July End TidBits

By the end of the week of camping, we were ready for home - especially since our last full day of camp it rained all day!  Although, having to take home wet tents and damp bedding, did mean that it took nearly a week to wash, dry, and put away all the camping gear!

The journey home from Fairhavens  was quiet and smooth. We took the most direct route which was on secondary roads through little towns. A good choice. Aiden and Jasmin slept the first half. Grace doesn't sleep easily, and being hungry and car sick didn't help. So we stopped for an early Subway supper and gas in a largish town.  We were all really hungy and ate nearly double what we usually eat at Subway! And even then we went to the grocery store and bought apples and cherries for the road.  It was a really good thing we stopped then, as it was the last town of any size for a good long while and we wouldn't have made it.

Of course, as soon as we were home, all the toys had to come out for a welcome home play so the nice clean house we left looked well-played in within the hour!

We jumped right back into life - Monday the girls went back to Chinese school for the morning.  We're proud of them - even though it was a full-on immersion situation that they didn't like, they've gone each day without complaint, and found fun.  Not sure if they've learned any Chinese, but there was certainly lots of exposure!  Today is the last day and then we get a month off before starting the weekly Saturday class in September.

Aiden began violin lessons also this last week!  He is very into it - just about every time he catches sight of his violin in the corner, he wants to practice.  Since he is starting earlier than Jasmin, we are having to listen to squeaky squawky sounds - but his practices are 5-10 min only.  We'll see if it sticks for him.

We had a great friend-filled weekend last week.  Saturday we had a swim and pizza supper at a friend's house, and on Sunday an afternoon at a new splash park with other friends.  It seems like we were having too much fun to take pictures...

July Travels # 2

Our last day at Uncle Arran's was full of chaos as two families prepared and packed for a week of camping... but we did manage it - everyone got fed regularly, the car, van, and trailer got packed, and nothing major got left behind.  We left very early in the morning for one last connection meeting back in Toronto, where the kids got to watch Homeward Bound a second time, Mommy got to grocery shop for camping, and Daddy talked contentedly all morning.  After a quick lunch, we set off for camp. We ended up taking a much slower route when the GPS was a fraction too slow to show the correct off ramp, but we still arrived at camp before Uncle Arran!

We had a great week camping at Fair Havens:

numerous campfires

 Our campfires were flurries of rationed marshmallows (they were the first thing we discovered had been left behind so one bag between 8 kids and 4 adults didn't go very far), messing with the fire, cousin fun, and futilely trying to avoid mosquitoes...

adventures in campfire cooking

dish washing

The big worry for Mommy for the week was feeding a camp hungry family, but, although it was a fair bit of work, all meals were successful.  We did end up having to buy one lunch, but that worked well, as we got to eat with another family from our church and get to know them a bit better.
 Jasmin and Katrina enjoyed an afternoon helping prepare and cook one day - but ready to bike off if a friend happened by...

hammok fun

Our hammock was an instant hit.  All the kids wanted to play in it.  Rhymes were made up to go with "rides" that brought adult hearts into throats a few too many times - and after that it was the 3 yr olds' (Aiden and Megan) domain for giggles and fun.  They really got on well together - Aiden would refuse to go to their program unless he could see Megan was going too, was constantly asking where she was, and worried if he could hear her crying!

In the mornings, the kids all had a VBS-like program to go to, and there was chapel for the adults.  In the afternoons, there were different activities put on to join in if you liked. Various sports tournaments, a kids' version of PanAm games, a bike parade, etc.  We didn't get to join in any sports, though we signed up for them, because it rained that day, but we did enjoy other things.  Well, Daddy and the kids did!  Mommy mostly stayed at camp to nap, read, and journal in the hammok...

bike parade beginning

PanAm Games train

Quick before it is all gone!

PanAm Games

For the PanAm games day, the kids were given a sheet of activities to complete within a certain time.  Aiden tried out each activity and then spent most of the time riding the train, so it was a big surprize when on Friday night Aiden was awarded the gold medal for his age group!  Grace won silver, and Jasmin settled for a fantastic dragon face paint instead of attempting to finish everything.

