Niagara Adventure

We recently spent a day with the children in Niagara.  After enjoying a scenic drive through Niagara on the Lake, we began the day at Queenston Heights with a climb up the Brock Monument, all 235 steps (50m high).  When I say "we", I really mean everyone in our family climbed except yours truly, because I do not like small tight spaces.  I went around the gorgeous grounds and captured some nice pictures, including the butterfly below.

It was awesome weather for a hike.  Rick and I had promised the kids we would hike the Niagara Gorge, like we try to do every summer, so we finally made it there with just over a week of summer holidays left.

We were hoping to reach our favourite spot along the river.  It's a place where you can watch the jet boats and it is an area where the river's edge indents and it is so calm that you can actually wade in the shallow water.  For some reason we must have taken a different turn in the trail and we ended up at a completely different location.  We did get to enjoy the entertainment of the jet boats, but the kids were determined to find the place along the river where we usually go.  Obviously there was only one thing to do...FIND IT!  Before I knew it, everyone started hiking along the edge of the river along the rocks, attempting to find "our spot." 

Well we climbed over rocks....and more rocks....and more rocks....for at least an hour.  I think it was relayed to mom a few times..."Oh, I think it's right around the next bend!" 
I was thinking in the back of my mind, as I was so nimbly scaling the rocks..."I hope we don't have to go back the same way we just came..."

We never did find the place that we were looking for.  That being said, David had a grand time being the leader, (much too fast for mommy who was trying to be VERY careful so as not to break anything), and he thought it was the best ever.  Levi was not quite so thrilled about all the rock climbing (he would have preferred to stay on the trail), but the girls also enjoyed the adventure, especially the opportunities for some great pictures.

Eventually we found our way to a trail and we hiked our way back up to the top.  All in all, God blessed us with a beautiful day.  It's one I'm sure we'll all remember for a long, long time.

Finally Finished

It's been a long time coming...but the bathroom is finally finished.  Completely renovated and looking so nice.  We absolutely love it. 

When we moved into this house, we did so much renovating that the main bathroom got minimal attention.  Only the vanity was replaced because I couldn't stomach the one that was in there...yuck...
Anyways, after our last leak...(hopefully it will be the last)...we decided to do a serious renovation since we were going to be having some serious dry-wall mess anyways. 

A big thank you to the very special people who made this reno possible...we are enjoying it so much and can't wait for you to see it!

(By the way, Rick picked out the colour...I think it's great!)

Caught In The Act

We have an old, old pear tree in the back yard.  It's the only tree back there.  Our neighbours tell us the back yard used to have trees, but the previous owner cut them down.  We are very thankful that our neighbours still have some beautiful trees that provide our back yard with lovely shade. 

Even though this pear tree stands alone back there, we are thinking about taking it down.  I love trees, but this one is turning out to be a lot of work.  The pears are being eaten by the wild creatures that roam our neighbourhood.  Racoons and squirrels are the ones who enjoy the pears the most.  I've heard crunching and smucking sounds in the dark of night while a racoon enjoyed a late night snack.  All these wonderful creatures leave a mess of half eaten pears behind.  The lawn becomes a sticky pear graveyard.

I was entertained this morning while watching this squirrel in his quest to get a pear.  He dropped two of them before he managed to hang on to one and get a few bites in.  It's not easy hanging on to the tree with your hind legs and picking pears with your front ones!

 

One of the problems with this tree is the growing bee population that is in the grass under the tree.  We try to pick up the fallen pears whenever we can, but the bees are quick to move in.  It's proving to be a bit of a danger for the family, because we can't use that side of the yard with all the bees in the grass.  Perhaps the tree will come down in the winter when the bees and the pears are long gone...

Our 18th Anniversary

Another year has flown by and we are celebrating God's goodness to us again.  Eighteen years of marriage.  Wonderful!  As my facebook profile says, "God is the glue that holds us together!"

What an amazing gift a beautiful marriage is.  I am so blessed to have Rick in my life.  I thank God for loving us first and that we can share that love with one another.

God is awesome and His blessings are new every morning.  Great is His faithfulness!

1 Peter 5:7

Bon Echo 2010

We just got back from our two week camping trip at Bon Echo. It was our third time camping there. We were blessed with amazing weather, we loved our campsite, and some of us still weren't ready to come home even after 14 days in the woods....that's a good sign, I think.

I am happy to be back home. I love the clean floor under my feet. I appreciate the "spaciousness" of our home, my warm water coming from the faucet, my own shower, and especially my own bed. It's always such a blessing to get away from things and enjoy just being together as a family. God has given us another great vacation and I'll share some of my favourite photos from the trip in the days to come.

We had two down-pours during out time there, one the first week, and one the second. Other than that, we had great weather. Some cooler nights, some nice warm ones, sunshine and blue skies, fluffy white clouds, lots of singing birds and cute chipmunks, noisy and quiet neighbours, gorgeous surroundings, trails to blaze, water to enjoy, kayaks and canoes, campfires and s'mores, hotdogs and steak, and memories of all kinds that will last for a long time.

As much as I enjoy camping, it's always good to be home. (if only I could wave a wand and the laundry would be clean...)