I am running.
I am ragged.
I am pooped.
I have to blog though... about this wonderful place...
Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island BC.
We had a little get together over the Canada Day long weekend with family from Mr.Mans Mom's side. We were all excited to get there...
Little E brought his Otter...
Mr.Man his ear piece
Baby A her soo-soo....
Me...a high 5.
We had reservations for the ferry.
We always have reservations.
We always seem to miss the reservations.
ALWAYS.
By like...3 min. Okay...sometimes 5.
But...really...no more than 5...EVER.
I swear.
And each time...they give us the same response.
"Sorry sir...they have closed reservations."
We try to get the kids to cry when pulling up....to up the drama...but they don't care.
So off we go and wait.
We play...
We make "things" out of cheese sticks
We pose for the camera...
We take pictures of ourselves
Some of us pout...
And eventually we get on.
Only had to wait 1 ferry this time. Phew.
PHEW.
This was baby A's first time on the ferry...okay...probably her 10th, but the first time walking and noticing...not sleeping and drooling.
She loved it.
A lot.
We were glad to get off though...to drive in the sunshine all the way to Cowichan.
We made 1 stop...for...some...
Yes.
Coffee.
SERIOUS coffee.
It is a chain on the island.
They had an awesome fudge brownie that was calling my name too.
You can see I attacked it. It was that good.
We drove and drove...not too far...and turned into this wee little paradise.
Our "cabin".
Rough huh.
Super awesome.
This was our porch.
It was wonderful when the hot sun was pouring down.
It was shady and cool.
Even better than the cabin and the lake though was...
The Cousins.
All the way from WAWOTA Saskatchewan (I had to google that spelling Cathy!)
I told her I would make this one black and white.
I lied.
I love her.
We love her.
We all miss her.
She is so totally awesome.
So is her little family.
She is a farmer.
She is a fashionista farmer.
She is a cryer.
She is crying now reading this.
That is why we love her. Her heart is SOOOO big.
There was lots of playtime on the tramp...
and a bouncy castle too!
This place is a KIDS paradise.
Uno...lots of Uno was played.
Baseball too...look at that arm!
Cars 2 Toys...
Fancy houndstooth nails...
Miss. Sophie.
This dog is awesome.
So awesome she has super swimming powers.
Okay...not really...she wishes she had super swimming powers.
This dog was aching to swim...she just couldn't get her legs to work for her.
She tried. She was rescued. She is loved.
There was fishing...
I was so nervous.
What if he fell in.
He was like..."no biggie Mom."
He is 4.
No fear.
Kinda like this lady.
"Kibbles and bits and bits and bits..."
Little W tries his hand at fishing...
Anything? Nope...foiled again.
What do we have here...hmmm...dinner?
Nope.
But he was a biggie.
Shudder big.
Like...I wouldn't want to step on him in the water big.
Lets put him back in now.
NO!! Miss. Sophie...leave it alone!!
Do not fear...no crawfish were hurt.
Up to the cabin for a quick lunch...
Some more awesome views...then some more...
Trampoline time...
Jumping time...
Then finally to bed time.
Both kids went down late.
Like...12am late.
Like...cried herself to sleep late.
Boo.
That night we sat and talked in the cabin...all of us. Nestled in tight to keep warm.
Telling stories of yesteryear and the future, our kids, our families, our lives.
It was great to catch up...even though I had one ear and eye on the bedroom door.
Wish I had Nicoles book...
So we googled it.
Still funny after the 100th time.
Thank-you Samuel L. Jackson.
We awoke to this.
Sun.
Yes. Sun.
I said it.
SUN.
Finally!!
Happy Canada Day!
Little E learned to steer the peddle Boat...thanks Mr.T for teaching him...being patient with him and helping him and watching him and laughing with him and sharing with him.
He loved it.
Later that day he jumps in and asks me to go for a ride.
"I'll drive Momma."
Bless his heart.
Mr.Man and little A do some exploring...
Silly daddy...you know she's going to want to go in.
Miss K. to the rescue.
Thank-you Miss. K for all your help with baby A.
Your watching, playing, hugging, kissing, lifting, showing, walking, laughing and talking.
Little A and Little E were well loved by all.
Daddy's back.
Still wearing shoes.
City folk.
She loved it.
So much to see and touch.
As the day went on and the sun began to fade it was time to cook...
Almost the best part of the day round these parts.
So good people.
SO good!!
Cause we have Mr.Chef.
Aka...Mr. Energy. Mr. Funny. Mr. I'll Do It. Mr. Dad. Mr. Goofy. Mr. Silly.
Whatever you call him...
HE MADE DINNER!!!
Totally awesome finger licking good dinner.
Him and his Mom.
Auntie B.
There she is sitting for a change.
She makes the BEST coleslaws ever.
She is the best hostess ever.
She knows how to put on the best spread ever and...
She's a good dancer.
I saw.
Back to the trampoline...it took a few days for the kids to figure out how to share...well...the little ones anyway.
Especially mine.
You just want you kids to behave.
