owen sound part 2

Part 2 of our family get-a-way.
~Part 1 is on the post below.~

The boys are so blest to have such amazing aunts & uncles. Everyone has lots of fun together & they are good role models. Heather, one night took her duties as aunt a little too far. Finally I had been able to get a few hours of sleep in a row, when I woke up to some strange noices. I was sleeping in a little bunkhouse beside the cottage. I squinted at the time 3:35 am. I saw Heather leading three little boys into the cottage & they were so tired that they were wobbling. Before I knew it, Heather is knocking on our door. I rushed outside to see what was going on. The boys had been sleeping in a tent right beside our bunkie, but now the tent was empty. Heather pointed to the sky. There was lightning and the trees were moving, but it didn't look too bad. Heather was convinced that something big was coming our way. She woke up James & moved him; playpen & all into the cottage. Rachel moved Kentin into the cottage; playpen & all. The cottage was small & now it was packed with tired children, playpens, & it was in the middle of the night. By this time it was obvious that there would be no severe storm but now all of the little ones were awake. In Heather's own words, "The heroine has become a fool."  It all turned out okay & we had a good laugh about it the morning.

Andrew soaked up the activity & on the way home he was asleep in a few minutes.

A big thankyou to dad & mom for arranging all of this. It was a special time with lots of memories.

owen sound part 1

smiles,stunts on surfboard, skunk, swimming, "severe" storm, scrumptious meals, snapping turtle, sunglasses, sleeplessness, slip & slide, sunshine

The whole entire family was able to spend a few days together at a cottage in Owen Sound.

                                                                        What a show!

Mark has his paddle raised, ready to attack the pesty boaters. So much for a romantic quiet time!

The lake was super shallow & the sand felt as if it would swallow you up if you stood on it. The adults would have to do a flying leap into the water & then swim until it got deeper. One day, we had a plastic table on the dock & a gust of wind came & the table went flying into the water. I mourned a book that also landed into the water. A little while later Nate needed to get his glasses from the dock. "Where did you put them?" I hesitantly asked. "On the patio table." The sand swallowed Nate's glasses up too.

Whenever we saw Josh, he was such a happy little guy. He would rub his eyes & his parents would put him to bed & he would sleep for 12 hours. It was unbelievable.

Tarps, water, dishwashing detergent, & a steep hill go a long ways. The kids had a hoot sliding down & so did uncle Mark!

We were in close quarters which made it challenging with four, one year old boys. I am sure that you can imagine. Tyler was not a champ at cottaging; he took a long time to get to sleep, he woke up through out the night & he woke up super early every morning. The problem was that he had to stay quiet so that the others could remain sleeping. What do you do at 5:00 am with a lively one year old?

                                                          James, Joshua, Tyler, & Kentin

                                                                   ~Beautiful moments~

                                                                   James & grandpa

Every morning Adam made a big batch of waffle mix & whenever people were hungry they could scoop some up and put it in the waffle maker. It was delicious.

Adam does not love fishing. Not at all. He has four sons & so far the oldest two have caught the love of fishing. Adam has a good attitude saying that he loves to help out his sons especially in the things that they enjoy. There were a few times however that I saw him grit his teeth when the fishing lines became tangled every few minutes. I think that dads can only relate to that frustration.

family & friends

 Adam, his brothers, & dad all enjoying each other's company. It actually looks like I told them to pose for a picture, but this is truly natural.

These cousins find small spaces in Opa & Oma's garden and play house. The dolls & strollers come out. They have night time & they take turns being mom & dads. Watching & listening to them talk brings many smiles.
I tell Adam not to worry about our boys playing with the girly stuff because we don't have one girl thing in our home & they are just toys that are different & new.

While the other children play, Andrew finds things to do. Sometimes it is helpful, other times it is not so helpful. Just a note. I wish that these were our gardens but they are not. These are my in-law's gardens & their gardens could pass for a park. Their soil is amazing & I tell myself that they have more time to garden than we do because they don't have young children to keep you hopping:)

Ida is my mom's cousin from Holland & she spent three weeks at my parent's home early this summer. We just love her. She has a tender & kind heart, always willing to help, & we loved spending time with her. Ida, if you are reading this, we hope that you are booking your plane tickets for next year!

