How to survive a long weekend

By Judy Ross and Cottage Life staff

A long weekend with extra bodies under the roof can be plenty of fun, or a three-day nightmare. Let Cottage Life help with our tried and tested formula for surviving a long weekend.

Tips for crowd control

Save your sanity and have guests arrive on Saturday morning. Use Friday night to chill out and get organized for the onslaught.
Organize group activities such as scavenger hunts and games like charades.
Have an outside tap and wash basin. This helps cut down kitchen congestion. It can be used for cleaning hands (especially good with children), preparing vegetables, or washing off sandy feet.
Place an extra fridge somewhere other than in the kitchen. A second fridge for soft drinks and beer, and an occasional watermelon, keeps people out of the kitchen.
Use your dishwasher to clean up after feeding a crowd. It can be more energy- and water-conserving than hand washing, especially if your machine is an energy-efficient model.
Ask guests to bring up their own bed linens and towels; less laundry saves work and your septic system.
Create a rainy-day space for children’s play. A small bedroom can house plenty of toys, board games, and books. At adults-only cottages, create reading nooks and hideaway places.

Food without fuss

Keep the food simple with these options:
- Plan the menu and assign people to bring specific items – that way you don’t end up with eight-dozen hot dog buns and not enough hamburger buns.
- Have guests bring one dinner and do the rest yourself.
- Break up into food teams where each group is responsible for the shopping, prep, and clean-up for one meal, and then is free to relax for the rest of the weekend.
Keep on hand pantry supplies such as noodles, pasta sauce, rice, canned fish, and cake mixes so dinner can be pulled together at the last minute. These are especially helpful when the guests responsible for Saturday lunch decide not to come till dinnertime.
Get the heat out of the kitchen. Barbecue often.
Tell your guests about your kitchen’s limitations. Nobody wants a 10-litre tub of ice cream when their freezer can barely hold the ice cube tray, let alone keep it frozen. Advise guests to bring their own cooler and ice. Or make your own underground drink cooler.
A bread machine is fun and easy to use. That wonderful aroma drifts through the cottage. And there’s no problem with leftovers.
Breakfasts are the trickiest meals when entertaining large groups. Some visitors like to eat late, others early. Some like tea, some like coffee (but not instant, only espresso brewed a certain way). Best to have everything available and let guests do their own thing in the morning. Ask coffee freaks to bring their own equipment.
Keep the bar simple by creating a signature drink for the weekend. Those wanting something else are welcome to hop behind the bar and get mixing.
A word to guests: Food prepared at home and brought up ready to heat and serve is most welcome. Bringing too much food, especially leftovers from your fridge, is worse than bringing nothing.

An ounce of prevention…

Be prepared for minor emergencies such as the power going out. Keep a ready supply of candles, flashlights, kerosene lamps, a portable outdoor propane stove, and a battery- or crank-operated radio. Or investigate going off the grid with sustainable options such as solar or wind power.
If you plan on a campfire, set it up in daylight and send those city-slicker kids into the woods to scavenge for kindling.
Sometimes guests like to get involved on a project, so have all the materials ready to go. Fewer trips into town means more time on the dock.
Waterfront rules are a necessary part of any crowded cottage. For example, for younger kids: no swimming unless with an adult, life jackets on at all times, and no swimming to the raft unless someone is watching.
Exercise extra vigilance when out on the water – you’ll find more boaters and swimmers, many of whom are unfamiliar with the rules (both written and unwritten) of your lake.
Take the scenic route to the cottage, and reduce your expectations for arrival time. It’s a long weekend after all!

Remember, if you’re relaxed, everyone else will be too!