August 2 - Day Two Camping Manning Park

Our morning routine began like this: get dressed, feed everyone, do dishes, clean up and once we were all fed and watered - we filled up on more water and headed out. This was to be our daily routine for the following week.
This morning we made a stop at the Manning Park Resort and spent some time with the ground squirrels. They totally reminded me of our Parkland days - my school growing up. Parkland WAS out in the boonies back then (the city is slowly getting closer these days) so most of our soccer/football/track field was full of holes from Richardson Ground Squirrels. These ground squirrels were of a different variety but sure look like their Alberta cousins. My dear brother and his friends were known to trap the above said squirrels - I'm not quite sure what they did with them after that but needless to say that it's not without good reason that my dear brother has shared good squirrel stew recipes in the family cookbook!!


This scene would become familiar - baby sleeping in car seat and/or sudoku puzzles being worked on.



We took a moment to drive by Uncle Will's old cabin at East Gate from when he was the ranger of Manning Park. Will has good memories of going there with his sister, Adriana and skiing on Gibson Mountain.

Next, we spent some time bringing the canoe from the campsite via van to the boat launch.

Aleana and I paddled to the beach from the launch. We were surprised at how fast we could canoe together and even more surprised when we beat the boys back to the beach!!

Bye, guys!!!

Canoeing with Aleana was fun - it had been awhile for me but it's like biking, you never forget how it works. This experience also brought back memories of my Grade 9 camping and canoe trip on Jarvis Lake, Alberta. Someday I'll write more about that trip - what great memories.

Will joined us down at the beach and Ethan and I traded spots. He and Aleana spent every day in the canoe and I was shocked at how well that went, they managed to co-operate and stay afloat. It was nice to see.

Okay, off you go!! See you in an hour.

Look, Dad is taking our picture! Giggle giggle.

I love it when Daddy carries me like this!!

Should we wrestle our way into the water? That would be fun!!

It was slightly overcast today. The water was sooooo clear and mountain cold.

That's the boat launch on the other side of Lightening Lake.

Trillium that we had growing right in front of our campsite.

Ontario's Provincial Flower.

We really enjoyed our picnic shelter this year. It provided safety from the bugs for us during meals and for Nadia through out the day.

I'm nursing Nadia - just to explain why my back is turned.

We love camping!!!

Camping makes us tired - Will and I don't REALLY relax until the third day, once a rhythm has been established.

After supper Will took the little boys fishing. Matthew caught three!!!

He would tell anyone who would listen his fishing story.

Another one of his prizes - he let them all go back from whence they came.

What is it about catching a fish that makes one so thrilled?

Is it surprising that the LORD chose fishermen to be his disciples?

"I will make you fishers of men"

Will said later that fishing with the boys was sublime. He told them that they had better be quiet or no fish would come and they were!!! For almost the whole hour...wonders never cease.
Thank you LORD for day two of safety and fun.

Manning Park Camping - August 1, 2011

A typical Faber campsite.
But not with any typical people.

Some cuter than others.

I think everyone in the family would agree.

And that's okay for now.

In a few years it will wear off.

For now we'll just enjoy the cuteness given to us every day, in exponential degrees.

Hay, Michelle - Do you recognize the green contraption in the foreground?

Isn't camping fun??

Some Pictures from Cleveland Dam I Forgot

Quilting Questions

There are tons of pictures I need to download but before I get to that (which won't be today anymore) I still to answer my questions about quilting from last time.

Why did I start to quilt? It's not a story that is all that exciting now that I think about it. It just sort of happened when I was pregnant with Ethan. He's almost 11 now so that's quite a long time ago for me. When I was pregnant with Aleana I had croqueted her a baby blanket and now I wanted to make something for the next baby. Quilting looked relatively easy - you just cut out blocks and you just sew them together straight, it seemed so simple that I figured I could do it. Especially seeing how I had not even looked at a sewing machine in 10 years. I started to imagine what I wanted to make, bought the materials, cut out the home-made templates and started to sew.

It took me two years and a half years to complete the project. It's not something that would end up in a quilting magazine but it's full of love and the beginnings of a journey in a craft that I never really thought about BEFORE this pivotal moment. I'll never forget Ethan's face when I gave it to him. He lit right up and said "For me? You made this just for me? Tanks Mom!!"
He still has it on his bed to this day, all ratty and loved to bits.

Putting together that first project required some consultation. I remember showing my Mom the templates for the alphabet and how she admired the fabrics. I had no clue how to bind a quilt and the books were hard to understand so I asked Will's Mom to show me how she would do it (she is a seamstress) and gained some understanding how that process worked.
A visitor to our church gave me some suggestions on how to sandwich everything together and outline quilt it - a good way for a beginner to get going.

So that's how it all started - after Ethan came Matthew's baby quilt and by then Aleana was asking "Mom? Aren't you going to make me a quilt too?" So I made one for her too. And on the story goes. Today, Aleana loves to help me and we work together really well on planning things and getting it all together. There are some things about quilting that I still do NOT enjoy but it's easier when you have someone helping you. When it comes to quilting I am definately not a perfectionist which I have to confess is not connected to being an artsy sort of person but rather related to being lazy and impatient. Why bother doing it the LONG way when you can do it in twice the time? I do admit there has to be a balance and sloppiness in quilting is not appreciated for long when all the seams fall apart :).

Well I think that's as far as I will get on this topic for today - my time is up!!! I do LOVE color and fabric - they give me the tinglys - but I'll have to explore that another day.

Hope you all have a great day - in the hands of God!
Gloria

Capilano Fish Hatchery and Cleveland Dam - Second Half of July