Aug 7-8 - A New Driver !

I forgot to mention (I think) that Philip, Sarah, Megan & Olivia left around 4:10 a.m. on Monday. By the sounds of things, M&O only got about 2 hours sleep since they were over at Gavin's fire-pit for the evening sit-around until about 2 a.m. If they had been there for dinner on Monday we would definitely needed a bigger turkey !

Arlene & Ernie took the 5 kids into Trash and Treasures yesterday -- they didn't come back with much. I think that they are saving their money for today at the Loring Wednesday Market (a weekly affair during the summer with some veggies for sale as well as some local crafts).

David & Kim drove to Restoule, about 45 minutes away to visit the pottery store. David's comment was that $500 wouldn't go very far -- he was surprised by the prices. Nice stuff, but expensive. I have not been there; Sandy has.

Stef, Aaron & Jeffrey went out for a long, long kayak ride. After they got back and had lunch, I took Stef, Aaron and the 5 kids for a boat ride to Lost Channel for ice cream and to the dam to check things out. It appears that the Ministry has added another log to the dam so perhaps the water level will start rising -- it's way down right now which does not make the Bayliner easy to launch from the boat house.

We had veal sausages, plus another few sausages of forgotten type & origin, along with Sandy's white & wild rice mixture and barbecued veggies for dinner. The veal sausage and rice were at Jeffrey's request but he hit Sandy's bad books when he went out for an ATV ride just before dinner with Gavin and returned after dinner was over -- not really bad, just enough for some teasing.

The Tuesday expected rain held out until around 2 a.m. Wednesday -- we have had great luck as far as being able to eat outside every night. While we could probably manage to feed these crowds inside, it would be noisier and messier.

After dinner Arlene and Sandy went out kayaking and Kylie went out in the boat with the 9.9 .... yes, she is now a boat driver. I took her out yesterday after we got back from our boat ride and taught her the basics of driving the boat. She practiced docking, which is the most difficult part. She is quickly getting the hang of it. She has to stay in sight, but still, at 12 years old, driving the boat gives one a feeling of freedom and growing up.

Today someone will be taking the kids into the market; David & Kim are planning on going to Parry Sound to take the 30,000 islands cruise (none of us have been on it), I'll get the kids out in the boat again ... perhaps some tubing if the weather holds up. It's Arlene's birthday; the sun is shining; all is well in the (our) world.

I think that's it ... time for ... no, Abby and I have already had breakfast !