Busy AND something to show for!!

Yesterday was a good day. In the morning Katie and I went to a schoolbus safety thing where we watched a little video and then we got to go on a little schoolbus ride. Oh the memories...

In the afternoon Jeff and Katie went out to pick up Jeff's multi tool thing (Chris, you'll have to ask Jeff about details). Maya had her nap and I started on caning 2/3 of a bushel of peaches. It took me about 4 hours from start to finish, and Maya was very good, even after she woke up from her nap.

Tonight our neighbours and our co-workers are coming for supper (Jeff's mom is sick so unfortunately they had to cancel their part in the fun). Then Monday in the middle of the night our new batch of German volunteers arrive. We're looking ahead to a busy but exciting week.
I hope you'll have a good one too.

Going, going - but where???

Part of my reading this morning:

REFLECT
From morning until night
I am busy.
Surely all this motion
is getting me somewhere,
isn't it?

Somewhere...
What an indefinite term!
Where am I going?
Am I any closer to being there
than I was yesterday?
I don't know...
I've been so busy going,
I haven't thought about
where...
Of course, i know.
I want to know God,
Now...
as He is revealed in Jesus Christ.

RENEW
Let's check and see if I'm going
ahead,
or backward,
or nowhere...
-Gladis and Gordon DePree

Often I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels, being busy but accomplish nothing, and yet maybe I'm looking at the wrong "results". Am I growing? Am I learning?
I pray that God would use me, that He would teach me to be a better wife, a better mom, a better friend, a better person. Am I letting him touch my heart? Am I letting HIM write my To Do list? I want to be all He intends for me to be, but I think sometimes I'm the one standing in the way with my list of priorities and expectations.
I want to let go and let God take control of my life, I want to loosen my grip, surrender.
Only with God's help is that possible.
I'm letting go.

Camping Vacation and B-day Party

So, it was finally vacation time! We had booked a camp site at a local conservation area, figuring we could check on our animals still. When my parents offered to house/"farm" sit the option of them coming to watch the girls for an afternoon or evening so Jeff and I could go canoing or out for a meal opened up and we were really looking forward to a week of camping.

We left in the middle of a storm and when we got to Rockwood kind of started to set up during ongoing light rain.

We quickly realized though that we could not stay there, our site had NO privacy. We could see 8 different campsites in PLAIN view. Not what we were looking for on our family vacation to get away from people. We did have Maya's 2nd B-day party planned for the next day though, so we knew that we would be spending 2 nights there and then find something else. I'll tell that story later. Oh and just so you know, it's gonna be a long post!!
Waiting out the rain. The girls got to snuggle up to Daddy and hear some stories. That couch later folded down for Maya's bed.

Maya is test driving her Happy Birthday tiara. She liked it a lot and we were all surprised how long she actually left it on. (It is by now destroyed though)

We had both sets of grandparents and our dear friends come for cake&icecream and supper. Katie and her little friend M played together all afternoon and Maya and N got along great too.

The kids line up for the cake. Katie did really well using her spoon, Maya just liked off the icing, but then she was the birthday child and could get away with that.

Ta Da! My baby is 2 years old!! Where has the time gone?

Opening gifts was a family affair, but Maya didn't seem to mind too much.

She got a lot of sand toys, which we put to good use this vacation. Both girls love the CDs and DVDs, but the favorite (during the party anyway) was the toy donkey that Katie picked for Maya all by herself.

Maya and N going for a wagon ride. The 2 dads took the kids to the park, while the moms and grandparents had a nice visit.

Mac Gregor Point Provincial Park

So as I mentioned, we knew we would leave Rockwood after the first hour or so, and went to cancel our reservation for the rest of the week. But where to go? We had just been to MacGregor and liked it so we thought we'll see if we can make reservations there. Monday morning I called up the Ontario Parks reservation place to see what we can do. MacGregor had NO reservations left. The other park we had looked at was Awenda - NO reservations left. I remembered that there was a Prov Park only about 10 km south of MacGregor, but didn't exactly remember the name, Iverhuron or something. "Ivanhoe" the guy on the phone asked, and me having a English-as-a second-language moment thought "if that's how you pronounce it, then I guess that's the park I want". So we turned up at what actually was Inverhuron Prov Park and went to the permit office for our reservation. Sorry, NO reservation here under Wilson. So I called the Ont Parks to find out what happened. Turns out there's a different park called Ivanhoe Lake, which happens to be just south of TIMMINS!!! No way we're driving all the way up there. Inverhuron didn't have any first-come-first-serve electrical sites left so we drove up to MacGregor after all and got the LAST non reservation site up there. Thank you God! I don't know what we would have done otherwise.

Anyway, all that to say that we ended up spending Tue-Sat at MacGregor again.

Our campsite was good, but not very private, but 100 times bettter than at Rockwood. Having the motorhome and van to block some to the view and haning out clotheline strategically it worked out just fine.

We had great weather and at lunch and supper outside every day.

Our home away from home. It worked great to have the motorhome with the little girls. I don't think I would have braved camping with tents only.

