A summer recap

Where to begin? No single event has seemed blogworthy (well, yes, but soooo much effort!) , so I get to lump half a year's worth of stuff into one post. Now that's my kind of blogging.

We've had a fair bit of company this year. My sister Karin was kind enough to take her entire brood to Ottawa to help ring in my 40th year. Thanks guys! We were truly honoured to have them come all the way from Smithers.

Lego wars with uncles were highly anticipated events

teeee... veeee...

They took in the town, taking in national treasures like Ikea and museums, and we went along a time or two.

T-Rex at the Museum of Nature.

Lily and I went along to see the Diefenbunker with them, the former government nuclear shelter still stuffed with cold war-era furnishings.

A warm and welcoming entrance.

The kids paying close attention at the bullion vault.

Really? You trust this old elevator?

Cramped quarters, but better than the spacious radioactive wasteland far above.

School doesn't stop when you're being nuked. 

Testing... 1-2-3

Being briefed in the war cabinet room (complete with ashtrays).

Then Martine also escaped Smithers with her hubby but didn't get quite as far, so we found them in Niagara area shortly after.

I'd caption this one "olle wieven" but that would just
get me into trouble. Only Fen's missing!

Some time later my parents came out for a visit (and did again just recently.) We're so spoiled with visits we hardly need to bother leaving town anymore... watch out, family.

And Marian brought her family up for Canada Day weekend, which was fun despite the rain.

Unexpected help getting my new garage doors installed. Thanks Brian!

Reeeeally wet at the Canada Day festivities. We mostly got soakers and embrace the wet.

No shoes... even better!

Cousins... awww

And enough rain already! This was a record rain year for Ottawa, with well over a metre of rain so far. The mosquitoes were unpleasant and the garden didn't take off until September, but our sump pit hardly filled up, so things could be worse (plenty of homes saw flooding).

Rich and Fen even made it over from Edmonton, dropping kids off with grandparents on the way. I think they stayed 24 hours. He used his wiles to get us access to Parliament Hill, where we saw, among other interesting things, the bullet holes from the gunfight in 2014. Thanks for the quick visit guys!

Pasta lunch downtown.

A commoner standing at the House of Commons chamber.

Situation under control: the child is contained.

Bullet hole.

The Senate chamber.

We went camping twice. After the first time, I swore I'd never take our dumb little car out camping ever again, so for the second time I had to keep my word and rent an SUV. It hardly fit all our junk either, but that's probably because I didn't pack nearly as well as I normally have to.

Hammock... best investment ever (thanks Visschers bwahaha!)

Giddy-up!

Round two... pricey rental

Sometime in the summer, we enjoyed a trip to BC, although the forest fire smog marred both the scenery and our breathing. We probably should have shared some Ontario rain with them.

Jetsetter.

First/primary stop: the toasty Okanagan.

Tea with Grandma is an absolute highlight annually.

Cooling off in the back yard.

We went camping with Carrie's parents, somewhere so remote there was no cell service and they only took cash! Who even lives like that?!

Uninspiring overflow camping; we upgraded to a very nice site after a day.

The smoke from far-away fires came to visit.

Back to Vernon, where more of the family came over from the Fraser Valley. We visited a nice little zoo called Kangaroo Creek Farm. Got great pictures of the kids with various birds perching on their arms and heads. I lost the ones of Lily of course :(. We'll have to return one day since I also lost some nice kangaroo pics. Grrr. Old people and technology, amirite?

We headed to the Fraser Valley next, hitching rides with family. Didn't even have to rent a car this whole vacation. I went with Carrie's brother Wes, and we happened to be taking some furniture along with us. So we're whipping down the Coquihalla when suddenly WHOOOMP, a big gust of wind yanks a couch out of the pickup and throws it at the traffic behind us. It's miracle no one got taken out by the flying couch. It's also a miracle that this thing landed on its feet, slid a little, and suffered only a little damage to one leg! After pulling over and dodging traffic to retrieve the couch we put it back in the truck and tied it down this time. There's a time to be a redneck. and there's a time to be a responsible redneck!

Cousins playing at White Rock.

Lily and her great-grandparents.

On the front nine (five?) with Grandpa.

Back at the ranch... The lake view wasn't the same this year.

And one fire got a little too close to home. Mostly they were hundreds of miles away, despite all the smoke.

I did our annual guys' canoe trip in Algonquin Park. Unlike last year, it was very hot and dry.

We come for the views...

...and we stay for all the yummy crap we trek in... and for the (nonexistent) fishing.

A lot of effort, but worth it.

Another successful year!

Yesterday was (I think) the first below-freezing day of the season, so I guess winter's finally around the corner. May it be a super duper snowy one!