Saturday, August 31, 2013

2013 in pictures ~ august

Lilah : August in pictures

botanical gardens, montreal
perth fair
sisters in love
new bike
follow my footsteps
camping @ seedsowers
catch that fish
happiness is at the fair

Friday, August 30, 2013

perth fair

It's Labour Day Weekend around these parts.

The final days before schools starts back again. Routine starts back again. And to be quite honest, I am looking forward to the routine again, maybe a little bit.

So what did we do for the last hurrah of Summer. We went to the Perth Fair, bought the girls ride-all-you-want bracelets and let them at it. I think they rode about 16 rides. They had the time of their lives. There were huge grins all day long. On the dragon rollercoaster they had their arms up in the air while screaming. So funny.

We finished the evening by introducing our girls to 'demolition derby'! Which is basically real life bumping cars. Phebe is still talking about the cars crashing - not sure if that was such a great idea. Heh! After the derby, Lilah, Phebe and I went up in the ferris wheel together - it was definitely a high point to a fabulous day.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Saturday, August 24, 2013

her first big purchase!

If you notice a lot of posts over the next few days, you'll know I'm just trying to get a handle on my life after a fabulously busy summer!

Most recently, yesterday actually... Lilah made her first big purchase. She's been saving her money for a while now (birthday money and jobs around the house money) and she decided to splurge on a Little Mismatched big(ger) girl bike. She also bought a few accessories for it. A (Barbie) bell with a pink heart diamante. Simply cannot believe she chose that over a Cars themed one. Although, in all fairness, she already has a Cars themed one, on her scooter! And she also bought a basket, and last, but not least, a baby carrier and helmet - which seems to be the best part, in Lilah's estimation!

She was so chuffed with herself and has already adjusted to driving her bigger bike, even though the breaking system is done be back pedaling, she is already mastering it very well!

new Big Girl bike new Big Girl bike new Big Girl bike

Thursday, August 22, 2013

the barron canyon

Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike

One of the things that has been on our 'bucket list' for quite a while now is canoeing through the Barron Canyon, in Algonquin Park. We have hiked this trail a few times and seen it from above, but only Colin has had the pleasure of seeing it from below, in a canoe. (He went on a guys-only-camping-trip in the Fall, about 10 years ago, and they did this trip together.)

So we loaded up the vehicle. It's a 2-3 hour drive from where we live and because of that, we decided to stay at a relatively local hotel in Pembroke. We thought about camping, which would have been beautiful, however, I'd already camped with the girls the previous week, so I'd kinda had enough of camping, if you get my gist! We put our canoe in at Squirrel Rapids and went upstream from there, it was about 16kms long (round trip), with one portage (each way) of about 420 meters. The girls were pretty excited at the start, but it didn't take long before Phebe was fast asleep! The canyon was incredible, no words do it justice. The majestic beauty of God's creation just takes my breath away.

We stopped in for a little picnic on our canoe back down river. We had a swim in a Barron River, did some fishing. Such a beautiful relaxing day... well, not for my muscles. But it was well worth the aching muscles! I took these photos with my point and shoot camera - I would have loved to bring my big camera, but alas, two wiggly girls in a canoe, I had nightmares of my camera being submerged in the Barron River!

Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike

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The above pictures were taken on Tuesday when we hiked the trail.
The following pictures were taken during our canoe trip.
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Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike Barron Canyon, Canoe & Hike

[ the flickr set is here ]

Friday, August 16, 2013

seedsowers ~ camping

The girls and I had the time of our lives this past week, camping with SeedSowers.

The campsite, (Domaine de l'Ange-Gardien), is in Quebec, just about 20 miles outside Ottawa. There were approximately 100 people there, families, many many young Christians, all eager to spread the Gospel to homes in Ottawa.

The girls had such a wonderful time, they LOVED camping in a tent, did I mention they loved camping in a tent? Oh they were on such a high sleeping outdoors! And they loved hanging with other little people all day long, not to mention catching frogs and playing in a muddy pond, swimming in the muddy pond and sitting around the campfire listening to testimonies and how peoples lives were changed by their Faith in the Lord.

I feel so thankful to have been part of this. To enjoy other Christians company. To feel uplifted. I'm just so thankful for the gift of Faith filled friends and that my girls get to grow up, surrounded by Christian love.

I didn't take many pictures, just a few to document our time there.

SeedSowers 2013 SeedSowers 2013 SeedSowers 2013 SeedSowers 2013 SeedSowers 2013

Monday, August 5, 2013

catching up!

I have a lot of catching up to do at the moment!

Papie & Nono (my parents) were here, from N.Ireland, for almost three weeks and we had plenty of fun times together. And of course, I have a lot of pictures to prove it! I'll be backdating all my posts to the appropriate dates.

In the meantime, a shout out to Nono (my Mum), since it's her birthday today - Happy Birthday Mum! We miss you.

mont tremblant - day 1

Saturday, August 3, 2013

biodome and botanical gardens ~ montreal

On a whim, since it was an extra long weekend and all that, we decided to head to Montreal and visit the much talked about Biodome & Botanical Gardens.

It did not disappoint. In fact, the history of the biodome is rather interesting too. The building was originally constructed for the 1976 Olympic Games. The biodome part was excellent... you walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in America. There were penguins, puffins, mammals from the ocean, beavers, lynx, etc. The biodome was fun, but I don't think it even remotely compared to the most amazing botanical gardens. And as chance would have it, there are Chinese gardens within the Botanical Gardens. It was absolutely beautiful. Stunning really.

I will let my pictures do the talking, since I was fortunate to capture some of the beauty.

biodome and botanical gardens, montreal biodome and botanical gardens, montreal biodome and botanical gardens, montreal biodome and botanical gardens, montreal biodome and botanical gardens, montreal biodome and botanical gardens, montreal

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[ pictures above were taken in the biodome ]
[ pictures below were taken in the botanical gardens]
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[ the flickr set is here ]