July 7-9 was a big weekend in Kincardine. It was the Scottish Festival and the Kincardine Women's Triathlon on the same weekend.
Grannie and Grandad arrived on Thursday and we took a trip to the beach. It was a beautiful calm day on Lake Huron. Jasper prefered to throw rocks in the water to swimming, but eventually he got brave enough to wade in.
On Friday, I had to spend the whole day setting up for the Triathlon. Pat, Grannie and Grandad entertained the kids by taking them to Early Years and setting up the kiddie pool on the back porch.
They spent hours out there splashing around.
We took Jasper for a haircut, but he decided he wanted nothing to do with it. His hair remains crazy.
Friday night, the rest of the family arrived to prepare for Saturday morning's trithalon.
Colleen raced in the tri, Mikaela lifeguarded and I helped organize. Grandma and Grandpa volunteered and the rest of the family watched the kids and cheered on the race. Colleen had a great race, tying for 1st place in her age group. Overall, it was another successful event.
Saturday afternoon we went to the Scottish Festival events and then to the Trews concert at night. It was quite a full house for the weekend, and I think everyone had a good time.
Sunday, we attempted a pier jump and paddle board, but the weather didn't cooperate. Next time!
My friend Brittney is moving to Turkmenistan to work at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, so we went down to Rockwood for the afternoon to visit her before she left.
Her parents live in an old restored mill right on the river. Britt took us swimming in the swimming hole and let Jasper ride on her dad's tractor.
Ellis tried out her full body racing suit, but only dipped her toes in the water.
Pat and Jasper explored the river looking for minnows and crawdads.
It was a nice short visit. I'm glad we got to see Britt before she's off on another adventure. Safe travels, Brittney!
We briefly considered a last minute trip to Ottawa on Canada Day, but decided instead to stay home and take in the events in Kincardine.
The first parade of the day was at 11. Jasper was really pumped to see so many cars, trucks and flags in the parade.
From the parade, we went down to Rotary park to the opening of the new music park.
Ellis took it all in while Jasper tried out the park instruments. It's a pretty cool place,we'll be back for sure.
Jasper enjoyed a "happy birthday muffin" at the park opening celebration.
We had lunch and nap at Grandma and Grandpa's then went to the park to see the petting zoo and throw lots of rocks in the lake.
We attempted to take the kids to parade number 2 at 8pm. They were all ready for bed and in the stroller. Ellis even had her kilt on over her PJs.
It turns out, Jasper doesn't do well that late after his bed time and neither kid could fall asleep with the bag pipes in the background, so we were back at home before sunset.
I walked down to the fireworks later, we could see them from the end of our street.
After 3 weeks away, we finally arrived home to find that summer had also arrived on the coast of Lake Huron. The sunny 20 degree weather felt so refreshing compared to steamy Texas.
We've been taking advantage of our beautiful town by going to the beach to throw rocks, to the park and out on the paddle boards.
Jasper and Ellis like their new ride-a two kid bike trailer. The helmet is a bit tricky for Ellis, since it falls over her face every time she looks up. Ellis likes to annoy Jasper by grabbing at his helmet and glasses. I told him to hold her hand so she can't grab. It looks pretty cute.
We were a bit behind with the Fred photos, but Ellis is now 6 months old. She is much squirmier now that for previous photos and even managed to throw up while we were trying to take her picture.
She is still a very happy girl. She loves to watch her brother and has taken to eating solid foods with enthusiasm. She is trying her very best to crawl, but mostly pushes backwards and face plants right now. She's such a joy to have in the family.
We took a detour on the way home from Ohio to visit family in the GTA. First stop was to make one last visit to Grannie's kindergarten class and wish her a happy retirement.
Jasper was happy that we got to make some "happy birthday muffins" for Grannie's celebration dinner.
The next day, we went to visit Pat's grandparents in Toronto and Whitby. Grandma Beaton was already outside, so we had our visit in the back garden.
Great Grandpa was in good spirits when we visited him, and Jasper was happy to drive his school bus around Grandpa's room.
Cheryl and Doug were kind enough to babysit for us so that Pat and I could go to the Jays game with our friends Erynn and Sara. Ellis came along, and she was a good sport, but did not want to go to sleep.
We flew home into the Detroit airport and hit the road for Sandusky, Ohio.
It was another very early morning flight, and it was pretty uneventful overall.
We went to Ohio because Kristin was going to a bachelorette party in Put-in Bay, Ohio. Put-in Bay is on an island in the middle of Lake Erie. It was Pat's first overnight with both kids, so they stayed nearby on the mainland in Sandusky.
Put-in Bay was an interesting place. It was like spring break as seen in the movies, but with an older crowd and lots and lots of bachelor and bachelorette parties. I don't think I'd ever go back, but it was something to experience.
Pat and the kids did just fine in their cabin in Sandusky. They even came over for a visit on the ferry boat on Saturday. Jasper got to eat lots of hot cakes from McDonalds and Ellis had no problem drinking frozen milk from a bottle. I missed the kids, but it was nice to get a full night's sleep (even after being up until 1:00 am).
