The last few months...

Matilda - the oldest snapper we have ever seen here 

Largest moth in Ontario - Cecropia

Well, as usual time has flown by and I realize (or I have been politely reminded) that I have not posted anything for the last few months. We are now in summer mode as all are you out there. Tom and the kids are off for the summer and I have been enjoying having them around during the days I have off.

Mom took the kids for a camp out overnight

Jumping off the rocks

Summer came early this year and we have been in the lake swimming, tubing, canoeing, paddle boarding and fishing since the beginning of May. We have been visited by some pretty amazing creatures - even a family of  minks walked past us along our shoreline...

Father's Day - gifts and breakfast on the dock

In June, Tom was busy with year-end marking, supervising the year-end athletic banquet and dance, and attending graduation at his school. One of the nights he was away, I took the kids on a camp out with a couple of Rein's school chums. We had a blast. We enjoyed the classic camping activities - roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, telling ghost stories and skinny dipping. In the morning, I made them French Toast over a fire and then after another swim we headed back across the lake to home.
On Father's Day, as requested by Tom, we headed to the dock for a morning swim. The kids presented him with his gifts and we served him up breakfast as well.

Kristin and Ross 

We had a couple of great weekends with friends including a visit from Kristin, Patrick and their kids, Teagan and Ross. The weather served up another perfect weekend of sunny days. We spent most of our time on or in the water. We went for an adventure on Saturday and boated over to Whalenose Island where we picnicked, fished (it was opening season for bass fishing) and swam. The next weekend we headed up to Ottawa on Sunday to celebrate Canada Day with thousands of other Canadians. The kids have never seen the fireworks on Parliament Hill. We visited with my mom, Len, Aunt Sally, Aunt Cathy, Robert, Gary, Jessica and Nicholas for the afternoon and after dinner we headed off to join the crowds in downtown Ottawa. We joined the sea of red and white and walked across the bridge from the Quebec side and found a spot to lay our picnic blanket and settle in for the show on Major Hill Park. We people-watched, walked around, enjoyed the concerts on stage while waiting for the big event. Jessica, Nicholas and her friend, Ron, joined us just before the fireworks began. They were pretty spectacular. After it was all over, we headed for the bridge where we had to wait until they re-opened it and let us make our way to our car. While we waited, the kids and I played some bottle-cap soccer. The next day we ate pancakes that Aunt Sally cooked up for us and then we headed back home where we were meeting Shawn and Julia who were coming to stay overnight with us. They were going on an Alaskan boat cruise with her father - it was his 80th birthday.

Patrick coaching Ross on fishing technique

Kristin removing Teagan's small catch

We were able to straighten up the house and at least get the bathrooms clean before our next guests arrived, my brother, Steve, and his fiance, Theresa. He is a teacher and also off for the summer. Uncle Steven quickly slipped into his role as Uncle Big Kid and the kids have been having a blast with him ever since. He took them into town with Theresa for lunch and bought them their birthday gifts. Of course, Rein chose two battery operated toys - Argh! He was concerned that Tom would not be happy with his toy choices and thought about it for a few minutes and with his uncle's encouragement to choose what he wants, he quickly got over his concern. He came to watch both kids play soccer as a good uncle should and today he is taking them to a movie. Theresa had to fly to Calgary for business. He is leaving tomorrow so we have got to make the best of our last day with him - will post pics soon...

Rein catching a 2 lb bass - enjoyed it later in tacos