The Geologists

So it turns out we have a weak internet signal from the "boathouse" which, near as I can figure out, is the red roofed building across the channel there. It is actually only a boathouse, with the main house being hidden behind some trees. It appears to be the only house on that island and their boathouse is bigger than our house...so I'm also guessing they have more money than we do. But thank you for the internet anyway!

The drive worked out. The first part went just as planned--Evan slept and the girls watched a video. The second part went very well too, except the brakes on the car began to fail and make a horrid grinding sound. I was driving and I'm not a very good driver with a trailer on the car, so I was getting nervous. After two hours, when we had to do a detour through a city because of an accident on the highway, I stopped and Chris had to take over again. He down-shifted his way through red lights and back onto the highway. We were a bit late stopping for dinner because of the detour, but the kids were fine. The traffic in Montreal was at a standstill, so we got off and went to a grocery store with a large yard on the side and had some dinner. The kids ran around in the grass and we changed them into pjs. By 9pm, all were asleep (despite the girls' desire to "for once in their lives" stay up until midnight--didn't happen, go figure!) We stopped at a hotel for the night.

Yesterday we got up and drove for a few hours with the brakes getting worse. We stopped for lunch and then went to a grocery in Parry Sound to get food for the week while Chris went and bought brake pads. Not sure when he'll go back into the marina to put those on, but it has to be done before we head home. Anyway, when we stopped for lunch, Evan had his first mishap of the trip, falling from a play structure onto some gravel. He's got a good case of "road rash" on his face...poor guy! We got here about 4pm yesterday and Chris went back for the second trip while the kids played happily out on the deck which overlooks the water. By 6:30 we were all fed and by 7:30 everyone was asleep--even Evan which is practically a miracle in itself.

Today we were honorary geologists and "helped" Chris with his work. Of course by help I usually mean things like asking a million questions while following close behind, stopping him to beg (over and over again) if someone could jump into the water from this rock or maybe this one, pointing out (over and over again) that maybe this rock is the kind he is looking for, or no, maybe this one, or no, this one, "over here, Daddy!!" "NO! Over here!" "No, wait, over HERE!" and, of course, finally, "Daddy, are we done yet??" (This is clearly the most helpful, so the girls did this one a lot!) Me? I kept the toddler from falling into the water. And yes, that is pretty much all I did and no, you cannot comment unless you have actually ever attempted this on islands that are sheer, algae-covered, rock faces down into the frigid water.

Of course, at one point while Chris changed Evan's diaper, because I am VERY helpful, I took the hammer and, in only a few minutes, got nearly twice as many rock samples as he had gotten all day! I even wrote random numbers on them with the sharpie marker (just like he does--though perhaps his numbers aren't random), drew arrows on them (just like he does--I'm not sure why he does this) and packed 'em all in the bucket with his other samples. See? I'm really a good geologist.

Now the kids are with him, walking on the other side of the island and I'm getting the house ready for bed. (Okay, I'm actually writing this blog post, but that is what he thinks I'm doing...well, he knows me pretty well and he probably doesn't think that at all!)

Seriously though, if this (island-hopping in a boat on bright sunny days on a beautiful lake while staying in a cute little cottage) is what my husband has been getting paid to do for the past three summers, I urge you all to get a job as a geologist...it's pretty cushy!