Month: July 2019

The BEST First Day Back

Everyone is so happy to be home ❤️ They are SO happy to play with their toys, old and new, to read their books, to have their beds back, etc. Wavy didn’t sleep well, but I think thats just going to be our life while they molars work their way in. The others, however, slept great. Everyone was comfy and cool and content.

We kicked the morning off with my mom over a waffle brunch. She came bearing bacon, and we had the waffles, peaches, and coffee. It was an awesome morning. The kids were in full “show and tell” mode, showing my mom all the cool stuff they had acquired while at the lake, and the haul they came home to. They were amped, and it showed. They ate and played and told stories and were so happy. We all were. Wavy also had her own fun. Apparently this whole time, we had a cat and didn’t even know it.

Mmmmm. Toilet hands 🤮

Over nap time, Brady ran over to my moms for a little bit. I hadn’t mentioned it on the blog, but there was this whole ordeal while she was visiting us at the lake, where a couple big and heavy parcels had been delivered and dropped in her driveway during a rainstorm. Don’t get me started. Thanks to God, and a strong beautiful community of people, someone covered and protected them, and later on, people showed up to help her get them inside. Thank you, all who helped. You know who you are. I know my mom greatly appreciated your help, as did I. I felt pretty helpless out at the lake that night. Aaaaanyway, Brady ran over today to assemble those chairs and establish them in the living room, as well as throw away one of her old broken chairs. The new setup is SO much nicer 🙂 Once Brady got home, he scooped up the non-nappers and took them on a drive to Rosthern! Another thing I didn’t talk about on the blog was that yesterday, our Baby Brezza kicked the bucket. If you don’t know, its kind of like a Keurig, except its for baby formula. So it holds a tank of warm water at all times and a canister of formula. When baby needs a bottle, there is a perfectly mixed, perfectly heated bottle ready in seconds. Its AWESOME. I hesitated to talk about it breaking because I know, its a luxury and “the old fashioned way” and all that. But still, it was a HUGE bummer that it broke. Brady went to drove for one I found on Facebook Marketplace last night that was being sold for $20. The guy clearly had no idea what he had, but he just wanted to get rid of it. He said the water tank is cracked, but conveniently, ours is not, so a quick swap could do the trick! He even threw in a bottle warmer that he wanted to be rid of. Thank you, sir! So that was a happy outing 🙂

While they were out, and the nappers were napping, Cher came for a shorty visit. She had lots to do today and places to be, so I think she came for an hour. We haven’t seen each other much recently, with her having a trip just before we had a couple trips. We’ll see each other more tomorrow 🙂

Brady and the kids came home as naptime was wrapping up, and now the kids are outside biking. I have Waverly in here, as she’s a bit of a miserable mess these days. Poor dear. Now we just wait for our evening plans to take shape!

Jerilee is coming for the evening!! I haven’t seen much of her recently either, and she’s going on a trip very soon here, too! This was kind of our only chance to hang out for a while, so todays the day! We already have plans to get Subway for supper, and then for Brady to do some work on the basement while she and I indulge in The Bachelorette. ((NO SPOILERS! We’re behind, and this episode feels like a big one!)) We actually are hoping to make some headway on our basement again in the next few weeks, so be on the lookout for that!

This has just been the BEST first day back home! Seeing all of my favorite people in the same day, and feeling motivated about the house rather than sluggish and discouraged like other times. We’ve got so many things to be thankful for.

Waskesiu Trip 2019: Saturday

Today was home time. Our last day of our vacation. We changed our schedule up a bit so our morning ran smoother.

Brady and I got up a bit earlier than usual and packed what we could on the main level that wasn’t the kitchen. When that was done, I went upstairs to retrieve the kids. I got them dressed and made sense of their clothes in the bedrooms so it would be really quick to repack. Once everyone descended to the main floor, we had an easy breakfast of cereal. No bakery, but there was a little change there. They happily ate, and doddled hard, distracted by our packing and bustling around. But it kept them contained, so we could get lots done. We still chatted and had a good time, but we were all where we needed to be.

