We’re halfway through the summer, and rather than moan about it, we’ll celebrate by sharing a few highlights of the past weeks. I’ve got all sorts of beautiful, cute, and funny pictures of the kids, but since my husband doesn’t want any of our pictures online, I can’t share them. That’s too bad, but I understand the reasons. Suffice it to say that the kids are having a good summer.
This watermelon basket was so easy to make…and yummy to eat! Next time we’ll add a few other fruits to make it more colorful.
Mr. 17 has been painting the last few weeks and comes home covered with sky blue paint (the porch) or green paint (the trim). I cut his hair to get the paint out, but his other technique works even better: he minimizes shampooing his hair so that the paint can hardly stick. While he’s painting he listens to the radio and fills his mind with enough politics and news to satisfy even him. Whenever he has a free moment he’s out walking in the woods and taking pictures.
One Mountie from the Musical Ride at the Ottawa Sunset Ceremonies
Even though Miss 14’s third-hand laptop is breaking down so that she cannot write easily, she’s coping well. There’s always reading, blogging on the family computer, baking (especially chocolate), and swimming. And now she has a massive garden project she’s working on for a neighbor to help her earn money for a new computer.
Lady’s Slippers at the Purdon Conservation Area in June
Miss 12 loves reading Asterix, the Hardy boys (old version), and her summer math book about mental math tricks. She’s a real number girl, memorizing licence plates and the cars they go with, purely for fun. She makes codes, and they are getting quite complicated. I’m toying with the idea of showing her how to set up simple computer programs so that she can use the computer to make and crack codes. She’s growing like a weed, is very slender, and is almost always hungry.
Pitcher Plant at the Purdon Conservation Area in June.
Miss 9 loves the dogs and the chickens. She collects the eggs and records the daily totals, brings in bugs to show us, and is constantly active except when she’s reading. She’s also always hungry, except during meals. She loves going out and usually goes grocery shopping with me.
Water lilies at the Purdon Conservation Area in June.
My husband, who’s been fixing the pantry, the front step, and the verandah foundation in his ‘spare’ time, is a solar energy geek. He was thrilled when we discovered these installations.
Massive solar panel installation.
As you can tell from the photo captions, one of the highlights of our summer has been the trip to the Purdon Conservation Area which is home to thousands of lady’s slipper orchids. That and the RCMP Sunset Ceremonies are two of the best free events in the Ottawa area every June.
Wonderful summer memories you are making. I enjoyed hearing about your children. One of my dreams is to come up to your lovely country one day. God will have to send a wind fall first, so don’t look for me any time soon! But, I would so love to see more of North America one day. Blessing on the rest of your summer.
Great photos. We are trying to figure out how to rig up some solar or something off grid to run our pump and air conditioner. Our power bill has been really bad this summer.
Sounds and looks like you’ve had a great first half of the summer. I hope that your second half is just as fun. And your photos are so pretty and vibrant.
I hope you’ll be able to make it someday, Jenn. It’s beautiful here, but there’s a lot of beauty in your area too! And I know you’re enjoying it.
Oh, Briana, I’m sure that where you are the air conditioner has been on non-stop! Solar should work for you, with all the sunshine you get, but it’s a long-term investment. I hope you find some way to generate your own power. Do let us know if you do.
Thanks, JoAnn! These are the best few pictures of about 400! 🙂 I love digital cameras; you can take as many pictures as you want and a few are bound to turn out OK.