Geertsema Camping 2012

The Geertsema's went camping for a few short days (5) a couple of weeks ago. From near and far, we enjoyed trailering and tenting at Bonnechere. We had camped here as a young family many years ago; now it was time to try it again. We enjoyed the park very much and will likely return to camp - the beach is terrific for young children, the park is small, the sites are roomy and quite separate from each other - and we had a good time.

So where does one start when there are over 250 photos to choose from? And we still haven't added from 2 other cameras!

Martin and Michael returned from NS with several cases of local beer. We all sampled some to see which was the best - even me! (Martin and Emily and the girls had flown up previously to attend my Mom's funeral, leaving all their camping gear to be packed afterwards. They're hoping to enjoy the drive home when they're done visiting next week.) It was decided that the fruit-based beers were really nice for summer.

 Not sure who took this photo, but it looks like Stevin is saying, " yup, built well."

 Teacher David is obviously questioning something!

And all the kids enjoyed having Uncle Michael around! Here he is with Petra in the Bonnechere Caves. Was it ever nice and cool down there!

Playing with the dirt...

Dirt, dirty, dirtier! There was no escaping the dirt here! The ground on the sites is fine dirt, and I'm sure years of fine ashes is also mixed in.
Don't you just love these faces? We were thankful for a plentiful supply of water to clean them up at the end of the day!
And take a close look at Rachel: her left braid more or less intact while the her right gave up a long time ago, smudgy face and mismatched footwear. She is so loveable-huggable!

 There's lots of wildlife around, and the chipmunks here are quite brave. The children enjoyed feeding them!

While at the funeral, several Geertsema's decided it would be nice to have a mini-reunion while Martin and Michael were around, so on Saturday, Grandpa and Grandma G., Gwenda and Laurisse and girls, Mark and Tanya and kids, and Peter and one son (Phil) arrived for the day. The beach was enjoyed and several people got involved with a game of 'club' - hitting larger posts with smaller sticks. And then we ate together.

(On Sunday, we had a delightful surprise when Stephanie Triemstra joined us for the evening!)

 Sometimes children need a change of pace, and here we see the girls playing with Aunt Stephanie's play dough.

The game of club was enjoyed often. left to right: David, Michael and 'Kat'

and this little guy also enjoyed this game!

A game of horseshoes was also rung in.

 Sunday morning we had "church". Naomi told us why she chose particular verses, and then we had a children's message. Bible songs, with actions to the children's songs, and circle prayer rounded out our service.

 Time to explore with the aid of a map:

 Photo op time, but what IS Anneke pointing at?

 More photo ops...

amazing Anneke,

 cute little Elijah, (someday he'll be IN the tree!)

 and our radiant Rachel.

 The playground offers the shell of a small log cabin as a playhouse, and here Maria is preparing something for Nicole.

This little bathing beauty is our happy Lauren. This photo was taken to imitate a photo taken many years earlier of her Daddy at the same age!

Eating together is fun when you're camping. Oma seemed to have regular guests at breakfast time!

 I've been wanting a large wooden wagon with quiet-running tires for a long time, and we finally purchased one just before we came camping. It was such a handy thing that we wondered how we had done so long without it! Toting kids, chairs, games, and food, too! Here we see a prepared meal travelling to another site.

We had breakfasts and lunch separately, but took turns preparing dinners for everyone. That seemed to work out well, but for the aforementioned breakfasts... But preparing food always involves clean-up of dishes afterwards. In the photo below, we see our 2 girls with the same name: Katrina and Kathryn.

 And then there was time to relax....

Here is Oma, attempting to knit a ruffle scarf. Maria was helping: unwinding the whole ball of pink and purple yarn!

Each girl walked the length of this log before sitting on it - Anneke showed great balance!

 And last of all, we had our family photo taken.

I love my family!!

A new day, a new year, a new decade....

Well, it's happened whether I like it or not. Time has a way of simply marching on. I didn't want a lot of fuss and bother, but the children decided that we needed to do Something! So on Saturday of the long weekend, Stevin and Katrina and their children, David and Stephanie and their little one(s), and John and I went to Upper Canada Village for their opening day of the season. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and learned more things about life in the 1860's. It was a hot day, and for a change did not feel any of the breezes coming off the river as we usually do.  

Later, we went to Stevin and Katrina's for supper, and that's when I received my gift from my family: Blue Denmark dishes to add to my set! I certainly did not expect this, as I have pretty well given up on looking for more plates to replace the broken and cracked ones - they are not easy to obtain. So this gift was a lovely surprise! 



Here is a picture of the card I received - it's called Oma's Garden! Precious faces in the flowers and their footprints as butterflies! On the outside it says "Happy 60th birthday, Oma!"

On Sunday, we had a delightful afternoon on the patio and yard, and dining alfresco. It was another beautiful day! And yes, I had help with the 60 candles and it took more than 1 breath from each of us!