We finished loading up maybe a half hour early, and on our way out, we saw the building owner was on site! We hadn’t expected to see her! We decided to drop our key off in person rather than leaving it on the table inside. She seemed happy to see us again, and kept reaching for the kids hands, wanting to touch their faces and hair, etc. She was SO smitten. It was really lovely. While we were visiting, another guest came by to speak to her, and remembered us from last summer!! It was pretty crazy, but she was nothing but sweetness herself. It was just like hanging out with friends. I loved it.

Once we finally got our butts into the van, we drove a bit further into town and hauled the kids into the grocery to pick a bakery item for themselves. They were happy to pick, and the staff was super lovely to them. We left with our variety of danishes, fruit sticks, and muffins.

Rowan doddled pretty hard so the others played…

…and eventually, we could all go!

We hit the beach for one last hurrah at the playground! The kids were really happy 🙂

Wavy even started to get a bit more used to the sand…

buuuuut really just wanted to eat rocks. She was NOT impressed when I put a stop to that.

Finally, it was time to legitimately leave town. However, my friend, Hailey, was at her parents cabin this weekend just outside of Waskesiu, and she a new baby I had yet to squeeze!! So that pitstop was VERY important!!!

I’m so glad we stopped. Goodness he’s a good baby. He squeezed good.
The kids were happy, too.

We left for home after SUCH a nice visit. I wish Hailey and I saw each other more often. I love her and her family so much <3

The drive home was quick and painless! It helped that the kids had their new toys from the chalet owner to play with 🙂 We stopped in PA, did not get out of the vehicle this time, but drove through McDonalds for some fries. We also had been gifted some candy, so we split that up between everyone, making for a very yummy mid-afternoon snack. When we got home, no one was out of sorts or upset. It had been a good drive.

Of course, we arrived home to more gifts on our island, for our beautiful kids to help entertain them through the rest of the summer. I am SO fortunate to have such a warm support system for my kids! <3 Thank you EVERYONE who puts into them. I am forever grateful.

The kids opened and enjoyed their new stuff while Brady and I unpacked like mad men. We got it ALL unpacked. I can’t even believe it. I think a lot of that, though, was due to us NOT overpacking this year! I’d always rather overpack than underpack, but this year, we kind of hit the nail on the head! We didn’t have a ton of food to bring back, and the vast majority of our clothes ended up as laundry. It unpacked easily. Since thats finished, our family has inhaled an absurd amount of scrambled eggs and toast, and its just about bedtime.

As always seems to happen, we hit the sweet spot with our trip. I am SO happy and thankful we could be at the lake for the week, but I am SO happy to be home. I can’t wait to have a soak and sleep in my own bed.

Waskesiu Trip 2019: Friday

It stormed here last night! We didn’t get the tornado warnings or the hail that they did back home, but we got some nice crashing thunder and some good solid rain. Brady and I played cards and then didn’t, when the baby caught a serious case of FOMO. 

Once she was back down, we ordered some asian food and watched “Crazy Rich Asians,” because, theme. We had a pretty weird, restless night, for no real reason, but the morning came and the kids were ready to kick the day off! So we did!

Strawberry danishes for breakfast!

We headed outside as soon as everyone was fed and ready. Rowan’s been letting me put his hair in what we call an “ice cream bun” more often these days, including this morning! I love it. 

Laela helped Solly get his sandals on, lol!

The kids all took a bag of garbage out to the dumpster on our way to the playground. Always helping. 

Aaaaand then we made it to the playground! It was kind of blustery, but that didn’t stop the kids. They played great! Dekker and Laela decided one area was their “secret base” and got along really well. Rowan and Solly were loving the slides. And Wavy, as per usual, hung out on the bench with us. 

Unfortunately, playground time ended with an unceremonious exit :/ If only certain stages would go on holidays when we do, am I right? So myself and unnamed child went back to our unit early, and everyone followed about a half hour or so later. Everyone ate pizza rolls, homemade granola bars, and cherries for lunch, and the three younger ones went down for naps. Quiet time ensued, and the big kids did a beautiful job of quietly reading together, and eventually moving on to colouring. They made cute cards for the lady who runs the chalet to thank her for the treats and presents. 