James, the last of the boy cousins to be born, was the first one to be walking. This is not surprising since he has a super competitive father who wrote down the time, date, & location of James' first step just in case one of the other boys started to walk on the same date. Just so you know, Tyler was a close second & we did not practice walking with him. We know from experience that this is something that we did not want to rush. Once they start walking, they walk away from you & find things to get into.

I was feeling all creative and thought that I could make a Canadian flag on my dessert out of strawberries. Do you know how hard it is to do a maple leaf? Hence the real flag.
Poor Nate came back from a few days of camping with a huge, swollen cheek. Dentists already do not work long hours (in my humble opinion) so it was a challenge to find a dentist that was willing to come into work on Canada day. But we did, & with the help of antibiotics the pain faded away.

Andrew is looking pretty beat up. He is full of poison ivy & he got a good scrape on his forehead. He was doing acrobatics in the living room & something happened. I just know that he didn't cry. At the beach everyone was asking him about his forehead & it must of bothered him because when we came home he picked his scab & then told me that his forehead fell off.
Poison ivy has become our number one enemy. Nate has had it all over & now Andrew. We cannot find it on our property but their itching & scratching drives them crazy. We have emptied the pharmacy of every cream, lotion, tablet, you name it - we have bought it. Now my kitchen looks like a mini pharmacy.

For the third year in a row, Adam has taken the two older boys camping for a few days. Andrew was supposed to go, but when I saw the cliffs that they hiked along, I thought that he better stay safe here at home given his past history of accidents. The boys look so forward to spending time with their dad & Adam loves it to.  They brought books, a special devotional, games, and sport stuff. Adam makes a menu and buys all of the food. It is a special thing to do & I hope that they can keep this up. In a few years all of the boys will be old enough to go camping with Adam. I plan to stand at the end of the driveway and wave them off (!)

When we were all younger, the daring ones in our family would climb up the pergola at my parents house and jump into the pool. This hasn't been done for a long time because we are getting older & wiser. This must of bothered Erik so he took on a dare & made a big splash.

poultry fest!

What a great day! We loved poultry fest and we will for sure make the time to go again next year!  There were inflatables to jump and ride on, entertainers, a tractor pull, old vintage cars, and lots of chickens & ducks! And...it was all for free!
It took Nate & Liam a little a bit to get their nerve up to pose beside this big chicken. Andrew wasn't going to go anywhere near it.

So like Andrew.

I love vintage cars. This is something that has recently come upon me and it is not a bad thing considering we have four boys. I love their shapes, their colours, & I can see myself having one some day when all of the kids are in school. They can drive around in the family minivan & I will drive the cool car.

We have chickens, but these chickens & ducks were really different looking. Next spring, I am going to be on the hunt for unusual birds for our coop.

There was a huge incubator & the ducks & chickens were hatching right in front of our eyes. Watching them break through the shell & slowly climb out of the egg is just amazing.

Normally when a performer asks for child volunteers, our children hide behind us while we point to them & try to get the kids on stage. This time Nate thought that it looked safe enough and he had fun being in the spotlight.

This was our first time seeing a tractor pull. Though I still don't understand how it all works, it was really neat to see. The old tractors just have something about them. Like they are meant to get the job done.
What I don't get is that every year, is it not the same people who compete in the tractor pull, and for the most part do they not have the same tractors? How does this not get old year after year?

This guy here takes care of our fields. I get a chuckle from him & his buddies. They drive down our road in these huge, gas guzzling trucks that are full of bumper stickers. They wear cowboy boots & hats, & they talk with a bit of a drawl even though they are from this area.  Adventure and funny stories seem to find them.

This little guy was a real champ sitting in his stroller for hours & taking in the sights & sounds.