Judy and Milt come to visit from Tacoma, WA July 8 - 17

Pretty quiet week for us. The sun is out, but the wind hasn't stopped. Temps hovered in the mid 20's for most of the week. We did chores in the morning and then sat on the lawn out of the wind for the afternoons. I did cook a brisket this week, and it turned out amazing. Thanks Roy for the instructions. lol

Ray managed to get his little Klinker boat aired up, motor on and ready for fishing if he so desires. Sometimes it's easier to use it instead of firing up the bigger boat. However this wind needs to quit first to be comfortable out there. (Thursday he actually managed to get for an hour.)

Picture from 2021

Tuesday we drove into Duncan for some shopping and get the car washed, as with Stage 3 water restrictions, car washing is out. After that, we went to visit to a lavender farm. I drove us through neighbourhoods we have not seen in that area. Beautiful old acreages. Visting is by appointment only, so Ray just peaked over their fences. lol

Next up, we meandered along until we ended up at the Maple Bay Marina for lunch at the Shipyard Pub. I ordered a most delicious burger and Ray deep fried salmon with a Caesar Salad. 

This heron posed for pictures. :)

Back home for 1:30 or so and spent some time on our deck. Still windy.

Wednesday I went out for my hair appointment while Ray puttered here at the house ... chasing spider webs. I did some chores and then we were able to sit outside on the deck. We sure are getting a lot of use of the sundeck this summer instead of being down on the dock these past few weeks. In the five years we've lived here, it's never been as breezy day after day. I wonder if it's due to all the wildfires in the interior of BC causing all this wind??? I would rather this breeze than smoke though. The smoke map shows 3/4 of the province with smoke.

Thursday it's "Margarita Night" next door at Pat and Darryl's. Everyone is tasked with various side dishes or appetizers to go with their Mexican Feast. Ray made a huge pitcher of margaritas and I made Pico de Gallo from my cherry tomotoes on my deck. Lots of appetizers before eating Carne Asada and Tacos de pescado ("fish tacos"). Delicious. 

First up appetizers.

Me, Pat and Debra

Donna, June, me, and Pat

Ray, Roy, Mike, Darryl and Ron

Pat's grandson Ashton, was put to work serving up the margarita's under Grandpas instruction. lol

Debra, Donna and June

Ray's famous margarita's.

The party started at 6 and we left at 11 pm. Wasn't that a party! Thanks Pat and Darryl for hosting.

Friday, Jason, Kristi and Amelia arrived at 9:30. Let the fun begin! First up swimming. Amelia loves the water but she gets so cold. Pat and Darryl lent us their neoprene suits for toddlers.

Grandpa tossing her in to mommy.

Later on after her nap it's cooling off in her pool we set up on the sundeck.

While we amused Amelia inside, Jason and Kristi took a few minutes for themselves. lol

Picnic with her babies.

Ray's sister and husband, Judy and Milt, arrived at 4pm from Tacoma. This is the first time they get to meet Amelia.

New puzzles.

Amelia helping Grandma peeling apples for pies. She did a great job.

Amelia picking tomatoes with Aunt Judy for dinner.

Sunday morning Ray took Judy, Milt and Kristi out for a boat ride even though it was windy. 30 minutes later they were back and Kristi took Amelia down to the boat for a short ride. Need to get our "lake baby" used to it. 

Kristi made a Charcuterie Board lunch for us, so it was one meal I didn't have to make. Thanks a million Kristi!

Ray's cousin, Brian and wife Sandy, came over for dinner to catch up with Judy and Milt too. Due to dietary issues (Gluten-free and Dairy-free) I made deep fried Halibut and Chips which everyone could eat, with the gluten-free apple pie. :)

Sandy, Brian, Kristi, Amelia, Deb, Judy, Milt and Ray. Jason took the picture.

After bath, Amelia only wanted Papa. So he got the wet baby in a towel to warm up. She sure is Papa's girl. I think she was wiped out from all the stimulation of so many people here besides us. 

Watching Trash Truck

What a great visit with everyone. Monday, Kristi and Jason were on their way home by 9:30 am. Amelia told us she wanted to go back home. She is still missing Zeus, their dog that they had put down a week ago, so a little unsettled still.

After Milt and Judy ate their breakfast and went for a walk, they hit the road about 11:30. They wanted to visit Victoria to spend the afternoon before their ferry back to Port Angeles at 7:45  pm. We relaxed down at the dock for the rest of the afternoon. 

Kristi and Amelia come for Canada Day Weekend. July 1 - 7

 Happy Canada Day 2023, flying our flag proudly.

My planters are doing fabulous this year. The front ones especially.