The rain we were promised didn’t show, so we headed to the playground again! More pictures this time 🙂 

This kind of weather used to be my FAVORITE kind to swim in! I hope one day my kids want to venture out into the lake when its cooler and rainy and grey and perfect. 

Finally, it was coming up to supper time, and we went to buy some burger buns before heading back. Things disintegrated a bit on the walk home, so we had a quiet time before supper. Not Wavy, though. She actually fully crawled into the patio doors where Brady was barbecuing. It was hilarious, lol! She recovered, but really wanted to hang out with him. So, they hung out through the glass. Best pictures of the day. Easily. 

We ate DELICIOUS burgers and drank radler. It tasted like summer should taste. So good! Everyone perked up a bit with food, so we figured we’d push our luck and go for one last visit to our beach to throw rocks. It is our last night here. 

On our way out, we ran into the building owner. She was ALL smiles, and wanted to actually meet each kid. I’m amazed every time our kids meet a person with a thick accent, because somehow, they understand them perfectly! They answered her questions and smiled as she gushed over them. She had nothing but lovely things to say, to us and our children. The conversation took a turn, and we learned a HUGE piece of her life story. How she got here, who her family is, why they do what they do, etc. I don’t even know how much to share, because it felt like a personal conversation between friends. She came from a big family herself – eight kids! She had two herself, and would have loved to have more. Sometimes life gets in the way, but we both agreed that we do our best. VERY early in the conversation, she confidently said “Oh, if you’re meant to have more children, you’ll have more. God decides.” WOW did I love that!!! She knew she could go there with us, somehow. We related on so many levels, and beliefs are such a big part of our life, and hers too. I’m so happy we were able to converse with her this evening. We likely won’t see her tomorrow, so this counted for a lot. She told us she was sad we were leaving already, and I believed her. She was so genuine. I told her I was pretty sure we’d see her again soon 🙂 

We finally made our way to throw rocks at the beach. No pictures 🙂 Just playing. 

One last pose for each kid on the big rock…

And to bed everyone went. 

The first half of the day was pretty difficult, I won’t lie. But I LOVE how it wrapped up. Its amazing how positive experiences can make you forget the negative ones so easily. I’m glad we risked it to go out this evening one last time. Was such a pleasant outing. 

Cards and snacks to close the night off for Brady and I!

Waskesiu Trip 2019: Thursday

A great night last night! The kids were nice and bushed from throwing rocks and playing in the water.

Brady and I stayed up playing cards, eating snacks, and even watched a movie, which we almost never do. It was so cozy! Wavy only woke up once, around 2:30, and went right back! Woot!

I grabbed some bakery goods for breakfast, and we made our way to the playground for the morning. We’ve had the promise of a storm following us all day, yet it keeps being pushed further and further back. I’m still hoping it comes overnight!! Meanwhile, everyone back at home is under threat of a tornado! THAT can stay away, but a thunderstorm would be welcome. 

We didn’t take too many pictures at all at the playground, mostly because we just wanted to sit this time. It wasn’t too full, so we could pretty easily keep an eye on each kid most of the time. If we were ever short one, we’d tip off the kid closest to us and they’d go run, and bellow when they located their sibling. They did a great job!! Laela and Dekker both conquered their fears of the fireman pole. Rowan set up camp on a big bear statue and made friends with any kids who happened by. Solly got brave, too, and went down the biggest slide over and over again. He was SO pleased with himself. Brady and I sat on a bench with Wavy.

She was still not fond of sitting in the sand, but she loved watching her siblings play. When they caught on to that, they played closer to her. Laela would fly down the slide and run to our bench where Wavy was flapping madly, with her hands outstretched. Waverly recently picked up on high fives, and gets so excited when her siblings offer her one.

