Author: Pam

We’ve had some birthdays lately, but no time to really celebrate.  On the 2nd we took the last day of summer vacation to have some fun and celebrate.  We went to the zoo in the morning to see the new changes, apparently that is the time to visit the zoo.  Tho polar bears were being fed,

afterwards they went for a swim in their new pool.  This feature is actually pretty neat.

 The cats were active, the tigers were moving around, not just pacing and the lions were roaring at each other.  Nothing is quite the same as feeling the roar of a lion.

 Last year’s lobster meal was such a hit that we thought we would try something new again: crab legs.  It was a sealed deal when I found them on sale.

 Don’t they look good, we quite enjoyed them.  They only thing that L and K would have changed was the quantity available to them.

September is flying by in blur of activity.  A person doesn’t even have enough time to enjoy it never mind blog about it.  So jumping back to August and some end of vacation fun, we headed out to Riding Mountain for one last visit.  L caught his first fish a freshwater drum or silver bass.  He didn’t want to touch it to pose for his photo, Uncle B came to his rescue.

The next day was Saturday of the long weekend and we planned a day out.  Grandpa called in a favour and got his hands on a “party bus”.  The kids particularly liked that there were no seatbelts, and got a kick out of calling Grandpa “Corny, the driver of the day”.

We headed to Shiloh to visit the reptile gardens.  Interesting, creepy but interesting.  I think L was the only one who actually had a good time, but I am glad we went.  I have never seen alligators or maybe they were crocodiles (they had both) that are as big as I am.  The albino constrictors were particularly creepy, but I was tempted to buy a baby turtle.

Next we visited the Shiloh Artillery Museum, everyone tried out the big guns,

K was especially pleased to find one that was operated by women.  “Girls can do this too!”

We went camping last week to Hecla Island.  Why, because we haven’t been there before.

We enjoyed the wildlife.  L kept a list: a muskrat, frogs, snails, bald eagles, pelicans, cormorants, sea gulls

 and even a white tailed deer.

Hecla Island in in Lake Winnipeg, I didn’t realize that it could feel so much like the ocean.  We had lunch beside the crashing waves,

after lunch we played on the rocks and we all got splashed!

 Lowell showed L and K how much fun it is to play with rocks.  He taught L how to skip stones and how to build a cairn.  Lowell provides the structural support, L the architectural details and K the beauty.

 The water was beautiful,

 and the hiking a unique adventure.

Unlike the last long weekend when we tried to go camping, this long weekend was beautiful.  Of course there was some rain Saturday morning.  Kira woke to the sound of rain on the tent, with eyes that could barely stay open she groaned “It’s raining!” and then she fell back to sleep.  What else do you do when it is raining and you have had your fill of camping in the rain?

This was the view from our campsite. It was really nice to sit around a campfire beside the water and listen to the Loons.

We fished, but didn’t catch anything worth keeping.

We got wet in the water (it was cold!) and then played at the beach.

 The kids had a great time playing at the playground.  Turns out that when they weren’t talking about Minecraft they were building their empires in the sand.

We hiked the Pine Point Rapids trail again this year.  It works well for our family and the rapids are a nice place to rest half way through. Here we all are with our tired feet.  Poor L hardly made it, I didn’t realize that his shoes were so small already.

Monday on the way home we stopped at Old Pinawa Dam to enjoy the sites and to have our picnic lunch.  We hadn’t been there before, but I am glad that we went.

 We climbed places we weren’t supposed to climb and influenced our children to do the same.

 Actually one was more than willing and the other one we pushed up the wall.  In his defense he was impatient to find the geocache.

We have a tradition of camping July long weekend.  I was very excited about this year because we were going to Spruce Woods.  I have fond memories of camping there as a child and it had been a long time since I had hiked the sand dunes.

Well we did get to hike in the sand dunes.  It was nice; not too hot, a little misty, but lots of fun.

 It’s like a giant sandbox in Manitoba.

But then the rain came tumbling down.  It rained, and rained and rained some more.  Fortunately it cleared up every evening in time for night snack around the fire.  We enjoyed sm’ors and popcorn with few mosquitoes, although there may have been mosquitoes that couldn’t find us under our rain clothes and the mud.

Well I am up for camping at Spruce Woods next year there is still so much to do there in the sun.

Yesterday was beautiful weather and we were fortunate to spend it outside, although there were complaints of it being too hot.  Reminding L and K about how cold their fingers, toes and noses had been on walks home from school not very long ago did nothing to help their mood (imagine that!).

We headed north to the Narcisse Snake Dens and saw lots of red striped garter snakes.  Watching the snakes while standing on a platform behind a railing can be mesmerizing.  Lowell did jump once when Uncle J accidentally touched his arm with a snake’s tail.  It takes special people to invite you on a trip to see snakes.  Thanks we truly had fun.

with sand, waves, 29 degrees celsius and cold cold water.  We hiked a boardwalk trail through the marsh in the morning to soak in the sun and the heat, knowing that the wind off the water would be cool.  Then we headed to the Plum Island beach for lunch and an afternoon of fun.

 L quickly got the hang of playing in the waves, K took a long while.  She occupied herself with a large clam shell, using it to toss sand into the water.  She eventually got used to the cold and got just as wet as L.

The tide was going out and we noticed that all the water was seeping out of the sand causing rivers to run to the ocean.  This gave L senior the idea of making the water change direction, it takes a lot of determination and help to form a prairie river out of sea water desperate to return to the ocean.

 There are all kinds of treasures to be found at low tide, the kids found this “boat” for their river.

K had her final ballet class of the season.

She thought it was great, I don’t know much about ballet but it seemed that the instructors were actually trying to teach them something.  Highlights for her were socializing with her new friends (one in particular) and wearing the dresses provided by the teachers.

There isn’t a formal recital, parents are just allowed to watch the last class.  However there was a bit of a rehearsed dance.  K in the pink is a seed.

The seeds are woken up and they grow and turn into flowers.

Thanks Jack Frost for the reminder of flower gardens.

It has been great to spend time with family this Christmas, we are truly blessed to have families where people actually enjoy seeing each other and getting together.  It was cold! We still had fun in the snow even if it was only for short periods of time.

L and K both helped us celebrate the birth of Jesus by participating in the Christmas Eve Choirs.

For all the good cheer and thinking of the less fortuante I would not be honest with you if I didn’t admit to enjoying presents.  L did the victory dance when he opened his,

and K took a minute to figure out exactly what her present was, never doubting that it would be something good.

We have spent a few days at home enjoying our presents and remembering what it is like to just be us.  L and K do the mad scientist experiments very well.