Kristi and Amelia arrived around 9am after dropping Jason off at the Nanaimo Airport for his weeks trip to Saskatoon. Here at the lake we had a busy few days.  Amelia showing off her new dress twirling around.

Kristi brought Amelia's pool so we filled that up with warm water.

Kristi's friend, Theo, arrived shortly after lunch to visit.

Afer Amelia's nap it's time to swim in the lake.

With me busy making dinner, Ray took the girls for ice cream at Mountain Man Ice cream.

Busy day, great dinner and everyone went to bed by 9pm lol. Next morning, while I made pancakes with Amelia' help in mixing ingredients, Auntie Theo and Amelia then played with her magnatiles.

We took Theo, Kristi and Amelia for a half hour boat ride around the lake before Theo left for Victoria.

A great vist with Theo. After Amelia's nap, it's time to go swimming with Mommy again. Kristi wore a life jacket this time so she could hold Amelia up in the deeper water. Amelia has no fear as long as mommy is holding her.

Kristi swam with her from the beach, all the way around the dock and they climbed up the stairs.

Kristi jumped in and Amelia did to with a little help from Papa.

Time to relax in Grandma's rocking chair.

Dinner time is chicken strips and french fries with fresh veggies. She loves my tomatoes. I definitely cook differently with Amelia in mind lol.

Morning walk with Zeus.

Evening walk over to the park playground next door.

Peak a Boo

Monday, their last day here. Another fun filled day. 

We decided to go to Tim Horton's for breakfast before going to the Duck Pond Children's Park.

Back home for a bit before Amelia's nap. While Amelia napped, Ray, Kristi and I sat on the deck to watch the activity on the lake. Her baby monitor signal does not work down at the dock.

Brad visiting next door with his seadoo, had to rescue these guys on their floaty.... too windy to make it back to the park so he gave them a tow.

Someone else with a different way of propelling himself on a surfboard.

Kristi and Amelia left after a quick dinner and were back home by 7 pm. Apparently Amelia had no interest in getting ready for bed. We relaxed down at the dock .... we were both tired. Need to rest up before heading back up to Nanaimo tomorrow to pick up Amelia from Daycare at 2:30 to babysit.

Mesmerizing!

Tuesday morning we headed out around 10am to Nanaimo for a bit of shopping and lunch before picking up Amelia. Here are some pictures of Old Town Franklin Street, Nanaimo.

We picked Amelia up at 2:30 and took her home to wait for Mommy to get off work.

Grandpa and his "tickle bug".

Ice Cream for Dessert.

Wednesday morning we're on duty as Kristi is on call at the hospital for the next 24 hours. After breakfast, we went to Collery Dam Park for a walk. It's so cute that Amelia showed Grandpa where to take his pictures of the lake.

Snack time.

Peek a boo!

Once back in the car, we decided to go to Shanghi Chinese Buffet for lunch which is fairly close to the hospital. Mommy managed to join us. After lunch, we made it home just in time for her nap at 12:30. She went down without a complaint. All that walking was tiring. 

After her nap, we sat on their deck playing in her pool that we brought back and her water table in the shade. Sure is a warm afternoon so the rest of the afternoon we spent inside with the A/C and playing games with Grandpa.

More ice cream for dessert after dinner.

After dinner it's Zeus walking time. She decided to bring her baby in her back pack lol.

Relaxing before bedtime watching Frozen II

Bed time stories. Papa read one, Amelia read one and I read one. :)

Amelia slept pretty good all night, other than falling out of bed at 2 am ...,but Zeus had to be let out 3 times overnight with the "runs". Poor dog is not doing well on his pain meds. He has cancer and I think his days are numbered. Needless to say I'm really tired the next morning after only a few hours of sleep.

The usual Arrowroot's to tide over until breakfast

Kristi arrived home at 7:30 am to a really happy baby. I had her fed, dressed, teeth brushed and her lunch made for daycare. Kristi dropped her off before coming back home to sleep for a few hours after being up all night.

We headed out at 8am and were home at 9 in time to take our garbage out. lol. I napped for 90 minutes  then spent the rest of the day down on the dock in the shade. You actually had to swim to stay cool in the shade periodically.

I took out some frozen chili for dinner as I'm too pooped to cook anything. Both of us were in bed at 8pm. Ray got up on Friday at 5 am, but I didn't wake up until 7 am. Boy I really was tired!. I spent the day doing our laundry and prepping our dinner of stuffed pasta shells. I picked up the true Italian pasta shells in Nanaimo at a specialty store and was curious to try them out. They turned out delicious. Here's a picture from google what it looked like. I also had put my homegrown cherry tomatoes on top to be roasted. I had enough to make 2 casseroles so have one frozen for another dinner.