August 15th is a turning point in the summer. It is one last joyous feast day before the omni-present nudging of school must cease to be ignored. To make this great feast of Our Lady memorable, this year we undertook a mini-pilgrimage and camping trip. As you can imagine, we totally nailed this trip.

We excitedly packed our camping gear in the van that fine sunny morning. As we packed, memories of Jasper flooded our minds. A touch of the transcendent God. Surely we could recreate it. We decided to stay open to camping multiple nights. And so, we turned onto the highway heading West. "Rather smoky, hey?" "Yeah, you don't notice it until you get out on the highway..."

A moose passed right in front of us at one point. The main animal we didn't see on our earlier vacation. Surely a sign of God's benediction on us.

The smoke started to cloud our optimism on the day, but onward we pressed. Eventually, after a couple of hours of driving, we arrived at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes (St. Laurent). From there we took the kids for a tour and to say some special prayers to Our Lady.

After the longish drive and touring for roughly five minutes John Paul offered the following: "Can we go now?"

As we finished the prayers we looked up and noticed that the sky was an ominous yellow. At this point it was undeniable that we had headaches and sore throats caused by the smoke. To camp would be dangerous. To even continue on outside would be unhealthy.

We decided, after all the packing, driving, and hopeful expectations, to give our friends a call and say we wouldn't meet them for a cookout supper. We decided to head to Saskatoon for a quick bit of shopping before, gulp, going home.

Emilie screamed, not cried but screamed, the entire drive from the shrine to Saskatoon. Once in Saskatoon we did a quick Costco trip before going to Cabella's to return a tent. I don't know if you've ever returned a tent at Cabella's before. It is the most awkward experience you can imagine. Picture a guy bringing his new girlfriend to meet his parents for the first time. They are sitting around the supper table making light conversation about weather, gardens, and upcoming museum events. Then the dad turns to the girl and says: "So, what are your intentions? Are you two getting married?"

Awkward silence. Broken only by the choking of the son.

At Cabella's they surround you with a team of people. They take out the tent right in front of you to inspect. One of the team members takes you, nay your whole family, aside to discuss life. How kids must smile. How moose can have mohawks. How memories are made. Meanwhile I am sure the remainder of the team is doing a full criminal record check on my past, including looking for any facebook posts involving the tent. Nevermind that the salaries paid to the interrogation team during this time far outweigh the price of the actual tent. It's the principle of the matter. Finally we are released. We run to the vehicle. I sweat nervously as I drive away. I am sure I will be chased by a vehicle with shiny "Cabella's" written all over the front and side. Maye even some flashing lights on it. I nervously joke that this is "intense." But no, we are away. Clearly I can never return to the store.

One last stop at a mall. The kids are going nuts. Vehicles and shopping is not camping. We decide to eat a scrumptious meal at the food court before sadly driving way. The Chinese food instantly makes my stomach scream in pain. But the real screaming is from Emilie. She screams for an hour straight once we hit the road. Our nerves our shot. "Lord, may I never make a pilgrimage again." Finally she falls into a whimpering sleep for the final hour. Which means, of course, she stays up late at night once we get home. With our van packed bursting with unused camping gear in the back, we finally arrive home. Everyone is rather miserable. I vaguely promise the boys a movie night the next night (words which I will later regret... think Veggie Tales pirates...).

The Feast of the Assumption. Never assume you can create the perfect memory. Because when you assume you make an...

Oh well, totus tuus Maria. Even this.

Vacation, Part 1

Whew! What a whirlwind! It's now past mid-July and we've been away from home for much of the last 3 weeks. We're trying to get back into a semi-normal-with-Daddy-home-all-day kind of living. Joseph is currently suffering immensely from not having numerous aunts and uncles or grandparents at his beck-and-call, but we're hoping this stage of tearful living ends soon so we can have our usual happy boy back.

So, Ontario. We thought the weather was hotter than heck when we were there, but as it turns out they've been dealing with an even warmer heat wave this week. Although my Dad was bemoaning the almost daily rain showers we had during our visit, I was thankful for the break from the heat and humidity that the rain sometimes offered.

Although we stuck around the home-base most of our visit, we took a short day-trip to Niagara Falls. Joseph was hugely impressed! His jaw-dropped exclamation: "Big l'eau." He immediately asked to take off his shoes and lifted his legs up to climb over the barrier and into the falls. We gave him the iron grip. And placated him with Timmy's lemonade.

