A Busy Summer Part 2

I thought the other post was getting a little long, so decided to split the summer

pics into two posts.

More boating.  We had one nice camping weekend in early August, and took the opportunity of the calm water to explore a bit more of the river.

 Lola is decidedly not a water dog.  She is a purebred Havanese, perfect for being on your lap, but also sturdy enough for some outdoor adventures.  On this day she jumped in the car as Evie and I were heading out on a kayaking adventure.  So I let her come along and she got put in the front hatch, which turned out not to be the optimum doggy space.  We hit some waves on the way home, and she got totally drenched, not a happy puppy!  Having the hatch open was also not the best decision, as I took on some water getting across the river, and my bow was down, affecting my speed!

One wet dog.

To happier days....

We had a great day at my brother's cottage, the place having many fond memories for me and my siblings, as we practically grew up there.  It was only a short distance from the farm, and we spent many a happy Sunday cooling off in the waters of the lake.  It was so nice to see Evie and her cousins enjoying it in the same way.

The same rock, about 50 years earlier!  Note none of us kids wore life jackets, tire tubes were the order of the day!  Till we learned to swim anyways.

Some more river pix from our camping weekend. The above channel is called Lover's Lane.

The international bridge in the background.  Note the roiling waters...here the St. Lawrence has many whirlpools and currents.  It's quite fun in a kayak, especially mine, without a skeg or rudder!  This area is also known as The Lost Channel.

Wouldn't we all love a slice of this life?  This is a summer island cottage, beautiful buildings and surroundings.  I don't even want to think about the taxes or upkeep involved!  But I enjoy paddling by these places.  Then back to our humble tent and cooking outdoors.

A couple of pix from camping.  We had stellar weather, always an unpredictable factor this summer.

Bob got away for a Ryerson boys weekend at a cottage.

A hiking afternoon with our camping friend Louis.  Although I wouldn't call Sean and Louis best friends (the gap between neurotypical and Autistic is growing the older the two boys get), they do still manage to get up to hijinks at times.  On this day the two decided to head up to the top of this magnificent rock ledge, and peed off the edge (near unsuspecting hikers below, which Mummy had to go and apologize to....I love Autism).

The next event....Skyler's 18th Birthday.

I love these boys and their model looks!

We opened up some champagne to celebrate.

Evie and Sean decorated.  We had to work around the scaffolding, as Daddy is still working on the roof.  Not as we were celebrating, mind.  He does stop working to join us in these things, although on this day I believe he had to forego the champagne and head to his real job.

Our beautiful boy, er, young man, I should say.

Evie's 5th Adoption Day Celebration

Making the cake.

5 years ago in China, Mummy bought Evie 21 little presents, one to be opened every year on her Adoption Day.  This year she got a little tea set which she loved.  It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years already!

This was the day after we first met, at the civic affairs office in Nanchang.  Evie still isn't smiling a lot, but it didn't take much longer before she felt more settled with us.

The moment just before I got to finally hold our little girl.

And the first smile about an hour later, when Daddy took over.

A Busy Summer Part 1

Those lazy hazy days of summer seemed to pass by in a flash this year.  Everyone moaned about the weather, which certainly had it's ups and downs, but there were some very nice days in amongst the cooler ones, and we did, as a family, manage a few nice outings together.

With Skyler turning 18, and facing his future, family life will alter dramatically as he moves upward and onward in the next year.  I am trying to relish the time we have together now as precious, despite the absolute assurance that my laundry level will go down dramatically once he has moved on!

Our summer got the grand kick off with all of our graduation and anniversary events, and once school was out, we could relax somewhat, although the house renos and repairs called loudly and clearly!

First up, Cousin Pickle had a carnival 5th birthday party, with the water slide being the big draw.  The kids played on this all afternoon, and the weather supported it.

Pickle opening presents with his mom.

Evie having a fun time at the fish pond with one of her cousins.  We were so glad we had taken advantage of a nice day since a week or so later, it got a little bit cooler...

...And Sean headed off to kayak camp in 13C temperatures!  I couldn't believe the thermometer that first morning, and it was rainy to boot.  But it did warm up somewhat through the week.

With his group on one of our city islands.

Sean never tells me too much about his day, but I checked in with his instructors on a daily basis to see how his day went.  Obviously, some new and important kayaking skills were acquired.  He never complained about the camp, and I think the interaction with other peers is important, little though it may be for him.  He did know a couple of the kids at the day camp through school, which was a help.  I put him in day camps throughout the summer, not too many, but just enough to give him some new experiences.  Otherwise, there are too many days where he will just lay on the trampoline and stare at the sky, or bug his little sister incessantly.  He really needs to make some friends and start doing some social activities with them, but it is hard for him, and hard for us to find the opportunities.  I'm always looking for inspiration in this department...I'd love it if he found another quirkly little fellow to be a friend to hang out with.