Maya causing trouble, but looking so innocent and cute doing it. Daddy and maya trying to snuggle peacefully...

But katie was trying to wrestle. Super Daddy managed to do both at the same time:)

"Stay on the carpet" worked only so so, but usually if they were in their PJs they seemed to actually listen more.

Every morning after sleeping in (until about 8) having breakfast and cleaning up after, we went for a bike ride on one of the many nice trails. We always stopped at the park store to buy some smarties as reward for the two of them sitting together in the trailer so nicely. They only had an issue of "she's touching me" once.

Stopping for a quick picture. Thank you Jeff for indulging me.

On Thursday we went for a nice walk on one of the hiking trails. We were hoping to make it to the observation tower, but after over 1/2 hour one way we knew we better turn around before things could potentially get ugly. The girls did great considering that we don't usually go on long walks, and with lunchtime coming up soon. We were all glad when we made it back to the bikes though.

One of Maya's many stops to check out the fauna and flora along the path

I love watching daddy walk with one of the girls. I think it just looks so cute.

Maya folding her hands on Jeff's head and leaning her chin on it. She was getting pretty tired toward the end. Katie walked almost the whole time herself.

Hot dogs for lunch. We figured it would make more sense to do this during the day than trying to to an evening bonfire with the girls.

Every morning the girls climbed up top to come for a snuggle. It got pretty crowded up there with 4 people and only 2 feet of head space. But it was still a nice way to begin each morning.

A stop at the play ground during our bike ride. Jeff and I had fun playing with the girls.

Maya watching what Katie's doing and I was making sure she didn't jump out of the "doorway" it did say that this particular structure was designed for 5-12 year olds.

Katie did great on the rope/chain ladder.

Friday morning we rode out to Sunset Point. It was very beautiful, and even though it was already getting very hot at the beach (set in a cove) out here there was a wonderful breeze that make it very comfortable to hang out, look for shells and enjoy the view.

A friendly passersby offered to take our family picture rather than dealing with the timer. I think it turned out rather nice.

Daddy and Maya out on the slippery rocks. I guess Jeff is used to keeping his balance from his time climbing trees.

So, now we are back home and already in the swing of things. We were home less than 2 hours when some unexpected visitors came who wanted a tour of the Liebenzell Center and wondered if they could come for a retreat this Fri/Sat. We were already booked (usually 3-4 months in advance), so it didn't work out for them this time, but at least they'll know what the place looks like for next time.

So next Monday we have 18 young Germans arriving for their orientation to their volunteer year in Canada. We will have 2 part time guys working with us again. We hope it will be a good experience for all of us.

Not much planned for this week, other than getting ready for the German invasion. And the week after that Katie will have her first day at the school on Sept 7th.

Overnight Camping

I guess blogging every 10 days to 2 weeks is becoming the norm so I won't apologize anymore but just blog as much as I can.
We'll be heading on our camping vacation tomorrow and we're just about all packed. We're only going 20 min away to a conservation area, but it'll be far enough to be AWAY!!
We did a sort of trial run early in the week when we went to a provincia park with Moritz (my swiss cousin) for an overnight. For our vacation we'll be using Mom and Dad's motorhome, but for a one nighter the mission's camper van was great.
Walking up to our campsite at MacGregor Point in Port Elgin

No, Maya didn't sleep outside, the playpen just fit in the van. Moritz slept in the tent and Jeff and I shared the top of the van. I think Moritz had the best accomodation:)

Inside the girls had lots of fun climbing all over. Katie slept behind the seat which worked out perfectly

Sleeping at the top was a novelty, but not the most comfortable. Next time we'll make sure to bring some more padding. It was fun though

The girls wanted to play in the top too. Of course!!

On our way to the beach. It was about a 1/2 hour walk (at our pace anyway) and the girls did a great job walking.

Moritz, Katie and I braved the Lake Huron waters and walked quite a ways out until the water was too deep for Katie. This was at 10 a.m. so the beach was pretty empty and the water and the air pretty cool, but it didn't bother Katie none so Mommy had to go swimming too.

Playing at the beach. Getting aquainted with waves.

Maya wasn't so sure about the waves, but she had lots of fun in the sand.

Helping Daddy with his whale sand sculpture

I got to stroll the beach just a little, in between chasing Katie and helping Daddy to keep Maya off the whale.

Katie showing off her second catch: a frog. #1 was a little crayfish. Yup, she's not squimish about slimy critters.

I dug a little "pool" for Maya which she enjoyed immensely and kept her in the same spot for a good while.

On to sculpure # 2. Moritz and Jeff are creating a crab. Who said you have to be a kid to have fun at the beach.

And off toward home. I rinsed Maya off nicely in the water, but when we got back to where we had left our towels she sat back down into the dry sand. Once we got back to the campsite Jeff took both girls to have a shower and I started packing again.

We had a lot of fun and we're so looking forward to being able to spend 5 days at the same spot. I'll make sure to do a post when we get back.

Have a great week!