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.

Our Rainy Tall Ships Tour 2013.

The Tall Ships tour for 2013 began this weekend in Brockville, Ontario. Of course the sister and I thought it would be a fabulous way to spend Father's Day. We headed out bright and early in hopes of beating the crowds. On Saturday there were over 30,000 people!
Fear not the rain torrential downpour took care of that. The drive there was scary entertaining at times. Once there we grabbed our rain gear and headed down to port. The Ships were amazing, the company even better. Hear are some pics from the day.

When we were done seeing the ships, taking a train ride in the rain, and having some lunch hiding for cover under the trees we decided to head home. We spent the rest of the day at my sister's house enjoying good eats and company. I love that we took a day that could have made everyone cranky and had a blast instead. As I type the skies have opened up once again, we are in for a stormy night;)Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's in my life, my own in heaven, and the best Father I could have dreamed of for our children. You make me love you more each day and thankful to share the journey with you. xo. night all.

I Thought I'd Share

Something scrappy today.






Cherish this moment: featuring So Happy papers by Echo Park for Tina's Scrapbooking Creations.

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.

Scrappy post ahead.

Here are a couple of layout's I made for Tina's on my scrap weekend away. Both of them feature the Reminisce line. The graduation layout is my daughter's grade six graduation photo. I used a Dr. Seuss Quote on it. The Canada paper is a few photos of my friends family from the Canada Day celebrations downtown. She was nice enough to let me use them because I didn't have any of my own to use and the 1st is two months away. I have more layouts that I made but I thought I would space them out a bit:)

Happy Tuesday:)

Quote of the day Layout.

This is the layout I made using the quote of the day from my last post. I was inspired by a Pinterest layout I saw but switched it up some. I'm just back from a weekend away at a rented cottage with some friends. It was beautiful. I had such a good time. We had so much yummy food made from pins we liked on Pinterest and many beautiful layouts and cards were made by all. Here's a look at the amazing view we had.

Happy Halloween!

We're all decked out and ready for the spookiest day of the year.

Skating on the Canal.

We went skating on the Canal yesterday. I didn't get the best pictures because it was a wee bit cold for bare hands. So I may wait until we go next time and get some others for my little book. The kids are such troopers! I couldn't believe how far they skated and how many times Cassidy fell without complaint! Some of the falls she took looked painful! Ahhh a girl after my own heart. Haha. Drake is getting to be pretty good. He said it's like riding a bike. And little Quintin and I, well we walked and every now and then daddy came and took him for a spin, he loved it. Next year he will graduate to skates.