2012 Camping - Part 2

In yesterday's post, I started to recap our weekend of camping...I got as far as Saturday afternoon and realized the post was getting really long, and it had a lot of pictures.  So, here is a second post recapping the rest of the weekend.

Saturday evening we always have a big communal meal - the organizers brought hamburgers and sausages, and everyone else brings a salad or dessert.  So, needless to say, we had a GREAT meal!

Once everyone was uncomfortably full from dinner, it was time to have our noodle car race!  Well, the cars didn't actually race, we put them down the ramp one at a time - it was more a test of durability, and some cars did better than others!

First, a group shot of all the noodle car creators.  Not a great picture, but still fun!

Isaac's car mid-motion.

And, after everyone had their chance on the ramp, these two were named the winners...Curt's 'car' (which looked more like a Ferris wheel) went the furthest...and his cousin Anthony's car (which looked like a pick-up truck) won for 'best looking'.

After the rain, and in between the noodle activity of the afternoon/evening, people spent lots of time at the water.  The water was pretty cold (it is Lake Ontario after all), so no one really stays in the water for a long time - it's more enjoyable to spend short amounts of time in the water getting refreshed.

Whenever we were near the water, Luke spent most of the time running in and out of the water, only ever getting up to his knees wet :)

Josh enjoyed swimming the most when the older boys were in the water too!  His favourite was when they went out to the sandbar to play Frisbee.

Saturday night was spent around the campfire, of course!  I have to admit, I don't really enjoy sitting around a campfire...I feel like I shouldn't admit that.  But really, it's BORING!  So, I usually don't last that long...Curt on the other hand, he'll sit by the fire for hours.

Sunday morning we had a simple little worship service - we sang some hymns, had a little children's story and then Curt's cousin James, shared about his recent missions trip to Mozambique.

Here are the littlest kids gathered around Aunt Laura, who talked to them about friendships :)

And, after church, as some people had lunch and packed up to head home, Curt's cousin Joel, pulled out his kayak.

Luke and Noah helped him take his supplies to the water.  I'm sure you'll notice how dirty Luke is in this picture...he was like that most of the weekend...most of the little guys were that dirty...true boys and hardcore campers!

And here, Joel is getting ready to head out into the water and demonstrate a roll-over in the kayak.  He had a lot of helpers! 

Of course most of those little helpers had to have their own turn in the kayak too!

Isaac is still a bit small for the kayak, and he had a hard time paddling...Joel had to make sure he didn't drift away :)

While I was down at the water with the boys, Curt was packing up the trailer, so we were on way home by mid-afternoon.

I know this got a little long, and I'm sorry if you were incredibly bored.  But, I know that next year when I go to post about Wielemaker camping, I will enjoy reading these posts and remembering this years activities.  That's exactly what I did before writing these posts, read the posts from the previous two years...and, I was reminded that two years ago, our challenge was frisbee golf!  I had already forgotten all about that :)

Thanks for sticking with me all the way to the end of the post!

2012 Camping - Part 1

This past weekend, Curt and I went camping...and as of right now, it is our only planned camping trip of 2012.  Now, if you know me or you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll know that I don't love camping...but, Curt loves it....so, I go....and, I have come a long way...so far in fact, I would say that I 'like' it.  And, I will admit, I did enjoy myself this past weekend! 

This camping trip was the annual Wielemaker camp-out - that's my mother-in-laws side of the family - and it was at a Christian Conference Center in nearby Grafton (that's a fancy title, really, it's just an open field on the shore of Lake Ontario...it has two sheltered areas and a small building with toilets...it's VERY simple!).

It is very scenic though...

Conveniently, Curt and I both had Friday off, so we were able to start the weekend early!  We spent the morning packing and getting the trailer organized - it was nice not having to rush around Thursday night, or after work Friday, getting organized and rushing to the campgrounds.  We left home just after lunch, and pulled into the park around 1:30pm...we were the first to arrive, so we picked a good spot and dropped off our trailer. 

And then it was off to the golf course!  We played at Shelter Valley Pines - the course used to be a nine hole course, but they opened another nine holes this year - and, the new nine holes were really nice!  It's a challenging little executive course, with a lot of elevation change and some new blind tee shots.  We played the front nine with Curt's cousin Tim, his friend Andrew, and another cousin, Cor...(Cor is actually Curt's mother's cousin, what does that make him to us?)  Yes, we played as a fivesome, but only for the back nine when Cor joined us. 

We didn't get back to the campground until about 8pm - by then, most of the other families had arrived, so we said our hello's and then got to work setting up the trailer and unpacking things.  Curt got the fire started and we made ourselves dinner - grilled cheese sandwiches in the pie irons!  Yum!  And, once the fire had been started, people started gathering around it, so we were there for the rest of the night.