Even two days of rain didn't interrupt our fun that much. Of course, the fun changed from sports competitions and hanging out at the beach to card games and odd usages of pool tables. We started out in Uncle Arran's tent trailer, but the play and number of people was too much and we had to switch to the games room for the afternoon.

remembering how to play Dutch Blitz

this is not pool...but it was captivating!

Tent trailer SkipBo

July Travels #1

After a hurried week of final preparations, we left on our summer trip. First stop spelled out the end of our car's air conditioner - even though it was only for a bathroom that we stopped - but we didn't really clue in until we were nearly done for the day. After that, we certainly felt the heat!

First destination stop: The Big Apple - not New York, this one:

 

We planned on an hour here for lunch, and ended up staying for 2 hours - and even then we had to cut short our game of mini golf (18 hole, challenging, and free!). There is quite a bit to do there besides the free mini golf:

check out the view from the top

pose for fun pictures

 

and picnic lunch, watch the apple cider or pies being made, browse the sweet shop, eat fantastic apple pie....

feed the animals

Next stop, Oshawa, where we spent the night with some "long-lost friends" from St John's, Newfoundland.  It was great to be able to catch up with each other!  The kids got introduced to crokinole, and we discovered just how great it is to have bikes with you on a long trip.

In the morning we moved on to Mississauga to reconnect with some more displaced Maritimers, from Halifax this time.  This was a much shorter stay, as Sunday morning we were up and out early for church in Richmond Hill where Michael preached at his uncle's church in both the English service, and the Chinese one.

The afternoon was spent with family, over a loud, satisfying meal and a visit to TaGong and TaPo in the nursing home.

Sunday evening we stayed with yet more relocated Maritimers, this time in Burlington.  The kids were best pleased with this stop, as there were other kids to play with. It was a good restful, easy stay that no one wanted to end! But, the next day after lunch, leave we did, for the knowledge of 5 eager cousins waiting for new playmates pulled us onward.

We've spent a week of intense kid play with Uncle Arran and Aunty Kerry now! 8 kids in the house can be surprizingly restful for the adults at times... but today, after a very late night at the drive in movies.... well, adult intervention is more often needed than not.

Busy June weekend #4 ++

Weekend #4 made super special with the long-awaited baptism of Grace and Jasmin!  Grace first asked about 4 years ago, so this was extra special to her to finally realize this request.  At first, Mommy disliked the delay, but seeing the two of them express their faith together in their unique ways was beautiful and lovely.  Wouldn't want it another way now.

Of course, Aiden, ever wanting to keep up with his sisters, couldn't understand why he didn't get a turn to speak into the mic and "to get wet," as he put it! But he was still game enough to pose with them for pictures afterwards.

This week began a new experiment for us: we enrolled the girls in the International Languages summer program with the Catholic School Board.  The first day was rather overwhelming for us all, with so little English to find our way around with, and everyone seemingly knowing what to bring, where to go, what to do.  But the next day, having gained some extra help from our neighbour whose boy goes also, went much better.  It certainly helped that Mommy managed to get Grace out of the grade 5 class and into the grade 3 one!  

While it is still very much an immersion situation for them, they are willing to go on giving it a good try.  Since we will miss the next two weeks of it, it is not too much of a concession!

 And today, being in Canada for Canada Day for once, we attempted to join in the celebrations despite the rainy forecast and spells of rain.  The place we chose was fantastic for Aiden - lots of little kid activities spread out to enjoy - but the girls were more disappointed because of the tedious lineups for any of the big kid activities.

Still, we managed to get faces painted, and Aiden tried out all the activities he came across before it got thoroughly rained out.

Fortunately, we were under the tent by then, getting faces painted.  But that didn't last long, as the rain got heavier and then proved itself to be a thunderstorm and the tents were evacuated to the nearby arena...

 But with cheeks of deer, butterflies, forests, and dump trucks, we were ready for home anyhow.

Didn't feel very Canada Day-ish somehow, but we will have another chance next year for an in-Canada celebration of Canada Day.