Five years ago a friend told me about this Cottage she rented out. I begged her to ask the owner if he would consider renting it to Nick and I, our 2-year-old twins and our 6 month old. I had always wanted to have a vacation spot to take the kids every summer and camping just wasn’t our thing. The owner agreed and we booked it for a week in June. It was perfect. The kids had a blast, we had a blast and the cottage was perfect for our little family. We went on daily walks, beach trips and of course the park multiple times a day!

Our second year we invited my best friend Ash, which ended up being perfect because Nick had to go to school and couldn’t make it up until the end of the week. Ash and I laid out while the kids rode circles around us on their bikes on the gated front deck.

Third year Nick, Ash and I and three kids made the trek and again had a busy awesome relaxing week!

Year four goes a little differently. Our cottage crew jumped from 6 to 8 people. two month old Nixon was a big fan and Ash’s boyfriend Justin came too! With all those people and all those kids we had the best trip yet! Lazing around watching movies, walk, park and of course digging tunnels at the beach!

Every year we go back to this cottage. The owner has become a friend and the scenery is just as perfect as the first year! We’ve even had a few girls trips up there too, which I don’t have to tell you how those went…but they were as awesome as you’d imagine!

As we head up there for our fifth consecutive year I am hopeful that this will be even better than previous years! We are building memories for our kids and for us too! The boys cannot wait to go back every year and promptly ask as we leave at the end of the week, when are we coming back?! Rain or shine this week away is always one for the books! With our kids and our best friends to enjoy it with us!