Unfortunately, we woke up to gray skies on Saturday morning.  Curt and I started to set up our dining tent, thinking we may need it for shelter from the rain, but we didn't get very far before the rain started!  Most people made for their trailers or the shelter area, Curt and I just crawled back into bed and got a little more sleep - so, no complaints here!

The rain didn't stop until close to noon, and by then, we were all ready to get out from under the shelter!  This years organizers, Aunt Laura and her family, organized the challenge for this year - and, they challenged us to make a car out of noodles, and then race it!  ha!  It provided hours of entertainment, and was good for all ages.

Our oldest nephew, Josh, and his finished product.  Notice the steering wheel - I think he was the first one to include that detail!

I got to help Noah with the hot glue gun!  Yes, we used hot glue guns while camping - it's great when an aunt and uncle have a generator!

Luke - do you think he's having fun?

And, of course, Curt got in on the action too! 

It looks like he is stealing ideas from his Aunt Eleanor in the picture :)  That's not the case, he was actually giving her a lot of guidance!  She was taking it pretty serious, and was asking lots of questions!

There was also a few other games for the younger kids...

Including a water balloon toss, of course!

Look at Luke's face in the picture (he's the little one in red shorts)!

And, a sack race.

And, that brings us to Saturday afternoon...and, the end of this post.  Sorry, this got VERY long.  My brother and sister-in-law weren't able to be at the camp-out this year due to a death in Sarah's family (my mother and father-in-law brought the boys), so, I took A LOT of pictures to share with them...and, I had a hard time narrowing them down for the blog :)

Come back tomorrow for Part 2, if you can handle it!

Canada Day Weekend

Well, we're wrapping up another long weekend - Canada Day weekend!

We didn't really do anything special this weekend, nothing in honour of Canada anyway...we're not very patriotic around here I guess.  I think there were fireworks in town, but we had our neighbourhood fireworks back in May, so we didn't feel the need to go this weekend.

Saturday morning, we went to a few garage sales, but it didn't last long because the ones we stopped at were horrible!  We stopped at a few and people really only had a few items out, and it was JUNK!  And, while we're on the subject of garage sales...we had a garage sale last weekend (part 2, because the first time we tried, it was rained out).  So, just as we pulled the last table out of the garage at 8am, it started to pour...I was sooo mad, and knew then that I would never have another garage sale!  We covered our tables with plastic (again), and waited out the rain...luckily, it only lasted about 20 minutes.  After that, it was a beautiful morning...and, although it was a little slow, we had a pretty good turn out.  The most popular seller was, again, the duct tape!  But, we managed to get rid of some of our more random stuff this time too.  I think we probably ended up making about $100 after the two sales, so that's not too bad.   A lot of work for $100 bucks though :)

So, back to the garage sales on Saturday morning, after a few disappointing stops, we redirected and went to Home Depot - one of the things on our 'to do list' this weekend was to do some painting, so we went to get our supplies.  We spent the rest of the day turning one of the bedrooms in the basement into an office for Curt and Three Hills Engineering.

I'm going to do a whole post on the process, but here is a little sneak peak...

Early on in the process...

We had talked about doing a few different things on Sunday - golfing or going to the beach - but, we were mid-way through the painting, so we ended up staying home to get it done.

It was a beautiful day though, and I felt bad about spending so much of the weekend inside, so I went out to do some weeding.  And, I am pleased to give you an update on the veggie garden...all of the plants are doing well, and, there is a beefsteak tomato (very green) and two pea pods right now!

And, today, we were able to get out and really enjoy the weather - we went golfing!  I had set a goal for myself, I wanted to break 50 on at least one of the nines...I shot 50 on the front and 50 on the back!  Ugh, kinda frustrating, but at least I'm consistent?!?

Anyway, that's just a quick little recap of our weekend.  And, like I said, more to come on the work we did in the office.

Our Garden Gnome

About a month ago, Curt came home from work with a gift for me (he's such a great husband, right?!?!).

He bought me my very own 'Travelocity Roaming Gnome'.....

 Does he look familiar?  He's the star of Travelocity commercials, and also makes special guest appearances on 'The Amazing Race' (my favourite reality TV show).

I actually first 'met' the gnome back in 2008 at the Venetian, in Las Vegas...

 Random story - as I stood looking at Curt while he took this picture, I noticed that the person standing right beside him was someone I knew (a member from the golf course I was working at, at that time)...neither one of us knew the other was going to be there...but, we happened to 'bump into each other' on the Vegas Strip!

Anyway, Curt brought this guy home, and he found a home in our front garden....

...right among the hens and chickens, and some weeds!

 But, he's a roaming gnome, so he obviously hasn't stayed put!  Every few days, I come home and notice that Curt has moved him he has roamed to a new spot.  Here are a few of the other places he has called 'home' over the last few weeks...

