BBQ at the neighbors'

Hard to believe, but our time here is coming to an end! We only have a few days left and had to say our goodbyes to a few people already. Karl, Kristin and Kristine were here last weekend - it was great to see them again. Saturday night we went over to Staceys' and Collin's for a BBQ. Food and company could not have been better! Afterwards Finn told me he wants to marry Meghan (4). But he also wants to marry Jana in Germany. Because they are both soooo pretty! :)

Well, I had to break the news to him that in our part of the world you can only marry one person. At a time that is. Secretely I'm glad though. This is a huge step forward from Finn insisting that he will marry Lily when he grows up.

Watch out, it's tickle time!

The trek to the neighbors' for some BBQ fun. Stopped and chatted with Bob, another neighbor and told him he was trailing some rope behind his pick-up truck. I will miss seeing all those trucks when we're back in Germany! Oh, and by the way, that's only the wind blowing up Kristin's dress, in case you wondered. :)

In order to get a hug from Finn these days you have to either be extremely lucky or - a dog.

Lily is more of a cat person, whether the cat likes it or not.

Uncle Karl trying to remedy his extreme back pain by playing soccer with Meghan and Kyle. He went on to spend most of Sunday lying down.

How is this for a view from your back porch?

Gingy so wanted in on the fun but had to be content with a few smoochies from Lily through the gate.

Collin did an excellent job BBQing - Finn ate a whole big fat burger and Lily ate two hot dogs. Stacey's salads were equally good!

Emily was a bit overwhelmed by all the noise and people, but a bowl of dessert finally made her let go of Stacey.

Trekking home. Lucky Finn and Lily got to ride in the wagon again.

Two peas in a pot

Who needs a paddling pool when you have horse watering tubs? Thanks to a good scrubbing from Grandpa this one was good as new and Finn and Lily had fun in it for hours.

Sandy Bay

C'mon Grandpa, quit chatting! Time to get in the boat, we're all ready for the beach!

In case the engine should fail Finn had the paddle ready at all times.

Boat is tied to a post, Kurt is ready to join us on the beach, Sandy Bay.

"Oooh, cold!", was Finn's first reaction to the water. A lake in northern Saskatchewan in June is not very warm, that's for sure.

It didn't take them long to go back in, though! They loved it!!!

As Kurt said, "It takes a kid from Germany to go in the lake when no Canadians are there." :)

The waves were pretty strong and Lily got knocked down and under water. After we pulled her out she was quite happy to stay with Grandpa, wrapped up in his jacket.

Finn playing crab.

Dried off, in clean clothes, heading home for lunch! (And in case you wondered, no, I didn't go in the water. Except to pull Lily out. :)

Campfire fun

The perfect ending to a perfect day at the lake is, of course, a campfire, fish or no fish. We grilled hot dogs instead. Easier to gut and no bones. For dessert, Kurt and Norma demonstrated their impressive team working skills to make smores! (For the uninitiated: a marshmallow grilled to gooey, sticky, sweet perfection, topped with a piece of chocolate and squished between two honey graham crackers. YUM!)

Starting the fire:

Mesmerized

"Isn't this great, Finn?!"

Catch of the day:

Gimme smore(s)!

Finn ate most of one, Lily put some in her mouth, more in her hair, even more in my hair as I came to the rescue, then handed it to me: "Don't likkit."

It was way past their bedtime (days are long up north), but we sat around the fire for a bit and sang campfire songs. Didn't take us very long as the first couple lines were all that we remembered of most. :)

And last, not least, a bedtime story from Grandpa. Night, all!

Cabin fever!

Last night we came back from a trip to Candle Lake, where the famous family cabin is located. Candle Lake is in northern Saskatchewan, which has an abundance of wild life, forests, lakes and moskitos. (Actually, they weren't too bad this time!) The drive went well, it took us about 4 hours, including a longer stop in Prince Albert.

Arrived! The Cabin.

Finn couldn't wait to see the famous bear skins we had told him about. Now he tells everyone that his daddy shot the bears when they wanted to eat him (Finn) in Germany and then brought the dead bears all the way to Canada. One thing's for sure - this child is not lacking in imagination!

Bear two.

The bears are up in the loft, and both Finn and Lily loved it up there. Lily was afraid of the bear at first, but after I courageously put my hand in his mouth she decided to take a closer look.

The deer and moose antler collection impressed them too!

Lily checking out the cabin from the outside.

A first look at the lake with Grandpa.

Ready to take the boat out!

Finn loves boating, and you can't go fast enough for him. We did some pretty good wave-hopping there!

Pelicans. We tried to get closer and closer, and suddenly hit some rocks. Thankfully, the boat was okay.

Captain Kurt and his crew.

First mate Lily needing a cuddle break.

The men getting ready for a fishing trip. Womenfolk were left behind in the cabin.

The fishermen coming back in. They caught - nothing. :) (Except for the net that Finn dropped in the water.) Finn still had a lot of fun, though!

Stay tuned for more pictures! I'll post some more as soon as I can.

Acreage pictures

Here are some random pictures from the last few days. We've had a whole day of rain (finally!), some sunny and some so-so weather. Temperatures can vary greatly from one day to the next, but the one thing you can always count on to be present is - WIND!

According to Grandpa Finn does a great job steering the tractor all by himself. The two of them often drive all the way down the road to the community mailbox to get the mail.

Lily helping Grandma with her cross-stitching

Rainy afternoon. Finn and Grandpa went to the shed to get some carrots and potatoes from the root cellar. Finn likes climbing down into the root cellar almost as much as he likes exploring the crawl space underneath the house.

Ralph and Carmen stopped by for coffee on their way from the Casino back into town.

After a workout at the gym I stopped at Tim Horton's to buy some donuts (I know, I know :). Norma's and my favourites are Boston Creme, so I got a few of those.

Lily and Finn liked them too!

Little Lily the Gardener showing us how to expertly prune trees:

And, per one lonely guy's requests, here is a picture of me. :)

Kavitha, a long time family friend and former international student, came by for an overnight visit, bringing her 8-year-old daughter Trishna. They live in New Jersey now.

Trishna did an awesome job playing with Finn and Lily.

And Finn and Lily insisted that she sit between them for breakfast. Finn invited her to his birthday party in August. (So far he has invited about 20 Canadian kids :)

After a long day and the usual bedtime hassle, peace and quiet finally find their way onto the acreage. :)