And the rest of the summer

So, tomorrow is the last day of August for 2013.  It is still unbelievably hot today (near 30 degrees celsius), the winds blowing are hot, and the gardens are begging for water still even though many blooms gave up long ago because of the heat.  We are overrun with zucchini (and as a result have found a couple of new uses for them).  My tomatoes are slow this year, but we have been fortunate to receive garden excess from friends of family.
We have celebrated a birthday early, gone to a couple of lakes, and generally just enjoyed life.  Here are some shots of our activities.

A special boy turns 3 tomorrow (September 1) but a pre-birthday party was held in his honour as relatives from the east were in town.  Here is his "Queen/Mador/Buzz/Woody" cake. It is a racetrack for Lightning McQueen and Tow Mader, and Buzz Lightyear and Woody are watching from the stands.  So creative!  The birthday boy loved showing everyone the cake his mom had made, but when the time came to eat some, he wasn't interested!  Funny guy.

A kiss for the cook.

Here is "baby James" (as he will probably always be known in this house) with his doctor dad.  He is a big boy, so probably the "baby" title will go by the wayside once he objects to it.

This girl loves her hot dogs!

Flanders Lake in the Whiteshell - a place of utter peace and tranquility.

We tried the splashpad again with these two.  They loved the picnic lunch, but weren't so wild about the spraypad.  Addy found herself drenched a couple of times, as she was a little too close when the water came on.  

Our home made splash pad, the ancient "Mr. Fun Fun".  He no longer has his hat, but he still provides lots of entertainment for the little ones, as he is totally predictable.  And yes, Uncle Jeffrey, he did sit on Mr. Fun Fun - I just didn't have my camera ready.

So we bid farewell to Summer 2013.  It was great - lots of heat, swimming, visits, celebrations and good food.  Thanks to all who made it such a good holiday time.

The summer so far

In June, when I was looking at the days ahead, summer seemed to stretch out without too much activity planned.  I thought I was looking at long days, even weeks, when nothing of any consequence would be happening.  Either days are getting shorter the older I get, or I was just completely wrong, because this summer has been anything but inactive.  The pictures which follow chronicle some of the events which have occurred, including overnight visits from grandchildren who live here, a visit to Grand Beach, camping in Bemidji, the beautiful wedding of the daughter of good friends, first camping trip for Cole and Lily, a 25th wedding anniversary party for Bill and Ingrid, a visit from Jeffrey, Amanda, Caitlyn and Hannah (and Bella - granddog number 2) which included a mass birthday/anniversary party for almost everyone attending, and finally, a night at Rainbow Stage with 35 of our closest friends.  Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the events.