A visit to Osler

Last weekend we made it out to Osler, north of Saskatoon, where my good friend Donalda lives with her family: her husband Dave, and her children Josiah and Kaedra. Donalda and I first met 12 years ago, when we were both studying at the U of S. I got to know and love not only her, but also her parents and siblings, and the farm in southern Saskatchewan where they used to live. Oh the memories! Where else but in the prairies could you drive a pick-up truck across the fields at harvest time that is so old it still has a wooden truckbed? (I believe it was from the 60s and it ran just fine, by the way!) Or take turns riding an old Quarter Horse named Star all over the farmyard?

We have kept in touch ever since and whenever we see each other it seems the only thing that has changed is the age and number of our children. Last time we met Finn was 10 months old and Kaedra was a newborn, and now look at them! We had a really nice visit, awesome food (try BBQing your meat on water-soaked cedar planks - it tastes fantastic!), and the kids loved the cows. Dave works for a dairy operation just across the road, so we went over to see the cows being milked and paid a visit to the baby calves in their hutches.

Their house near Osler

The family dog, "Bear"

Dave and Kaedra

The dairy farm

Milking time! Every cow wears a chip and knows exactly where to go and what to do, so the whole process is automated and efficient. Quite fun to watch, actually!

The calves in their hutches, there was one row with boys and one with girls.

Most of them were pretty freaked out by the sight of us, but some were brave!

Finn loved them.

So did Lily.

More cows! (And a shy cat.)

And even more cows! There were cows in every pen and pasture, it seemed.

Thanks for a wonderful visit, and we will be back soon!

Family and friends reunion

Last Saturday this place was packed with people. Norma and Kurt organized a family and friends meet-up, and people came from near and far to meet Finn, Lily, us and of course each other. There were about 30-40 people here, and about half of us shared the same last name, a fact that didn't cease to amaze Finn. In a way, this trip has been a homecoming for him. Not only do people speak his mother tongue, they also share his name. Of course he misses his friends and family back home, but he has roots in two worlds and we want him to be comfortable in both. It's definitely great to be part of such a nice big family, not to speak of the awesome circle of family friends! It's quite the clan of siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, second cousins and everything in between. It took me quite a while to figure out family relationships, and it can still be confusing at times. But as auntie Christel put it: "As long as I am not my own grandmother, I'm fine!"

Here are some pictures. At one point I stopped taking them as I was too busy eating and visiting, so I didn't get nearly everyone.

The clan has arrived!

Auntie Christel, David, Danny and Lily, licking the icing off yet another brownie.

Norma, Finn, Colin, Stacey and Austin

Willy and his uncle Kurt, enjoying the fruits of their hard labor (perfectly grilled juicy burgers!)

Finn and Lily went to play outside for a while. We were supposed to all be outside, but if you look at how they are dressed you can guess why we chose the house instead. :)

Kale, Kristine, Christel

Cousins Heidi and Brian. They promised to come visit us in Bavaria next spring. We can't wait!!!

Neil's cousin Erika did an awesome job entertaining Finn and Lily for hours.

Neil, Brian, Danny (all cousins) and Norma.

And the BBQ crew! Kurt, Willy and Norma's cousin Ed (aka Elvis).

Saskatoon pictures

The unusually cold weather is not keeping us from having fun here! We went to the Saskatoon Children's Festival last week, where we saw Norma's cousin Doug Campbell, aka Prairie Dog Doug, perform. He puts on a really nice kids show! Lily was thrilled when she got to hold the pink piggy for one of the songs.

Finn catching bubbles

Waiting for Doug's show to begin

Lily and the pig

Lily really liked watching this boy. Luckily, at her age staring is still cute.

Finn Howling Wolf and Neil Grumpy Bear posing under cloudy prairie skies

And just because she's cute :)

Water fun

And here are a few pics of Ryan water skiing and me tubing on the lake one night when the kids were in bed. The water was icy, so I opted not to learn how to water ski this time. Neil did a good job driving the boat and Ryan is a great water skiier! Being pulled in the tube was a lot of fun, and I did manage to not fall out, although we hit some pretty big waves one time.

Ryan getting ready

Neil waiting for the word, and ...

... GOOOOOOOOO!

Claudia getting ready (much less graceful than Ryan)

... but still having a lot of fun!

Fun at Murray Lake

Time for another update! We are keeping pretty busy here. Last week we spent a few days up at Murray Lake, where Neil could reunite with his old high school and church friends Ryan, Glen and Scott. The 10 of us (5 adults and 5 children ages almost 1 - almost 5) stayed at Ryan's parents' "cabin" - a beautiful 4 bedroom house with an amazing view of the lake. Finn hit it off with Caleb, Ryan's and Laura's oldest, immediately. He really enjoyed having another little boy to play with. We only wished Glen could have brought his family, but this is a big country and Ottawa is not exactly around the corner. Glen's little ones Kurt and Rachel would have fit right in with the bunch!

Here are the pictures. The weather was great, but the water was really cold still. Not that the kids seemed to mind. Finn was ready to dive right in, and I had to keep reminding him not to go in too deep. We all really, really enjoyed our time together. What fun! Can't wait to do it again next time we are here. :)

The cabin and boat house

view from inside

Finn, Lily, Chloe and Caleb watching a movie while waiting for their parents to finally wake up

The guys. Scott, Ryan, Neil, Glen.

Fun on the dock!

Lily all played out at the end of the day. She fell asleep in her chair at supper time, so we parked her on the floor for a bit while we ate. :)

The hot tub was an absolute favourite with the kids.

Getting the crew ready for a day of boating. (That's Neil holding baby Jennavieve in the background.)

Finn driving the boat. He LOVED it, of course.

Some of us usually slept while on board.

Not Finn, though. He savoured every second of it.

Lily loved to nap on the boat, too, so this is a rare "awake" shot of her.

Finn sneaking up on Glen and splashing him with cold water.

All of us but Scott, who could only stay for one day.

BBQ at the provincial park. We loaded everything we might possibly need in the boat (a good Canadian never leaves his trusted axe behind, I learned), and set out for a day of fun and sunshine. We DID forget the napkins, though. :)

Ryan and his beautiful bunch.

Thanks so much Ryan and Laura for organizing this!