walking away......

After saying goodbye Susannah walked back up to her cabin to unpack a little and get to know the other girls in her room before going up to the Grandstand for the official start of camp.

I hope you have a great week Susie!!
xxx

Saying goodbye......

Snapshots of Susannah.....

Lloyd and the boys....

Spinning in circles....

Family supper at camp...

The juice (Mango or Lemon) was sooooo good! The bread rolls were also really good!! Abby went back for more and came back with her arms FULL - omg sooo embarrassing!!! ;) Susie and Laurence say the food at camp is always REALLY good.

Pony rides for the children while Susie is checked in...

Both Sam and Abigail had a ride while I checked Susie in and signed the waivers...

All checked in :)

Off to camp...

Susannah all packed and ready to head off to Summer Camp this afternoon. She will be gone until Friday night. She was very excited until she got there and then all of a sudden seemed a little nervous! I just know she will have so much fun again though :) Last year she loved it just soooo much! This time she knows what to expect too and will have a little more freedom with the horses too - she's excited about that!

Frank went missing...

..but all is well now :)

We came in from being outside all evening and we were about to put Frank the Caterpillar in his jar....but he was GONE!!! The bag was empty!!! So we checked the kitchen and couldn't find him ANYWHERE......so I was a bit grossed out that Frank was 'somewhere' in my new kitchen and we didn't know where....

So I came upstairs and was feeling a little stressed....when 5 minutes later there was a bit of a girly yell from downstairs and a yell from Lloyd telling Laurence to be careful about something!!!

I don't know what's going on!!!

Lloyd comes up to tell me that Laurie had been watching tv in the front room when what does he see but FRANK crawling up his shoulder!!!!! Hahahahahahaha omg!! Laurence freaked!!!! Ran into the kitchen and was going to flick Frank off because he didn't know what it was!!!

Of course Lloyd was all protective of Frank the caterpillar! Hahahahaha!!! :)

Anyway :) Frank is back safe and sound and now is in his jar :)

All is well and my kitchen is nice and clean again and Laurence has calmed down :)

It has been quite the day for adventures! We caught two more frogs tonight after letting the original frog go. We had them in a bucket by the fire pit and then we let them go and they were hopping away but Charlie saw them and was after them and it was a bit of a pig chase frog affair, so we scooped the frogs up and took them to the pond and set them free there instead....

Oh the drama!!!!

Building blocks.....

For as long as I can remember, since he was tiny...Sam has LOVED to play with the new pack of toilet tissue from Costco!! It is his job to unpack them and put them away, but before they get packed away, he will play with them for hours and HOURS!!!! He builds towers and knocks them down - he builds walls and forts - he makes houses and sits amongst them. He makes stop lines and stops you from crossing them. He likes to throw them into laundry baskets and play target practice. He will just play with them for sooooo LONG! Then he places a few in each bathroom and put the rest away in the correct cupboards. It's his chore of the month :)

Who needs expensive toys when you can play with toilet tissue rolls??? My funny boy!

Abigail's frog......

"Abby where is the frog?"
"In my bedroom".
"WHAT???"
"Well...it's a very nice frog...."


This is Abigail's frog....and this is the bucket that she put the frog in and took it up to her bedroom in....without telling anyone.

Then Sam, later on was stroking the frog and saying 'oh so sweetly' "Don't worry little froggy, you'll be safe here"....and I just wanted to say "hop away little froggy - as fast as you can - hop for your life" ;)

Poor little thing hasn't got a hope ;)

It's still in the bucket but will be going back to the pond when Abigail has finished drawing it and learning about frogs from it etc etc...but thankfully it seems to be doing well :)

Treehouse project continues...

The second wall has gone in....that was yesterday, and today the third wall is going in...and I believe part of, if not the entire, roof.

Laurence enjoying the fire ban being lifted :)

It's so great that the fire ban has now been lifted :) Yay!!! We've been out by the fire a few evenings already - making snakes on a stick...having jacket potatoes cooked in the ashes....having S'mores.....and hotdogs....

Art on Whyte 2009 - My date with Lloyd and Frank!

This morning Lloyd and I went to Whyte Ave and had coffee, then strolled along the Art Walk. I love doing this each year, but for some reason I don't remember, we didn't make it last year. It was lovely to get back there this year though. The Art Walk is basically where for three days artists can have a table on the sidewalk along Whyte Avenue and can sell or display their art work to the public - sometimes they are painting or drawing as you walk by too. It is mainly paintings - watercolour, oils, acrylics etc etc - but there is also pottery, jewelry, altered art, sculpture, mixed media etc etc....there were even handmade cards there today! A few photographers have there work there too which often makes me think I should frame some of my pieces - flowers, fences, old barns I have taken - because we walk along saying 'OMG I could have taken better than THAT' - really some of the pictures and paintings are CRAP!! - I know art is in the eye of the beholder but REALLY - some of the art you see there is really weird.....and Sam could do better!!! ;) There is also some really GREAT work there though - even some of the work that isn't my style you can see the talent behind it!

We sat in the coffee shop and had brunch, people watched and chatted for a while, and then strolled along looking at all the art walk. They had closed off part of Whyte Ave this year and had lots of stalls selling goods in the middle. I bought a book '1001 Ways to be Romantic'. It was new, but only $2!!! :) A lot of the stores had sidewalk sales but were saying 'Make us an offer'!! :)

One of our favourite artists Ian Sheldon was there again. I saw a couple of other artists that I really liked too and I'll do separate posts about their work I think - one of them does workshops on journaling and altered books and I'm thinking of taking one of her classes in the Fall. Very Kelly Rae Roberts-like ;)

Anyway, the weather was gorgeous, we had a lovely morning...oh and stopped off in Chapters to get Abigail a Fancy Nancy book ready for the Tea Party she's attending in a few weeks at the library!! :)

One funny thing was that we spotted a really unusual caterpillar on the sidewalk - it was right where people were walking - so Lloyd couldn't just leave it there!!! So he picks it up - and then we have no clue where to put it! So then he decides he wants to take it home to show the children! Of course this is at the START of our stroll! So he decides to EAT my apple bran muffin...then he puts the caterpillar in the muffin bag...then he spends the morning carrying a caterpillar (who he names Frank by the way) around the Art Walk in a muffin bag from Starbucks!!!! OMG!!! :) So our date at the Art Walk was a bit of a threesome - me, Lloyd and Frank ;)

I love you Lloyd :)