July 1st and Seven on Sunday to kick off Summer Holidays

Another July 1st has come and gone, and we managed to have a pretty good time.  We slept in and enjoyed our morning, then headed down to Rocky Point to check out Golden Spike Days, which is Port Moody's big annual celebration.  They fence off an area in the park and have stands and activities and a stage going on for three days.  There wasn't too much for the kids to do this year, much less than in the past according to others, but we were able to entertain ourselves for long enough.  I think the overcast, rainy weather may have had something to do with the small numbers and dissatisfaction.  Still, here are some pics of us enjoying ourselves....

Lining up for helium balloons, which ended up tied to the umbrella stroller so we always knew where Mom was.

The petting zoo is always a big hit.  Here are a few pics of the kids holding rabbits...

...and chicks.

But the biggest hit of the days was the area where the kids got to use scrap wood, 2x4 bases, nails, hammers, and string to build their very own boats.  We spent a good hour here and no one got bored. 

Then someone found a hand drill and got the idea to make them Canada Day boats...

They've been playing with them all week.  For anyone looking for a really cheap and great family reunion idea, there ya go...

So that was our big holiday.  I worked quite a bit this past week, and Dan picked up two night shifts last night and he's about to head out again tonight.  That's 12 midnight to 8 a.m.  It's a bit of a crazy thing trying to change your sleep pattern like that.  He stayed home from church to sleep today and slept well into the afternoon, but got woken up too many times, so he went back to bed with the kids tonight and just got up again.  He says he won't do that very often again, but we'll see. 

To help keep the house quiet, after we came home from church and had lunch we headed out to Queen's Park in New West.  They have a petting zoo as well as a good park, but we lucked out today because their summer activity workers were there painting faces and making crafts and putting out toys to play in the water park.  Turned out to be a really fun afternoon.  I took pictures on my phone, but of course I have no idea yet how to download them.  I need to find my cord...  Madison got a butterfly on her face, and Spencer was made a pirate. 

And here are my seven for this week:

1. School's out for summer.  Thank goodness!

2. We finally got all of our primary callings filled.  Now things are running a little more smoothly and less skeleton crew.

3. Everyone is healthy again.  No more ulcers.

4. We are forecasted to have 28 degree weather and full sun all week.  Yippee!  Here comes the sun!

5. Dan was getting frustrated with the number of bottles and cans left in the recycle, so he decided to collect them himself.  He even made a route that he does every night.  This week he made $50!  He says it's the summer trip fund now.

6. Clayton bought a $2 nylon kite at V.V. and it is now the hit of the complex.  There hasn't been a lick of wind since, but he and his friends take turns running as fast as they can around the baseball field and passing it to each other like a relay.  It's hilarious to watch, and it wears them all out.

7. As of this week, when I was offered 6 more work days, I now have enough work to get through the summer comfortably even if I don't get anything else.  Thank you to everyone who thought of us, and most especially to the Lord who knows the end of all things.  Thanks goodness, because I'm pretty sure I'd really mess things up on my own.

And here's a new weekly addition from Dan - The Weekly Funny section.  Enjoy.  The kids have been laughing at it all week. It's a bad copy, but I'll try to find a better one for next week.  In case you can't tell, it's two golfers on the course and the one has the other's underwear in hand...