The Treacherous Beauty of Ice

So far, this winter has seen a lot of rain and freezing rain instead of lots of snow. Tree branches have been heavily bowed down, creating scenes of beauty.

Every needle has been coated with ice - awesome!

And then the snow would add its majesty.

Words just can't describe the beauty and majesty of this winter scene. Even the camera didn't do justice!

Heavily laden branches created a winter wonderland at night too!

And dawn one morning after a snow simpy took our breath away.

Winter in Canada needs to be enjoyed; backyard skating rinks, toboggan hills, Ottawa's Winterlude
 - and the annual Fishing Derby on Graham Lake.

But all that beauty also brings its own brand of treachery: the build-up of ice makes walking very dangerous! This picture shows ice on the hill down at the lake.

And nearer to the house there's another treachery: you think that's grass we can walk on? Nope! Between each blade of grass and each pine needle  and each leaf on the ground, there is ice and more ice. The snow has also thawed and frozen so many times that it is now ice. Finding safe places to walk is almost impossible. And I cross this terrain 4 times a day just to get to the school bus and back again. The driveway is impossible, and coming down through the trees and onto the lawn is also impossible. I've fallen twice already, and my head remembers the pain very well. This week, I've taken to crossing the back lawn over to the road allowance and have found a bit of icy snow to break through for my trek.

Here's a glimpse of all that ice! And the seeping water has found a new path to come down. Instead of crossing the yard, it is coming down the yard and into the patio area. A deep freeze could do major damage to our brick wall!

The back corners of these steps now have almost 6 inches of ice built up on them. We've never had ice on them before - I usually shovel the snow off them so that we know where they are!
Is our driveway the only one affected by all that ice and melting ice? It sure isn't! As I drive my bus route, every lane and driveway is just as bad as ours.

This is our driveway looking towards the back. It's received ash and sand to give some traction, but the melting simply coats it anew.

The driveway across the back normally gets thick with ice and snow, and as the melting creates little rivers, we get huge crevices across it - making the navigation with the cars rather tricky. This crevice, however, is so big and deep that John put four 2x4's in it: 2 beside each other and 2 deep. And no, the boards are not level with the top.

And this is the entrance of our back driveway from Sunset Lane. We're hoping this crevice melts before it becomes too tricky to get through or over.
There is another kind of damage as we look around: the ice has also caused many branches to break off trees, reminding me a little bit of the IceStorm of '98. Winter also causes some types of trees to bend their trunks; I've seen several of them bent so far that they're breaking off.
Winter. It's nice to have some mild weather and it sure seems like spring is around the corner when the sun brings the thermomete above freezing, but I do wish for a few feet of snow yet! The insulation factor would help get rid of some of that ice, and we'll be thankful for the full lakes and rivers come summer!
In the meantime, ice makes life a bigger adventure!

Captured!

We captured this snapshot last night while on Skype:
  Little Lauren Joy has surely captured our hearts.

 May the Lord bless this little one in our family! 

A NEW DAY...

THIS I CALL TO MIND AND THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE:
BECAUSE OF THE LORD'S GREAT LOVE WE ARE NOT CONSUMED, FOR HIS COMPASSIONS NEVER FAIL.
THEY ARE NEW EVERY MORNING; GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS.
I SAY TO MYSELF, "THE LORD IS MY PORTION; THEREFORE I WILL WAIT FOR HIM."
THE LORD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHOSE HOPE IS IN HIM, TO THE ONE WHO SEEKS HIM; IT IS GOOD TO WAIT QUIETLY FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LORD.
     ~ LAMENTATIONS 3: 21-26

Blessed New Year, Everyone!

Tradition...

By now all of my kids have received their packages, or there's a notice in their mailbox to go pick up a box at the post office....Sinterklaas has sent a lot of goodies this year! Although a couple of years did get missed, this has been a tradition that started when the kids were young - a tradition of little gifts and chocolate letters and special baked goods on December 5. Ok - missed several years in between, but I did at least try to bake special Dutch recipes around December 5.
Anyhow, it started in real earnest again when David was in college. Redeemer College had a program whereby parents could send care packages during exam time. We decided that Saint Nick needed to get into the action instead!
Dutch tradition has Saint Nicolas coming around to homes to give presents and pepernoten and marzipein and other goodies on December 5 - often leaving gifts in shoes during the night. It's a very exciting time for all, as there is not usually any gift-giving on the 25th.
I think it's fun, too, and upon reading up on the particular customs, I found that disguising gifts and making up rhymes is part of the fun, too! We have done well in disguising gifts in the past...!
Today, I was on Skype as the Dartmouth crew opened their box - it was fun to watch Maria's and Nicole's excitement as they took everything out. Jingle-bells for the tree, hagelslag, chocolate letters and taai-taai to eat!
And to bring tradition around again - David did mention the other day that they were wondering if Sinterklaas was going to remember them this year...
Enjoy! Hope your season is a little brighter because of this special tradition!