...with the roses...

....and, with the irises and a hosta...

Seeing where the gnome is located is now one of the many reasons I look forward to coming home at the end of the day!  And, it seems that it will never grow old, I still get a good laugh when I see that he has moved.

Celebrating Dad!

This past weekend was another three day weekend for me (loving my Friday CWW!), so I decided to go to Acton to visit family and celebrate my dad - his birthday was on Thursday (June 14th), and of course, Father's Day was Sunday. 

Curt stayed in Belleville for the weekend because he had his own plans - he played in a golf tournament on Friday and again on Sunday.  The tournament on Friday was an Engineering Tournament, and he played with his friend Matt, his brother Mark, and Mark's friend Matt.  The four of them won, with a score of -13!  And Sunday's round was a qualifying event for a yearly tournament at Bay of Quinte, the Pell Cup - Curt played another great round, shooting 86!

Friday's winning team...Matt W, Mark, Matt L and Curt!  First place was Callaway sunglasses, which the guys are modelling in this picture.  Notice that Matt W and Curt have white sunglasses - what you can't see is that they had rhinestones :)  Thankfully, they were able to exchange those in the Pro Shop.

So, when Curt left for the course on Friday, I left for Acton.  It was nice to have the morning at home, and I thought leaving mid-day would mean a quick drive...unfortunately that didn't happen, traffic was pretty bad and it was really slow across Toronto.  Oh well, I still arrived in time to visit with my mom and the kids for awhile.  I was hoping I would get to see Nolan get off the school bus, but my mom had actually picked him up early for the day.

Friday evening was spent visiting with my parents, enjoying the dinner my mom prepared for us - thanks mom!  And, after dinner it was back to Tom and Krystle's to visit with them and play some games. 

Because Curt wasn't with me this time, I decided to stay at my parents...but, Saturday morning I got a call from Nolan and he said 'Auntie Boo, do you want to come and watch me play lacrosse?'  I obviously couldn't say no to that, so it was off to the arena.  It was fun to watch - each team had a little superstar, and no, it wasn't Nolan :)  Apparently Nolan usually gets a few assists per game, but not this game.  He wasn't really into running during this particular game, but he still broke a sweat?!?  I took pictures during the game, but none of them turned out :( 

Here is one from the drive home, look past the silly face he made, and notice the sweaty hair....

After lacrosse and lunch, I went to spend some time with my mom (my dad was working) while the kids had a nap.  One of the things we did was set up a kiddie pool in my parents backyard!  Curt and I actually got this pool as a wedding gift (from a friend with a unique sense of humour?), and it hasn't left the box in the seven years since we received it.  We pulled it out of the crawl space for our yard sale a few weeks ago, and I asked my mom if she would be interested in having it - and, she was. 

Even though the water was FREEZING, Nolan and Abby had a great time playing in it before dinner on Saturday.

I think Abby was making a funny face because the water was so cold, and, as you can see, Nolan thought it was hilarious...

And, after another great dinner and dessert (thanks mom!) it was time for dad to open his gifts!

Here, Abby is helping Papa open his gift from the kids and grandkids, a GPS...

My dad knew what this was as soon as he saw the word 'Garmin' on the box; Abby thought she knew what this was when she saw the picture on the box, she exclaimed 'iPad'!

And here, Nolan gets in on the presents, helping Papa open his gift from Aunt Mary...

So, Saturday was a busy, but fun day!  And, this post has gotten a little long...but, stick with me, I can sum up Sunday quickly ;)

Sunday, after church and a chicken BBQ, dad and I had the chance to play golf at Blue Springs.  Our tee time was supposed to be 3:21pm, so we would have only been able to play nine holes, but because it was a cloudy day, there were a lot of cancellations and we were able to get off at 1:39pm instead.  And, we got to play a full 18 holes, and only got a little wet on the 16th hole.

A Blue Springs view I will never get tired of; from the 17th tee, looking down to 17 green and the pond...

 Unfortunately, neither dad or I were playing very well...but, I was just thankful to have the chance to play and spend time on the golf course with my dad. 

After our round, and a quick dinner at Tom and Krytle's, it was time to hit the road.  

Thanks to the family for another great weekend!

Another First

In my last post, I talked about a summer first...Curt and I had a garage sale.

Well, this post is about another summer first...I've planted a small vegetable garden.  To my family, stop laughing!

I think it was about three years ago when Curt created the space for a vegetable garden.  He found some railroad ties on Kijiji, and they were sitting in the backyard waiting for a purpose.  So, we used those to create the border of our garden, and then filled it with a load (or two) of topsoil.  The year we did all that, it was too late to plant veggies, so we just put some extra plants in there with plans to transplant them the following season. 

