A Bonus Monday at the Lake

We haven’t had many weekdays at the lake, but that is one bonus of Brady working on Saturday. Changes things around just a touch, but it makes things a little different in the campground. It was very, very nice. And a little silly.

We had the pleasure of still spending time with our dear Dahlsjos.

We moved slowly, schedule-free, and made our way from the long morning fire to the lake. It was incredibly relaxed and lovely.

We brought a schwack of leftover fruit from the day and week past, and picked at it while the kids ran in and out of the water.

We lunched on the beach as well, and around 4:30, Brady and I decided it was time to pack up. Stacy lovingly stole all the kids who wanted to be stolen, and entertained them for us while Brady and I got the bulk of the work done. Of course, a couple of helpers could not be left out, and they proceeded to help pack, dry dishes, and haul wood. It was awesome ๐Ÿ’œ I am SO appreciative!

Leaving was bumpy this time, but it isn’t always, so thats ok. Still plenty of beautiful memories I’ll carry with me, both in myself and on my blog ๐Ÿ™‚

Only three weekdays until we go back!! Having Monday and Friday off of work is reminiscent of being totally spoiled last summer. SO much camping! But those three days were full, and they’re only fuller now! Wish me luck!

Camp, Salad, and a Seadoo

It was a very sweet day here at the lake โ˜€๏ธ lots of lovely events and warm memories. 

It began with fire, as it almost always does. 

Smorning went down, with our family, the Dahlsjos, a couple of their cousins/nieces and nephews, and Cher. The mood was light, and the fire was hot. Sโ€™mores cooked up fast and kids took off to play. Around then, my mom arrived! The gang was officially all here! 

To the beach we went, where we began to get aquatinted with the new seadoo that the Dahlsjos recently purchased!!! 

Now. They wonโ€™t admit it, but this was bought entirely with Brady in mind, as something he could use actively without needing functioning legs! Plus, itโ€™s an easier investment than a boat right now so itโ€™s a win win! Brady is committed as the giver of seadoo rides! He is LOVING it. 

Dekker and I left the beach around 2:45 and got him up to camp for 3:00 registration! 

He was so excited to get back to camp, and this year we signed him up for robotics camp! He is so stoked, and was completely squirmy to go. Iโ€™m excited to pick him up later this week ๐Ÿ’œ 

We beached it a bit longer but with the weather going from rain to sweat in the blink of an eye, and the hour approaching supper time, we called it around 4:30. 

We all headed back to our campsite for supper with the whole crew ๐Ÿ’œ

We served up a big salad bar, with chicken nuggets, all kinds of toppings, and garlic toast on the side. And some drinks, because, yum. Meanwhile, Kelly baked up some yummy dessert nearby. 

Cher and my mom left shortly after supper, and the Dahlsjos said goodnight very shortly after that as well. I think everyone is so tired but also really content. It was such a nice day ๐Ÿ’œ 

Well go home tomorrow. But weโ€™ll be back in the blink of an eye. Blinkier than usual. At least thatโ€™s the plan! Who knows whatโ€™s actually in store? ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ 

Cher Turns Thirty Three

The world has been blessed with another year of my sweet Chericeย ๐Ÿ’œย 

I am very grateful to be in that world, and to have this dear girl on my daily life. 

You may have noticed, but Cher and I have been friends for five-ish years, and they have been positively HUGE years! Not just any friend would stick it out through truly ALL the ugly bumps. There is a dedication there, to stretch with change. That takes love. Very real love from both of us to one another. The kind that you CHOOSE, and you put legitimate work into! BOTH of you! Both of US.ย 

Cher, you are my best friend. THE best friend. My sister.ย ๐Ÿ’œย 

And Bradys sister, which is also a beautiful friendship to witness. You are an involved auntie who positively POURS love into my children, biological or otherwise. No playing of favourites, either. You are a willing helper, and a dedicated problem solver, occasionally shouldering more of the load than you needย ๐Ÿ˜˜ย but with the fullest heart of love that is impossible to not see. All your motives are good and right. We have yet to scare you off, and that says a lot about your endurance. Are you ready for all that is still to come??ย 

I respect that you donโ€™t care for birthday hoopla but I love that you love aging ๐Ÿ’œ I want some of that. Can you Cher some with me? 

Sometimes we both say weโ€™re sad to have only gotten close in our 30s, but we trust Gods plan. Itโ€™s so much better than our own, as weโ€™ve seen time and time again. And hey, our 30s arenโ€™t over yet! 

