A Week (Or Two) In Review

Okay people, brace yourselves. Here comes the report from our trip! It really was a good time. I was so excited about the S. reunion. I hadn’t seen Grandma since 2001 and also some cousins that were there I hadn’t seen for many years. There are 25 grandkids in the family and 18 of us were there. At least 3 of those who didn’t come had good excuses such as living 10,000 miles away, or being a farmer with cows to milk or hay to make… There were a whole pile of little second cousins from age 8 on down – and the majority were boys it seemed. Someone commented that had Matthews been there it would have evened things out quite a bit!! We missed you guys!

We had a really great weekend together. There was lots of sitting around and talking, looking at pictures, playing games, keeping track of all the kiddos, swimming, volleyball, softball… On Sunday night we had a “talent show”. I was surprised by all the musical talent in the family. I guess it had escaped my notice before that a lot of us enjoy music and singing. It was neat to see some of the teenagers and little kids sing and play instruments. Afterwards, some of us (mostly older ones!) sat around and sang old hymns for a while.

On Sunday night a game of Mafia got started and it got pretty rowdy and crazy. I was dumb and stayed up until 2:00 a.m., just so we could all lie to each other. If you don’t know how to play, I can’t explain it here, but it’s a game of bluffing, lying, intrigue etc. And it’s really fun. It’s funny to see who’s really good at lying, uh, I mean bluffing and who’s not.

After the reunion, we drove over to Michael and Connie’s near Grand Rapids. We stayed there for the night and the kids had great fun. Logan got to help feed a baby goat. It was so good to connect with them again and get to know their kids a bit more.

From there we headed over to the North Shore. At Duluth, the weather went from hot to chilly in about 20 minutes. As we were getting close to our campground, it was raining. I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of setting up camp and cooking in the rain!! But, it stopped for the most part while we set up camp and we put up a tarp right away too. We were at Gooseberry Falls State Park for two nights and we had a great relaxing day there. We walked and walked and saw Lake Superior and a bunch of waterfalls. You could walk right up to and around them if you wanted to which was neat.

The second night there we made our best ever campfire meal, I think. I took Iris’ idea of making pizza pockets with bannock dough, and took the filling ideas from a frozen pizza we had on Father’s Day. So, it was bannock pizza pockets filled with: pizza sauce, cheese, diced chicken breast, and sautéed onions, mushrooms, and spinach. It was so good (but a lot of work)! One night last week I made a pizza with those toppings and everyone loved it.

The next day we headed up the North Shore. We stopped just a few places to look at cool stuff and then just motored for Canada. We were going to camp at Kakabeka Falls, but the closer we got, the more I didn’t feel like camping for just one night. So, we went to the Falls and cooked our supper at a picnic table, looked at the Falls (pretty amazing) and then got a motel for the night. It was your basic low-budget room, but the bed was so comfortable and I slept great. And, there was a laundrymat (that’s how they spelled it!) close by so I did some laundry in the morning, which was great!

Next stop, Blue Lake. My whole family was there except Matthews, Sam, and Tyler. :-( We missed you!!! The weather was pretty nice until Sunday when it rained, but once again, the Mother Of All Tarps came to the rescue. Sheldon said it was luck that they put it up right on the edge of the fire pit so we could sit under the tarp, but still be beside the fire.

On Sat. night some of us went to "town" and went mini-golfing. I have to mention that I beat my hubby by one point – mostly because he was being careless at the end. I also should acknowledge that Mervin beat me by one point (but he was in the other group.) On Sunday Rachel and I had to go into town for groceries (this was during the “rainy season”) and she needed poutine so we had a nice little respite at the restaurant. I splurged and got gravy with my fries. Unfortunately, I think I'm wearing that gravy (and a bunch of other vacation food) on my heinie now!

Sheldon’s, Rachel, Dad and Dru and us stayed until Monday. I was wondering why we were staying when it was raining and I was tired, but then we stayed up late by the fire and reminisced and sang goofy songs. (I’m sorry, Matthew, that we had to sing the MooMoo song without you. It made me miss you! But I was pretty impressed that Rachel and I remembered it all.)

So, it was a good trip, but I was Exhausted by the end – well, long before the end. We decided on the way home that camping vacations will be at a minimum for a few years until our kids are a bit older. It was a relief to think I might not have to do that for maybe three years (except for weekends with family and church).

Last week, the party just continued for us. Keith’s Mom’s brothers and sister and spouses all came up for a visit. That was memorable. We had fun going out on the lake, having brunch on the patio with the ladies, etc. They were staying in a “cabin” at a camp down the road from us, which had a hot tub. So I went over one night and sat in the hot tub with two of Keith’s aunts (Esther and Lorna for those of you who would know them). We had a hoot. For awhile it rained on us which was really funny. I, being rather sheltered, had never been in such a luxury hot tub before. It felt so good!

And, to top off a busy and fun week, Iris and I got to go out for breakfast on Sat. morning before she headed back home. That was refreshing!!

Now, it’s back to “normal” life – whatever that is! I feel like summer is just now beginning for me. Before our trip there was the busyness of finishing school, spring yard and garden work, and getting ready for the trip. Now I feel like we can slow down a little and enjoy summer. We’re going to try to get to the beach at least once this week. I still have some catching up to do in the garden and on the computer, but I’m trying not to stress about it and just plug away at it a little at a time. Oh, and tomorrow I have my first prenatal appointment. Yay, I get to hear the heartbeat! Oh, and (how many of those do I get?), since we’re home, I can tell that I’m starting to feel better! I can get really hungry sometimes without feeling queasy. The nausea is not totally gone, but mostly. Whew! I’m still tired, but not as totally exhausted as I was. Man, is it ever a relief! Okay, congratulations to any of you who are still reading! I’ll try to post pictures of our trip in the next day or two.