Quadra Tour

After mess Sean had about an hour, so the boys took us on a little tour of Quadra. It was very impressive and it's so nice to have some first-hand experience so that I can picture what Sean is doing the rest of his summers until he is 19!

A sign that Nathan has told me about for the past two years.

The Confidence Course (obstacle course to civilians).


Some funny decorations.

The boys and I on our tour.

The flags flying on the parade square.

Family (mostly) Photos at Quadra

We took these photos after mess on Friday afternoon. These miscellaneous people were all part of Sean's division.

Arriving Horseshoe Bay (Vancouver)

I've never been to this ferry port before but we ended up taking this ferry home because it had a better schedule. We were home by 8:00 p.m. and able to see two very happy girls and a very relieved Dylan!

Miscellaneous Comox Photos

We saw a mommy deer with twins on someone's front lawn in Comox. I thought they must be lawn ornaments until they started moving around.

Cribbage al Fresco

On our way home yesterday afternoon, we had about a 2-hour wait for the ferry from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay. Much to our delight, we found that the ferry terminal had seating right on the water...the building had glass doors that they opened in nice weather! So Don and I sat and played a couple of games of cribbage which I won and that made the time go by much faster for me anyways.

Rubbing it in...

Nathan called yesterday to lets us know he was in the middle of the straight (not the sea, but the water in between Vancouver Island and the mainland), the weather was beautiful, he had taken his shirt off, just relaxing in his boat...about to go for a swim as they had a lifeguard along...on his way to an island for another OverNightSail. He told me he felt guilty that he was getting paid for this and that he thought he should be paying the DND for such a wonderful summer.

And if that wasn't enough, he called us last night to let us know they were now on the island, relaxing on the beach, waiting for the steaks to be barbequed. Rub it in, Nathan, rub it in...

So, in case you were starting to feel bad for Nathan working hard all summer away from home and family, rest assured he is fine...

The things kids say...

Tonight while Dylan taught a trumpet lesson, Garrett's mother was jumping with Patience on the trampoline (yes, she's a much funner mother than I am).

Patience was showing how she can do bum drop after bum drop after bum drop...forever. Garrett's mother said, "Wow, how do you do that?

Patience's answer?

"Well, it helps if you're not old."

My Plarn Bag

Here is my finished bag. It's smaller than it should be, probably because I used a smaller crochet hook than the pattern called for.

Jordyn taking her turn with the "purse."

And you can see it also doubles quite nicely as a Cat in the Hat hat!

I may need to be admitted...

Ever since I heard of this on the internet, I've been intrigued. Today I started making this. And next I'm going to make this. Have I gone over the edge?

P.S. Locals, please save your plastic bags for me. Thanks!

After-Bath Photo Shoot

The girls and I took these pictures after their bathtime tonight. Taking pictures with my digital camera is one of their new favorite activities.

Patience and Mom (taken by Jordyn!)






Jordyn and Mom (Patience is really quite a good photographer!


My beautiful girls.

Definitely not deprived...

We might not have much, but we have Edaleen vanilla ice cream with homemade cherry sauce. It really doesn't get much better than this!

When we were eating this, Don and I both thought at the same exact moment that with a tad bit of chocolate sauce, this dessert would taste a lot like Cherry Garcia ice cream. Guess what I'll be making tomorrow?

You can MAKE that?!

When Caroline Ingalls was a little girl, her mother Charlotte was amazed to learn that she could actually buy beans in a can. Imagine being able to buy something that she had previously only ever made in her kitchen...

Nowadays we're in the opposite mindset. We buy most of what we need and when we find that we can actually make something that we've only ever purchased it's like a big surprise! Usually we stick to the good ol' method of buying our food, cleaning products, and the like, but most of those things could be made...saving not only money, but also packaging and fuel.

Today I'm making potato salad to go with some yummy barbequed steaks and green beans from the garden. But I'm out of mayonnaise. So I hopped on the internet and found gazillions of recipes for mayonnaise. It's so easy to make. You only need a blender, some measuring tools, and some very basic ingredients. In 5 minutes, I went from being out of mayonnaise to having 2 weeks' worth. No preservatives, nothing artificial. I think this is how life is supposed to be...

Simple summer pleasures...