She also dances when we suggest it. She’ll do it ALL when she’s jazzed about something, like her siblings playing on the playground! Just wait for her to join in next summer!! <3 How crazy is it that her baby party was just over a year ago??? What a time that was…

Post-playground, we headed home for lunch.

Things weren’t going quite so smoothly at that point, so lunch was short and unceremonious, and all five kids went down for a nap afterwards. Our suspicion is that, while we slept soundly, the kids maybe were up a bit in the night, because they were all acting like the hadn’t gotten any sleep! So nap time was in order, and everyone slept! Woot! Except Brady and I. We enjoyed movie night last night, so we made a movie nap time, too. We watched “The Net.” Brady had never seen it, so that needed to be rectified. 

With the clouds staying grey and the cool wind picking up, we decided to stay close to home this afternoon. Everyone got baths.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making forts around Wavy and listening to Brady play guitar. It was actually super lovely. 

Supper was pizza, veggies, and pringles. For the kids, anyway. Brady and I decided we deserved a treat after they went to bed, and will be indulging in some asian food right away here. Cantonese chow mien is pretty much my favourite thing, and Brady always loves ginger beef. We actually had a little ginger beef snack the other day, and apparently its an itch that needs to be scratched again! 

I want to say sorry for the less-than-riveting post, but it was a less-than-riveting day, and we like to keep it real 😉 Have a great night!! Try and not be out in the tornado…

Waskesiu Trip 2019: Wednesday

We woke up to RAIN! Honestly, I was so happy 🙂 You guys know I love the rain. Especially when the weather is otherwise lovely. And that was today. I walked to the bakery in the rain completely happily, got our danishes and cream cheese pockets, and headed back slowly. It was so refreshing. 

Our morning was pretty much wonderful. It was peaceful. We hung out inside, colouring, reading, building duplo, and listening to music. Wavy was having a rough time (that poor girl and her molars!) but she worked hard and made it through the morning. While we were eating lunch, there was a knock at our door. It was a delivery from the chalet owner. Do you remember when we came and stayed a night earlier in Spring when it was still snowed over, and she sent us home with a bag full of treats? Not her, but someone came for her, carrying a gift bag filled with treats and gift!!!

It COMPLETELY blew us all away! She took time, and made a present for our kids! The couple that runs this place own and operate three businesses that we know of!! They are SO busy, and she expressed to us last time we stayed that she wished she could treat more people more often, but that summer is just too busy. Yet here she goes <3 I was SO touched. 

So with that bright spot to wrap up our morning, we put the little kids down for naps, and spent some time with the big ones. I worked on a project, Brady played some guitar, and Dekker and Laela flip flopped between reading and coloring. Bradys and my bed is in the centre of the living room, and Laela and Dekker made it their comfy spot for most of the afternoon. 

The rain had stopped by the time everyone woke up, so we hit the playground! 

No filter on this chicky!

Everyone was super happy, and playing really well. I was pushing Rowan on the swing when the skies opened up and poured out more rain on us! WOW did that playground clear out fast! People were grumbling and trying to haul their kids off to their vehicles. And to be fair, our family had dropped our stuff under a pretty sheltered tree, so we all gathered there and weren’t getting too wet. Some of us were more excited about the rain than others, though 😉 I LOVE rain at the lake!! I couldn’t resist heading over to the water to really enjoy the rain. 

Just picture it. The water was warm, and the sand felt amazing on my feet. The rain was coming down beautifully, but it wasn’t cold or windy or blustery. Just perfect. The sound was so peaceful. Very “white noise” except that it was real. And the smell!!! That was the best part, because it was SO fresh, with the occasional blast of campfire smell. Just. Perfect. 

My sidekicks were pretty cute to boot, too. 

Our family was waiting under the tree when I finally had some of this out of my system. Only one was less than impressed, but he lived 😉 

Ok, two less than willing participants.

Really, this is what the lake should look like. Walking hand in hand, barefoot, down the sidewalk, because your shoes are too sandy. It was SO good. 

We feasted on perogies, sausage, and broccoli all grilled up outside, and risked yet another walk to the side beach before bed. It was excellent. I feel so much more myself today. The rain seems to have that effect on me. 

