Playing down by the lake, part the third

Rachel washing down the dock...
...and the canoe...
...and pretty much anything else that gets in her way.

Playing by the lake, part the second

Elliot throwing muddy sand.

And enjoying the ensuing result.

Playing in the lake

To say that the kids loved playing in the lake is un understatement. They were ecstatic every minute. Elliot particularly seemed to enjoy throwing mud up in the air - most of which landed on himself. After each shovelful he would stop for a moment....and then do it again.
Rachel was more of a water pourer. She washed down the dock many, many times (and gave Elliot what for when he threw sand on it. "Elliot, I just washed that..."). She also dumped a few buckets of water on her brother.
To say that we have a lot of laundry to do on our return from the cottage is also an understatment.

Blowing bubbles

We thought we would get her hooked on the habit early - of blowing bubbles!
Doesn't she look like a little pink and orange hobbit or something.
Elliot - who is not in the picture - loves blowing bubbles too. But he usually sucks on the pipe first pretty much bursting any hope of getting a bubble out. He can say bubble too "bub-bo." Only it usually comes out more like "bu-bo-bu-bo-bu-bo-bu-bo."

Deck building

They are adding a new deck onto the cottage. As you can see, a lot of thought and effort has gone into this. It's going to be fantastic when it is finished.
On one side, it is going to be high enough to sit and store things under.
On the other, still high enough to store things under. Here's Dennis doing his best handy man's imitation. Thankfully someone mangaged to talk him into putting the drill down, and no one was hurt (much).

Muskoka chairs

The kids really enjoyed the Muskoka chairs at Grandma and Grandpa's cottage. Although it takes a lot of work to get into and out of them!
Waiter! Where's my tasty beverage?

Why boys are different from girls

Here is Rachel at the cottage standing beside Grandma's beautiful flower. She really enjoyed picking a beautiful bouquet of daisies, bluebells and buttercups for Grandma and Grandpa as well.
Here is Elliot enjoying the boat trailer. Enough said.

The sockless wonder...

Here is Elliot jammed into his car seat, between the luggage, on the car trip up to the cottage. And yes, that is a Maple Leafs sticker stuck to his forehead. (and in case you are asking, why the Leafs? Rachel had the Senator's one.)
Here is Elliot pulling off his socks somewhere around Paudash (close to the end of our journey)
Toes. The best toys. Cheap, and they come pre-installed.

Couch surfing

The kids know they are not supposed to jump on the couch - but no one said anything about jumping on them when they don't have any cushions on them! (The cushions are off because Rachel was sick on them. Not to put too fine a point on it, but thank goodness for a brown couch...)
Caught in the act!
Too late! I have it all on digital!

Reflections

Elliot looks like he is swimming in a pool with his clothes on. He is actually taking a close look at one of Jeanette's favourite part of the art gallery - its an overhead sky light shining down through a fountain with a glass bottom onto a floor made up of granite and glass alternating tiles. Simple really. But the effect is stunning - and the kiddies loved it.

Elliot checks out the art gallery

As the book says "Urban babies appreciated architecture" "Urban babies appreciate art galleries" Here we have our urban baby appreciating both. I think he just really liked running up and down the ramp.

Family portrait summer 2008

It's been a while, so we had someone snap a picture of us at the 1K race. Actually, if you want to get technical, it is family plus one - you can see our friends' baby Benson sleeping in the chariot in the background (he's a machine, he has already done his first 10K).

Rachel's first 1K run!

Here is Rachel getting ready for her first 1K run. Unbeknownst to us, Rachel was coming down with a gastro flu at the time (we found out later when she got a fever and then threw up).
As a result, perhaps it was not the fun, exciting Canada Day event it was cracked up to be for Rachel. Her dad had fun though...

Orange popsicle

Nothing better than an orange popsicle to cool off after your 1K training run. Especially if it matches your sweater so perfectly.

Puddle jumping part deux

June was a rainy month. So we did a lot of puddle stomping and splashing.
While Rachel was out doing her training run for her 1 K, Elliot ran through this puddle about four million times.

Training run

Here is Rachel training for her first ever 1K run. Her dad is carrying her water bottle for her so she can carry her giant fake flower (which she says is an umbrella). Run, Rachel, Run!

Fifth Anniversary

June 28 was our fifth anniversary. How did that time go by so fast? (might have something with two children in a short span of time...)

To celebrate, we spent the weekend in Montreal sans enfants. Unfortunately we took almost zero pictures of the two of us - Dennis, being in urban planning mode for Welli-west took at least 50 of bicycle stands, parking meters and signs.

However, we did have a fabulous time - we had no idea the Jazzfest was going on and we managed to walk into two outdoor concerts (the first time by accident, the second on purpose), as well as walk the mountain, eat in fancy restaurants (without interruptions or food throwing ensuing), see a movie (*gasp*), browse a bookstore and Old Montreal.

We sure missed the kids though.





This is one of the many interesting urban design things we saw - a parking meter for wheel chair users. While it would make it easier for someone in a wheel chair to read, we wondered how you would see it from your car? It would be easy to miss...