Our favorite around here would have to be ice cream. Even better if it's from Edaleen Dairy. Don's been working on our trees near the border a lot lately so a few days ago he made an Edaleen run on his way home. He brought 3 gallons of vanilla ice cream. I figure with vanilla we can take advantage of all these delicious berries and cherries for topping. The girls prefer cones. Oh course Jordyn doesn't quite get the concept of eating away at the cone as she eats her ice cream...kind of like the way she eats a hotdog without eating the bun. Maybe she's hoping for a refill?

Speaking of Jordyn, yesterday she again had no nap and went to be without a hitch last night at around 8:15. For any of you who have witnessed Jordyn's bedtime reluctance, you'll agree it's nothing short of a miracle.

Flora

Garden with Sweet 1,000,000 tomato plant, Dahlias, Asters, Basil, and volunteer Cosmos, Bachelor Buttons, and tomatoes.

Pink Petunias planted in April, now flourishing! Also, my birthday rose bush, which is sending up very tall branches tha I don't know if I'm supposed to prune or not. Mom, can you come up?


Blueberries (or Strawberries, as Jordyn calls them) are turning blue! The girls rarely ask for a snack when the blueberries are ripe and the peas are full in the pods...

Summer Fun

Play sand in the sand table. Sun hats are required for this activity. Not because of the sun. Because otherwise their little scalps get full of sand.

Bouncing and splashing. What could be more fun? And, no, they can't bounce from the trampoline to the pool...we made sure there's enough distance between the two to not tempt the little buggars angels.

Dear Mr. Gopher...

Please move your tunnels 4 feet south. Just on the other side of the grey fence there. Then we'll be happy and you won't have your tunnels flooded on a daily basis.

Thank you,

The Management

More Decluttering

But on a larger, more profitable scale. Yesterday the nicest old farmer came and took the John Deere tractor away. It doesn't work anymore, but this man's hobby is to fix up old tractors and sell them. With his profits, he supports his real hobby: antique tractor pulls. So, we're down one tractor, up many dollars, and still looking for things to get rid of!

Jordyn's Unschedule

This child is definitely her Papa's child...which is all well and good except that her Papa isn't here to participate in her schedule. Usually Jordyn takes a healthy afternoon nap, which she loves...sometimes she even puts herself to bed. Then around 8:30 or so, Patience and I head off to my bed to read books and fall asleep early. Jordyn is of course wound up like an 8-day clock so she and Don head off to the suite end and she watches recorded Treehouse shows, like Diego and Wiggles, until Don can't stand it anymore and tries to put her to bed around 10 or 10:30.

So yesterday morning Jordyn slept until 9. 9 o'clock! I figured this would be a brilliant day to keep her up from her morning nap and then put her to bed early with Patience. At 8:00 we had baths, stories, etc. and then put them down. Patience, bless her heart, was asleep in minutes as per usual. Jordyn was awake for an hour in there! When I finally went in to close their window, etc. she was asleep but the little stinker had stolen Sissy's blanket! You can imagine how well that would have gone over if Patience had woken to her blanket in Jordyn's bed! So I made sure that all the dollies, bears, and blankets were with their rightful owners.

Jordyn was fine during the day...just a little tired period around 6 right before dinner. I think I'm going to try to get her out of the nap habit. She'll be going to afternoon preschool next year so it'll be better if she doesn't actually need to sleep during the day.

Photos from Quadra

Last night Nathan called to tell us some exciting news: he was in another boating accident!

Last year during the last week of camp, Nathan was driving a boat and collided with another boat in the water. The accident was investigated and both drivers were not court martialed (phew).

So yesterday evening during the duty boat run (the duty boat runs every evening to pick up staff cadets who were on leave during the day in Comox and Courtenay) as the driver (not Nathan this time) was drying to dock the boat, it hit and dented a sea plane that was docked there. The pilot was not amused...imagine that! Nathan and the other staff cadet radioed back to Quadra and two officers came out in a power boat to take photos and such. After they assured the pilot that the DND would fix the plane, they moved closer to take close-up photos and they almost hit the plane! These would be two commissioned naval officers. The pilot said, "you guys are making me really nervous!" So, much less exciting than last year's accident (thank you, Lord) but I told Nathan that now his accident for the year was done and over and everything would be smooth sailing now. No pun intended.

These are photos from Quadra where Nathan and Sean are. You can see Nathan in one of the pictures of "Life on the Waves." These are from last year...I don't see any 2008 photos yet, but these give you a really good idea of how the boys are spending their summer.

