Grandparent Camp 2013

While the parents were moving and dealing with the hugest rainfall ever documented in Toronto, the kids were revelling in the attention of their grandparents and all that a New Brunswick summer can offer. And they sure packed a lot into the 8 days.

It starts with a haircut

Tugging the shortened forelock

Playing with Nana and her dollhouse 

Getting ready to haul the 30' trailer on the annual camping trip

Nana has them all organized

Siblings that bounce together...

Water slides (left)

Could do it solo on the 2nd try

enjoying a meal together 

playing bingo

ditto

nothing like NB strawberries

and cream!

Talking to the parents back home round the campfire 

more strawberries!

and more!!

Nana looking lovely in blue

Panning for gold or something

Flying high

Taryn enjoys the campsite too (look at all that fruit! note there are no snaps of the candy and s'mores!!)

Did I mention that it was Yogi Bear campground (thanks for taking one for the team, Gramps and Nana)

Cool cats heading out for a canoe trip on Gramps & Nana's lake

Oops! candy got in one shot

Our last weeks in Canada (part 3 - "the move")

And then on Friday July 5th at 9 pm (ahem), we moved into our new home. It felt wonderful.

Let's just skip over the subsequent mad dash 

• to move everything, 
• to deal with other self-drive moving truck that squeezed by our truck at 10:05 pm and scraped it, 
• to unpack 70% in order for another family to move in less than 2 days later, 
• to squeeze an ever-growing 30% into a storage area in the basement,
• to equip the bigger house with new items for 6 people, 
• to deal with a torrential deluge that left a (small) part of our new basement flooded (yup),
• to get some last "bits" out of the old house (a process that took not one person for 6 hours but 2 people and a truck about 11 hours); 
• and then of course, the dash to pack what we needed for 12+ months away...

There is a reason - or 8 - why the blog has been silent this month! A big thanks to all the wonderful folk near and far and of all ages who helped us to pull it off.

Not sitting around idle

Can't honestly say that we are missing the fellas hugely yet. There's been too much yummy stuff to eat fun stuff to do. Night markets in decorated squares, live music, grandparents to entertain, an invitation to the house-warming party of lovely friends, a swim in my favourite pond in the doziest of hamlets, pizza from the weekly pizza truck, medieval dancing in our church square,work tucked in to the odd corners of my day (i.e. 7-10 a.m.), books to rediscover, a sleepover to host, wine (and great artisnal local beer) to sip...

What is becoming an annual event

Despite the gorgeous smile, she had her worse headache ever - side effect of heat :(

I swear I hadn't just told her a rude joke!

The annual festooning of our neighbouring village's square

A trinket from our market

An edible from our market...

The world's most wonderful Nana and Gramps

 But rested assured, we do call the riverfarers every other night and are heading to see them today.

Just a little something we threw together for dinner

Sophie and I treated ourselves to a lovely 3 course lunch at a restaurant in the village - Chez Alain. Mushroom omelette for starters, beef in champagne sauce for mains and apple tart with vanilla ice cream for dessert - and that was just Sophie's menu.

So we wanted a late and light dinner. Around 9:30 pm we threw this little gem together

a salad with chèvre, tomatoes and red currants

The launch of our year in France

We started with a few days to settle into the house, greet neighbours and attend the odd village dinner.

Never say no to a caleche ride!

Taking a break from unpacking

There's the "year will go by in a blink of an eye" migration craft in its new home

We always have something for Gramps to do

relaxing on my grandparents' old bench from Kent

relaxing in even  finer style!

The big news of course is not our arrival in France but rather that of father and son setting off on a canoe trip of a childhood (if not a lifetime). For those who are not up to speed, they are canoeing the Dordogne river from Argentat (the last of the hydro-electric dams) to Libourne (just before it gets too busy near Bordeaux). It should take about 2 1/2 weeks. Both of them are documenting it with notes and photos, as the plan is to further research and write it up as a book this winter.

A wide-bottomed (i.e. super stable) canoe was purchased on-line and collected on the day of the family's arrival. In fact, it made its appearance at Bordeaux's train station on the roof of our car, where Monsieur M. picked up the 5 duffle bags, a collection of other smaller bags and his mum.

carrying the canoe down the little alley in front of our house

loading it onto the car in front of the village's most iconic house

tightening the straps

We will be checking that muscle at the mid-way and end points

Ready for the launch

and 2 1/2 weeks of each other's company

The NB liquor bag is a classy touch

The canoe loaded and ready to be off

and off they went...

Another view of the old tanneries at Argentat where the trip started

They are about 1/3 of the way along and so far so good - no boredom (Dad's concern for son); no allergic attacks (Mum's fear for trip); no capsizing the canoe (Seb's worry for trip).