My friends decided to rent a cottage for the long weekend in May this year. The last time we did something like this was for Kris & Jen's engagement eight years ago.

Angela already had plans to go to Montreal that weekend, so she couldn't make it this time... but I had both kids to keep me company. Ken chose a cottage that was relatively close so that the kids didn't have to have a long car ride, which was nice. That's one of the biggest advantages of renting a cottage instead of owning one - your cottage can be in a different place every time.

Unfortunately, Kai came down with a fever right before the trip so he was pretty clingy all weekend, but Aila had a great time swimming in the lake and playing with the other kids.

The forecast called for clear skies so I packed my astronomical binoculars and my telescope. I was really happy that we had clear skies on the second night and I was able to use my telescope for the first time in over six years.

I have also been experimenting with flying a quadcopter recently, so I brought it to the cottage and made a little video of the private lake in the back yard.

The private lake was also home to two large snapping turtles. They seemed to be having a fight on the second day that we were there, and I managed to snap this photo of the two of them grappling with each other in the water.

Technical Details: This photo was taken with my 5D Mark II + EF 70-300 IS at 300mm, ISO 100, f/8 for 1/200th of a second.