As Summer Comes to an End.

This summer has been interesting to say the least. I would like to be able to look back on it and say it was the best summer ever but I don't think it will make the list. The last day of school we were to leave on our first vacation of the summer. We were heading to Lake Superior. I ended up in the hospital having surgery instead. The four weeks to recovery were long and hard and boring I'm sure for the kids. Close to the end of July I returned to work and my new position. It's been challenging for sure. The beginning of August brought on our second vacation and this time we were going! We packed up the kids and headed on our 12 hour journey. We drove through the night. It was scary. There was sooooo much fog. The kind where you can't even see an 18 wheeler coming at you until it is right on top of you. I thought I was going to die that night. When we finally arrived and my heart rate returned to normal we had breath taking views everywhere we looked. We hiked, and swam, and hiked, and zip lined off a mountain, (I almost died again) and tree top climbed, and cooked, and had camp fires, and played in the dark, and froze a little, and re-connected as a family. It was a great vacation. Now summer is at it's end and we are heading back to school tomorrow. I don't know where time goes sometimes. But as we journey into this fall we are excited for new beginings. D will enter his last year of high school, C will enter grade 10, and little Q will start grade 4. The leaves will change then fall, the days will get shorter, the sweaters will come out. The air will smell of fall and fire and spices. Here's to my favorite season, may you enjoy every last Pumpkin Spice latte that you can wrap your hands around.

Camping 2012

This year we have only been able to go camping once:( I know there are a lot of people out there who couldn't be bothered or who do not enjoy camping but we do. These are the times my kids will remember forever. Where we build memories and reconnect as a family. We do it the old fashioned way too. In a tent. With the bugs and raccoons surrounding us. We build fires, and hike and explore new areas. We put up tents, and swim(to islands:)), and build sandcastles. We play games(sometimes we play them in slippers???), fish, and tell spooky stories. We try to figure out what kind of bug we've found or what bird is calling. We teach our dog to swim:). We rest. We relax. We laugh. Each time we try to find somewhere new to go. This year it was the beautiful Charleston Lake Provincial Park.

Hiking.

We can often be found hiking one of the many trails found around town. We like to try out different ones and are always looking for different trails. Q likes to find sticks for the dog as you can see.