the loft

The lofts are in.  After years of thinking about them, it took all of two weekend trips.  The view and the breeze are just as we had imagined.  What a great addition to our little cabin in the woods!

And here's a hint of my little guy watching a good old fashioned VHS tape in the master bedroom.

The birch handrail was put up a couple of years ago and I'm loving how aged and oiled it's getting.

 As I cleaned out the garage I found this swing that George made for the kids a long time ago. I promptly took it out and hung it up.  The kids played endlessly on it.

 Another great weekend on the island.  There's always so much that we didn't seem get to.  Next visit will have a bike ride to Sand Dunes Beach, a little game of tennis at the Rec Center courts, an ice cream at the Albi, and a visit to the library if we have rainy weather.

 opening up

 2014

 We made our first visit back to the island earlier than usual this year.  We saw ice on the water and some snow still left on land.  It was also very, very wet.  Beautiful nonetheless.

 We went up early to get a head start on building a loft over the double bed in the children's room.  

While George worked on that, I brought in this shelf and tried to spruce it up with some ribbon.  I put everything you'd need to set a table on it. This way the table can get set without having to disrupt the cook in our rather tiny kitchen.  

We'll be back soon to complete the loft and enjoy the island before we have to hand it over to all of our wonderful renters!  :)

may

2013

Our stop back up to the island this year included an overnight stay at a hotel in Fish Creek.  (Just to make it extra special for the kids!)  We went out to dinner at one of our favorite Door stops, Wild Tomato.  Great ambiance, great pizza, and we love that they give the kids their own ball of pizza dough to play with while our pizza cooks.

We arrived to a whole lot of fog on Washington Island.  This didn't seem to hinder our kids' explorations.

We had the most delicious home cooked breakfast over at Findlay's Holiday Inn.  A good basic breakfast and when they make doughnuts, watch out...I buy them out!

We always stop at Red Cup Coffee.  Everyone does.  You have to.  This is the side of the building, the owner is also a painter.  

This was May and their spring was in full force.  Just driving around the island is such a treat.

These are the views you get. 

This is my favorite shopping stop on the island, the thrift store.  I wait for Saturday morning to roll around when they open so I can see what's new inside.  They are also open on a weekend in the summer, I think it's a Tuesday.

The Island Dairy planted thousands of lavender bushes this year.  I'm cheering them on, hoping they all thrive.  What a beautiful sight it will be when they are mature and in bloom!

It's always so good to be back at our little cabin in the woods.  This place will slow you down like you've never been slowed down before. 

Another day we headed over to Fiddler's Green for an early dinner.

This place is funkeeeee.  In a very good and artsy sort of way.  Your eyes will never not having something to look at.

The bar is made out of a boat.

It's a great place for drinks, music, and hanging with locals.  I'd hit somewhere else for dinner but the drinks...fabulous!

Hope you'll enjoy these same places!