Best Birthday Weekend

I'm finally back at Mom's house after spending a lovely weekend up at the cottage, which is actually semi-finished! The hot-tub is up and running, which made for a very nice get-away. I spent most of my time up north indulging in a few of my favorite activities: knitting, hiking, swinging in a hammock, and playing with my beautiful toddler niece, M. She's the cutest lil' baby on the face of the earth.

This is a view from the upper deck of my parents' place.

I absolutely love going "Up North" (as us Michiganders call anything north of Bay City). I've been going up to the same area since I was born. My grandparents owned a cottage three miles from this one; every weekend when I was younger, we'd go up and just have fun. I must admit, childhood memories aside, this cottage has much more amenities: hot tub, air-conditioning, hammocks, 4 wheelers, boats, etc.

More pics:

Isn't M just adorable!!

My brother got me up at 8 am for a 5 mile hike through the Huron National Forest, so I did feel like I got some exercise. I love hiking there, but I have bites on top of bites from the bugs.


I infected Mom with the sock bug, so she spent the weekend knitting a pair of lovely socks. Of course, we visited a yarn store. I bought some absolutely lovely Dale of Norway pattern books. I'm so tempted by fair isle sweaters now!




I already miss my hammock. I spent most of my birthday there, swinging in the breeze, and knitting.

Now, back home on the megabus. I'm not looking forward to this week; we're moving a new roommate in and an old roommate out. Urrghhh! Moving!!!