Unfortunately, we made it too big and the topsoil we put in wasn't great...and, the plants that we put in there were randomly placed and hard to identify the next season.  So, we kinda ignored the garden and it ended up looking like this...

(please don't judge, it's in the backyard, no one really sees it)...

This picture is actually from May 2010 (I thought I had a more current picture, but can't find it)...so, it wasn't that bad last year, but it was still very much a work in progress!

So, early this season I decided that this was the year to get the garden back in control!  I knew that in order to achieve that goal, I had to practically start fresh...so, I got rid of almost everything in there, including the plants!  I transplanted a few things, but some stuff ended up in the compost pile with the weeds - random ground cover plants that we don't have a place for, and a few annuals that weren't doing all that well.

Once that was done, we borrowed a rototiller and put it to work.

And finally, I was ready to plant.

This is what it looked like by Sunday evening...

That's just half the garden, the other half is still mostly bare.  There are a few hostas and another plant (some type of iris, maybe) that was too big/healthy to pull out.

So, at this point, I felt like the size of the garden was still going to be a problem - I would have to walk through the dirt to get to the plants in the middle.

Solution, buy a few limestone patio stones to create a little walkway...

Ooops, the bottom left corner of the garden is still full of weeds ;)  I guess I'm so pleased with the rest of the garden, I don't even see those!

And now, a few 'portraits'...

 

 Cucumbers, peas and beef steak tomatoes.  I also planted green peppers and cherry tomatoes.

Those 'garden stakes' labeling each plant, an idea from Pinterest.  I went to a few stores and asked for stir sticks in the paint department...harder than it sounds; the person at the first store would only give me ONE, and the guy at the second store, told me he wasn't supposed to give them away, and then winked at me as he handed me TWO?!?!  ha!

So, now we'll have to see if I can keep up with the weeding and watering...and whether or not these plants actually yield any vegetables!

Garage Sale Fail

Last weekend, Curt and I had a garage sale...a first for us...and, perhaps our last!

It was a multi-family garage sale; the lady across the street, Bonnie, and our next door neighbour, Len, both had stuff out as well.  I think Bonnie probably had the most success - she had a lot of 'bigger' items, and got rid of most of them.  Len, like us, had mostly smaller stuff and I don't think he did too well.

The forecast for Saturday wasn't great, but Bonnie was determined to go ahead with things anyway, so we just went along with it.  And, when we woke up at 6:30am, it was looking pretty grey and it was pretty chilly.  But, we set to work and got all set up.  We had decided not to price each item individually, instead, we set up four separate tables...we had a $0.50 table, a $1 table, a $2 table and a $5 table.  Oh, and we had a book table too.  So, as we were taking things out of boxes, we just placed it on the appropriate table...it made setting up pretty quick and easy!  We had a few other items that we priced individually, but they were larger, so we could place them on the driveway or the garden wall on their own.

A picture of our set up - from the garage, looking down the driveway...

Notice the redneck tables we used!  Old pails served as the legs, and sheets of plywood created the table tops.  The table we used for the books, borrowed from another neighbour.

We had advertised that the sale would start at 8am, and people started arriving right around that time...which was a relief because we weren't ready for any 'early bird' shoppers.

After we got things set up, Curt puttered around in the garage and ended up pulling out a few more items to add.  As he was doing that, he priced a few items by sticking a piece of duct tape on the piece and writing the price on the duct tape.  At one point, he placed the half roll of duct tape on the $0.50 table and walked away...well, one of the 'shoppers' spotted it and bought it!  Ha!  So then, Curt remembered that he had a case of duct tape in the garage (courtesy of my Aunt Mary!), so he pulled out a few more rolls, just to see if they would sell....and they did!  Overall, I think the duct tape was the best seller of the day!  And the second best seller of the day, golf balls!  Curt had made bags of a dozen mixed golf balls...just old scuffed balls that we aren't likely to use...and I think all but one of those sold.

Unfortunately, the dark clouds rolled in around 10am or 10:30am...

Once these clouds rolled in, we started getting nervous!  We made room in the garage so we were prepared to just pull the tables inside if we needed to.

About half an hour later, the rain started, so we quickly pulled some plastic over the tables to see how long it would last...

The rain got pretty heavy for awhile, so we figured anyone that had been out for garage sales, had probably gone home for the day.  So, when the rain slowed down a bit, we started pulling things into the garage and called it a day.

At that point, the plan was to pull everything back out today to try again.  But, the weather forecast wasn't great...they were calling for more rain!  And, it's 5pm now and it still hasn't rained?!?!  Oh well, it was dry, but it wasn't really that nice out either.

Now we have to decide if we leave the tables set up in the garage (making it impossible to get in and out of the garage or to access anything inside) and try again in a few weeks...or, if we should just box everything up and donate it somewhere.