Waskesiu Trip 2019: Tuesday

We did SO much better last night!! Thank you to those who prayed for a smoother time. It truly was so much more restful, and we felt way better equipped for the day. 

I ran for bakery breakfast items on my own this morning, and the kids were thrilled to learn that they had cherry danishes today!! They love danishes no matter what, but the red ones are always the favourites. 

After breakfast, we were lucky enough to have my mom come visit!! <3 I’m so thankful she was willing to drive out and be with us! She came with milk (Why are there no 4L jugs here??) and a little treat of some ginger beef for Brady and I. YUM! We loaded everyone up almost right away and went to the playground. The kids were SO looking forward to it, and they had a blast. 

I admit, I was feeling pretty nervous about having them all out there, not all in my view all the time, but we had a good pep talk before we went, and everyone remembered the rules, and remembered why they were important. They kept an eye on each other, and of course, so did we. They did awesome. I’m SO proud of my children. 

It was really good to see mom <3 Wavy thought so, too. Its good to get those two together. 

The playground was fun, but everyone was getting fatigued and dehydrated, so it was soon time to head back for lunch. We ate pizza rolls and cold veggies and drank a ton of water. And then it was nap time!

My mom brought us some special treats – some new books for the kids to read, and some candies! It was a yummy, peaceful nap time. 

We eventually settled at the table and coloured together. Brady played quiet guitar. It was pretty awesome. Wavy woke up first and joined the fray of adults and big kids, but those middle boys stayed cashed out for longer than we had bargained for. We finally had to wake them :/ It was too bad, but it was necessary. Rowan was ok, but Solly was down for the count. He was sweaty and draggy and over it the moment he was up. So we pretty quickly made the judgement call to have an early supper. 

Mom took us out for supper at our favourite little restaurant in town. 

We noticed the heat is doing beautiful things for Waverly’s hair!! Eek!

We ate fries, fish, burgers, pizza, grilled cheese, and our body weight in fries. Our plan had been ice cream for dessert, but we decided to delay that a little and go find another place to play. We played and chatted until the breakdown began again, then we took a long way back to the restaurant for ice cream!

Flattering for everyone, of course. They LOVED their dessert. Its actually one of my favourite things because at Waskesiu, when everyone gets a different kind, everyone shares unceasingly with one another, almost pushing their flavour against the others. No holding back, everyone tries everyone’s ice cream. Today, we passed around mango, black cherry, kit kat, rolo, peanut butter cup, and cotton candy. It was awesome 🙂 And then, because we’re us, we went to run some of that sugar off at our favourite little chunk of the beach. We threw rocks, and Dekker and Laela successfully skipped stones. It was really relaxing. SO many pretty rocks, too. I’m thinking I might make a post solely about the rocks we found here. Not that we’re bringing any home, of course, because *cough* National park *cough.* 

We’re back now, and the kids are all exhausted and tucked away 🙂 Time for cards and a radler to close the day!

Waskesiu Trip 2019: Monday

I’m not going to sugarcoat the night. It was a TOTAL disaster. Worse than any other night I can think of, honestly. We were up for hours in the night for reasons like “My bed is too small for me” (was a twin sized bed) and “my blankets are twisted.” I’m not joking. HOURS. So needless to say, everyone slept very little and the morning was rough. We decided to stay in for the morning, keep a low profile, and hopefully venture out in the afternoon. 

It was a nice morning in. I worked on some knitting. Brady played guitar. Laela and Dekker coloured. Rowan and Solly built duplo. Wavy tried to open the wood burning stove and chewed on toys. (Don’t worry, I blocked her.)

It was pretty chill. We ate some snacks for lunch and set up for naps. 

Except naps went just about the same as the night. SUCH a bust. And I assure you, it wasn’t because no one was tired. They were wiped. Overtired, in fact, but not having it. Wavy got maybe a half hour before all the ruckus woke her, and we couldn’t get her back to sleep. The others did eventually fall asleep, and as it tends to go, she was finally ready to sleep as everyone else was waking up. But then she couldn’t stay sleeping. It. Sucked. 

