Best Canada Day, Ever.

We spent Canada Day out at Francis Lake and I think it was my favorite Canada Day to date.  Francis Lake is normally a pretty quiet campground, but this year the place was packed!  And it was mainly packed with folks from Faro.

A friend and I planned ahead of time and packed a few supplies so all of the kids could decorate their bikes the day beforehand.  On Canada Day the kids got on their bikes, proudly sang O'Canada, and then did a parade on bikes around the campground.  We even packed candy to throw for the kids!  Other tourists that were camping there came out to watch, take photos, and a few even ran back to their camper to find their own treats to give out to the kids.

The day before we also gave the kids a bunch of empty boxes, containers, tape, and other random items and as teams they created boats.  A big group of us packed up for the rest of the day and went down the lake to a beach and creek.  We had a big weenie roast and the kids got to race their boats in the creek.  The kids played in the mud, went swimming, and even got to do a bit of tubing!  I did one round on the tube and was sore for two days afterwards!  But it was a blast.

Then that night there were fireworks on the beach!  A friend's father brought them up from BC and even with our 24 hour daylight, they were still pretty awesome.  I think the entire campground turned out for it!

Thanks to all of the friends who made the day so memorable!

Boat construction.

Getting ready for the big parade!

Happy Canada Day!

Getting ready for the big boat race.

Here come the boats!

Mud jumping!

Weenie roast with friends.

Tubing!

Fireworks!

Kids and sparklers at 11pm. 

Gardening and Foraging

When I am not camping, I am in the garden or foraging around the neighbourhood and woods to fill up the winter food stash.  Just little a squirrel.  I steal rhubarb from four different neighbours.  Fireweed grows like mad in the overgrown yard next to my house and wild strawberries in the yard on the other side. 

My garden is just starting to produce with zucchini, some cherry tomatoes, a few beans, and today I stole out a couple of potatoes when I was hilling them.  My cucumbers are staying tiny and I really hope they start growing; cucumbers from a real greenhouse taste so fantastic!  If we can just get some real heat here in Faro, my garden is going to be top notch this year!

My jungle!  And this was a week ago.  It is even more overgrown now.

A pumpkin!!!  It is double this size now.

Tomatoes!

Some of the beans!  They are doing so much better this year.

Our wee little wild strawberries!

Perfect snack!  Beans, tomatoes, basil, and cilantro.

Fireweed!

Fireweed jelly!

Wild strawberry and rhubarb jam!

Zucchini muffins.

The neighbour let me pick from her haskap bushes.  Made some into jam and the rest into the freezer for winter smoothies.

Wild strawberry shortcake.

I love potatoes!

Basil blitzed with olive oil into the freezer for spaghetti sauce in the winter.

June

I am playing catch up here with the blog!  Summer is in full swing and I am solar powered.  June days were busy with the end of school, camping, company, a birthday, gardening, book reading.....  On the go all the time.  I am not even sure how it is already the middle of July.  Can I rewind part of the summer, please?

Kindergarten graduation!  Onwards to grade 1.

Proud of the littlest Went.

We had a going away party for two families who are leaving Faro.  Sad!

Birthday party for Hunter!  The kid is 8!

Emma the camping dog.

Riding the ferry in Dawson City.

We had a great visit with Nanny and Poppy!  We toured them all around the Yukon.

Happy readers in the camper.

So serious!

Camping Season 2015!

The month of May has been incredibly hot with most days hitting ten degrees hotter than average.  We have already taken advantage of this weather by heading out to the lake for two weekends of camping. 

With Matt being on call an awful lot, I have gotten good at just packing up and heading out without him.  He enjoys having a weekend to work on his own projects and there is no way I am staying home just because he can't come!  The boys are old enough that camping with them isn't hard and it can be fun having some mom and boy time at the lake too.

Our first weekend out we went with a slew of friends for two nights just to the closest campground- Drury Creek which is on Little Salmon Lake.  The kids were brave and went wading in the water- there was still ice on!  We discovered that Emma loves the water and will even hop into the kayak for rides. 

Our second weekend, I pulled the boys from school for two days and we went to Frenchman Lake for four nights.  Matt was able to join us for three of those nights!  We did more kayaking and a lot of relaxing.  I read three books that weekend!

This is our eighth summer with our camper and yes, it is getting a bit squishy in there with two growing boys.  But we still squeeze in there.  The plan as they get older is to kick one out to sleep in the back seat of the truck, and then eventually, both boys can just sleep in a tent.  The camper might be small, but it is in perfect working order and paid for!

I am looking forward to another fantastic camping season around the Yukon!

Swimming Emma!

Setting up at Little Salmon

Puzzle time!

Army men and books at Frenchman Lake.

What a view!

My happy family.

A little chilly after a swim.

Hunter and a friend having a sleepover in the tent.

Kayaking with the Flea Biscuit!

Kid cuddles.

The boys are happy to be kayaking again!

Look at what is growing around here!

Spring is here and I haven't been inside much at all, except the time I spend on my school work each morning.  I have been spending my time walking (a lot- 30 000 steps a day which is over 20km), prepping the garden/greenhouse, more walking, reading on my back deck, prepping for the camping season, and really, anything I can think of that has me outside.

Check out what has been growing around here lately:

The Dog.
She is six months old a bit of a brat right now.  She loves to destroy toilet paper and can find anything dead in a 5km radius.  I am teaching her to ride on my quad with me and I love having my little Emma for my walks.

The Plants.
The greenhouse pots are all mixed up with new compost and manure.  A kiddie pool is perfect for dumping and mixing pots!  Another few weeks and the plants will be moving in.  The raised beds need more work and I will get them prepped this week and will plant seeds after next weekend.  Indoors I have tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, and pumpkins that are slowly but surely taking over the dining room.

The C-Boy.
Cavan turned six last month.  When did my baby get to be six?  He had friends over for games outside like tug of war and egg balancing.  We got him stilts for his birthday since Santa didn't bring them as he request for Christmas and he is already up to 330 steps without stopping and totally unassisted.  I am planning on selling him to the circus once I have him trained up a bit better.

The H-Boy.
Hunter is taking right after his mama.  He has always loved books, but his addiction to reading is really growing!  And check out the title on this book.  Zombies!  Yah!  I am raising him right.  

This is summer number eight for us here in the Yukon.  And number twelve for north of 60.  Time passes so fast and thankfully, we are still very content with our lives here.

First crocus of the year.... which Emma ate right after this picture was taken.

My growing boys!