The Knot Tightens

All day long I had this knot in the pit of my stomach...for a VERY good reason! This was the day we were dropping Nathan off at summer camp for an entire week! Breathe, breathe......
I know he must be having a very good time and he was so excited! Saturday night he got a crash course in: how to apply sunscreen, how to apply bug repellant, how to take care of your suitcase etc. I think this week should make him grow up really quickly and perhaps become more independent as well.

Here he is in front of his cabin. My how things have changed. When I went to this summer camp the cabins were disgustingly basic. Pretty much pressboard walls, a wood floor and bunks. Now they have bathrooms complete with showers, painted walls and lofts. He was very happy to find that he is in the cabin with all three of his buddies.

Here's Nate with his buddy Blake. They are probably wishing we would just LEAVE already!

A gleeful child, ready for a week of solid fun!

Canada Day and a Knot in my Belly

In total Canada Day tradition we hit the parade on SFWay with Kori & Roger and their kids. Of course who wouldn't want to be with us and we ended up with at least five more families that we knew sitting with us as well! Loads of fun for sure! The weather was completely perfect for a change...great for working on my current tans lines that have happened from gardening with socks & shoes :)

Darryl & Sinead came along to watch with Ceara as well. When in Canada, one must do as the Canadians do!

We'll get that girl Canadianized yet! She had the hat and tatoos...no one need know she's from Ireland. It's just that beautiful accent that gave her away!Kori & I in our Seattle tank top bargains.

And All Good Things Must Come To an End

After all those rowdy 'grown-ups' left, on came the dance music, out went the coffee table and in came the dance moves. Darryl....seriously hilarious even though Sinead doesn't think so :) I don't know that Nathan has ever laughed so hard in a long time. There is video but to protect their 'image' it shall be kept under lock and key :) It was funny to see Nathan and Chad out there dancing away and went it came to be 1:30 and time for wee children to be in bed they wanted to keep on going!

Poor Ceara and her tired eyes....verrrry late!

And when they had to catch their breath, they just sat and watched the 'show'. A great time! Thanks for the memories!!!!!!!!

PS. I had to wake Chad at 1 pm this afternoon. I think that if I hadn't he would have slept the day away!

And it went on and on....

After supper we all just hung out visiting and laughing and taking loads of pictures. The older generation sort of stuck to one room. After a few drinks they all started a big sing-along with Irish ballads, and show tunes etc. Very entertaining but we stuck to the other living room and just did our own thing. The kids ran from room to room, enjoying everything the party had to offer. Very unlike anything they had ever experienced...definitely. I think they wish they had a party to go to like this every weekend :)

Ashling and Ceara....what beautiful young ladies!

Keith and I

Ceara requested and received a nice foot massage from Cam. No one can say 'no' to Ceara...the accent is way too cute!

The gorgeous sisters!

Party like the Irish

Oh my oh my...what a night. As I post this it's 10:15 am and my children are STILL fast asleep! Unfortunately I woke up with headache (thanks for all the gin and 'pamplemousse' cocktails Orla!) and couldn't really sleep much past 9:00 am. Here's a little look at the best party I've been to in years! We were celebrating Sinead's youngest sister, Ashling's graduation from highschool. It sure made me feel old to think that the little sweetie that Sinead and I played with in high school is all grown up now. Crazy! Una (Sinead's mum) puts on great parties....there are young and old there and everyone has a great time. They are all such friendly people and made us feel very welcome and a part of the family.

Ah yes.....Nicky (the Aussie wonder) and Cam. Boyfriends of Sile and Orla. They were a bit silly in their ying & yang 'servers' outfits. Very amusing indeed, but they got the job done. They grilled up the chicken and steaks to perfection and made sure everyone was having a good time. Also made sure everyone's glass was always full :)

The wonderful spread. It was a delicious dinner!

The dessert were also amazing....look at sensible Ceara with her plate of fruit!

Dinner and Working Off Dinner

I made a big Mexican dinner for that evening. I just love Ceara's expressions and she told me that dinner was 'gorgeous'. Sinead told me that 'gorgeous' is reserved for food she especially likes, so I was very happy she liked it!

After dinner the rain finally let up so we all laced up our runners to get out for a bit of a walk. It felt great and although all the kids complained bitterly about having to walk 'SO far' I know they secretly enjoyed it!

After our walk we all had dessert and then since the kids were really not serious about being so tired we had a dance competition. Nate vs. Ceara vs. Sinead.....the Macarena. I'd have say that Ceara has some pretty sweet dance moves. Nathan is precise and rather robotic (he can't help his Menno genes) and Sinead simply just blew them all away! By the time we kicked them out it was 12:30 am and I was fading. Too bad I was the only one of the bunch that had to work in the morning!

Good Times

The past few days have been a whirlwind of fun and busyness being together with the international posse. So much fun though! On Wednesday evening, Darryl and Keith went out water skiing in Hatzic. Keith really isn't supposed to be skiing due to his neck injury so he was Darryl's official photographer. Very impressive skiing!

Thursday afternoon, Ceara came with me to pick up Nathan from his last day of school. She was quite interested in a Canadian school and we showed her all the nooks and crannys. Here they are in front of Nate's desk. She told me that they didn't get individual desks but that she sat a large tables with her classmates. Another thing that Ceara was a bit envious of was the fact that Nate gets hot lunch 1-2 times per month. She thought that was just 'grand'!

Of course, once class was dismissed we had to go and play out on the swings for a little while. Look at that million dollar smile!

And look at that nasty face. Makes a mother proud.

Last Day O'School

Not sure who's more excited...me or the kids! No more making lunches, driving, homework, newsletters, requests for money, assemblies, washing uniforms, blah blah blah! I think summer holidays are for the mums and dads!!!

Chad and Nathan have done very well this year and we are proud of them both. Nathan will be getting his report card today and we're pretty sure he'll make it into grade four :) Chad is just ecstatic for grade one to start in fall. He can't wait to be at school ALL day! He's done so well in Kindergarten. He's fully reading now too. They both deserve a summer of fun and relaxation!

Fore

Sunday morning found us on the golf course for our annual tradition of attending my staff tournament with Kori and Roger. We were to be there at 7:40 am which was quite difficult. The weather was quite gloomy but thankfully we only had a few sprinkles on the first and last hole. I do enjoy golf and do okay enough to not embarrass myself. We really only golf once a year so I can't set my expectations too high! We had great fun.

The lunch afterwards was held at the Ramada. The food was very tasty and definitely beat anything we'd had at past tournements. Plus the conference centre is very beautiful.

I was lucky enough to get a great door prize this year. As you can see it's a lovely candle lantern tree for our deck. I love it!

Keith wasn't so lucky as he won a golf shoe bag. Well this is what we think it is. Anyhow...definitely not as good as my prize :)

Just had to mention that we were honored to sit at the same table as Roger 'Woods' who got the prize for hitting a marshmallow the furthest. A talent to be very proud of :)

The Long Awaited Day!

Darryl, Sinead & Ceara safely arrived in town yesterday. We were thrilled to be able to pop by and see them......jet-lagged and all. It was great to be able to catch up in person after four long years. Another added bonus of having the Hamm family back in Canada is that we get to spend time with Sinead's wonderful family. We look forward to making many new memories in the coming weeks!