Summer Recap #5

We managed to still squeeze in lots of fun in between all of the non stop landscaping.  Lots of beach days with friends (and evenings too while T finished up his class).

My friends parents have an amazing raspberry patch in their backyard and are oh so generous with letting people come and pick.  We had a great time loading up our pails.  I'm pretty sure the kids ate all that they picked ;)

 I was glad I had thought to wear long sleeves for this adventure

 This guy was head to toe raspberries!

 Raspberry jam is my absolute favorite and my house smelled heavenly during this process

 I think I came away with 2 doz jars of happiness

 We also had a few evenings of fishing; well at least until our line on the rods got all tangled.  We had fun checking out the fountain park on the opposite side of the lake

 A fun evening spent at the beach

 This guy keeps me hopping!  One evening I jumped in the shower and before I knew it he came running into the bathroom and walked right into my shower fully PJ'd.  Note to self: lock the bathroom door first ;)

As August wore on the days became shorter and we started seeing the first sunsets we had seen in a long time.....sigh

 We celebrated both of my parents birthdays on the 14th and 15th.  My Dad is a sucker for peach pie.

 The week we were building the fence my Aunt (my dad's younger sister), uncle and 3 of their kids came out from MB to visit for several days.  Timing was a bit crazy but we loved every minute of it.  I have honestly barely ever met my cousins since there is such a huge age difference between us.  Their son in this pic is actually named JA as well (that made for some confusion lol).  AL worshipped her big cousins and followed L around like a shadow.  For the most part they went out on adventures during the day and we just saw them in the evenings.  We got in swimming and boating and lots of visiting.  By the end of the week I felt like we really reconnected.  Such a great time.  My cousin JA had come out this way to compete in the Canadian western finals for baseball (they won gold btw) so we are hoping they do amazing again next yr and come stay!!!  I did a terrible job at taking pics so the majority aren't loaded on this computer.

 

 

We had several evenings of learning to play baseball with the neighbors.  I seriously love our street full of awesome families. 

 I showed the kids how to catch grasshoppers

 We got in more boating

 We had "pirate day" at the beach.  The kids dug in the sand for a ball then were given clues to find their treasure.  I just love all the fun extra things at the beach......complete with bouncy houses, balloons, face paint etc

 We finally managed to get in what is now becoming an annual trip to visit dad at work for lunch (we just can't make it work during the school yr).   The kids LOVED it.

 After lunch we headed up and terrorized Daddy's office

 And checked out his gorgeous view of the river.  Way out on the horizon you can see the power poles by the highway that is getting close to our house.  No wonder it takes him forever to commute, that is a long distance!

 The next day I got the treat of flying solo to attend my Granny's 89th birthday and my cousin's wedding.  It was a whirlwind trip lasting 48hrs from one 7am flight to the next.  Sadly my phone had major battery charging issues so I barely got any pics. 

 We spent most of our time visiting with family which was perfect.  Sunday morning we all had brunch at this gorgeous golf club.

 Saturday evening there was a little welcome party and birthday gathering for my Granny and the groom out at this ranch where the wedding was also held.  It was at the top of the mountains and the view of Lake O down below were stunning.  The only down side to the weekend was the weather.  It was completely unseasonably cold (like down to 2 degrees at night cold)

 One of the highlights was time spent with my siblings since we were spouse and kid free.  My sister and I enjoyed a swim in the outdoor pool at the hotel while we visited sunday morning. 

The wedding took place sunday at 4pm.  The sun broke through and it was perfect!  Every detail was absolutely GORGEOUS.

 My brother and my cousins - we had the best time reconnecting with my cousins and their spouses.  You don't realize how long it has actually been until you start catching up!

 The bride's father (my mom's youngest brother), the stunning bride and her mom

 The bride's sister just had a baby a few short weeks before the wedding and he was the official ring bearer.  Too cute.

 Cousins!

 The tent where the festivities were held

 While the bride and groom were off getting picks we enjoyed drinks and visiting outside.  We seriously chased the sunny spots around and stood in them.  Once the sun went down it was freezing!

This is a pic of my cousins (from the earlier pic) wives, such great girls

 I seriously kick myself for not bringing my other camera.  The details were amazing.

 The dinner was amazing gourmet burgers and fries (yumm-o).  We had just the best evening eating, visiting, dancing and huddling around a bonfire roasting marshmallows.  Before long I had jeans on under my dress and my cousin's hoodie on to keep warm; guests were in parkas and toques by the end of it!
2am bedtime and 5:30 am wake up made for bit of exhaustion but I can't complain.  I even had to take a trip to the coast to catch a connecting flight home (to save some mega $) but hey I got to see a nice glance of ocean and we flew over the coast and back into the airport.