Emma's birthday month!--the countdown was on

Emma had her Spongebob Squarepants calender up and she was crossing off the days leading up to her birthday.  Naomi was working that weekend so she took Emma and her best friend/neighbor, Halla, to the swim park and then to the local fair in Steinbach.  They had a blast swimming and then went on most of the rides at the fair.  They only had to stop a ride once for Emma  because she was squished in the corner of the tilt-a-whirl.

On birthday Saturday we drove Naomi into Winnipeg for her shift and then Emma and I had special McDonald's breakfast and play at the playland.  She is getting very comfortable climbing everywhere and using all the slides. (but insists on wearing her long sleeve coat for the slide due to a previous elbow injury :(  )  After that we headed to Andrew's to help take his dismantled deck and hot tub to the dump.

 

  It took two HUGE loads but we did it.  Afterwards we cut the rest of a large maple down so we wouldn't have to cut it down over top the new deck.  Then a visit to Uncle Dave's for a beer and visit with Renee and Dan. Emma couldn't wait because she knew they were bringing a birthday present from Nana and Papa Streit.  We had a short visit and then headed back to Mitchell and made fresh birthday cupcakes.

Here she is with one of her birthday presents, a Siamese Fighting fish that she named, "Friendly".  She especially likes to feed him and place a special floating mirror in the tank to get him a riled up.

 Also this month I got the garden in around the fifth due to late freeze and wet conditions.  The hops, wildflowers and raspberry bushes all survived the winter and are looking great.  As well my neighbor Brett (Halla's dad) has been helping me chip away at the deck.  As I write this I can report that the supports,deck boards and side capping are all in place and screwed down.  We just have to decide now on stair placement and then we can install the railing and stairs.  Here is a link to some more pictures from this month CLICK HERE

May 27-29th father/daughter camping trip

This was a dad and daughter (and dog) only weekend. I was a trainer with my friend James' on a Hydro training crew a few years back and have kept in touch with him ever since.  You can see pictures of Emma at his daughter Talia's birthday party earlier this month on the previous post. Talia just turned 3 and Emma will be 5 in June. We loaded up the girls, dogs, camper and boat in Lorette where James lives and we headed out on the two hours trek to Big White Shell Lake and campground.  We got there late on Friday night and were set up and had time for a fire and marshmallows before it was bedtime for the girls.

In the morning after a fresh coffee for us and cereal for the girls we walked over to the playground near the beach and had a good play and explored the beach area.  Then we headed back for a big breakfast and made a plan for the day.  The weather reports did not look favorable but we figured we could always change plans when the rain came.  We decided to launch the boat and go fishing while the water was calm.  The girls loved the boat ride, were excited about using fishing rods and seeing one fish brought to the boat. The depth/fishfinder was a huge hit also. After about an hour and a half they needed a change of scenery so we decided to head in for another snack and maybe go on a hike.

The hike consisted of a short but challenging 1.5km hike up steep terrain to a few lookouts.  The trail was wet to start so their rubber boots seemed like a good idea until the rocky climb started.  However both girls (and dogs) did amazing and when you ad in the walk to the trail head the girls walked almost 2.5km. The dogs probably did more like 10km with the running back and forth and all over the place.

After the hike we went back to the campsite and had a big supper, games of bocce ball, crocket, swinging on a hammock and coloring. A light rain started just after supper so James and I set up a tarp near the firepit so everyone could still enjoy campfire.  After supper we had some smorse and the it was bedtime. Very busy day, both girls slept in till  9am.

We had a quick breakfast Sunday morning and headed out on to the water for some more fishing while the weather was good.  I caught one fish, it kept the girls busy looking in the live well for a good half hour, the girls were a little sad the fish didn't have a friend, and we were sad we couldn't catch anymore :).  Either way, it was a great morning and it was fun to watch the girls lower the jig and worm, the reel it up, all the while asking us where all the fish were.

So we headed back for lunch and packed up the campsite,boat and camper.  Put "Horton Hears a Who" on the DVD player and headed out.  Almost one whole kilometer down the road Emma "had to pee" so we had to pull over.  Then it was back on the road and the girl slept for 45min.   When they woke up I replayed Horton because they missed it and they had more snacks of apple, carrots and water. We got back to Lorette around 5pm and Naomi was there to meet us.  We unloaded and had a visit with Talia's mom and little brother, Grady, who is only a few months old.  So that was the end of our camping trip, weather was great, girls did very well camping, fishing and hiking.  Pictures to follow once I figure out how to link them here.
Click here for link to pics
Later,
Gody

Elios door and Blakeston's old window get a new home

The almost complete outhouse out on "the land", some siding and finishing touches still needed but has all four sides,a roof and functioning toilet. .  Excavator digging a ditch for drainage.  Building up main access road.  Looks real messy but once the grass grows back and it is capped with some gravel it will make things a lot more accessible.

The old picture website died so here it is reborn as a blog

 Today starts a new way of posting and commenting on pictures of our little family here in Mitchell and around Manitoba.  The "myphotoalbum.com" website fell under financial problems and had to shut down.  Four years ago I came across that website and it was a good way to post pictures of Emma so that mom and dad in The Pas could check out daily,weekly or sometimes monthly updates of Emma.  I guess I picked the wrong website, just glad I didn't buy shares or anything.  Right now I'm just figuring out how to download pictures from my new camera onto the computer and then transfer them here.Try this link for more pictures from the farm....CLICK HERE