The oasis

Last weekend we went on a church retreat, to a place called "Oase". It was a cool, rainy weekend, but it was great! The "oasis" is run by the Catholic Church and located in a tiny village that is completely "organic", meaning they raise only organically grown crops. The nice thing about our church retreats is that we have a lot of free time to spend with each other or to recharge in solitude. The kids loved exploring the place, so we spent quite some time out of doors.

Part of the "oasis"

Always a hit with our kids: tractors!

Ready for a walk

Lily is a good walker, but if transportation is available she's all for it!

Some of the cows had name tags, and we had fun calling them to the fence by name.


The "Peace Bells". There is a sign saying "Made to kill, now ringing for peace on earth." The "bells" are 2 US, 1 British and 1 German bomb shell from WWII. We hammered on them so much this world should be a lot more peaceful now. (And for the farmers among us, that is a field with really funny beans in the background, pesticide free of course.)

All Lily had to say to this was "Poor nake, poor nake!" (Notice the snake Mary is stepping on.)

Everything was lush and green, we really enjoyed our walks there.

And we had time, lots of it. No need to be anywhere or do anything, it was so nice! We watched this earthworm crawl all the way across the road. (When Lily saw him she exclaimed: "Look, a lormie!")

The food was very good, the rooms were clean and comfortable. Still, all four of us in one bedroom was a challenge. I've slept better and longer. :) Didn't help that we hung out with our friends after the kids were asleep, watching a movie and sampling organic beer. Both were good!

And this is for Grandpa. Next time you are here we know where to take you fishing. Forget Candle Lake! All you need here is a stick, a piece of bread and a net.