But then look at their roll model.
Holding a Beer and a laffy taffy.
This is Mr.Man at Lake Cowichan.
My boy...Boy Wonder.
Holding up his shorts.
"Pants on the ground pants on the ground"
He still sings it.
Thanks Uncle M.
Here he is singing it.
Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and...
Yes...it's me!! It looked like fun. So I jumped on.
Don't you remember the orange tramps we grew up on?
Your friend had one cause your parents didn't want to ever get one.
Maybe you were the lucky one who actually had one in your backyard.
Whatever...we all remember falling off one or watching someone who did.
Thank-fully no one was hurt here. Much fun was had...by all.
I am not sure who had more fun...the kids...
Or the adults!
The days are a blur...they all folded into one...lake time will do that to you.
We slept...
we had water fights!
We posed for pictures.
Got some family ones done to.
Our first ever.
I am SO excited to have some FINALLY.
I am usually behind the lens.
These two are not related at all.
Nope.
Not at all.
We sang!
While doing the dishes of course.
We played with shoes.
We posed with our new Coach bags!
I told you...fashionista farmer.
This girl knows how to rock a handbag.
And her oldest daughter too.
So hip.
Way cooler than I ever was.
Plus...she still listens to Mom and Dad.
Amazing.
We listened to Pa Rod tell stories.
We ate.
We played.
Jessie liked the trampoline...the baby drool...not so much.
Baby A's first jump.
So much fun.
Ba ba ba ba.
Look at us go!
Speaking of go...look at that air!
Hang time!
Baby A on family picture day.
The only one I could snap before she run away.
To get her book.
To eat of course.
Thanks Nanny for the great outfit from London.
Back to the water.
Little E had to be dragged away. Yes...it is true we had some temper tantrums.
Okay...
Lots.
There was swimming too! Miss K was in there a lot...Burr....
Some gator wrestling and teeth pickin'.
Some...
Some...
Tubing.
Lots of intellectual reading...of course.
Eh...hem...
AND BOATING!
Hold onto that hat little W!!
"Woo hoo"
He loved it. LOVED it. Still talks about going out on"Rods Boat".
We all do.
You will know why as you read on.
Baby A gets ready for the lake.
"Mom...please...I am trying to read here."
Sorry...so am I.
There were shoes.
Lots of shoes.
Everywhere.
There were mini movie players and Dinosaur Cd's.
There was a BBQ.
It was a HUGE...I mean HUGE BBQ.
From a restaurant.
Thank you restaurant.
You allowed Mr. Chef to make the best Prime Rib ever.
EVER.
Nana and Poppa get all the fixings for this...
Voila.
Can you taste it?
IT.
WAS.
FANTASTIC.
EPIC.
DE-LISH.
See.
A-Mazing.
Thank-you Mr. Chef for spoiling me and Mr.Man forever.
There were giggles
Grasshopper hunts...
Nail salons.
She is 4.
She is awesome.
She wants to open her own salon one day.
There was teeth brushing...
Cowboy hat and life jacket wearing...
Peddle boat fun times...
And...Tubing.
Yes...thats me. I didn't fall in. It was super fun!
It wasn't that cold.
Mr.Man doesn't look as excited.
He has doubts.
He still thinks he is 14.
Poor Mr. Man.
Oh...he did.
Little E was a little scared at first...
then he said that he was glad daddy was wearing his life jacket...
"Are you cold Daddy?"
He is so cute isn't he?
Hilarious.
There was also some surfing attempts...okay balancing acrobatics...
Some serious joyful and excited screaming.
Food shovelling.
Running.
Creative step stool making...
he dragged out this old fashioned scale every time to wash his hands.
Lots of messiness...
and discoveries.
(sorry baby A in 20 years).
It was a wonderful, relaxing, fun, gluttonous, heart-filling, and memory filled holiday.
Thank-you Pa Rod and Auntie Berrie for sharing your beautiful wonderland with us wee little birds.
We will remember it and your wonderfulness always.
The road took us back to the city...to Willows Beach where we met up with these kids.
Bat Boy and Beautiful Girl.
And there Moms.
Little E loved it.
Who wouldn't.
Sun sets, picnic, cool ocean, shovels, sand, sand and more sand.
Baby A was busy.
Looking, touching, eating, more eating, more sand eating...
Some sand pizza...
Then she discovered juice boxes.
Suddenly tap water wasn't so cool.
She was going from box to box...sipping them back...
while these two ran back and forth from the water screaming.
Cuties.
Caught the 9pm ferry home.
I don't really need to go into details...lets just say baby A was wild, Little E was sweating he was running so much and Mommy and Daddy...well...we were done.
In a good way.
Filled up.
Even saw a port-a-potty fire when driving home.
Mr.Man woke me up to call 911.
There were flames.
Poor thing.
Gone.
Melted to the ground.
Then we went home and crawled into bed.
A fabulous time.
Happy Canada Day 2011!
Until next year...
E.
Love it!!! What a wonderful compliment to my breaky this morning.
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