We had a trampoline at our cottage when I was a kid. It was unusual in those days to see one outside of a gymnasium, but my three brothers and I made for a boisterous bunch—the “tramp,” as we called it, was a vital tool in keeping us managed all summer.
The tramp was big, rectangular, and without a net enclosure, totally unlike the ones in backyards today. We spent hours jumping on it, always daring each other to try more outlandish tricks. (Shockingly, we never made a single trip to emerg on account of that thing.) But my fondest memories of the trampoline come not from back flips and knee-drop competitions, but from an entirely different use of it. On long days with not much to do, we’d get bored of jumping and raid the linen cupboard. We’d smuggle as much as we could out of the cottage, remove the jumping mat, and then carefully attach sheets, towels, and blankets over the tramp, using clothespins and elastic bands, to make an epic fort. We’d then huddle inside it for hours of board game battles, fuelled by bottles of Pop Shoppe pop and bags of Hostess chips (contraband, at least in the amounts we were consuming).
Things we love about the cottage: Board games
My mom must have found crumbled potato chips in her linens for weeks, but I suspect she found that a small price to pay for getting some time to herself, thankful for the occasions when her kids made the most of things without her. I’d give anything to be back playing crazy eights under those old blankets with my brothers. It was the kind of summer fun that was unplanned but unforgettable; the kind of fun that can only happen once all the work is done and the planned activities are complete. It only happened because we were bored.
Help! I’m bored of board games
As adults, we make full-weekend meal plans, bookmark DIY projects, and map boat routes past the fancy cottages—all to fill our days at the lake. We forget that the best fun happens outside of all that. The times when you laugh with your friends over a bag of chips while relaxing on the dock; when you keep saying “I really should head up and get started on dinner,” but you choose another drink instead; stay for just one more story; crack open a new bag of chips. And the dinner that was on your meal plan? Just throw some frozen burgers on the barbecue.
Trust me, no one will complain.
This article was originally published in the August 2025 issue of Cottage Life.
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