When he was small, my youngest son had a habit of filling his pockets with treasures he encountered in his daily adventures. I didn't always understand the value he saw in his chosen objects -- really, how many rocks and sticks could one boy keep? In his eyes, though, each one was beautiful and important. Life is just like that on a larger scale, isn't it? We gather up the precious bits of our experiences and save them all to learn from and enjoy later. Perhaps you'll find a little something here that you'd like to keep in your own pockets. Thanks for visiting.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Hey, what's happening?

It always feels somewhat awkward to come back here after being quiet for a longer than usual period of time. It's like being in a room full of people and not really knowing what to say:

"Um, hi! How are you? What's new?"

"Oh, hi! I'm good! Not much new with me... how about you?"

I figure the most reasonable thing to do right now is to talk about what we've been up to lately and hope that it stops feeling awkward soon.

So here's the scoop:

We recently travelled up to Matt's parents' place on Lake Nosbonsing, near North Bay, for a very fun family reunion weekend. There were siblings and parents and cousins galore, and we all had a wonderful time together playing in and on the water, talking and joking, eating, and visiting around campfires. My mom- and dad-in-law did an amazing job of organizing such a good time for so many people and feeding us all so well throughout the weekend.

















Reconnecting with family over the summer is always one of our favourite things to do.

This week the boys are both involved in structured activities: Noah is taking his Bronze Medallion course, in preparation for future summer employment as a lifeguard, and Will has been participating in a Junior Achievement entrepreneurship camp, with a focus on tech startups. Both boys are really enjoying their week (even if getting moving in the morning and packing lunches in the evening feels difficult after so many weeks of complete freedom!) Noah is glad to be engaged in such useful learning and to be back to swimming lengths in a 25 yard pool, where he feels very much at home, and Will has come home from camp every day bursting with excitement and ideas after visiting local offices like Google and D2L and learning how to code. I'm really happy for the time summer gives the boys for exploring new opportunities.

Last night, some of the teachers and students at Will's dance studio helped three local radio personalities learn the "Watch Me" dance. Will has been doing the whip and nae nae all summer long on pool decks and lake rafts (there is proof in some of the photos I posted earlier this summer!), so he was very happy to participate and had a great time. You can watch a video of the event here; Will is at the front in the light blue t-shirt and backwards hat, right between his dance teacher and radio personality Carlos. :) (This was his six minutes and twelve seconds of fame!)

We have also been surprised twice this week by random raccoon sightings. Will and I saw the fence walker on the drive to his summer camp one morning, and this morning, the little tree climbing fella tried to cross a trail I was walking on, got spooked when he saw me, and high-tailed it up a trunk, where he stared at me, unblinking, for a good long while.



I feel like maybe the universe is trying to tell me something this week with the sudden appearance of multiple raccoons, but if it is, I don't have the first clue what the message is.

That's pretty much it as far as news goes here!  We're looking forward to celebrating Noah's 14th birthday on Saturday (14!!?), and to enjoying the last few weeks of summer holidays together. (Must. Ignore. The back-to-school lists and flyers and paperwork that are trying to distract me....)

I hope your summer has been going swimmingly, too.  What have you been up to?


1 comment:

  1. Family, family, family and fun. Much the same. Lovely post and I adore your family reunion.....I want to make stuff like that happen in the future, too! Happy rest of summer xo

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