August 27 12

Before leaving for our family getaway to Clevelands House in Muskoka I made exactly one emergency stop: the book store. I bought four books: The Book of Mormon Girl, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, A Discovery of Witches and my August book club book, The Art of Fielding. I mean, I was going away for four days, after all. Ambitious? Likely. But, you know, I love a challenge.

I read exactly 63 pages.

I know.

Since we don’t really vacation with our children (..and with some of the lovely women that I work with and their families), I had absolutely no sense of what I would or would not be doing. None. As a kid, I vaguely remember staying at the Alpine Resort in Door County. When I say vaguely, the only real things I remember are from two photos that occasionally surface at my mom’s house, in her big giant box of childhood memories. One is of me and my sister in some sort of rustic lodge for some reason, every time I see the image, I remember hearing Debarge’s version of Rhythm of the Night playing really loudly. The second is of my Zaydie, standing in front of a white cottage, wearing his signature trucker hat before Ashton Kutcher tried to make them cool, wearing socks and sandals like a boss, and pointing to the cottage’s name, which, of course, escapes me, but I’m fairly sure its name is of some Midwestern State, Michigan, maybe. Or Minnesota, perhaps. Something with an M.

I imagine that one day my kids will come across a photo of their family in front of Cottage #386 and will remember a lot more than Debarge and socks and sandals.

I hope they remember the walk from our cottage to the pool, we made it rather frequently.

I hope they remember the chipmunks in the dining room.

I hope they remember the campfire and the s’mores.

I hope they remember catching the fish.

I hope they remember the kids camp.

I hope they remember trying their very first butter tarts.

I hope they remember the red, yellow, and green chairs down by the water.

I hope they remember the game room claw.

I hope they remember the mini-golf.

I hope they remember the new friends, the old friends.

I hope they remember the late nights, the early mornings.

I know they’ll remember the hugs, the laughs, the smiles, the quiet, the noise, the inside jokes, the brand-new memories, the awesome.

I hope they remember, because I’m too busy finishing up The Art of Fielding for my book club meeting this week.

And, you know, looking into rates for next summer…

-
  1. Looks like a great time! And Miss Emily told me on FB last night that she had a blast!

    We went to Door County every summer with my dad (his mom lived there). We probably ran into each other! 🙂

    P.S. Art of Fielding is AWESOME. One of my top books of all time.

    Comment by Kristabella on August 27, 2012
  2. I LOVED the book. I thought it was excellent.

    Comment by ali on August 27, 2012
  3. I’ve been to that exact same resort as a teen with my mom. Mostly I remember how old it was! It’s so funny what our memories choose to hold onto and what they let go of. I’m glad you’re getting to take your kids for a fabulous summer vacaation that they will look back on fondly. They will each have different things that stand out for them but that’s good. You can always remind them! 🙂

    Comment by Chrisor on August 27, 2012
  4. I wish we could have been there! Truly, memories from summer vacation are THE best. Your kids will remember it all!

    Comment by Loukia on August 27, 2012
  5. The beautiful photos will help them remember. But how could you withhold butter from them for so long?

    Comment by Kat on August 27, 2012
  6. tarts…butter tarts.

    Comment by Kat on August 27, 2012
  7. Wonderful memories and beautiful photos. We go away every year after Boxing Day (except last year when we were in Canada) to Albany on the south coast of Western Australia. We always stay in the same cottage and it’s a week filled with kids riding their bikes, swimming in the pool and relaxing by the beach. This year will be our 6th visit and I can’t wait. I always love looking at the photos we’ve taken and marvelling at how much the kids have grown! Glad you had a lovely time – Clevelands House looks great. Will have to check it out when we go back for a visit in the summer next time.:)

    Comment by Heidi on August 28, 2012
  8. I worked there for two years and my friends parents owned it until recently. Cleve’s is awesome.

    Comment by Sara on September 4, 2012
  9. […] year, after spending four days at Kellerman’s Clevelands House in Muskoka, my children talked about it for days, weeks, months after. No […]

    Pingback by Clevelands House: A New Room Number—A New Gaggle Of Memories | Cheaper Than Therapy on August 19, 2013
-

Allowed tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>