August Long at the Lake

As has been my extended family’s tradition on my Dad’s side for about 23 years, every August long week-end we go to Minaki together.  This was the 2nd year that we went for the whole week-end with our kids. 

I love how you can drive an hour and there’s a complete change of scenery!

 

After having a cabin mix-up last year (we had confirmed our reservation and when we showed up they didn’t have the cabin for us that we had booked), we got a lake-front cabin this year, which we were very thankful for! 

This was the view from the cabin

I swam to the island once during our time there.  If the weather had been warmer, I may have done it again, as it took me hours to warm up after.

The 4-plex in the background is where our cabin was

I did not edit the colors in this picture in any way.  I have no words to describe such beauty!

Kiera enjoyed spending time with her 2nd cousins in the tube that was tied to the dock.

As it wasn’t very warm most of the week-end, she enjoyed cuddling up with her Daddy

Blake was more brave this year and swam in the lake a few times!

I captured these sweet moments without being caught :)

 

They tore down 4 old cabins and turned them into a brand new 4-plex this year, so this was the inside of our cabin.

This was the room I shared with the girls and Jared and Blake shared the other bedroom.

We ate outside on the deck a couple of times which was nice

We had some late nights while we were there, hanging out in other family’s cabins, so the kids crashed on the couch.

One of my cousins went for a swim every morning to the island and back around breakfast time, so being the stalker that I am, I took a picture of her one morning.  Not that you can really see her…my camera doesn’t zoom that far. ;p

My Dad brought his new boat and tube to the lake, so although it was cold and windy, we did go out once.

4 of them had a tube ride (Kiera is sitting behind Haley) for about 15 seconds…

…until the tube flipped and they all went into the water.  Haley cried while another one of the girls said, “That was the worst tube ride ever!”  Kiera and one of the girls were wearing sweaters overtop of their swimsuits, since it was cold and they had not planned on getting wet!

One of them wanted to keep going, so we did.  My cousin and his wife camped on the island, so a few of them went over to the island to see where their campsite would be.

Jared never reads books, but he borrowed one from my brother-in-law to read on the week-end, so I had to take a picture!

Since the weather was cloudy, cold and a bit rainy on Monday morning, we left at 10:30 a.m. and drove to Kenora to look around and have lunch before going home.  Last year was our first time there, so we got to see more of it this time.

I really like this roundabout

Wall murals are cool, too

I like old buildings

I really liked these colorful chairs

I was really struck by how these flowers were growing straight out of the rock.  It made me think of the beauty that comes when we turn to God and allow Him to work in our hearts during hard times, expecting that in all things He works for the good of those who love Him.

We already booked the same cabin for next August and it is something we all look forward to every year!  I just love my family!

End of July

One of my goals this summer was to learn how to french braid my own hair.  I mastered it on Haley some time in the past year and with the help of YouTube and several tries, I managed to french braid my own hair at the end of July!!

Drinking strawberry fruit smoothies out of wine glasses that we got for our wedding and have maybe used once

The rain water on top of the table on our deck looked cool

One of several rainbows I have seen this summer…a wonderful reminder of God’s promises!

A goofy lunch time

My Mom was one of Kiera’s customers when she did her nail salon fundraiser for Gospel For Asia (and raised $275 to purchase an outdoor toilet, a bicycle, some gospel tracts and Bibles) and Blake wanted to be a part of it, so he helped paint Haley’s nails…too cute!

What is even better than a rainbow?  A double rainbow during sunset!  God’s artistry continues to astound me!

The last day of July brought our city’s annual parade.  We took Blake’s friend along and randomly met up with another one of Blake’s friends there, so the kids had friends to enjoy it with!

 

I really like the Cars quilt!

The girl carrying the girl on her shoulders is a gymnast who comes to our church.  I was impressed!

July ended up being way busier than August as the kids had 3 weeks of VBS (one at a different church, one at our church and one at an acquaintance’s house) which overlapped with 2 weeks of swimming lessons.  Next summer I will try to spread their activities out a bit more if I can!  It was definitely great to have a lot of fun activities so they weren’t bored!

Enjoying the Park and the Beach

One morning, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the week and a half off of baby-sitting (at the beginning of July) and took the kids to a hidden park that we had only been to once or twice before.

Kiera loves climbing and monkey bars and she tried over and over to get across the rope monkey bar handle things (you can’t see them very well in the picture but she is swinging from one to the next)

Blake learned how to do monkey bars this summer!

There is a zipline, which was tiring for me because I’m the one who had to run it back up every time, but the kids sure had fun!

I love the summer canola fields

We took the kids to Grand Beach for the first time and it has become their new favorite beach!  It’s our favorite, too, and we think it’s completely worth the hour and a half drive!

We love the way it stays shallow for so long!

Hard at work

Mud bath time

It was about +35 that day (around 95 fahrenheit), so I literally sat in the water almost the whole time we were there and enjoyed watching the kids play nearby with new friends they made.

Discovering that her sandals could float

There are always quite a few seagulls there

The sand is the best there….it is SO soft and white(ish)

Looking for snacks

The finished product

Beach days have become some of our favorite days!  Now that our kids are getting older, they don’t nap anymore and they’re learning to swim, it makes it so much easier and fun! :)