Sean called yesterday. He still has hardly any voice. I asked if he was planning on going back next year (which will be a 6-week camp) and his response was "definitely!" So that's the real barometer of how he's doing. One of the kids from the Aldergrove Sea Cadet Corps, Angela Radmore, is his DPO and she was on the duty boat last night so Nathan had a chance to talk to her about how Sean is really doing. She thinks he's doing great. He's getting very little sleep, which is apparently par for the course, and might have something to do with his not having a voice. I asked how the food was and he said he loved it! That must be what you get for having a mom who doesn't cater to picky eaters. Another corps mom just sent her daughter a huge box of food (energy bars, etc) yesterday because the daughter complained that the food was inedible.

Said mom is visiting daughter this weekend and said she'd take a care package to Sean and Nathan for me. So today I'll be baking chocolate chip cookies and asking Dylan to go get some berry shortcakes from Krause's. That'll be a nice taste of home for them...

My Poor, Deprived Children

Do you think my family is tired of summer fare? That would be dinners that are cold. Sandwiches, salads, pasta salads, the occasional barbeque...

This is the conversation Patience and I had this evening as I was making spaghetti sauce (with meat!):

Patience (running upstairs, excitedly): Mom, are you making cooked food for dinner?

Me (somewhat confused): Um, yeah, I'm making spaghetti.

Patience (concerned): Is summer over?

I think everyone will enjoy a home-cooked meal of spagetti and garlic bread : )

There Once Was a Man...

...who very innocently started dating a single mother of two teenage daughters. Lord help him...

How was he to know that getting tangled up with this admittedly very nice woman would change his life forever?

How was he to know that his very uncomplicated bachelorhood would morph into not only having a wife and two daughters, but also a seemingly endless supply of grandchildren?

Obviously he couldn't, or he probably would have left the very nice woman alone.

Thankfully he stepped into the role of husband, dad, and grandfather seamlessly, painlessly (at least he doesn't let on), and so naturally that you never would have thought he was at one time a carefree bachelor with plenty of time to read books on a Saturday morning.

Lee, we love you! Have the happiest of birthdays!

Busy Day!

Since waking up at 5:30 this a.m., Don and/or I have:

1. fed and watered the animals
   
2. done laundry


3. set up the kids' pool


4. mowed and edged the entire yard


5. washed the car and the truck


6. made breakfast, lunch, dinner


7. took a nap (that was me)


8. picked raspberries and made 4 quarts of jam


9. worked on the trees at Radnai's


10. watered the garden and lawn


11. cut wood to frame three windows


12. took Jordyn potty 25 times


13. Made popsicles, lemonade, sun tea (Lee, those popsicle holders work great!)
    

Phew, no wonder we're exhausted!

We're not the only busy ones. Dylan went to work at 9 this morning and still isn't home at 9 tonight! He picked up a shift tomorrow so now he'll be working a 15-day stretch...only one of the days was less than 8 hours. He's taking the "making hay while the sun shines" theory seriously. I'm very proud of him. I never labeled him as being a hard worker, but apparently he works just fine for the Krauses. He is also starting to teach trumpet lessons! I know a family from cadets whose son is entering grade 7 in the fall and playing the trumpet then. So he wants to take some lessons over the summer so he's got a head start. They're paying Dylan $10/hour, so it's a good deal for everyone (I think). His first lesson is tomorrow evening, after a full day's work at the berry farm.

Nathan just called. He's having the best time of his life. The weather is perfect. He taught a class on the whaler (a type of boat) today. He's going to try to get ahold of Sean tonight so he can call home too.

I think that's all the news from our neck of the woods!

More and more like Little House on the Prairie!

Yesterday morning Don had a business breakfast meeting. He said after that he had to drive to Chilliwack (about an hour east of us) and did the girls and I want to go? I got all excited at the thought of going "bye-bye" and spent the morning getting the girls and me ready for our huge adventure. The girls admittedly turned out much cuter than I did:


These are the cute Easter outfits that my mom got the girls that the weather is just now (in July) warm enough to wear.

So they all matched, right down to their hairstyle and shoes!

It reminded me so much of how Ma got Mary and Laura ready for their big adventure of driving into town with Pa and getting to see a store for the first time ever.

Patience and I went to the commercial grocery store where I like to go at Christmas time and Don and Jordyn went and picked up the lawn mower that had been repaired.

When we got home Don had to work (imagine!), the girls napped or rested, depending on which girl you're talking about, and I made a potato salad to go with the smokies for dinner.