And then there are still our 40s. 

And 50s. 

60s. 

70s. 

80s. 

90s. 

And on and on, across the hall from each other in the care home, old and senile, but still best friends ๐Ÿ’œ 

Me and you, babeย ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿงกย Peas and carrots. I am SO happy you were born. This world NEEDS you. Thereโ€™s a plan there, and Iโ€™m honoured to close to you while you work on it. A true honour.ย 

I love you, girly. Happy birthday ๐Ÿ˜˜๐ŸŽ‚

A Different Schedule This Weekend

I want to say that I’m happy its Friday, and I am, but not as happy as I am some other weekends, haha! Brady works this Saturday, which is always a bit of a buzzkill :/ It changes our lake time significantly. However, we will still have an absolute BLAST! Maybe even more so than usual!

Tomorrow is Chers birthday! So I’ll see her a bit in the day, and then she’ll enjoy the rest of her day in some fun ways that she’s planned ๐Ÿ’œ I’m not going to blast all of her plans.

Our family will come up quite late on Saturday evening. Because we cannot bear to sleep at home when we could be sleeping at the lake!

Sunday, both Cher and my mom will be with us ๐Ÿ’œ Plus our dear Dahlsjos. What an incredible group of people to have all in one place! In OUR place! Our precious lake spot!

The weather is even supposed to be beautiful โ˜€๏ธ I can’t wait!

Sunday afternoon, however, we’ll lose Mr. Dekker to robotics camp, for which he is SO excited!!!

Off I go! Time to tie up as many loose ends as I can before tomorrow! Which, conveniently, isn’t too many! Yesterday and today aren’t insane days, and tomorrow will also be pretty chill, I believe! I’m grateful we made it smoothly through the BIG days, and that we have some slower days to enjoy afterwards.

Happy Friday, friends! ๐Ÿ’œ

Yesterdays Whirlwind

As I mentioned yesterday, I took all the kids to a morning appointment, then back home for lunch, and then back into the city. We were in the city from about 3:30-6:30, killing a lot of time and trying to be at least somewhat productive. I’ve been really trying to wrap up the whole school supplies thing ahead of time this year, and I’m SO CLOSE! If any of my keener friends are hitting up/ordering from Staples anytime soon, can I please add something super tiny to your order? Cannot justify driving in for such a tiny thing, but I can get it myself in the future as well ๐Ÿ˜… I’m just so eager to wipe this slate clean and not worry about school supplies anymore!

We perused Walmart for a good hour, getting some missed supplies and VERY little else of what we came for. Merp. But that was alright. We still got a few groceries, and even ran into a friend. It was cute but also total chaos. These kids have not been in stores enough since covid killed all of our family grocery shopping fun. Its like herding cats. Especially with Wavy! Whew! That one is just positively buzzing!

Anyway. The joy of all the action and everyone being super hyper was that they slept well and woke up pretty happy ๐Ÿ’œ

I LOVE when they wake up happy ๐Ÿ’œ

Two of the kids were off for the morning. It felt oddly peaceful to be down to four, but I was not complaining! I had a coffee and planning date with Cher, and now I’m doing a little bit more planning with Brady via text. Meals for camp and such. Our weekend is a bit out of order this time around, thanks to a Saturday at work, but we’re making it work! Just shifting some things around ๐Ÿ™‚ Still easy.

I’m looking forward to the weekend. And I’m also anticipating a day or two FREE of appointments, starting today! Still lots to do, but with fewer deadlines.

Still hoping for a family walk this evening ๐Ÿ’œ That would be really nice.

The First Time in a While

Today I brought ALL of the kids to the doctor!! Thankfully, only two of them were actually being seen, but I had six in tow! Its been a long time since I took all five to the doctor, much less six! Hahaha! It was pretty cute, though. I think the waiting room was a lot quieter before we got there, but no one seemed put off.

When we all went into the exam room, the person who walked us back there was wide-eyed, but had a big smile on. She kept saying “This is so great!” I liked it, hahaha!

Dr. Guselle ran a bit behind, but I never mind that, because she doesn’t rush her patients. She takes all the time they need, and we receive that same care, if not more so than average. So we happily wait our turn, however late it may be, knowing we will get to ask every question, explain everything thoroughly, and enjoy a bit of banter. We love her.

She came in and seemed SO pleased to see absolutely everyone!