We needed a change of scenery, so we risked public fatigue tantrums, and went to the grocery store for a couple of things. We came well prepared, food wise, but expected to buy a few things on site. We didn’t bring milk because of how much space it takes up, but they don’t have 4L jugs out here!! So it looks like we’ll be popping in for a 2L every day! We grabbed one of those, as well as a loaf of fresh bakery bread! We didn’t bring any bread, as we didn’t want it to squish in the van. So with our bread and milk, we headed back to our spot and made a delicious breakfast for supper! I feel like that really did everyone some good. We LOVE breakfast for supper! We al enjoyed scrambled eggs and bacon, cheese toast, and cherries. Everyone ate a ton of food and felt SO good afterwards! We were definitely ready for our evening visit to our beach. The kids have decided to name it either Thunder Pond or Lightening Lake, because of the ominous weather last night. 

It was nice to get out with them, when everyone was feeling a bit better. 

It was windier today, but it was GORGEOUS!

It was just UNREAL beautiful today!

I decided to push my luck and push for a kid picture. Solly was SO tired and wanted to stay in the stroller, but I straight up bribed him. The promise of a cookie when we got back to our unit saved the day. Plus he said he would only do it if he was with Dekker. So, he was. And it kinda worked!

Until it didn’t, lol!

Wavy was unimpressed that I had set her down, but that split second still got one usable picture, lol! We regrouped and tried again. It was a pretty cute progression. Not polished at all, but cute 🙂

Finally Dekker said he was going to drop Wavy…

So we called it quits. But seriously, it couldn’t have gone much better. They did SO good. 

Even on rough days, I am SO grateful for my family. Thank you Lord for these beautiful people!

Waskesiu Trip 2019: Sunday

We’re heeeeere! We made it to our destination a couple of hours before check-in, and our room was ready early! Woot! Here we were, expecting to ask for generosity in the way of them letting us unpack our fridge stuff a bit early, but rather, we could move right in! WIN!

There was a pretty off-putting moment when we actually got to the chalet though, when our van was virtually surrounded by spruce beetles and horseflies. It was so disgusting. Laela was fully curled up in her booster seat, crying. I felt about the same. See, here’s the thing. We have the BEST unit in the whole building! Its more secluded, with neighbours on only one side, and less worry for us to keep the kids super quiet. We have nicer furniture and newer appliances. And its SO clean. But because its all tucked away in the trees, the bugs are a DISASTER. Brady ended up driving to a further parking lot so we could actually exit our van without letting everything inside, and I RAN to the unit with the kids. We made it fun, actually. Laela was the most upset and afraid, so I grabbed her and carried her while I ran. I made up some silly song while I ran and she was giggling like crazy. When I set her down to unlock the door, I kept singing about how we had to keep moving so nothing would land on us. Her face flip flopped from concerned to silly back to concerned as she wiggled and jumped while I unlocked the door. I finally got us in and slammed the door behind us. Brady joined shortly afterwards and toured the place with everyone. At one point, there was a shriek from upstairs. Poor Rowan was petrified by the disgusting spruce beetle on his shoulder! GROSS!!! Those things are awful. 

Brady took the hit and unloaded everything on his own while the rest of us stayed inside, safe from the bugs. He’d walk up to the door with his arms full, I’d whip the door open, he’d come in as fast as possible, I’d slam the door behind him, he’d set down what he’d brought in, and then promptly kill anything that had come in with him. *shivers* It was super gross. Those things were everywhere. Once it was done, we kind of wondered just how much we’d actually venture out this trip…

We made the most of it, though, and enjoyed the unpacking/settling in process. The kids cracked out the one small tub of actual toys we’d brought, and busied themselves with books and duplo. No one napped today, so it got pretty interesting pretty early. We decided on an early supper, a walk to the lake, and then a snack before bed to top everyone up. So we did just that! Brady bravely grilled up some hotdogs (mysteriously no bugs on our porch) and we ate our body weight in hotdogs, veggies, and chips.

