Blue Lake

Our final stop was Blue Lake, Ontario which is about one hour north of Rushing River! It was extremly hot when we were there so we usually spent all day at the beach, went back to the camper for supper and went right back in the water to cool off again in the evening! Beautiful sunsets! Cole working on his surfing moves!

Cole dressed in the latest Cole fashion! It's always interesting when they pick what they want to wear all by themselves!

Mackenzie has been working on a losst tooth for the past month! It finally came out while we were at Blue Lake! The other one is not far behind!

Because of the clear water Mackenzie did alot of snorkeling - looking for minnows and whatever else she could find in the water!Thank goodness for Boogie Boards! They were a big hit all through the holiday! And we even bought them at Elroy's favourite store!!!

Rushing River

Rushing River was the next stop on our camping adventure! Once again we had great weather and spent lots of time in the great outdoors! Happy campers are usually happy hikers! The kids had a great time on a hike along the river by the waterfalls!


Stopping along the way for a snack and a rest!
The end of our hike! To bad the camera decided to focus on the grass instead of us!

Playing in the river! There were lots of great rocks and islands to swim to and jump off!

We also found a spot where we could jump into the rapids and float a couple hundred feet along the river to the bank!
Even Cole thought he was brave enough to do this and he actually did - twice!!

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Falcon Lake

We just finished a 2 week camping holiday!! Our first destination was Falcon Lake with the Hildebrand family! Our campsites had a great area in the middle filled with tall evergreen trees. The kids quickly claimed this as their secret hide-away a fort was quickly constructed using skipping ropes and whatever else they could find!
Mini - golf was a big hit with the kids! After completing 18 holes they were ready to start over again - far too hot!! Mackenzie caught on to the whole golfing idea fairly quickly - Cole & Carter on the other hand needed to be reminded at every hole that we were not playing hockey!!
Bike riding was a popular pastime for the kids and they made many trips around the bay!
Boogie boarding was also a great hit - especially if Mom or Tracey was pulling them along! We had great beach weather and were at the beach every day!
Surfer dudes and dudette!!

Cole, Mackenzie, Carter, Tracey & I ventured out on a hour horseback trail ride. Mackenzie was big enough to ride her own horse - Secret - all by herself! She was very proud and did a great job!
Cole and I ventured out on Chiliwak! Cole has OK for about the first half hour and then he had to go PEE!!! So we ended up stopping the whole ride so Cole could go to the bathroom! Unfortunatly he still wasn't very comfortable - I think he felt squished in the saddle! Oh well maybe next time!
Jody & Tracey brought their boat along and so going boating in the evening was a great activity! The kids brought along their fishing rods - although no fish were caught!
Elroy decided to jump in and cool off while the kids were fishing! It didn't take long and all of the kids were in the water along side of him! They had a blast - even though they were swimming in 40 feet of water!
Taking turns driving the boat!

Best buds on the beach!


Mackenzie was brave enough to also try tubing behind the boat! She had such a great time that she went twice- once with Mom and once with Dad!

The great turtle Crush was created out of the sand! Elroy seems to have a knack for sand sculptures these days!

Matlock Beach

This past week the kids and I packed our bags and headed to a cabin at Matlock Beach, near Gimli, with some friends! The kids had a blast with their friends and the Moms got a little bit of R & R in the process! Hanging out at the beach on a summer day - what could be better!
Mackenzie & Ashton got out the boogie boards and did some body surfing on the waves!
They even managed to catch a few waves and ride them into shore!
The kids found a dead fish along the shore by the cabin! Cole being extra sensitve to smells was holding his nose and everyone else decided to follow. Cole actually held his nose alot during the week since it is Fish Fly season at the moment and if any of you have ever smelled a fish fly before I'm sure you know why Cole thought everything was STINKKYYY!
Cole having lunch on the beach with his buddies! It's hard work keeping up with ten year old boys all day!

Mackenzie was very brave and jumped off one of the many piers - a good 8-10 foot jump! After the first splash into the cool water she climbed back up for more!
Cole liked to watch the large waves from a distance but had no interest in getting any closer!
Wave jumping at the beach!
Cole loved to run along the beach as the big waves came crashing in!
A cuddly brother - sister moment!

Click to play Make your own Smilebox Even though we didn't have a family reunion at Spruce Sands this weekend - it was our second annual camping trip with the Friesen/Sawatzky clans and all of the offspring they have produced!! The kids had a great time playing on the beach and spending time with everyone - in other words they were spoiled rotten again! We were also treated to lots of music from Uncle John (even though most of it was blue grass!!) Notice the blue grass music playing in the background - just for you John & Rose!!

Jammin' with Uncle John

Uncle John had his guitar out every night at Spruce Sands! It didn't take long for Uncle John, Cole & Mackenzie to compose the following song! I'm not sure if they gave it a title but I guess you could call it "The Fart Song!". With the help of the fart machine it was a big hit and it was sung a few times with lots of laughs & giggles!
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Spruce Woods

Spruce Woods 2007, was a blast once again! This is our 5th year coming here with the same 4 families. Over the years a few traditions have developed - sand dunes, water fights, trapping squirrels etc.!
At the dunes the kids love to climb the big sand hills and then come racing down!


We made it!! We chose the hottest day for our hike in the dunes! Cole hiked most of it by himself on the way there (1.6 km) but needed a little help from Dad on the return hike!

Setting the squirrel trap!
Kiera & Cole attempting to play horseshoes!
Getting ready for the canoe trip down the Assiniboine River!

Dad's father's day gift - a new hammock!!

As you can see Cole loves to hang out with all of the big boys! Mackenzie & Ashton hanging out in the camper!

The newest addition to the camping crew - Regan & Cole soaking up some rays at the beach!
Cole & Dad relaxing in the camper!