mommy stories: summer memories

We had such a lovely summer this year! I wasn't nine months pregnant, in the midst of home renos (well, we are always in the midst, but I mean, bathroom torn apart, no toilet etc.) OR dealing with a newborn! It felt like summer... the weather was hot, and we spent a ton of time at the lake and visiting with family. We played at the park a lot, went to free live concerts, had swimming lessons and generally had a lot of fun together! Here are some of our summer memories:

Remember Fred Penner? His television show "Fred Penner's Place" aired from 1985-1997. He is a Canadian, and very well loved! I have such fond memories of Fred Penner, how he crawled through a log to get to his little place in the woods, and word bird. Looking back at shows on Youtube, I realized just how respectful and lovely his show was. It was calm and had gentle music. He spoke to his audience (children) like they were important and had the ability to learn important things about the human race. For example, how to respect all people and how to solve problems. I just love the ending song to the show: "Take care of each other, that's what friends like to do. Let your sister and brother help you learn that it's true. We all need to feel wanted for the people who we are, so take good care of each other." Fred Penner came to Fredericton for a concert and Officer's Square was packed! There were many families, and many young people without spouses or children... just with their peers, singing along to all the songs they remembered from their childhood. Thanks Fred Penner for putting on such an incredible show!

(Sorry for the sideways and very amateur video!)

We had lots of outdoor play, and although we don't have a wading pool, here we are on a hot summer afternoon playing with bowls, toys and water, learning about floating and sinking and measuring!

Tim and I had our very first overnight.... ever since we've had kids. The only other time was when I was in labour with Lila in the hospital!! (That doesn't count...) Charlotte's been on sleepovers after Lila was born, but we have never left both girls. I had no idea how it was going to go. But my very brave sister-in-law and brother-in-law agreed to take them both! Lila still nurses to sleep and wakes up to nurse in the night so I really expected a middle of the night phone call. But.... they stayed! Tim and I went tubing on the Nashwaak river. You can't take kids under 5 tubing and so it was the perfect time to go. Neither of us had been tubing before and it was fun! The river was so low... we had to get out and walk at times! We had coffees at Starbucks and went out for dinner. Fun summer memories!

We had the privilege this summer to receive a full veggie box and a dozen eggs from Strawberry Hill Farm a few times. Our friends are a part of the program and this was our test run, to see if we wanted to pay for it while they were away for a longer time in August. It was AMAZING! The veggies and fruit were delicious, we enjoyed it so much. We had signed up for another program with a different farm, but it didn't run this summer. So it was a treat to pick up farm fresh veggies. We had the opportunity to try new (to us) things too.. like ground cherries, kohlrabri and summer squash. And oh... the corn, the BEST I've ever had. The tomatoes? Divine. They even have a bi-weekly winter box program which looks great too.

My parents and sister, Anna came for a wonderful vacation to their camp this summer in Harvey. We had such a great time visiting with them and spent many days driving back and forth to the lake (and they came into the city to see us) to spend time together.