Its amazing how much they can eat already, wow! But they LOVED supper, which always feels good to see 🙂 No complaints. But they wanted to get out and walk ASAP. 

Our research told us that spruce beetles aren’t active in the evening, so we tested it out, and sure enough, almost none were to be found! Win! Still, we doused everyone in bug spray before our walk. 

It was SUCH a nice walk. We walked over to our little side beach and threw rocks in the water. The big kids ran and played and the littler ones sat in the stroller and zoned a little. It began to spit a little, so we began to mosey on back. But guys, it was SO nice, we decided to actually stretch our walk a little! We found our way to a funny little playground geared towards much younger kids, but our whole crew was happy to be there. They played for a bit, but the rain really started to pick up and it was time to go back to our spot. I LOVED the walk in the rain. Its actually still raining 🙂 

Their grunge band photo

Once we were here and settled, the kids got into their jammies (or out of their wet clothes, anyway) and sat down for their bedtime snack. We’re not a family of snackers so this is a pretty good treat 🙂 Everyone got a pizza roll and a handful of cherries. It was a GOOD snack. 

They all snuggled up, said their prayers, and went to bed fairly seamlessly, minus one who struggles the hardest without a nap. Probably not who’d you think 😉 But they’re all tucked in now,

and I’m exited to spend the evening with Brady, playing cards, eating snacks, and listening to the rain. I hope it continues through tomorrow!

Packing and Prepping

It has been a FULL day of packing for the lake! I thought I’d give you a breakdown of what we all bring along and set up for a trip such as this.

Before I tell you what we packed, I’ll tell you what I prepped.

In advance, I made three batches of pizza rolls and three batches of granola bars. I chopped up a ton of vegetables and pitted two pounds of cherries. That felt like an accomplishment all on its own!

Now to packing 🙂

Every single person in our family brought at least seven short sleeved shirts, two long sleeved shirts, two hoodies, jeans, two pairs of shorts, swimwear, sweats and sweat shorts, seven pairs of underwear and socks, a jacket, shoes, sandals, rubber boots, and a hat. Of course, the girls have some leggings, dresses, rompers, etc. as well. So that right there is a decent amount of stuff! I save myself a bunch of time by leaving everything on hangers and laying them in big industrial tubs. That way, I can just pull everything out and hang it up once we get to the lake, and there’s no folding and no mess. We easily got all five kids clothes into one big tub! Their stuffed toys fit in there, as well. Win! Brady and I have a similar packing list for clothing, obviously. We also bring our bedding, because we’re high maintenance like that. Besides our bedding, we’re bringing two fold-out mattresses, two sleeping bags, and a playpen for Waverly. Bringing those things makes it EASY for us to all comfortably fit. We could do this stay without the extras but this makes it so much more comfortable! And we’re already bringing basically everything we own, so why not?

Toiletries are big, too. Everyone brings a toothbrush, obviously, and we have a pretty wicked of “just in case” medicine, including all ages of Advil, Tylenol, and Benadryl. We have tons of bug spray, sun screen, and After-Bite. We have ample amounts of bandaids and all that goes with them. We’re *hopefully* ready for anything! On top of those things, we have obvious toiletries, like some makeup, hair stuff, moisturizer, etc. Just basics, though.

Kitchen stuff is always the biggest part of packing. We bring most of our own food, and while the kitchenette is “full,” it doesn’t always work for a group our size. So we have packed our biggest pot and biggest frying pan. We brought our own knives, and a big stack of paper plates and solo cups. We have a lot of groceries to pack and bring, but I actually feel pretty good about how little of that we can pack the day ahead of time! Makes me feel like a bit more of our food is “real food” this time around, haha! We do currently have chips, crackers, and a few other little things packed, but there’s much more to go! We’ll buy milk and bread there. No business trying to keep that much milk in a cooler, or to have our buns and bread get massacred in the van. We packed coffee, creamers, and filters. Because priorities. Travel mugs, too! Didn’t bring those last year, and definitely should have. We also bring black garbage bags, white garbage bags, grocery bags, ziploc bags, back clips, etc. It seems excessive but you’d be amazed at how much we use!

