May Long Weekend 2012

May Long weekend is the official start to the beach season regardless of the weather as we can finally go to the cottage and not have to rely on hauled water and outhouses.  This season was a special as Auntie Pearl came to visit for a longer-than-a-long-weekend.  The girls loved having another person around to read stories, take pictures, watch their general insanity and (of course) play with them.  Auntie Pearl of course obliged.  I shall let the pictures tell the story.

Saturday was a rainy and miserable day (what else could you expect from May Long?), so I hauled the new BBQ & lawnmower into the house and assembled them.  This was smart, as I didn't lose a single dropped piece!  And yes, the girls played in midst of the construction.

Teresa took advantage of all the bubble wrap to design a new dress for herself.  I see a career in high fashion for her (sigh...)

Miserable weather?  What troopers.  The addition of umbrellas really helps the situation.

Why look at me, all cute and such, surrounded by toys and the modern day children's classic (full of existential themes), "But Not the Hippopotamus". 

Come on Pearl.  You know that this picture had to end up on the blog...

Maragret spent most of the weekend trying to pull herself up on this toy...

Story time with mommy...

Our first  walk to the rocks, and the girls got to see the smashing waves.  Teresa and Frances have both gotten good at doing it on their own, though Frances often choose to ask for help.

This must be one of Pearl's pictures...  The girls enjoy the shore, especially throwing rocks into the lake.  Stupidly, I have since slid on the rocks, while trying to deal with a tired & crying Frances and a pretty sure I broke my little toe...  Sigh.

That is one wet, somewhat majestic looking dog.  Why do I have a picture of a dog?

Sunday was thankfully substantially better for weather, and we settled close to an "island" for the afternoon.  The girls had a great time, getting ice cold at times...

... so we went to the red park to warm up ... 

... where Margaret came to meet us ...

... and had her first "swim" without complaining!

A lineup of cuteness.

Monday I had to mow, so the girls went for a walk with Cara and Pearl.  I can only imagine that this ended in tears.  Whose, I am not sure.

Frances walking Rowdy.

Playing at the park Monday morning.

And what would a visit to Winnipeg be without the Original Pancake House?

May Long - Monday

I awoke to what in the Yost house is considered a glorious sight: Strong winds & large waves.  Alas, without a partner to join me and the knowledge of the East Beach currents & sandbars I wasn't feeling entirely comfortable with a swim (regardless of the fact that somehow the lake water is about -20C, but somehow liquid).  The temperatures had dropped off and we had to turn on the heat.  This was an indoors type of day...

More of Frances 'reading'.  So darned cute.

Chutes & Ladders seemed like a good way to pass the time.

Teresa cheated...  I mean, she won.  No, I am not a sore loser.

Next is Go Fish.  Teresa is getting better at not announcing her cards to everyone, but flashes them pretty ferociously and doesn't pay attention or remember what others have asked for.  Yes, I know she will get better.

During nap time, Rowdy and I finally went for a walk.  The waves were much too large to let him swim in the rocks out front.  Please note the devastation on the cliffs and the fallen trees.  Grand Marais Blvd really got bashed by the storm.  Apparently that first cottage had 80 feet of backyard not 5 years ago.  They continue to build on that side of the street though...

This is over that hill, and around the corner where the dyke / road must have almost been washed away.  They brought in a ton of fill to rebuild the road.  Looking up from here, the cottage on water's edge has their deck dangling with caution tape all over it.

This is about where the old fisherman's shack was.  There is no dirt left, save a foot wide strip.  You can also see all the new fill along the road way back there...  They also had to fill by the trestle.  In a related note to all this devastation, the government regulates lake levels.  They are at historic highs on both Winnipeg & Manitoba.  This is good for Hydro...  As for the lake?

This was the peninsula leading towards Pelican Island.  It essentially no longer exists, although without waves it would likely be a few feet wide.  People used to come here with their pets and enjoy a bit of sand and no COs...  Rowdy enjoyed chasing the ball regardless.

We had seen pelicans, ducks, geese, cormorants, loons....  As I finished my walk, I had to suddenly pull out the phone to take a couple pictures of the osprey.  Both were flying overhead.  This is a pretty clear picture of one of them, and with the tree & sun looks particularly artistic :)

May Long - Sunday

Sunday turned out to be a nice day.  The girls got up around 7:00, so we had a few hours to burn before church, and then we planned to drive to East Beach, as it is the only beach open to anyone.  With some spare energy to burn, the girls played on the hill which further soaked their shoes & clothes.

Frances running up and down the hill (P.S. Nice hat  :)

After church we drove off to East Beach where we had an opportunity to play on sand, eat a picnic lunch, go exploring in the hills where Teresa and I found deer prints, an orange frog and bugs. I even got to take a couple dives and as Teresa and Frances both pointed out, the water was somewhat less than warm.

Lunch Time!

I love the contrast in the colours here, and the clouds.  Into the water we go.

Things brightened up, and the girls dug holes, made & destroyed castles...  You know, the normal stuff.

For the first time ever, I got to bury Teresa.

If Teresa gets to be buried, than Frances must be too.

Warming up the shiverer.

Frances' position reading was just too much like mine (and too cute) for me to ignore it.

Teresa wandering on the rocks, all on her own, at her own behest.

We later got to plant some tomatoes, basil and peppers in the patch, where the strawberries and oregano are already coming up gangbusters...

Mmmmm...  Weiner roast!

Enjoying the view from the balcony, Teresa deemed it 'perfect'. They have played Rappunzle from it. And what a fine feat of engineering it is :)

If you want to see my mainly naked body diving into the ice cold water, and didn't see it on twitter you can go to http://yfrog.com/nf254gz For the record, Cara almost missed my dives, and missed my light amble into the water.  My heel didn't need any icing later.  I will not be fathering any more children for 12-24 months :)

For less repulsive videos, here you go:

Teresa climbing on the rocks all on her own. For the record in a rare moment of responsible parenting, I told Frances that she was not allowed to go on the rocks on her own.

Here the girls are rolling on the hill. Teresa has taken it on herself to train Frances in many different aspects of life, and this is one of them. It is very cute to watch them interact with each other.

May Long - Saturday

Well, this was another fantastic weekend at the lake, enrapturing Cara and I with the joys of watching our kids grow and enjoy the lake. We did the normal stuff, opening the cottage, checking out what had changed (Hint: 2011 > [2010 + 2009 + ... + 1978] ), church, going for a swim, walks, staring out at the lake, hot dog roasts.

If you have been following Cara & my Twitter and Facebook feeds you may have seen some of this stuff, and heard how some things went. I am pretty confident that my father was appalled by this, yet in a corner of his heart he was happy to see some off the pictures and videos and got a chance to say hi to the girls.

I have enough stuff exported to fill a few posts, so I will go day by day.

Saturday was pretty darn bleah. Rain, drizzle, grey... Nevertheless we needed to go for a walk with the girls.

It may be raining, but it's a good time for a walk

The front beach.  You aren't allowed on West Beach.  Anywhere.  Apparently it will be completed on time for summer otherwise the company will be fined heavily.

We played for a good long time at the park, and then stayed indoors reading books.

Now for some videos...

Teresa giving Rowdy the gears constantly for not doing exactly as she says...

Teresa & Frances scratch their backs a la Rowdy

The girls enjoy the puddles. Responsible parents would have remembered to bring their galoshes. We did not :)