Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 - Nothing like a truck picnic

Well, it took us a day or two to recover from the departure of the Capers!  We all needed a little down time - except Maggie, apparently, who went out to St. John's with Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie after her party on Saturday for a 36 hour blitz of fun.  Movie, Fluvarium, Marine Drive, MacDonald's, mini-golf, Wall-Nuts, and pizza.  I am tired just typing about it!  But Maggie (and her Aunt and Uncle) were thrilled.  And Uncle John suitably wistful and jealous, halfway across the world in Albania.

The one dark spot in the town extravaganza was that Rob's car was broken into overnight, while parked in his driveway.  Only two items of value on the car, both of which were stolen.  The first: Rob's pricey sunglasses.  The second: our camera, sent with Maggie to record her adventure.  Disappointment.  Luckily, there were un-downloaded pictures on the camera.  But still, disappointment.

While Maggie was gone on Sunday afternoon, Granda offered us another boat trip.  We jumped at the chance!  This time we went all the way to Port Kirwan, waving to Natalie at the Lighthouse along the way.  Likely she was too busy ferrying lemonade to thirsty picnickers to notice us going by.   

We were busy, too, mainly turning the boat around, grabbing the boat hook, and fishing out of the ocean the various things Jacob tossed over the side (cover of the cooler, his shoe).  But he only threw out floating things, thank God.  Once he had that out of his system, all he had eyes for was Grandma and the bubbles she was blowing.

Josh took the helm - briefly.  He was only slightly more reliable driving the boat than he was on the ATV!

Silas and I have been spending some quality daydreaming time talking about what house/land we would buy here if (when?) we win a million dollars.  This trip yielded a few promising possibilities.  At the top of the list, I think, was Clear's Cove, just outside Fermeuse.

After a couple of hours, it was back under the Gut Bridge, coming up on Grandad's, this time totally empty of visiting Capers. *sigh*

On Monday we spent the day in town, hanging out with Uncle Rob, getting the kids' pictures taken, visiting Lester's Farm, and painting things at the Clay Cafe.  Such a great time!  At Lester's, with so many animals and things to see, Jacob was once again focused on just one area of interest - the pigeons.  They were everywhere, pecking at the leftover grains that the sheep, goats, and horses didn't eat.  And then, once in a while, they would flap their wings and fly up to relocate.  Jacob loved the flapping!  The first time it happened, once he relaxed enough to speak, he turned to me and announced, "Wow!  Nice dog!"

Then after we had finished our visit and were treating ourselves to ice cream cones, we were keeping ourseves entertained singing songs.  "Old MacDonald" seemed an appropriate choice, given the setting.  As is our custom, the kids took turns choosing the animals for each verse.  When it came to Josh's turn, I sang up to "...and on that farm he had a..." and then pointed to Josh to fill in the animal.  His response, "Fan!".  There is boy who knows what he loves.  And he loves fans!

Today we had a quiet day at Grandma and Granda's.  Silas went fishing, Josh and Jacob worked on the home school stuff, Maggie went and spent the day with Clare.  Even a quiet day can wear you out, though.