No matter how many times we visit the falls, they never cease to stun us. To watch that much water crash over such a height is always and ever so impressive. Joseph was also thrilled by the little, muddy puddles made by the mist coming from the falls. We caught him most of the time before he stomped in them, but not every time.

Like I said, we spent a lot of time hanging out at the Mombo residence. Summer is a great season to spend around there, with no shortage of things to occupy a little boy's attention. Joseph spent the vast majority of his time wet and playing in or with water. His usual apparel varied from no clothing at all to a bathing suit and tank or just shorts. Diapers were always optional and yet somehow we used up almost all the diapers we brought.

The hose and/or a little baby bathtub were his favourite pastimes. Despite this great love for water, Joseph was not overly impressed by the pool. Neither was his Daddy. Just too cold. I swear it used to be warmer when we were kids. We spent hours upon hours in there. Granted, now the trees surrounding the greenhouse are taller and block the sun more... but I swear it used to be a lot warmer. Nevertheless, we still jumped in and out quickly to cool ourselves off -- especially as there was no working air conditioning. 

Re: pool pictures -- he might look happy, but this was the Joseph's one time in the pool and it lasted about 40 seconds, just enough time for 2 pictures.

We spent a bunch of time on the pond too -- paddling around looking for fish and turtles. Of course, Joseph wanted to paddle and we heard a continuous "I sorry" as he took our paddles away from us, pushing our hands back too. The iron grip had to be employed here as well, as he was liable to lean right over to get a closer look. Despite my best efforts, Joseph would not be taught to paddle forwards, but insisted on paddling backwards and Dan had quite the time maneuvering our canoe. 

A month or two back we happened to be watching "You Gotta Eat Here" when they showed a place not far from my parents'. Being that it's called The Burger Barn -- and you know how much we like our burgers -- we had to visit and check it out. We didn't realize it was on the Six Nations Reserve at the time, which incidentally means they can't serve alcohol for some reason, but it's a great little place. We were definitely impressed. And besides the burgers, they had some amazing bottled Root Beer -- which I can't remember the name of -- that we just loved!

Joseph had such a blast every day that he was oh-so-sorry to see bedtime come. Each night he'd lay in bed with me asking whether everyone else was going to sleep too. "Ben?" "Yes, Uncle Ben is going to sleep." "Blaise?" "Yes, Uncle Blaise is going to sleep." And so on... through the list at least twice. He wasn't ready to sleep until he was sure everyone else wasn't staying up having fun without him. And no wonder.

And so, our 10 day vacation came to an end rather quickly. Everyone was sad to see us go... or rather, saddest to see Joseph go. He's a lot of fun, for a two-and-a-half-foot monster so I can't blame them!

Leaving on (Another) Jet Plane

"Pshhhh" 

This is the noise that Joseph makes, along with arcing hand motion, to indicate an airplane.

Yep, we're heading to Ontario again on Sunday. It's been just over a month since Joseph and I returned home and we're finding it too cold here, so we decided to go and take in some of the 40+ weather making the rounds in Southern Ontario.

Ugh, no thanks!

We are actually taking another trip, but not looking forward to the heat -- so it better break before we get there. Hear that, family?! It's an order. I'm hoping The Weather Network isn't lying to me when they tell me the expected highs are around 25 degrees while we're there. Take into account the intense humidity and we'll likely be at 30 degrees.

On the bright side, my family has a cool, refreshing pool that we'll be spending most of our days -- and nights -- hanging out in.

When Dan didn't look like he was getting a job we decided that our hoped-for trip in the summer was a no go. But now that he has a job we're a little more willing to fork out the tremendous amount of money those two 3 hour flights cost.

Or maybe we're just being thrifty. It's our last chance for Joseph to fly for free before he turns 2 in the fall.

So, that, combined with Dan not having visited, combined with decently priced flights, combined with no other intentions of flying anytime soon... well, we decided the time was right.

We are really looking forward to spending some time with my family and just relaxing -- you know, fishing in the pond, swimming, canoeing. We're also hoping to see some of our friends this time around. Sometimes we feel like we have no friends -- well, it's true, we have no friends here (yet). But we do have a few people still in Ontario nice enough to make time to visit with us and whom we like to call friends.

That's our news for the week. Now here's what we've been doing lately -- just playing around with cousins:

Another Ontario visit

Well, we're back! Joseph and I took a week long trip to Ontario for my grandma's funeral and to visit with family and friends. It was a little of a whirlwind visit, with five busy days of funeral and extended family gatherings, followed by a couple days of less busy hanging out with aunties and uncles.

