Fun in Minden!

We just got back last night from four amazing days at my sister's cottage near Haliburton (closer to Minden actually). Kathy and her family had rented a lovely cottage right on the water for a few weeks and they'd invited up different people to come visit. We were their first visitors, along with two of Jennifer's friends.

The weather was incredible - sunny skies, hot days and cool nights. The place was beautiful, with a great dock for jumping into the lake, nice views and lots of peace and relaxation.

Alex had so much fun with Sarah and also with Jennifer and her two friends, Bella and Diane. Steve made some wonderful meals and we all had a great time together.

Strider went to "Dogs at Camp" (http://www.dogsatcamp.com/)  while we were away and had an unbelievable time as well. Here's some pictures of our time at the cottage as well as Strider's time at the dog camp.

Steve took Alex and Sarah out for a canoe ride soon after we got to the cottage. Alex loved it but it looks like he gave up on the actual paddling by the time they returned.

We had a cute little dog come to visit us on our first evening at the cottage. All the kids loved the dog, especially Bella and Alex.

Alex had fun in the inner tube. I'm going to try to post a fun video of him in the tube as well as he loved it when Chris would let the tube float out a bit and the quickly pull him back towards the dock... our version of going 'tubing' I guess.

 

MVI_5433, originally uploaded by jr_jewel.

Video Link

Alex, Sarah, Jennifer, Bella and Diane went fishing at the end of the dock with Steve helping out. They caught quite a few fish but let them all go. Alex was both excited and a bit "freaked out" as he later told us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water was really great to swim in - very cold to get into but quite comfortable once you were in. I got a bit of a burn on the last afternoon as I didn't put on sunblock but it was still very enjoyable and was nice and cooling. 

 

 

 

The older girls worked on some art projects while enjoying the nice weather. Sarah and Alex went to check things out a bit. 

 

As usual, Steve made some great meals for everyone!

 

The girls did a fun 'mask' night while we were watching a movie - the bugs were too bad to be outside after dark.

 

 STRIDER AT CAMP:

Strider and his new friends loved the little pool. Strider is the big one in the middle of everyone else.

Strider loved going swimming too. He's the one in the middle of the other two labs. 

Strider seemed to love this little dog. They had fun chasing after sticks and playing tug of war. I would assume Strider would usually win due to sheer brute force.

Strider and his friends seemed to really love camp. He was so exhausted (but happy) when we brought him home.

Niece's Graduation!

Our niece, Sarah, just graduated from Grade 8 at her school. She won a music award and had a great time at her grad. We're so proud of her and we really were sad not to be able to be there to celebrate in person.

Here's a few pics from the big day.

Sarah in her beautiful dress before the ceremony and party.

Sarah and her sister, Amanda, before the ceremony.

Amanda and her boyfriend, Andrew, goofing around with Chris' sister, Karen.

School Pictures

We didn't get a chance to get a Fall portrait of Alex from his last school before our move and his new school doesn't do Spring portraits, so we arranged for the picture on our own.

Here's Alex's Spring photo of him in Senior Kindergarten - it was taken very close to his sixth birthday too.

Water Day at School

ex's school organized a fun water day for the Kindergarten kids. Alex and his friends had an amazing time and Chris was able to go at the last minute as he had a meeting cancelled, so he was able to go watch the fun and help out a bit.

Family Get Together

My sister Kathy is celebrating her 50th birthday soon, so we decided to have a surprise party for her. We had a bit of a mix up when we scheduled it and we found out a week before the party that Sarah (my niece) was going to be away that weekend so it was decided to not have a birthday party. As we still had a bunch of family invited, we decided to go ahead with the party and just have a fun afternoon.

Chris was already in Burlington on business, so Alex and I took the train to Toronto and Kathy and Sarah picked us up. Sarah stayed home from school that day so we could see her before she left for her camping weekend. The kids had so much fun together and May (Jenny's nanny) took the kids to the park that evening and they had an amazing time.

On the day of the party, Grandpa and Aunt Mary took Kian and Alex to the Science Museum for the morning so we could focus on getting things organized for the party.

The party itself was tons of fun and it was so wonderful to see cousins and our Aunt Julie. We were sorry a few people couldn't make it but overall the day was really fun with lots of good food and laughter.

Here's a few pictures from the kids trip to the museum and also one from the party with Alex in a HUGE swing Jenny has at her place.