{"id":7353,"date":"2015-09-03T09:02:19","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T13:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/?p=7353"},"modified":"2015-09-02T22:13:24","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T02:13:24","slug":"preparing-for-our-weekend-cottage-getaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/preparing-for-our-weekend-cottage-getaways\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for our Weekend Cottage Getaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer happens to be my favourite season. It also happens to coincide with cottage season. These are two of my favourite things! \u00a0To say we live out of our suitcase during the summer months would be an understatement. Actually, it’s our reality since we head up north to the cottage every weekend (if we can). \u00a0Sometimes it’s a pain, but it’s a small price to pay for beautiful sunsets, hours spent swimming in the lake, and spending lots of time outdoors in nature.<\/p>\n

Over the past 10 plus years, I’ve developed a system to help me deal with this minor back and forth travel nuisance. I had to re-tweak and reassess my technique again five years ago when we had our oldest son, Kyle. Here are a few of my tips for helping stay somewhat sane and maintaining some order as you move back and forth between your cottage and home.<\/p>\n

\"20150830_185819\"<\/p>\n

Packing<\/h3>\n

I used to love packing. Packing is a sign of an adventure, of travel, of good-times. Now packing is a chore since I have to pack for myself and my three kids (luckily my husband manages quite well on his own). \u00a0When at all possible, I recommend that you complete packing for the weekend the night before you have to leave. There’s nothing more stressful than running around your house the morning when you’re about to leave for the cottage, trying to think or locate everything you need. It’s a measly two days, but when you have kids, everything is a necessity, and there is no such thing as over-packing. \u00a0Being adequately prepared is every mom’s raison d’etre<\/em>. Since we don’t have a washing machine at the cottage, I bring our clothes back\u00a0after each stay, re-wash, and stick them right back in the bag so I don’t have to overthink my packing every week.<\/p>\n

\"backpack

This is the backpack I used when traveling around Europe for 4 months. Now I use it to pack clothes for myself and my three boys for a weekend getaway<\/p><\/div>\n

Duplicate\u00a0Essentials<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While I pack a bag weekly, there are a few essentials that I keep at the cottage. Those include towels, pajamas, clothes for colder days (i.e. long pants and sweatshirts), and swim wear. \u00a0I also have a box of diapers, wipes, sunscreen, and toiletries stored at the cottage. While the costs do add up, I do a separate grocery shop for the cottage and home. Pre-kids, I would bring our food back and forth but it’s more of a hassle now and we manage to eat through most of it during our weekend stays anyway.<\/p>\n

Preparing the House<\/h3>\n

Since we’re away every weekend, we worry about the state of our house. We don’t want to\u00a0leave it a mess for our return and we don’t want to make it appealing for intruders. \u00a0I shared some of my tips for properly preparing your home when leaving for a few days on Allstate’s GOOD HANDS\u00ae blog HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kids\u2019 Entertainment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We want to make sure our kids are properly entertained on the ride so they don’t distract us while we’re driving the 200+km route. Typically, we like to leave after dinner when it’s the kids\u2019 bed time. We’re lucky in the sense that our kids sleep well in the car and transfer well from their car seats to their beds. However, we know that’s not always a possibility for everyone. \u00a0The other obvious choice would be to drive up during nap time (if they will nap in the car). \u00a0If neither of those options are a possibility, make sure you’re adequately prepared to keep your kids busy in the car so you’re not distracted. I do this by packing snacks (lots and lots of snacks), a portable DVD player, a tablet preloaded with their favourite apps, and a few portable toys (my boys like their cars, hockey & Pokeman cards and some Fisher Price sound\/music toys with lots of buttons to press). \u00a0We also have some of my kids\u2019 favourite music CDs that we put on for entertainment or to help them fall asleep.<\/p>\n

\"entertaining<\/p>\n

Cottage Set-up<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Since our cottage is our home away from home (on a much smaller scale), we have it set-up with some of our must-have items. This includes a toy chest full of toys for the kids, drawers with art supplies, board games, DVDs, a shelf stacked with books, and of course Internet access. Fortunately, we’re also a five minute drive from town so we can easily grab or stock up on anything we’re missing.<\/p>\n

\"playing<\/p>\n

If you’re like my family and do the weekly commute up to the cottage in the summer, what additional tips would you add? \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Disclosure: This post was written as part of the Allstate Canada Influencer Program and sponsored by Allstate Canada.\u00a0 All opinions are my own.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer happens to be my favourite season. It also happens to coincide with cottage season. These are two of my favourite things! \u00a0To say we live out of our suitcase during the summer months would be an understatement. Actually, it’s our reality since we head up north to the cottage every weekend (if we can). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"We've been heading up to the cottage every weekend in the summer for the past 10yrs. 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