Seven

We've been talking about getting a camper of our very own for a while now. We've yurted and camped with my parents many, many times but it may be time for us to dive into this camping lifestyle for real.  With all the camper talk this summer it seemed like a perfect time to bring the outdoors in and get ready for a camp party.

Life at seven means...

You're a few teeth short of a full grill.
You love your momma fiercely.
You love sweets just as much as you love your momma.  Sticky cinnamon buns, donuts, chocolate bars, cookies and chocolate milk are your favorite food groups.
You jump around all the time. You're always moving. Always wiggling. Even in your sleep.

You love Barbie and Lego.
You say Toopy and Binoo is your favorite but you watch Full House and iCarley on Netflix.
You've mastered the eye roll and the hair flip. Probably from watching  the horrors of Barbie's Life in the Dreamhouse.
You love to watch movies and eat popcorn.
You like swimming, gymnastics and dance.  You tolerate piano lessons.
You like to stay up late.  Mornings aren't your favorite.

You are always hot.  Even in winter.  You're always wearing tank tops and leggings.
You like to wear stylish boots.
You like when dad cooks juicy steak, ribs and hamburgers.  You order poutine in a restaurant.
You say you're favorite color is pink but it doesn't really matter.
You like to sleep with someone, especially mom, but anyone will do. You snuggle close and kick all night.
When you're grown up you say you want to work in a bakery.

You're always climbing on furniture.
Your sister is your best friend and, at times, your worst enemy.
You run from the bus after school to hug and kiss your momma.
Your favorite thing about your dad is that he makes you french toast.
You are smart and funny.
You are lovable, huggable and kissable.
You are my little peanut.
You are seven.

Family Roots

We took a little trip to experience our first ever Métis Family Picnic and to learn a little more about our family heritage.  It's pretty cool that my Uncle Dennis is doing such interesting work uncovering and researching our family roots. We all get to benefit from his hard work.  Knowing where you came from is pretty fascinating stuff and it's very humbling to hear stories of the past and empathizing with how hard people had to work to provide for their families and the challenges they met at every corner. We learn this stuff in school but suddenly it's become a lot more interesting with real human faces attached to the stories.  I can see a grade four social studies project in the making.

The girls had a few questions about the flags and what they were for and about the music and why we were getting together with family for this event but mostly they just ran around and played with cousins.  Because that's how kids learn about their culture.  Not from books but from everyday experiences that they are immersed in and are just normal to them.  

This little town of Togo has many happy memories from my childhood.  It was where my grandparents spent their retirement years and was a gathering place for my mom's family throughout my childhood.  It is where I ran and played with cousins every summer and although the town has changed and transformed over the past twenty years as all places do, it is still a great place to make memories.  I love that my girls get to experience it too.

Of course, the girls will say what they love most about getting together with family is when they get to ride a horse.  There is something about these tall, strong. beautiful animals that attracts the kids like magnets.  I'm sure some of their fascination is attributed to the fact that we don't see a lot of horses in our northern town so when we do, it is quite novel.  But maybe its more than that. Horses were a love of my Grandpa's.  Early in his life they were necessary for transportation but as time passed and they weren't necessary for getting around, my grandpa continued to keep horses and when I was a kid, "going to see the horses" was a summer tradition.  Maybe the love of horses can run deeper than we can acknowledge on the surface.

Overall, it was a perfect weekend of leaning about the past, living in the present, and making memories for the future.  Nothing better than that!

Back Home

So our holiday road lead us back home to our northern landscape.  And the prize when we got home was that it was finally time for the dad to have some holidays!  Let the fun begin!  To start, we returned to our favorite piece of lakefront property, yurt 6.  This location is a little slice of heaven.

Papa gave the girls fishing rods and tackle boxes for this yurt trip.  They didn't catch us any dinner but they had fun trying.  And I was so very thankful that the dad was on holidays to fish with his girls because if you've ever fished with kids off the rocks you know it's a full time job.  Casting, snags, lost hooks and more minnows... yep, dad is the hero.

And look who showed up to share her northern roots with her prairie children! Same great bunch of kids, new location to grow and solidify their growing friendship roots.

Scavenger hunts, hiking, and biking through forests.  Campfire, hotdogs and chocolaty s'mores...these are a few of my favorite things.  Some may prefer spas and five star hotels with chef prepared gourmet meals as opposed to the great outdoors.  All I can say is that I like both!

Who's to say glorious beach days with bags of chips, games of Uno, football throwing, and hours of swimming can't be five star too?  Especially when surrounded by beautiful friends.

And to complete this five star adventure, swimming by the light of the moon.  These kinds of memories can't be bought.  They just happen when you show up in each others lives and sit back and let things unfold.

We said goodbye to yurt 6 after these days with our friends.  We knew this would be the last time this season that we would be out there and the last time we saw our friends for a while.  So it was good bye for now but not forever.  Till next time, stay beautiful.