Wee four-eyes

My wee wookie in his new specs.

Spooooky!

Driving home I was watching these angry black clouds roll in with amazing speed. In the span of less than 5 minutes the temperature dropped at least 5 degrees Celsius. We barely made it into the house before the torrential downpour started!

First day (part one)

Today was Katie's first day of first grade. My little girl is so big now, and adorable dressed in her new school clothes that she picked herself! Even though Jonah doesn't start for another week yet he wanted to be in the picture too this morning, and I certainly never say no to a child willing to pose :)

Parliament

I had lunch with C today at his office, this is the view of Parliament from one of the terraces. The one thing that's always had me shaking my head is the difference between the riverfront view from the Quebec side (which mostly looks like this - cool old buildings, gorgeous trees and green spaces, etc) and from the Ontario side, which is entirely crappy old factories and falling down warehouses. Why the city of Gatineau doesn't improve their riverfront is beyond me. Perhaps they know that this way tens of thousands of tourists will cross the bridge just for the prettier view?

Tilapia

We're not big fish eaters (we're practically non fish eaters actually) but in our (well, OK, mostly C's) quest to eat more healthfully we're trying to branch out. So C grilled up tilapia filets for the first time. And know what? It wasn't bad at all! Of course in this picture it looks ready to attack, no wonder we were afraid to try it :)

As summer winds down

Squeezing every last drop out of summer - they spent pretty much the whole day outside, even eating a little picnic lunch in the yard.

A little boy is a noise with dirt on it

Yum Yum!!!

This was the most awesome frozen treat ever! Frozen fruit bars (all natural, no preservatives or other crap) and this one was coconut flavour! It was light and rich, and very creamy, AND had nice chewy bits of coconut inside... Divine!

(Came from Ikea, they always have the most interesting stuff in their 'bistro'!)

Trippin' on the blue acid, man

Poor Jonah had an optometrist appointment, and they put in those drops that dilate your pupils. This picture was taken some 4 hours later (on a fairly bright day) and his pupils were still blown! He tried valiantly to play outside on his bike but rather quickly decided that watching TV in the dim rec room might be a more comfortable option :)

Toothless wonder

My baby girl lost another baby tooth! Soon she'll have two big chicklet teeth :)

Painted Ponies

After dropping Jennifer, Heather and Jean at the train station, Sandra and I visited Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse and rode the old fashioned wooden carousel!

A veritable bevy of beauties

Group shot (boy did my bitty digicam look weird on my huge propod!) L-R: Jennifer, me, Jean, Sandra and Heather posing at the cottage.

Boldt Castle

The gals and I took a boat cruise to Boldt Castle. Such a beautiful place, almost haunting, especially when you read the history.

And what's at the end of the rainbow?

After a brief rain shower (shut up about the laying down cows!) we saw this amazing rainbow at the cottage (this was only a portion of it, we could see the entire thing!). And at the rainbow's end? Look closely and you'll see the lovely mama deer who stood there patiently watching a bunch of women with cameras freak out :)

Unbelievable

A day that I drove 167 miles to meet up with 4 of my bestest galpals and I didn't take a single picture. Mental.

I'm so predictable

What to do on an evening alone at the cottage? Take sunset pictures!

Attack of the shithawks

The seagulls were so brazen when we went to feed the ducks - scaring the ducks and geese away, swooping in to within a foot of our heads, screaming like lunatics. I guess a whole summer of being fed stale bread crusts by us and dozens of other people has cured them of any fear of humans.

Weird sky

Not a technically brilliant picture by any means but the sky was so weird, it was almost electric with streaks of fuchsia and hot pink. (Taken in the Leon's parking lot, not the best place for sunset watching).

The girls

Katie and her cousins after an all too brief visit (sucks that they live so far away). They went straight to the airport after this picture was taken.

Pretty Princesses

Pretty Princesses warming up after a dip in the wading pool.

Last morning

Ducks floating on Lake Opeongo on the last morning in Algonquin Park.

Firmly rooted?

Cool tree growing literally on the rock - you can see the roots wrapped around the rock face. On Lake Opeongo, Algonquin Park.

Table for Two

Some earlier backpacker had set up this cute little table with felled logs. Near Happy Isle Lake in Algonquin Park.

Reflections from the bow

Beautiful reflections on the way to Big Trout Lake.

Canoe Trip 2007

Pictures for the next few days will be by my darling husband who is chronicling his annual canoe trip with our eldest.

This is James waiting patiently at the boat launch at Lake Opeongo in Algonquin Park.

The last holiday sunset

The last sunset of my holidays :( Taken further west on the island than I usually take sunset shots from, the different perspective was nice, and the water much calmer and more sheltered.

Glow Bracelets

I'm not sure who had more fun with this package of glow in the dark bracelets we bought for the kids to wear while we set off our Civic Holiday fireworks... (yes, a bit early, tough!)

Driftwood

Another gorgeous day in paradise. Close to sunset I was wandering along the beach and found this dead tree not too far from our property. It's not actually driftwood, but the waves and weather are softening and and shaping it in similar ways. I just loved the sharp angle and smooth surface against the shocking green foliage, especially in the warm late afternoon light.

Chokecherries

Chokecherries grow abundantly all over the island where our cottage is located, and this time of year they are at the height of ripeness. They're not good for eating, but they make lovely jelly, deep fuchsia and unlike anything else you've ever tasted. So today we picked a good sized bowl of them and made 6 jars of jelly :)

Wild Water Wallet-buster

Today we took the kids to Wild Water Kingdom. I won't complain because they had an AMAZING time but hoo-boy was it expensive! Not only to walk through the front gates, but every single thing inside was extra. As happy as I am that it was a great experience for the kids I don't think we'll be going back anytime this life.

Jonah (again the non-thrill seeker) was happiest on this little froggie water slide. I preferred the lazy river myself :)