August

Well I'm falling behind in this blog, so I have to summarize August.

We spent a few days fishing, had some movie dates with the grandkids, a beach day at Stecyk's Summerside lake, and many coffees and dinners with friends and families.

A special treat was a visit form Ron and Bev, complete with a day trip to Jasper.

We are excited for our September get a way - staying in Canada - stay tuned!

What a Family Holiday!

This summer we decided to go on a family vacation. We had visited Silverwood near Coeur d'Alene Idaho a couple of years ago with the Camerons, and the Stecyk boys were now old enough to enjoy it as well.

This is hands down the most fun we have had on a holiday. We all took our trailers and stayed at Farragut State Park. We visited Silverwood for 2 days, and exhausted ourselves and maybe even the kids in both the water park and the amusement park. From train rides, tube rides and ice cream to the wave pool and everything in between.

And one other thing we did that I will never forget was rent a pontoon boat on Lake Coeur D'Alene for the day!

We packed our food for the day and set out on the water. We swam, the kids rode the tube, and the day passe din a blur of fun and sun. 

This was a blast and I cannot wait to come again!

The Great Beer Tour

or camping with men?

We have recently re-connected with an old friend - Larry Sigfusson. Don and Larry were school buddies and of course partiers in the "old days". We decided it was high time to get together and do some camping.

We picked an area around Cranbrook for the meet up with Ivan and Larry. Our first night with Ivan was at a gorgeous riverside site. The beauty was somewhat diminished by frequent trains running through with no concern about blowing the whistle at essentially any time of day. I had scoped out another boondocking spot so the next morning after coffee we went to discover it and see if it was accessible.

Horseshoe Lake was one of our best finds. It was a somewhat developed campground, no services, but FREE.

The week was spent reminiscing, drinking as demonstrated in the photos, and fantastic scenery. The weather was well deserved sunshine after the rainy and dreary weather we've had at home.

Hopefully this is the beginning of new camping adventures with the guys...

The Great Campbell Reunion

Today we set out for Rocky Mountain House and a Campbell Family Reunion. I have no idea why I didn't take more photos but that seems to be my thing.

Here is the one photo I have.

It was such a great weekend. The Campbells are Don's mom's family. It is great to see everyone who comes to these gatherings, but also sad that the older generation is not able to always attend. Uncle Ern and Aunt Meryl and their families are great hosts, and all stops are pulled for everyone's enjoyment, including an amazing live band.

Local Tourists

Years ago we lived in St Paul and hung out a lot with the Connolloy’s from Glendon. We fist met Jim and Janice in Fort McMurray when Don was lead surveyor and Jim was road foreman. When our kids were growing up we camped a lot together. This camping thing was long overdue, so we planned a trip somewhere at sometime. Well this week was that time.
We met at Abraham Lake so they could try out boondocking. Well that and when we decided to go camping I couldn’t find a campground. Abraham Lake is a beautiful spot, and close to lots of places and things to do.
Ivan joined us as well, and we spent 6 days filled with food, beverage, sightseeing and hiking.
Jim and Janice had not been to Banff so I saw that as a necessity. Although we made it there and had a great lunch and some beers, but it took 45 minutes to find a parking spot. Our lovely Banff is getting a tad too busy for me.
Other highlights of the trip were a couple of stops at the Miners Cafe for pie (highly recommended) and a tour of the Brazeau Collieries Mine Site which is a historic Heritage Site. I can’t believe we haven't taken this tour before, it is one of the most interesting and complete tours I have been on.
It was a great time away with everyone and a fabulous start to the summer!

Duck Duck Goose

Or in Alberta lately Fire Fire Rain

First we dealt with the smoke from massive fires across northern Alberta. Then we dealt with rain, which the fire areas did not get enough of. And we never really had to deal with heat.

We had a fishing trip planned to Calling Lake, but cancelled it due to weather.

We still seemed to fill the month with some other sunshine. We watched more lacrosse, one day at sport ball which was soccer, had a great dinner out with Clifford and Cheryl, took an anniversary trip to Jasper for lunch (a few days late - remember that weather), and hung out with friends.

I didn't mention at the end of the last post that we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. It does seem like yesterday!

But we also said goodbye to some people. Our good friend Darrell passed away. This is a photo of us from Las Vegas in 2009. We didn't have any fun.

Also Don's cousin Doug passed away. Both men were too young, and we only hope they have found comfort. We attended Doug's memorial in Rocky Mountain House and although a sad occasion, also as always at these events, a chance to visit with family.

The July weekend is approaching and we have a few ideas of what we might do, so stay tuned.

May - In Like A Lion

Now I know this typically refers to the weather, but I felt it was our life! After spending 10 weeks by ourselves, or in the company of other like minded retired relaxed adults, coming home to all the activity and volunteer work is a bit overwhelming. I have a lot of work to get out of the way, for which I am thankful as I enjoy it, but we also had a lot of catching up to do with family and friends.

For some time we have been wanting to update the kids piling on grandpa photo for our photo wall, and finally had the opportunity. The second one is the last time.



 

 

 

May has two birthdays in our family - Blake and Lindsay. We fit in a family dinner at Red Robin for Blake's, and for Lindsay's Jeremy treated us to a delicious fish and chips dinner with his own fish! Mmm

Before we knew it, Mother's Day was here. Don's mom came form Tisdale to visit! She was actually here in time to come to Lindsay's birthday dinner.

We kept her busy for a week with dinners with the family, trips to watch Lacrosse and swimming and a bit of shopping. Then we packed the trailer rand headed to the Stecyk cabin for the weekend. This was the first weekend since Blake was born that we weren't taking a family and extended friends trips to a campground. The Camerons were in Red Deer for a Lacrosse tournament, the Scotts were at their lake lot, and I can't even remember what the others were up to! So it was us and the Paskos at the Stecyks.

We had a wonderful weekend, and were so pleased with how much Mom enjoyed camping, quadding and side by side riding! We missed getting photos of that for some reason, but this one at least tells you how exhausting the whole thing was.

The next step of mom's visit was a trip to Penticton. What a beautiful break it was! Since coming back to Canada the weather was horrid and we needed some warmth and sunshine. I don't think everyone in Penticton would have described the weather that way, as it was seasonally cold, but we appreciated no snow.

While mom visited with her brother Frank and his wife Gwen, Don and I took the opportunity for a couple of wine tours, a visit with life long friends Keith and Marcia and family in Falkland and Roberta and Ken West Kelowna. There is nothing like the friends you rarely see where your conversation starts form the last time you visited and you just don't want to leave!

Mom returned home after a busy two weeks, and May finished for us. I'm not sure what is up in June but I will let you know after it's over!