Amazing summer

Summer has been lovely so far this year! Mostly spent at the cottage... I have been enjoying taking yoga this year and love looking out at the lake during my twists... I often think how special it is that we had our wedding reception in that same space that I do yoga, watch movies, do crafts...

Here are our lupins... The bees love them...

Sunset cartwheels...

Someone left some rock stacks that looked beautiful during the sunset ...

Went to Kurt's dad's art show... Such amazing work...

The boys met grandma's kittens!

My dad's 75th birthday! We had a party at their cottage with family and friends!

Went to the pier at sunset and I had to go over and take these pelican pics!

The Coastguard was at the pier, and the boys got to have a tour! So nice!!

Beach Events - a VB tradition! My 13 year old volunteered to help this year!

Pier jumping! Every summer!

We always hope for a day where the water is calm enough for the "fun roller"!

Stopped and enjoyed the wind and the sound of the water in my kayak ride...

Ate a picnic dinner on the beach with great friends!!

Went to see a Fringe play his friend was in! A nice night - we had dinner together ...

Went to the zoo with Uncle Ted and Auntie Sandy... That was fun! We all had dinner after :-)

A beautiful sunset after the rain ...

Apparently these are the words I use the most with FaceBook... Love it!

Mother's Day

What a special day today! I love spending time with my kids, and I love that they want to do special things for/with me. I woke up and had my little 9 year old come in with such a sweet card:

Then got such a treat of eating cinnamon bread French toast made by my 13 year old... So tasty! With whipped cream, strawberries and icing sugar! 

Then they finished some homework while I sat and enjoyed my coffee...

Then they came to tell me that they had planned a surprise picnic in any park I want and that we would ride our bikes there - which I LOVE because I love doing active things together... So I picked Assiniboine  Park... They had all the food all organized already! They had done it the night before while I was out! So great! I just was so happy that I spent the ride trying to soak up the goodness of it all; the sun; the warmth, the neighbours I knew as we passed by (there are always tons of friends you see as you ride around Wolseley.. It is truly a magical special place), the sounds of birds and people visiting... Seeing other families enjoy a walk or a ride or a picnic themselves... We picked a spot and they had French bread, several different kinds of cheese; hummus, frackers, carrots, and fresh strawberries and whipped cream and chocolate for dessert! 

We tossed around a football after, and played a fun game with a little ball of the 9 year old ... Then rode back home... The kids went and played outside with the neighbour kids while I relaxed, then took our dog, Skye, for a gorgeous walk:

Then came home to some amazing BBQ pork, mashed potatoes and broccoli that Kurt made for dinner... All the while he was making amazing Indian food like butter chicken etc for weeknight dinners! Yum!

When the kids went to bed I made a special protein bar for snacks; my week's worth of salads, and got everything ready for my 25 kms I'm riding to and from my work tomorrow! What a great weekend! Oh! And we all saw Captain America Civil War this weekend as well! Amazing movie!

Christmas!

We did the Advent Calendar again...

1. Have a holiday treat
2. Set up the Nativity
3. Buy supplies for a foodbank/humane society
4.  Hmmm... can't remember :)
5. Schaefer party! He had a birthday party with his friends, bowling, then had a sleepover after with a few kids.



6.  Cards and flowers for our sensei... So happy he is doing well
7. Read about traditions from around the world
8. Make a present for Skye - we made her oatmeal pumpkin treats!  She loved them :-)
9. Look up old Xmas photos and movies... this was soooo fun!
10. Find an ecard and send to friend or family... we sent silly cards to Whickers and Gordons :-)
11. Take a special treat to a neighbour - took cookies to our neighbours across the street
12. Donate coats, hats and toys to a shelter... also gave a family gift to a little cousin
13. Decorate the Xmas tree!!




14. Make cookies for teachers!  We made chocolate and red velvet crinkle cookies... so good!
15. Have an Xmas cookie (or two)
16. Write or email Santa and/or decorate outside tree (this happened later)
17. Organise gifts for teachers and friends
18. Take gifts to teachers
19. Pancakes at community centre
20. MTYP!
21.  Winter Solstice and Kurt's birthday! Made him a special dinner... got a bunch of stuff at De Luca's for ravioli, and an amazing salad, and molten lava cakes with specialty Manitoba ice cream!
22. Make Xmas video or music - this is the 2nd year we had a great idea but they decided not to do it... No worries... if it seems like work then not worth it :-) Went to 10,000 Villages (I think this was the day) to pick out our own ornaments and other things... hard to go there without buying stuff :-)
23. Star Wars! The Force Awakens!  We all went and saw Star Wars in the morning...



24. Christmas Eve at First Mennonite, new pajama presents... They also made a quinzhee outside... so cool!  They had made the snow pile a few days before to let it settle... 

And then... Christmas!

Our traditional crepes:

The pups waiting for a treat that they KNOW Bop has...

Then off to Kurt's parents' house on Boxing Day... 

This guy with his new Xmas camera:

Father and son enjoying a talk...

Grandma and her grandkids snowshoeing back to the house... Such a beautiful sky...

Love my snowshoes ...

And then the sky just kept getting better:

Then another snowshoe with Kurt the next day:

Then some presesnts with family... these boxes that the boys get to work at trying to open, and there are little gifts throughout from their grandpa who works so hard setting them up:

And again with the snowshoeing!  Kurt loves lying down in the snow:

The next morning... Had some problems with how ski boots fit and skate helmets and skate problems... but the boys got to have fun tobogganing while I skied for a bit:

Must be one of the most beautiful places to go tobogganing... we are so lucky in Manitoba... beauty is everywhere...

I've got some more to add from after we got back... New Years etc!  Great holiday!

Spring and Summer

Some new hairstyles:

A zoo visit...

Cleaning up our street on Earth Day:

Spring at the beach:

Arbor Day - trying something new:

Visiting some new places for Doors Open Winnipeg.  Grant's Old Mill:

Kidsfest:

A school field trip:

Fantastic sandbars in the spring:

A farewell to a school of 8 years:

Fireworks off the pier:

My dad's birthday at the beach:

Raising caterpillars and releasing butterflies at the beach:

The "diving rock":

Visiting the Fringe... but first "Bronuts"...

We rode there and back on a water bus... very fun!

Some adventures with our sweet Skye... camping:

A heart leaf at the beach:

Woke the boys up after 12:30am because there were northern lights and they had never seen them before:

Pier jumping:

A very accomplished babysitter!

 We love to visit Elk Island:

Evening swims are the best: