at all. Meanwhile I had to stop several times.

When Michael saw Nicole and Monique going for a swim, he wanted to go back, which was just fine with me. We cut across the lake and put in for day. I was never so happy to see land.

Of course, there was lots of time set aside for throwing sticks in the water for the crazy dog. She just won’t stop! We have to physically make her lay down before she will take a rest. A couple of times we were concerned she was getting too tired.

All in all another good day for everyone.

The first couple of days of vacation were pretty busy, but today we all laid around and relaxed. Michael went out in the paddleboat by himself and later with Monique, but nobody seems to be enjoying things as much as Twiggy.

Michael really enjoys the paddleboat that is at the cottage. He travels up and down the shore picking up rocks and other treasures he finds along the way. We stay out there and watch him, but he’s a good swimmer, so we don’t worry too much—he’s not far from shore anyway.

Monique and Michael went around the entire lake in the paddleboat today—believe me, that’s quite a distance. Monique was tired and sore when she got back, but I’m sure Michael could have gone again. Oh to have the energy of a kid again.

Twiggy is just insane about the water. She just runs of the end of the wharf and jumps into the water whether you throw the stick or not. She seems to be enjoying the water more than the kids at this point. You can certainly tell at night because she is beat.

We haven’t done a lot so far, but that’s okay, it is vacation. The kids are reading a lot of books and I’m playing guitar and putting together some tracks, so all is well.

Thursday was supposed to be our first full day at the cottage, but it didn’t work out that way.

Michael was finishing level 10 in swimming, so we had to go back this morning for one last class to see if he passed—luckily the trip was worthwhile and he did pass.

Monique took Michael to class and Nicole and I stopped off at the house—she talked her friends on MSN and I got a little bit of work done and answered some emails. We didn’t stay too long. We were back on the road again in a couple of hours and back at the cottage by mid-afternoon. We picked a good day to get away because it absolutely poured rain all day.

Even driving was bad there was so much water on the roads. It started to pass by late afternoon, so we got some walking done at the end of the day.

I should have known it was going to happen. My first day of vacation was the busiest day of work I had all week—figures. At the last minute I did up a feature story on building a Widget to go along with the release of the Macworld Dashboard Widget.

By the time you read this, my vacation will be over; I’ll be back home again; and the Macworld Widget will already be available for download. That’s because I have no Internet access at the cottage we rented this week. I’m always fearful of not having Internet access, but I’m kind of looking forward to having the time off.

We managed to make it up here about mid-afternoon and get everything out of the truck. Then we had to go into town and pick up some groceries for the week, which included a good helping of Heineken for me.

Michael went in swimming for a bit with Twiggy while the rest of us just kind of laid around and rested. Twiggy has no fear at all of the water—she just dives in.

By 7:00 pm I was beat. I was yawning and looking for a quiet spot to lie down, but I didn’t want to go to bed too early. I don’t sleep that well most times—I’m often up until 3:00 am or later and get up several hours later—so I was happy to see I was so tired.

After the kids went to bed, Monique and I watched a couple episodes of Alias on DVD. We just started watching the show a few weeks ago and are on season 2 now.

Sadly, after being so tired for so long, I couldn’t get to sleep. I laid there for hours trying and finally dozed off. We have to go back into town tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be rested enough.