As hard as I worked, it was not our quietest appointment, but we got through it pretty simply. Rowan and Solomon were the patients today, so Dr. Guselle asked them a host of questions about their general health, as well as checked up on their medication and how they were doing on it. What was easier. What could use some improvement. Things like that. Everyone’s height and weight were good. Bathroom stuff good. No big pains or struggles. Everything checked out, and we left with an updated prescription, as well as some ultrasound forms for some swollen lymph nodes that have stayed swollen longer than any of us appreciate. Other than that, things are going swimmingly with the middle boys!

We left our personal sauna of an exam room after asking every single one of our questions and taking away any semblance of a lunch break our doctor may have had. She still managed to catch me and say some really kind things as the kids ran ahead. She is so lovely.

The morning was a whirlwind but we made it! Back home we went for lunch and a one hour rest before we head back into the city!! If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times – never a shortage of things to do!

My Soft Children

I just wanted to post some beautiful pictures of some of my children from last night ๐Ÿ’œ A couple quick pictures just really really turned out and I want to remember them.

A rare calm moment with Solomon. Isn’t he gorgeous here? I so rarely see his face without glasses these days, and when I do, its just a different level of softness ๐Ÿ’œ My little snuggly boy, all wrapped up in one of my best blankets. I love this picture.

And then us girlies ๐Ÿ’œ

I went to tuck them in for night, and it was later in the day, so everyone went down at the same time, which rarely happens. Wavy insisted I climb in with her, and Laela joined the cuddle ๐Ÿ’œ I’m not sure all three of us have ever been in Wavy’s bed at once, but I loved it!! Wavy had both of us in a death grip and the flash was a shock, but it is SUCH a nice picture ๐Ÿ’œ

Tucking kids in and getting them up every morning are my chances to get intentional face time with each child, and I really love those times. I really, really love these children ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ

A Quiet Moment

Now that I’m typing this, it’s going to end. But I’m going to risk it…

Currently, three children are napping. One is sleeping. Two are at least very quiet in their rooms. I couldn’t say for sure.

I can hear a baby swing whirring, with a jingly toy slowly circling above.

Lego is clicking. Book pages are turning.

Laundry is being sorted and folded.

And I suppose my keys are clicking, also.

It is SO peaceful for the moment. There is still much to do, but for the moment, I am grateful for this quiet break in the day.

The morning contained coffee and visits.

Then lunch.

Then a handful of important phone calls.

A little bit of worrying. A little bit of scrolling. A lot of trying to keep things straight and level.

And after naps, I’ll load up all the kids into the van and head to the next thing!

Is it bedtime yet?

Gloomiful

You know what I mean. Those beautiful grey days. We had a glorious one today at the lake. While I LOVE the hot hot summer days, and being warm to the core, I also love fall camping. I’m not entirely ready for it to take over the summer season just yet, but there are so many nice things about fall camping, and a big one is really soaking up the fires, drinking coffee, fewer bugs, etc.

Today was gloomy, but SO lovely, so I’m dubbing it gloomiful.

See what I’m saying?

I got up for the day and found my dear Avery and Jaxon setting up the campsite for our weekly smorning date. Jaxon does chairs and Avery builds the fire. They have a system.

Don’t worry, Avery waits until I’m up before she starts the fire ๐Ÿ’œ

Our kids were up shortly thereafter and as usual, there was a warm reception. I LOVE the dynamic between our two families.

The rest of the morning was spent sipping coffee around the fire.

We relaxed, and stoked the fire for hours. The kids must’ve hauled five loads of wood in our big wagon by the end of the day. It was positively awesome. I loved the day.

All this to say, it was a busier weekend at the campground, and the beach wasn’t as relaxing as it usually is. But the campsite sure was, and I will take no issue ๐Ÿ’œ There will be many days left in the season to spend in and on the water.

Tomorrow begins yet another big week for our family. Four appointments. Three meetings. At least one important phone call. Hosting one supper guest and being supper guests another night. A work Saturday and a very important birthday! Aaaaand being in total limbo in a few other ways that should potentially resolve this week ๐Ÿ˜… If you are the praying kind, please offer one up in the name of our family!

Happy Sunday, everyone ๐Ÿ’œ Welcome to the week!

A Beautiful Day in Photos

It has been a beautiful day of friends, food, and fun. Crocheting by the fire. Playing with a baby. Listening to Brady play guitar. Shivering by the water. Napping. Online shopping. Cooking over the fire. Itโ€™s been lovely. 

I cannot, and will not, complain about this day.ย 

Thank you Lord for this place, and all youโ€™ve given us. You continue to carry us through.