Alberta bound

We went to the airport last night once again to send Emily off. This time for 2 whole years. She is taking Speech Language Pathology at University of Alberta. 

Gaëlle has been particularly sad because Emily is going to miss her birthday. So before she left, Emily gave Gaëlle Molly and all of her American Girl doll stuff. It was a touching moment for both girls. 

We're making our way to the airport.

Not that Emily needed help checking in as she is quite the pro. But sometimes Dad's just want to stand beside. 

She had 2 bags to check. Each one could be 23 kg. As you can see, she was bang on. But seriously, she is moving to Alberta for 2 years and she is only taking two 23 kg bags. That is it. She travels light.

The final farewell.

Can you believe how tall Peter is? Crazy. 

They will miss each other. We will miss Emily but we are so thrilled for the opportunity she has. We know she will take these 2 years and work hard and she will love it. 

The laughter before the tears

This past week Gaëlle and her friends put on a little gymnastics show. So cute. 

We had just finished making chocolate trifle so we brought it for the after show treat. One of the girls asked for 3 helpings. Not only the show was a big hit. 

Our church had VBS last week. We weren't able to take Gaëlle but we did enjoy the Sunday finale. The bouncy toy was fun for the young.

And the old. The teens and young adults had a go but they all came out before their time was up. It turns out that jumping is tiring!

Gaëlle bought a move when she was at The American Girl Place in NYC. She has been patiently waiting for all 3 girls to be together so they can watch it. The moment finally came. It may have taken a bit of prodding to get the dolls all out and the girls all together but even Snickers joined in the girl time. 

On Emily's last night at home, she cooked us supper. Yummy Curry Veggies with salmon. 

Camp Pick-up

Just 2 moms on a little road trip to pick up teenage boys from their very first teen camp. 

One of the teen boys, not mine, was incredibly verbal. We got details galore. Loved it. 

Happy campers anxious to go back next year. 

She's Back

Wednesday we headed to the airport and picked up Emily. Finally. So happy to see her.

Vashti and Emily were on the same flight so there were a lot of happy people in Halifax.

Sisters together again going out with pizza ingredients in hand. The 3 former roommates and Kaylin got together to rehash their summer.  

Hillside Camp 2014

Friday night we headed to a field behind the church for the first annual Hillside Camp. The kids spent a lot of time playing games. Completely organized by them. It was great.

We spent a lot of time around the fire.

A couple of kids enjoying the s'mores.

We had singing around the campfire both nights. Crazy and fun. Chris spoke Friday night and the kids all wanted him to repeat his stories the 2nd night. Sharon spoke and reminded us of those times when God was present in our lives.

Saturday night we had a corn boil so there was corn shucking. 

More corn.

The kids spent time with sidewalk chalk.

There was an organized craft time for the kids which was enjoyed and appreciated.

Saturday night some square dancers came out and showed us their steps. A square dancing caller came out and walked us through some calls. It was so much fun and full of laughs. I didn't take nearly enough photos but this just gives a taste of the weekend. 

I'm so thankful for people who have great ideas and do the work to make them happen. Thanks Sherilyn and Rob. It was a wonderful time.

And then the fog rolled in

I know we all love to comment on the weather. It's too hot. It's been so cold. This summer it seems as though nobody can agree. I personally think it's been an average summer. No extremes here. Except for the nice summer evening I decided we should all go down to the waterfront for supper. 

The adults had fish tacos.

The kids stuck with poutine. 

And beaver tails.

And as soon as we hit the Halifax Harbour, the fog rolled in. It was hot when we left our house and definitely sweater weather by the time we were in line waiting for our food. Ah, the joys of an Atlantic Canada summer evening. 

Catons Island Family Camp 2014

I dug through old photos and put together some from our very first family camp as a family of 7. All of us were able to attend in 2010. Kaylin was working at Catons and the rest of us joined her for a great new tradition. 

2014 was a little different. Josh and Emily couldn't join us but Snickers came for the very first time. She was so thrilled to be having this little adventure and she did so well. 

We had to keep Snickers with us at all times which meant we ate on the outside deck. But it was fun and she didn't bark once. 

Gaëlle with a family from our church. 

Everywhere she goes, Gaëlle manages to make friends. 

Kaylin and I couldn't make it until Saturday at noon. So we missed the first group game. Unfortunately the Churchill team didn't make it into the top 3 for the Highland Games. However, once Kaylin and I showed up, things changed. 

Our team came in 2nd for The Amazing Race. We were paired up with the Stephenson Family and a young family from Moncton. Let's just say one of the Stephenson girls is dating a strong man with amazing puzzle skills. 

Just hanging around. 

Dogs really are magnets for all kinds of attention. The young kids at camp ALL wanted to pet the puppy. Even if the puppy is almost 9 years old. She handled it really well and soaked up all the attention.

Gaëlle did the rock wall during the Amazing Race and did a great job. 

Peter tore through the Big Net. 

The Benjamin Family from our church were paired up with the Bandy Family. There was a bit of trash talking going on. All in good fun. 

The weather was amazing the entire weekend so the kids spent a lot of time on the water toys. 

Gaëlle is really into hand clapping rhythms. I'm not as much of a fan, but if there was a club to learn new rhythms, she would be in heaven. 

In the past, if the Churchill Family didn't get enough Monopoly money from doing well in the games, we had a son, Josh, who would scam money from the staff. For the first time in 5 years, we had to stop bidding for pies because we didn't have enough money. It didn't stop Robin. He still bid up the price of pies and then sat down. 

We all had enough to eat tho. More than enough. 

Can you see the line of pies down our table? It really is a lot of fun. Even for those of us who aren't pie eaters or pie makers. 

Saying goodbye to new friends. 

It seems as though we always leave Family Camp on a beautiful Monday afternoon. So this year, I decided if it was nice, I would stick around Beulah for the afternoon. Robin had to go to St John for work on Monday night.

So after a sunny afternoon on the St John River at Beulah, we got cleaned up and headed into St John to drop Robin off. First we had supper at the Reversing Falls Restaurant. 

Robin checked into his hotel while the kids spent some time in The Freak Lunchbox, which is a store that only sells candy. Pure Bliss.

Gaëlle and I found some photo opportunities downtown. 

John Hooper is an English born artist who moved to New Brunswick and started creating art full time after a career as a teacher. I can remember these statues used to be in front of the Canada Post Building. Apparently the city of St John took over their upkeep and moved them downtown. I love this type of folk art and so does Gaëlle. 

We headed home Tuesday morning and stopped in the Sussex McDonalds for our breakfast. Quite a treat. And a great way to end Family Camp 2014.