When Don was done, we started setting up the girls' pool for the 3rd time. We realized we needed to make a permanent location for this pool, use the filter, add chemicals, etc. instead of refilling it every week. Did I mention it holds 600 gallons of water? So last night Don removed some sod from a circle in the backyard (we deliberated forever on where to put it based on sun, shade, tree proximity, power proximity, etc.). Today we're putting sand down to make it really, really level and we'll hopefully get to fill it. We're expecting another heat wave (sorry Heather, I mean high 70's) so the water should warm quickly.

We barbequed hotdogs and smokies for dinner. Jordyn does the funniest thing with her hotdog. She'll hold the bun, but will only bite the hotdog...so she's using her bun as a hot dog holder. When her hotdog is gone, she has the entire bun left and wants a refill.

Last night was a perfect evening for a campfire. Don roasted us marshmallows and we put them between two chocolate cookies...our neater and tidier version of smores. Then it was bathtime for two sticky, dirty girlies!

Garden progress...

We had such a cold wet spring that my garden is just now starting to look productive. Hopefully we'll have a warm fall or else my squash plants will not produce anything this year.

Here are the potato plants, quite happy under the huge Douglas Fir trees.

Here are the pole beans doing their thing.
And here are the peas, already full of pods...just need to fatten up now!

And here is how the garden looked about two months ago... http://fullhouse-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/2008/05/edible-landscaping.html

A Nate Update

Nathan just called from Quadra all bubbly and excited as usual. He said that he now has his own boat...a safety boat and a crew to run it. One of his main responsibilities this summer will be to accompany the sailors on their ONS (overnight sail trip) where they all sail their little boats all day long to an island, spend the night there, and then sail back. Nathan will be in the powerboat making sure none of the sailors drown if their boats capsize. He'll be taking 11 ONS trips, so at 2 days each trip, that's about 1/2 of his summer! He's very stoked...it's a very easy job and he says his tan is already amazing. Duh...

Ah...summer evenings!

Patience just asked Daddy to take them to the park. How could he resist? So, off he went to Williams Park, a few miles from here, with a water bottle and the emergency toilet! These pictures are from the July long weekend, otherwise known as Canada day. We barbequed here with some friends of ours and the girls came to love Williams Park.

They'll spend an hour or so and then come home for barbequed hotdogs and smokies. Gotta love summer!

Dylan worked all day long at Krause's and is now happily clicking away on his computer.

I take back every bad thing I've said about him...

Because right now, Dylan is out weeding my strawberries for me! I'm at the point where I can no longer bend over and breathe at the same time, so this is a huge favor. The strawberries are in an 8-foot square bed, so if I use my garden scoot, I can only reach the perimeter. Yeah, Dylan! My new favorite...*

*subject to change on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis

Old Habits Die Hard...

This is the pasta salad I made for dinner tonight.

That bowl? Yeah, well it's the Fix n' Mix bowl from Tupperware...yeah, the biggest bowl they make. So, yeah, that's enough pasta salad for a dozen or so people. Or my whole family. If they were all here. Which they're not. So, yeah, we'll be eating pasta salad for three days or so...

The good news is that there is actually chicken in there, so Don will think he's died and gone to heaven...

I was wrong!

And I am so thankful to be so! It seems our little Miss Jordyn will not need the entire summer to master her toileting skills. Other than a tiny wet accident yesterday which happened right after we got home from church and the grocery store (where she thankfully stayed dry) she's been accident-free for a week. She's even woken up dry the past two nights. Thank you, thank you, thank you....

Dinner

We had barbequed hamburgers for lunch after church today, so I figured tonight we could go pretty light. I had lots of veggies in the crisper, so I made shish-kabobs brushed with some yummy salad dressing.

The Fruits of our Labor

Even though Krause's pies are so good, I told Don that we should be getting the rest of his credit in bulk berries and then making our own goodies. Today he brought home two flats of strawberries, about 40 pounds worth and we spent the afternoon processing them.

We got two batches of jam, enough prepared strawberries to make four more batches of jam (I figure that will be a nice winter activity), 6 containers of sliced strawberries in syrup (to be used over crepes, pancakes, or shortcakes) and two gallon bags of whole strawberries for smoothies, etc. We were so thankful that the weather was cool and damp again today. Jamming in the heat of the summer is no fun!

I hope to do the same thing with raspberries (on our old property, but I plan on picking them) and blackberries (we'll get from Krause's). We have a gazillion blueberries this year, but those will go directly into the freezer.