Twas another HUGE weekend (continued again)

OK, so we're several posts into this thing and I've only covered one day of a 4 day weekend!  I'll condense.  Mike Koops- my talented cousin Sheena's hubby is also talented.  He had an art show going on all weekend at the old school.  So we headed over there to check it out.  He had many of his pieces up.  This one is one of my favorites.  This is a drawing he had made of my grandma's sister- great Aunt Lavena and her husband- great uncle Cecil Bailey.  He was always making jokes- most of which my dad still tells today.  One of his jokes is that he called aunt Lavena the Ugly Man's wife- thus the title of this piece.

Mike, Lin, Josh and several other cousins are pretty big into super heros.  Josh did a lot better than I did at identifying them all.

He was creating while we toured.

We also went to the beach that day.  It was so gorgeous, we had a hard time leaving.  I got to swim some and kayak some- which makes me so incredibly happy.  I can't even describe how the water soothes and invigorates me.  I was so glad we'd gone too because I had assumed the lake was filthy with algae by now as it had been several weeks ago, but it was relatively clear- so I'm glad to know I shouldn't write it off for the month!

beaches with play structures are so smart!

We found a few monkeys hanging around.

Monday was the extra day to the weekend and so fun again!  We had brunch at the Koops' and all the cousin kids hung out and played and WOW- the adults got to just hang out and visit.

I never really got to experience this in Texas.  My kids were smaller then and my friends' kids were all as young as mine, so we were always with the kids and never got to really visit without being referees and activity initiator and waitress and cook, drink pourer and swing pusher...

But when we moved here I was met with #1- older cousin kids and #2- Sheena's childrearing philosophy of laissez-faire and it's good for them to work it out and it's good for us to have adult time. 

It was a bit of a shock for me at first, but I've come to love it.  Arwen- who for years was the "baby" has now honed her kid facilitating skills since this new crop of life has come along and she gets to be the coordinator.  Sometimes aunty Sheena does give some direction- like here are some baskets and why don't all you kids collect pine cones for the path "game"-- oh yeah, get some work out of them while you are at it and they don't even notice!  Some moms are so SMART!

It really was a SUPER weekend.  But now that all the hubbub is over, it's nice to have some quiet days too- some get your house back in order days, some pick the overgrown garden days, read a book, create with lego, breathe.

Twas another HUGE weekend (continued)

BLOCK PARTY!

Well, since the band was already in town, we figured they could play again for some supper ;)

Had some good help, oh yeah, that talented lady with another... talent.  Thanks CUZ!

And her momma- my aunt Mary- keeper of the best stories.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill with some fabulous neighbors/friends.

some fabulous musicians,

and more fabulous musicians,

seem to attract more fabulous musicians,

and more...

and more.  It was grab an instrument and jam kinda thing for a while which was great fun. My favorite moment was getting to meet Emma, an 80 something neighbor who walks down our street everyday.  She said she came for the music- and when she left, she did a little jig for us.  So fun ;)

But there's more, just hold on to your hats!

(to be continued- again!)

Twas another HUGE weekend

The August long weekend is a busy one around here.  First off my cousin Lin, her husband and 3 of their kids came to stay with us and join in the fun of the Summer's Art's festival in sunny Fort Qu'Appelle.  There was lots of art for sale and viewing, but my kids loved the kid's stations the best.  Emora made some bracelets, painted a rock and got her face painted.  The big kids did a scavenger hunt and earned a free book.

I would have liked to look around more and take in more of the music, but the kids are still little and can only handle so much.  I was thinking the other day that in 4 years we'll be able to leave the kids at home by themselves.  It won't be long until I'm not just in the kid zone all the time!

Here's my cousin Lin and her husband Dave whose wedding we were at just a couple of weekends ago.  We packed a lunch for the day and went to the beach to eat it.

They still have the flood barriers up and I'm hoping they are not a permanent fixture!  I assumed they would remove it once the flood risk was over, but now I'm wondering if they are going to leave it.

When we got back, lo and behold, auntie Sheena was playing music in the kid zone, which was amazing because I thought she was the MC for the main stage.  She was, but she is a woman of many, many talents!

The kids all got to see their best friends that day as they were out and about, so they were happy about that.

Can you say lotsa kids!

And next up-- GH Summit- and while they set up, Sheena gave some intros and invited

Ivan to the stage to tell everyone what instruments were up there!

That was pretty cool that he got to intro his dad and his dad's band!

Brian alternates between his bass and stick depending on the song, and can even be found doing vocals and kazoo!  Another person of many talents!

And since there wasn't enough action going on that day, we'd also planned a...

(to be continued)

Camp Cousins, the final enstallment

This is it!  You've made it through all the Saskatoon trip pictures that I'm going to share.  This day, Dominique spent some birthday money at Toys-R-Us on "Olivia's house".  She spent the rest of the times in the van looking adoringly at the box and once home, she made put it together that night.  It is pretty cute, but wow, the mom is not impressed at how overly expensive the kits are!  But it's her money and gift from a grand.

After the trip to the store, we went to the Mendel art museum where I had my wedding pics taken with Brian a few years ago (about to be 15)!  This park was at a splash park, where we had a picnic.

 Then we headed to another library to watch a play written and performed by teenagers.

Here we are playing in the Wallaces' backyard.

One of Jenn's grade 7 ( or 8?) students made this windmill a number of years ago.

Jenn has lots of fun spots in her yard- looks like a lush forest from this spot.

So one of the traits I got from mom is that I tan really easily.  People are always commenting on how dark I've gotten in the summer.  I tell them that my actual color is a lot paler- that most of what you see on my arms is tan- it gets darker in summer and fades in the winter some.  Emora seems to also tan really easily.  So we did the tummy test.  I think she's got a bit of the tan easy gene too.

Here's my mom (in the white shirt) and my aunt Carmen (in pink).  Aunt Carmen flits between Canada and Jamaica and happened to be on this part of the hemisphere while I was there, so it was nice to get to see her.

Camp Cousins part 5

Jenn had a picture at this spot with me and her other bridesmaids at her wedding in this pose (somewhat), so we had to re-enact it with our girls- note Isaac also put his leg in there ;)  Special thanks to Ivan- who was elevated to camp helper due to his poor attitude last year (I mean his maturing into a more responsible role).  Of course now, all the others want to be helpers too!!!  ah jealousy- such a mean thing.

These pics are at the university in Saskatoon, where John works.  We went to give him a quick visit since we were out having fun riding on free buses!

We also visited the dinosaur display.  They also had fish, mice, and rocks to check out.

Then we played outside some, where Emora landed butt first in a mud puddle and I got to deal with meltdown number 933 of the week- but such is life with so many young and so little sleep and so many activities. ;)

Isaac really liked riding the bus.

I was glad to see that these seats were not upholstery like the other bus, since Emora's rear was still damp even after sincere attempts for drying them with paper in the nearest bathroom.

We had totally lost track of time and were glad this last bus took us fairly straight away to our vehicle and not the long way around the city.

After a pizza supper at the cousins'- we topped the day off with ice cream- what fun!!