We have been back from Quebec for three weeks now, and are finally starting to feel caught up. Immediately after we got home we repacked, slept briefly and hopped into our car for a trip to Chilliwack, BC to celebrate Grandma Derksen's life. It was a beautiful ceremony, and most of the large family was able to attend. It was great to visit with cousins, aunts and uncles and Mark's brothers (and their families), however brief.
at the church.
grandma is now right next to grandpa.
a revisit of grandma's gravesite after the burial.
oh boy! ceremonies over and now the cousins are free to be... cousins!
enjoyed a family dinner that evening with the whole (or close to) clan.
we stayed an extra night to spend time with family. we made blueberry tarts together....
walked the dog...
played at the park....
and enjoyed those tarts!
We got back from our impromptu trip to BC, visited our home and garden briefly before heading out to the lake for a pre-planned lake birthday party for Avery. We were lucky enough to head down the same weekend that the Vermillion fair was on, so we met mom, dad and Zxayven there. The kids went crazy on the rides and would still be sitting on spinning things if us big people didn't tire out.
the petting zoo. a million kittens and bunnies, all available for people to take home if they wanted. friends of ours did just that, and we got to meet Oreo the kitten the next day.
kids were too involved in rides for us to enjoy the chuckwagon races for long, but the little we did see was thrilling!
one of many spinning things. i can't stomach them any longer, and I am so very, very, VERY glad they are big enough to ride on their own!
of course, we had to waste a little money on the games. we actually sat by this one for quite a while waiting for all the troops to gather and didn't see one single person get a ring on the bottle. moneymaker!!!
From there we went to the cabin and had time to relax in between preparing for the usual over the top cabin feast. Mom knew that poutine was the great holiday favourite for Avery, so she put pulled pork poutine on the menu for the birthday dinner. And then invented a raspberry swirl cheesecake because that is what Avery requested:0)
the pool kept the kids cool...
and the deck kept mama happy!
looks like everything is going her way in the water balloon fight!
ze magnificent raspberry swirl cheesecake.
grandma found mentos dispensers that fit on the the top of cola bottles and made sure the necessary ingredients were well stocked. there were many geysers made!
avery's friend Zea (and family- the new owners of Oreo the kitten) came out to celebrate with her).
aunty Jordan found a lantern that floats on the heat from a candle. it took a little persuasion, but we did have lift off for about 20 seconds. avery was freaked out and make sure she had buckets of water...
a few people framed, just for fun!
Back home, happy but weary we decided that we were not going anywhere for a while. Which was good because our garden has officially gone berserk! We have a freezer full of peas and beans, have given away as much as we have processed or used. Patapan squash we are just trying to use because I don't know what can be done to process them- if there was room in our little freezer anyway. Things have been pickled too! And still corn (we have started eating some), carrots and onions to come.
cucumber salad ready for the fridge!
picking the insane cucumbers.
after getting a five gallon pail full of beans every 3 days, we started pulling out the bean plants. whose idea was it to plant 2.5 packs of beans, anyway?
cool as a cucumber...
one of my summer favourites- corn!
lift a leaf, find 50 beans!
patapan squash- a great discovery!!!
Everyone is officially on notice: If you come within 100 meters of us, we can give you vegetables!
The garden is taking up most of our extra time, but a few little projects have started. Mark and Avery took our beat up card table and gave it a face lift. We now have a fancy place to play 65!
guess who picked the colour?
We went to the Heritage Days festival- always interesting. It was smoking hot though!!! Thank goodness for things like mangos on a stick!
And witnessed a wicked hail storm! There have been several this year, but this is the first one we were actually home for. LOVED it! Avery- not so much! Her only thought the moment she sees lightening is to hide in the basement. Not raising a storm chaser here!
luckily our little garden on the side of the house was on the protected side. tomatoes survived the onslaught- hosta and flower pots, not so much.
Now you are up to date! Summer in 60 seconds or less... hope yours is happy too!
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