"And we were never being boring....

... We were never being bored." ~ Pet Shop Boys

I promised myself I would write a blog post soon then totally became sidetracked. So here it is. A post chock full of a week's worth of adventures. What a week we've had!

My nephew was married last weekend and the kids were flower girl and ring bearer in the wedding party. Alice is seasoned in the flower girl position, so it goes without saying that she did great. Jack we worried about a little, but he wore his tux and followed his sister up the aisle like a little trooper. I was quite proud.

I'm still in disbelief that I have a nephew old enough to get married, but then I remind myself that I was only 11 when he was born and that we are (sadly) getting older, so this is the natural progression. What a wonderful bride he chose for himself though. I'm very happy for both of them and wish them many years of happiness together. And lots and lots of babies! (Okay, I'd settle for one or two.)

Mid-week Brad was feeling slightly 'burned out' at work and decided to play hooky for a day, so we took the kids on a hike to a local conservation area that is home to a beautiful, natural waterfall and old growth Carolinian forest. We walked the trails, did a little fishing (but caught nothing) and hunted for fossils. We found a few trilobites and fossilized coral and had a great day.

Friday I decided to be spontaneous and packed our gear up for an impromptu camping trip. When Brad arrived home from work, we sprung it on him that we were ready to go. He didn't look overly thrilled at first but quickly warmed up to the idea. We didn't go far - just half an hour out of town - but had a wonderful time once again. We arrived around 6 pm and set up our tent just ahead of a rain storm hitting. It rained steadily all night, so we huddled in the tent, watched the rain and tried to get a good night sleep - as good as you can get sleeping in a sleeping bag on the ground, that is. Saturday morning when we awoke, the rain was over with and the sun was shining.

We started out the day with a bit of fishing in the pond and caught fish after fish after fish. Mainly Blue Gills and some little Sunfish. Alice and Jack were thrilled. After fishing, we biked over 5 kms of trails through and old growth Carolinian forest. Some of the trees were gigantic, and just beautiful! We didn't see much wildlife, unfortunately, but it was a pleasant ride just the same. In the afternoon we decided to rent a canoe and took a little paddle up the pond. Jack was thrilled to ride in the boat, but fell asleep 5 minutes into the journey. He didn't miss much, because we really didn't see too much on that trek either, save for some lily pads and a Blue Heron.

After a trip to the beach, another short bike ride and hike up another trail, we went back to our campsite and settled in for a campfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Once the kids were tucked snugly into their sleeping bags, we enjoyed the fire ourselves and soaked up the warm evening air and sounds of other happy campers.

It was hard returning home yesterday. Camping always takes me back to my childhood when we would spend our entire summer out at Jellystone park. Dad would commute to work and then come up on the weekends to be with us. Some of my best memories were made while camping. We were never bored as kids, and I don't want to hear those words from my kids either. "I'm bored...". Only boring people are bored! I have no time for boredom. :o)

On another totally unrelated note, I knew returning home from camping was going to be met with bad news. I said to Brad when we woke up yesterday morning, "I had a strange dream last night. We arrived home to a message on the phone about someone passing away. I hope your Grandma is okay..." Sure enough, yesterday evening I received a phone message about a passing. A long time family friend who I've never known as anything but "Aunt Milly" passed away yesterday morning.

She and "Uncle Gerry" were my parent's best friends for many years. Uncle Gerry is also in the hospital awaiting long term care, and I don't think will be far behind Aunt Milly in his journey to the next life. I wish them both Godspeed. They would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year, and lived independently until they both became ill in May. So heartbreaking...

I have a feeling that is the kind of summer this will be, and the next death will follow quickly. Brad's Grandmother (in her 99th year) has stopped eating and is deteriorating quickly. They have made all the arrangements in anticipation of the inevitable. Now we just wait. Not a pleasant thing to anticipate and wait for, but the ultimate journey in life, I suppose.

That's it for today. Until next time, peace!