Back at the end of June, a few of John's siblings (and their fams) arrived in town for a two-four week stay! To say it was a "busy couple of weeks" would be an understatement.
A "constant party" is more like it!
I have to admit as June 30th approached I grew increasingly nervous about the logistics of the next couple of weeks. I was scheduled for a surgery shortly before their arrival and we were in the throws of house hunting, both of which were making me feeling kind of wiggy. (I'm really not sure what that means but I think it is what I was feeling;) We were doing our best to carve out our schedules, but in the process were likely disappointing others. I think we said "no" more last month then we have all year! (Which is okay, I know, but not easy) It was a little overwhelming, but looking back, I think it is my nature to feel overwhelmed about the unknown. The REALITY however (how things really end up being) is always so much better than any logistic I worry up. So, the next few posts will consist of my own synopsis of this wonderful, entertaining, exhausting (we're talking late nights people!) and fulfilling past few weeks.
These are some of the Highlights:
Rachel and her two kids arrived first and my kids were THRILLED to get to see Savanna and Maddax again. It had been six months at least since they'd seen them last. Poor Rach hadn't even been here a day before John and Sam lured them out (pardon the pun) for a bit of fishing! John and Sam would fish every.single.day if schedules permitted and I think it would be fair to warn all future company of this fact;) This was certainly one of our most um...entertaining fishing trips for sure.
I never want to forget how hard we laughed as we watched two year old Savanna fish. It involved slapping the rod repetitively on the water while calling to the fish. We learned quickly not to try to help her either, she was determined that her way was the best way! Maddax caught on quickly and enjoyed fishing. He enjoyed it so much that I think he would have fished all night! At one point some dark clouds rolled over us and released a torrential rainfall that caused us all to drop our things and run for the van. Dear Maddax though -stood on that shoreline yelling,
"No no no. Don't go! Ma not done fishing yet!!!!"
We decided to wait out the storm and I am glad we did! It was a lovely evening after that. We didn't catch any fish, but I now have a lovely picture of Grandpa with some of his Grandkids - under a rainbow. So I went home happy.
For Canada Day this year we decided to do something a little bit different. Sarah, Rach, Jordan and their families joined us in Waterton for the bicycle parade. In the past we've always gone out to Raymond for the morning, but Waterton just seemed like the place to be. I'm pretty sure we've started a new tradition! The parade was about three minutes long (and I'm being generous) but it was the most scenic parade I've ever seen. Afterwards we had a picnic down by the lake and hiked up to Bertha Falls. We made it back into town just in time to enjoy a party down at the park. For those in the family who were able to stay up late - the fireworks were especially grand this year!!!
Another highlight was celebrating Libbys birthday on the 4th. None of the pics in the following collage actually depict Libby BUT Jess is shown here trying out Libbys new birthday gift - a mermaid tale!! Seriously, what will they think of next?;) Prior to Libby's pool party we spent the first part of the day out at St. Mary's. Many of John's siblings were fiercely determined to find a dinosaur fossil and others were determined to take this fun fishing boat out on it's maiden voyage. (ahem...John in particular!;) It's bound to increase the number of nights we spend fishing exponentially.
Of course, I had to squeeze in a couple of family photo sessions, which always seems like a gong show in the moment. But alas - a couple of picture perfect Families. So sweet!
(PS: If any family reading this wonder if Brent was photoshopped in, I promise he actually did come to visit! He just wanted to wait until everyone left so we could enjoy him all to ourselves. haha;)
It's never a complete family visit until we've made a trip out to Walleys Beach. The sun was blazing hot on this particular day, the mosquitoes were relatively few, and we didn't have a care in the world.
AKA: perfection
Of course our first ever family Camping trip was a HUGE highlight but I figured that deserved a post of it's very own!!!
Stay tuned.....
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