Joseph was a trooper -- flying like a true pilot, putting up with numerous fan clubs, and generally putting smiles on faces wherever he ran! Although our return flight has put us into major recovery mode (due to unforeseen flight delays, a very late night, and jet lag), we had great trips despite our two 10-12hr travel days.

In the cockpit

The funeral was very beautiful, with lovely music and three priests in attendance. Grandma had most of her 25 grandchildren and all of her great-grandchildren there to pray for her. Throughout Friday-Monday we had numerous meals together (all 30-something of us) and lots of play time. The Mombo pool was open and freezing, but lots of the younger crowd, including Joseph, took advantage of the opportunity for quick dips. Playmobile frenzies, jam sessions, and soccer games were the main activities of the weekend. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful so the crowd of family could spread out throughout my parents' house, pool, pond area, and front lawn. In fact, I think the good weather was the key for a successful gathering.

An attempt at a family picture: note Joseph far right

Intense Playmobile session

Jamming in the kitchen

Joseph did very well, considering the number of new faces, all anxious to befriend him. He and Samson got along tremendously -- Joseph yelling, "Hey, no" whenever Sam barked and Sam blissfully ignoring/oblivious to him due to his supposed lack of hearing. Joseph made great friends with all his uncles and aunties again, perhaps showing special affection for his newest uncle, "uh pat." Not knowing Pat didn't live at Grandpa and Grandma's, Joseph went walking around one morning looking for him, only to be very excited when he and Aunty Maddy showed up to visit.  

With Sam, otherwise known as "Emma" or "Dog"

My handsome little man

With "uh Pat"

Joseph took full advantage of the opportunity to boss his grandparents, uncles, and aunts around. They, in turn, seemed delighted to answer his every wish. A little "brrm, brrm" from Joseph would have someone running to ask permission to take him on the tractor; a "boat" had Grandma taking him for a ride in the canoe; "big l'eau" meant a trip to check out the pond; "ball" meant someone would play throw-and-retrieve with the ball in the pool, holding tightly to Joseph and blocking him from jumping in. Grandma even spoiled Joseph and I by buying us dairy-free "ice cream" bars that resulted in extended exclamations of "mmm" from Joseph. Kids books were retrieved from the basement and Playmobile, cars, and small chairs hauled out to entertain the little rascal. He was thoroughly spoiled, as any only-grandchild is. I have a feeling we might have a few more days of a whiny kid as he gets used to being disciplined a little more and not having so many people at his beck-and-call. 

Playing chase with Aunty Maddy and Uncle Ben

Throw-and-retrieve with Aunty Bridget and Maddy

Guitar with "Pa"

We were so happy to have the chance to visit, but we're also really glad to be home. When Grandma Millette picked us up at the airport, sleepy little Joseph had a huge smile on his face, knowing we were going home to Daddy. And while Daddy stayed up late to welcome us, Joseph was sound asleep and didn't know he was home until morning. But boy was he excited to discover his Daddy and his toys when he woke up.

Thanks for the visit, Am-ma and Pa! We'll come again soon.

The whole clan, minus Dan

Photo credits: Blaise Mombourquette

More Ontario Trip

Although it's been almost a month now since our trip to Ontario, this blog still has very little to show for it. I wanted to share with you a few pictures from our trip and they've been sitting here for quite some time. So here they are...

The reason for our trip: the wedding of Mr & Mrs Carruthers -- don't they look super happy?!

Our chauffeurs -- ain't that one snazzy Carolla?

The family with our newest brother-in-law addition. Joseph's face = priceless!

Our own little family

The Godfather, Uncle Jim

Grandma, thrilled to have her little grandson 

Triple trouble: Joseph, Kallum, and Conor. These little guys had lots of fun watching each other during the weekend.

Our walker -- Joseph entertained us almost nightly with his wind-down-for-bed walking craze

A beautiful fall hike with Grandma and Grandpa and the good ol' baby backpack from the last century (seriously)

Joseph admires a stick

Brrm, brrm. Joseph was thrilled to be on the quad with Grandpa, despite what his expression says.

A walk with Great-Grandma and Sam (whom Joseph affectionately called "Emma" -- the universal word for "dog")

Our pre-packing room disaster! Thanks so much for the use of your room, Bridget! Sorry, I don't have even one picture of you.