Moustache Day

Sean second from left.  His moustache had fallen off, he tells me.

Pirate Day.  Always an important event in the islands!

Our beautiful seaway.  This is one of the narrowest channels in the islands for the ships to navigate.  It's lots of fun when the wake comes in to shore!

Sean is a little leery of the wave action!

Also in July, my friend Janice came on her annual visit from Singapore.  We've known each other for over 20 years, from Goethe Institut days in Toronto.  My German speaking ability has withered away, but she married a native and has sons the same ages as ours, both incredibly fluent in German and doing well in French and Mandarin as well. I love to hear about Singapore, having our own memories of it from past travels.  We can have the most dismal humidity here, and Janice always stays fresh and cool, having acclimatized to the tropics.  She did have to travel here last winter in our deep freeze though, which paid her back in spades.  I've experienced that too, when your body is used to the heat, and you arrive somewhere in a winter climate.  You just can't warm up!

I should mention Lola's attire.  Our poor puppy had a wart removed from her leg, the second time she's had to wear a cone in her 8 year life.  She hates it, but comes to a grudging acceptance of it.  It must be horrible not to even be able to go up or down stairs without this thing jarring your head every few seconds.

Our three on the way to church one morning.  I can still get the boys to go when they have usher duty.  Evie loves it anytime.

A summer ritual for me and Evie is to go to the local fairs.  As Sean has developed an interest in wasp's nests this year, we took the photo for him.  This same guy sets up at a lot of the local events, so Seanie got to see the display for himself later in the summer.  It is pretty impressive.  There's a web link on the sign if you've got your own interest.

This particular fair is an agricultural one, with lots of animals and the veg/fruit/flower/homecraft displays, very old fashioned and fun.  Evie and I took in the heavy horse show too.  She loved the horses, and the outfits (some of the ladies all wear decorative hats while carriage driving).

What's wrong with this picture? I couldn't believe they had a carriage event for such teeny horses.

On another day we took our canoe and kayak out for an afternoon spin.  Contrary to what it looks like, Evie is not doing all the paddling; Bob has a trolling motor which makes canoeing two kids around easier for him.  Sean is not much of a paddling enthusiast, despite his kayaking camp experience.

What Sean did find to do this summer was to set up games and activities that he could direct, for Evie and the little kids living in our basement apartment.  Here, he is taking Evie for a ride in the wagon, which he calls the "Ambolito Ride".  I don't know where the word came from, just another of the mysteries of Sean.  He loved running the kids up and down the hill (evidenced by the worn path in the grass) and also had a mini-putt course set up using all of our old bits of pipe and eavestrough lying about.  The problem was that I'd have to mow the lawn and he would have to move the countless bits of mini-putt course, and set it all up again later, much to his chagrin.  "The lawn literally does not need mowing" he'd say, as I would behold the new forest of trees sprouting up at the bottom of the yard.

Here he goes, with the scary mansion in the background.  

Evie has started with a certain "photo fatigue", and often won't smile for me when I point a camera at her, or hides her face.  I like action shots with children, so it isn't a huge issue, but she will gift me with her beautiful smile on occasion...

Oh What A Lovely Time Was Had By All!

It was our 25th wedding anniversary.

 Sean and Evie, prior to the festivities.  We held the party at the same inn where we had our original reception, in 1989.  Sean was quite keen on helping at speech time, and had brought along a microphone.

 Here we are, the Cameron clan, in all our best finery.  Bob is wearing his original wedding suit, which is a vintage, tailored tux from my paternal grandfather, circa 1940's?? 

 Speeches from the bride and groom.

 One always wishes for the photos that never got to happen...we never did get one of us with our best man and best Anne, that is Pete, (below, receiving a bottle of Grand Marnier from Bob, in recognition of the one he drank at the reception) and Kathie(above, far right, terrible pic of the side of her head, but there it is.)

 We did have more fun following the party, back at our chalet with friends who had been able to come back for a drink or were staying overnight at the resort.

 A selfie!  This was "the morning after".  Hairspray!!

 And another close-up of our family. The silver crown is from my mother, who wore it on her anniversary.  Evie is wearing one from my grandmother.

Skyler and Harrison, two lovely boys, just chillin' on the dock.  A nice ending to a great day.