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!

Pig Ears

A lot of things have happened in the last two weeks, which kept me too busy (or too tired) to blog and there's just too much to try to play catch up. So we move right to the present.

For the 3rd Aug long weekend since we've been at the Liebenzell Mission we had the same Filipino Church group here for their retreat. We always have a lot of fun and enjoy their generous hospitatlity (Sat-Mon I only cook breakfast, lunch and supper we eat with our group).
So we eat a lot of rice, new and strange vegetables and yummy meats.
One of the camp leaders busy cooking. Salmon soup and some green veggie.

Katie could barely wait until they unwrapped the roasted pig that they brought out from a place in Toronto. She was so excited to try some, it didn't seem to bother her in the least that the pig still looked like a pig.

The piece of choice: the ear. Yup, they both loved sucking on the eat. They came up to us every once in a while for some rice, but they would not give up their ears. We really enjoyed the meat, and even some of the crunchy rind, but I don't think I could have munched on the ears the way the girls did.

This group comes all prepared with their own picnic shelter and a large outdoor stove/bbq. There are about 60 ppl of all ages and they are having a wonderful time.

Since Dad is traveling with his brothers from Switzerland for a couple of weeks, Mom came for an overnight visit. She got to enjoy the Filipino cuisine as well and then enjoyed snuggling with the girls during their bed time routine DVD.

I got some snuggle/reading time with the girls this afternoon. Normally Maya doesn't sit still long enough to listen to a story, but it looks like she got extra comfy and actually stayed put for a whole story (about 5 min;).

This coming week we are planning on building our shed for the rabbits. With lots of extra help it might just be done before we know it. We have my cousin from Switzerland and Jeff's second cousin (both 16 yrs old) here for the week. Jeff's parents for the day on Wed, Uncle Marc for the regular Tue/Wed stay, and our friends from Elmira for the day on Saturday. I'll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen I'm thinking. We're looking forward to it though, and the rabbits are growing so fast that the'll be needing their new home.
So I'll try to take pictures of the shed in progress for the next post.

Hope you'll have a great week.

Busy Weekend

First off I just have to share a couple of pictures of my silly girls.
I don't know what Maya thought was wrong with the couch, but I guess it was too soft and she had to sit on the springs rather than the cushion.

Katie also found a cozy place to hang out. IN the kitchen cupboard. Go figure

Our weekend kind of began already on Thursday with a great visit from my brother Chris, his wife Mel and their son Nathanael. It has been 9 months since we saw them last and it was so nice to connect in person again. 9 months also made a huge difference in the kids, Nate and Katie played so nicely together.

Dr. Chris is showing Nate what he would do should Nate decide to let Chris get close enough to his foot to try to pull out a sliver Nate caught. The demonstration was informational, but not convincing enough, and it didn't hurt that bad anyway...

Playing tag. They switched back and forth and both had equal fun chasing and being chased.

Playing in the sand box and sharing the toys so nicely. I was so proud of both of them.

Wagon ride. For now Nate enjoyed the ride and Katie demonstrated her stamina. Teaching her to let a gentleman do the pulling can wait a little longer.

On Thursday night we droped the girls off at grandma and grandpa's house for a couple of days. Jeff and I went to a wedding early afternoon on Friday and thought it would make a much more leisurly day if we didn't have to do the running around with the kids the same day. As it was I didn't get out of bed until 11 a.m. It was awesome!!

The wedding was fun but we headed out early (11p.m.) and then went to join the girls in Plattsville. On Saturday we had fun just haning out.

The main attraction was of course the pond they were not supposed to go to by themselves. It was too hard to resist though..

All the ladies went to the park before it got too hot and the guys went to check out some multi- funtion tool. (Jeff told me all about it and it sounded impressive, but I don't remember all the things it included-if you want to know, Chris? Rudy? you'll have to ask him)

Yee Ha! and Giddy up!!

Maya had fun on the swing, and she had to have a turn on the big swing, not just the baby ones. That kid has no fear (sometimes I wish she had some, but I hear boys are worse)

Posing in the girls' favorite spot in grandma's garden. On the bench with the puppies. Both girls go and check them out every time we visit.

Trying to get a family shot. Maya was just about done posing.

And of course we had to have a water fight. I think grandma had just as much fun as the girls.

I know there is a picture like this in almost every post. But how can you resist taking a picture of a face like that?? Chocolate pudding was the winner this time.

Back home. Today we make a banana-creamcheese frozen dessert (and I just remembered that we were gonna have it for a snack tonight - but it's after midnight and Jeff and Uncle Marc are already asleep. Oh well I'm sure we'll eat it tomorrow)

The girls had a quick preview/pretaste of it as I was making it, and based on their effort to get every last bit off the beater I think it might be pretty good.

Katie is sporting her new "baker hat" she got from cousin Nate. She likes it almost as much as she liked the sampling.

So, I'm off to bed! Good night everyone.

"Farm" update

My super busy week is over!!! We had fun at VBS (no pics), the 4 groups we had at the Liebenzell Center over the last 8 days are gone again, Jeff is fishing, the girls are watching a show before bedtime and I have time to sit and catch you up a bit.
This morning after the girls were all dressed for church we had about 20 min to play before it was time to go. Maya insisted on wearing her life jacket for the entire time. She was very clear that she was NOT interested in taking it off anytime I suggested it. By the time we left for church, she was ok with it, but only because I could promise her that we get to sing the VBS songs at church.

GARDEN

Our garden is doing great, but last weekend when we had a crazy, heavy rain thunderstorm our corn and sunflowers ended up on the ground. We staked the sunflowers up and hoped for the best with the corn.

The zucchini are flowering, hopefully we have better luck this year. Last year once the fruit formed it would just rot before it was anywhere big enough to pick.

Our garden, the corn and sunflowers are standing again, the potatoes are doing great,the second try at beans brought actual plants (no idea what happened with the first sowing) and the tomatoes are starting to produce fruit. Hopefully things will keep going like that. We could use a good day of nice rain though.

RABBIT UPDATE

Blackie is a great mommy and we only lost that one kit the very first day and the other 7 are now cute, with fur and open eyes. They are 2 weeks old and both girls are thrilled that they are finally able to hold them.

Yup, there are 7 bunnies in there (3 white, 4 black)

Katie is getting pretty good at holding the rabbits gently.

She has all the makings for a little farmer. We are happy that the girls will have the opportunity to learn about nature and life as they participate in this rabbit project.

Maya does better just petting the little rabbits. She does pretty good as long as Katie doesn't come and try to take the bunnie away from her. That is one "toy" I won't let them fight over!!

Next week looks better, but the social calendar is filling up quickly. We're looking forward to a BBQ with some new friends and especially to the visit with my brother and family from Moncton. The weekend is our weekend off for the month and we're looking forward to a wedding (without kids - they're at Grandma and Grandpas) and then the rest of the weekend is nothing planned other than hanging out in Plattsville on Saturday and at home on Sunday - that's the plan so far anyway.

Hope you have a great week too!