Did We Buy A Cottage?

So, remember that post about Lake Restoule? Well the other major thing that happened in those two weeks is that my parents bought a cottage there. NBD.

We've been coming up to the lake for the last four years in a row. Every single year, as my dad takes us on a boat tour, we pass one amazing, incredible, beautiful cottage. We all point and sigh and say "That's it. That's the one." Then we all continue on our way, never once actually thinking we could actually own it.

What is Happening Here?

Sometimes, life has a funny way of lining things up. That place came on the market while we were renting our old cottage with the Styrofoam insulation. Mom and Dad have always talked about a cottage. Like for 30 years they've talked about it. They aren't exactly risk takers. It took 15 years for Mom to convince Dad to buy a boat. Now he loves it more than all of his children put together (so do the children, actually). So to be fair, taking 30 years to decide to buy a piece of property is right on schedule for them.

The guy who manages the cottage we were renting also happened to be a real estate agent, and listed this cottage. George is amazing and we love him. We still had to convince (and I mean convince) MomMom and PopPop to even go see it. They've looked at other properties over the years at Restoule, but none of them were nearly as nice as this one. We took the boat over, and pulled up to the immaculate docking area, staring up the hill at the amazing A-frame design, custom windows, and just all-together beautiful design.

"It's too much," PopPop says immediately. And then proceeds to say nothing else for the rest of the tour. This is not surprising. As I may have mentioned, 15 years to buy a boat. He also has to be convinced to spend money on a $10 ball of cheese. Or a vacation, or whatever. He's a farmer. They're all like this.

SO. MANY. BOATS.

We make our way up the steps to the deck in front of the main floor (there are many, many decks here. 2000 sq feet of decks, actually) and head inside.

"I will literally die if you don't buy this place," I say immediately. It's honestly perfect. Three bedrooms, a huge living space in the basement, a big stone fireplace that goes to the ceiling, and oh yeah, the property is actually some kind of compound. So there's another detached garage with an apartment above it, plus another shed to keep all your boats and trailers and stuff. Honestly, the owners before us had so many boats. They just kept popping up out of now where. Open a door: it's a boat! Round a corner: It's a bigger boat! Down at the dock: It's a pontoon boat! On and on. And no, they didn't come with the cottage, although I checked. Multiple times.

As we tour around the property, MomMom seems...interested. Much more interested than I would have expected. Could it be? I think to myself. Is it possible? Are they...? No. No way. But it was enough for me to enact the full court press of the benefits of buying a cottage, and feel no shame about it whatsoever. Plus, Karly and Zee were arriving the next day. They are... persistent if not persuasive. And have even less shame than I do, if possible.

It went over the next few days. We went back to see the cottage again, with Karly and Zee. Everyone was enamored, obviously. Krista and Sus, the responsible and empathetic couple, were quietly supportive and excited. Being the gentle souls they are, they didn't want to pressure MomMom or PopPop one way or they other. KayZee and I didn't have such scruples, obviously.

Fine. We'll Talk About It.

There were many, many discussions. Level-headed ones, I might add. What if we lost money on it? What if we never use it? What if people look at us and think we're *gasp* snobby?! (It's hard to articulate how much anxiety this generates for a family from a farming community. Let's just say it's somewhere between it raining non-stop for the months of May, June, and July and your favourite neighbourhood dive bar you've been going to since you were fifteen shutting it's doors. Not good.) Very, very long story short, they decided to put in an offer. We actually couldn't believe it. I'm not sure they could either. No one slept for like three days straight. On the night they put the offer in though, the sellers countered. George, our real estate agent came back to discuss, but at that point Mom and Dad were already drunk because they put an offer in so, they couldn't accept until the next day. The rest of us also got a wee bit tipsy and went drunk stargazing/swimming in the lake. All in all, great night.

The next morning, MomMom and PopPop didn't seem to be in any hurry to respond to the counter offer. They had until 3pm that day, after all, leaving all of us kids in the lurch.

"What are they doing?" we would whisper fervently to each other. "Do you know anything? Are they still doing this? Surely they wouldn't back out now". (Sidenote: they absolutely would have if they had come up with a good reason). Later that afternoon, our real estate agent and his wife, who is also a real estate agent came over with the papers. Most of us headed down to the dock, because we are mature adults who know that *privacy* is important. (Other sidenote, we had Sus positioned in the kitchen getting dinner ready so he could eavesdrop. He turned out to be very bad at this because he's deaf in the ear that was turned toward the conversation. Live and learn).

They talked for a very, very long time. The still hadn't confimed whether they were going to accept the offer. We waited at the dock with baited breath. Finally the meeting was over.

Mom got up from the table and looked down at us from the deck. This was it. Did they do it? We could barely contain the excitement.

"Do you guys want to go water-skiing?" she called down to us.

What.

Was she kidding? What did she mean do we want to do water-skiing? Of course we do, but that's besides the point. DID YOU BUY THE COTTAGE OR NOT?

"Oh, yeah, we accepted the counter-offer," she said in the most boring voice I've ever heard in my life.

Well ok then.