We brought a HUGE stack of coloring pages, courtesy of my mom, as well as workbooks, crayons, and pencil crayons. We still need to pack up the Duplo, some books, and some little Waverly toys. We packed Skip-Bo, Phase 10, and tile rummy. We downloaded some movies off of iTunes and Netflix as well, just in case of rainy days, which the forecast has promised to us 😉 We will be aaaaall entertained. Lucky for us, we’re not afraid of getting out in the rain either, and have some big water squirty toys that I hope we get the chance to crack out!

Currently, the laptop is backing up, so its at its best for our trip. Camera batteries are charged, all charger cables/bricks are on the list to pack tomorrow, and I even wiped just about all the pictures/videos off my phone. I am READY to make memories, and hopefully record a couple of them.

Quick! What am I forgetting?

Getting Ready!

Today was our day to get shopped up and stocked up for the lake! We added a couple of things, and neglected other things, but for the most part, stuff got done!

We started by dropping off out cans and bottles at a nearby recycling depot. It never brings in much, but its nice to have a little cash on hand. Then we headed into Saskatoon for haircuts! Brady needed a trim, and my side shave needed cleaning up. Dekker was overdue for a haircut, and Laela had finally decided she needed one, too. She’s been flip flopping between wanting to have hair “short like Dekker” and being Rapunzel. Both being solidly different avenues, I wasn’t in a rush to book her a cut. I figured she’d decide when the time came, and that was today! Meanwhile, Solly said he might want a haircut, but promised to cry and fight the whole time 😉 So we figured we’ll wait a bit longer. And Ro is still super happy with his long hair! Look at his cool “ice cream” bun today!

She was kind of the star of the show today, just because she’s only had one other haircut before, and she was SO excited. She begged to go first, and Dekker was fine with that, so she got her chance.

I showed Carlinna the picture Laela and I had chosen, and was right on board with us. Laela has said many times that she wanted hair like Dekker’s, but I had recently figured out that she only wanted short hair because the last time they got haircuts together, Carlinna had used the blowdryer to dust Dekker’s neck off, but hadn’t used it on her. Once that was clear, we could move forward and get her a cut she truly loved. And we did! Laela got her neck blown off with the dryer, and got her hair curled a little bit, even! All about the experience for her 😉 And she looked BEAUTIFUL at the end!! So much more like herself, somehow.

She’s basically a teenager.

Dekker, too, was a total champ, cooperated beautifully through his haircut, and looks WAY more comfortable in his own skin. He feels fantastic when his hair is fresh. I have to remember that and take him in more often.

Brady and I went quickly, and then we all piled out of there. The promise of free puppies and espresso for misbehaved kids never showed up, either, so I think we passed! Woot!

We spent the rest of the morning and a few hours in the afternoon in ALL the grocery stores – Walmart, Superstore, and Costco. We bought just about everything we need for Waskesiu, though I’m SO disappointed at how picked over the fruit was! I was counting on BC cherries and they were nowhere to be found!!! Booooo! But thats ok. We always stop in Mville on our way to the lake for breakfast, so maybe I’ll stick my head in at Co-op and see what I can see 🙂 What we DID find is that our creamer comes in 2L jugs now, sooooo…

…thats a thing! Or, those are things, rather. Because we bought two.

We ate lunch in between, and listened to some new music that Brady and I need to learn. Did I mention we booked another coffeehouse gig? Because we diiiiid!

We finished the day off at Costco, and hauled in everything we needed, including a *gag* snowsuit for Laela *gag.* I’m both grossed out and happy that we have it over with. It feels wrong, though. SO wrong.

Now we’re home, and somewhat organized. Not at all packed. Not at ALL packed. But mostly caught up on laundry, and I have a master list going. Monster list. That seems more accurate. But tomorrow is our big packing day!!! Wish us luuuuuck!