The Happiest Week

Our Family had been dreaming and looking forward to this next week of  summer vacation since last Christmas when Dad and Mom Skaling told us that as part of our Christmas gift, we would all be going on vacation together for a week at a cottage they were renting for us. They searched and searched and found us the perfect spot in Lunenburg Nova Scotia. This year our get together was even more cherished because Mom received bad news after undergoing several tests the end of March and we as a family have all been praying that she would be feeling well enough for us all to be together. God was so good in making that possible,and we were able to spend a perfect week enjoying sun, water, fresh air, and each others' company, having a wonderful time as a family

                                         Elin, Eva, and cousin Ruthie getting reacquainted

                   The friendly ancient doggie that lived next door to us. Elin loved her

                                             Eva, Elle and Ruthie hanging in the hammock

                                        My babes....growing up way too fast.

                                    Big cousin Carly reading to her little sidekicks.

                                         Our not so friendly alpacas that lived in our back yard.I tried all week long to get close enough for a pat to no avail..

                                       Kinda ugly critters!! Now, my opinion of them might have been changed if they were more friendly...

                  Ryan and Elin walking to the beach

                                         We honestly couldn't get over our beautiful accommodations, or the fun of having our own warf, kayak,rowboat..unlimited fun all week long!

                                     Uncle Shawn, Auntie Ang,and Elin strolling to the beach.

                          Elin loved Uncle Shawn

                                   Beach Baby

                      Brave Mama out on a boat ride with her son....somehow he managed to unseat himself in the process, much to all the onlookers' concern!.The main thing was that everyone returned unharmed, and we all teased Ryan after he had everyone back on shore!!

                                Grammie and Julia soaking up some sun with the 3 smallest granddaughters

 Here is Dad helping with the owners'old fashioned haying. It was such a hot day..perfect haying weather!

                            Eva climbed up on Mom's special comfy chair to get some Grammie time

                               That soon turned into snooze time..so special.

                                                   More reading time on the lawn

                                                   What summer vacation would be complete without watermelon?

                                   This is Ezra, the long awaited for grandson. Mom and Dad were very blessed and happy with their 8 granddaughters, but finally getting a boy, has been very fun for our family!!

Eva and her summer treat.

                                          This is dear Mom.She worked for hours on Emily's kite string. Years ago when Emmy was tiny, Mom and Dad on one of their visits to our home bought Emmy a beautiful kite. We have had great fun with it over the years, but on its last flight due to carelessness , the string became a hopeless mess of knot and tangle. I tried halfheartedly to restore it to its former perfectness, but just didn't have the patience much to Emily's disappointment. Well Grammie became such a hero to Em that evening.She had a knack for sorting it all out, and twice the patience I possess.By morning, the kite and its smoothly rolled string were waiting for Emily to find when she woke up

                            Our girls' older cousins are very much in love with the Little House on the Prairie t.v. series.Every morning and before bed this would be a common sight in our living room! Everyone snuggled in completely engrossed in  every adventure the Ingalls' family went on.

                                    This baby has been so happy tromping about this summer. All she does is try to keep up with the older girls. It is so much fun to see.

                         Here we are out trying out Emily's kite and another one that belonged to the cottage. there were many squeals of excitement that day!

                                   Eva and Ezra "playing" Jenga

                                                It is teetering pretty good here...Poor Eva

                              One of our big day trips was to the Fisheries Museum . We had a lot of fun seeing the history of fishing through the years. Here Mom and Eva are trying their hand at old fashioned ship building!!

                                       Aunt Julia, Ruthie and Elle drilling holes

                                  Eva hard at work

                               Grampie and Elle.

                          Uncle Shawn and Em knot tying

               Elin making her own discoveries!!

  Once she found this handy dandy whale, she was done with the rest of the museum!!

                   She would have stayed there the rest of the afternoon!!

                               Mom and Angela watching the kids and waiting for the menfolk.

                                            Our big girl

                                           3 kids in a boat...with Julia keeping watch

                                        Meanwhile inside a nearby fishing vessel, Crazy Uncle Michael was making the girls squeal in terror as her pretended to be a demented fishing captain.

                                                 "Reading" all his maps, and chuckling evilly much to the girls' delight!!

                                         Here he is coming after them..did they ever scramble!!

                                Eva and Carly practicing their boating skills.

                           A whole lobster net full of fun!!

             Cousins

                                  Eva relaxing back at the cottage

                                 Emily having fun at the nearby beach

                               Elle testing out the cold water

                                        Elin playing with her makeshift sand pail!!

                                 Unlike the previous kite flying day, this one had tons of wind....so much so that it took all of Shawn and Ryan's combined efforts to get the kite back on the ground!! Ryan would pull it down for Shawn to wind up.The facial contortions we saw as they fought against the wind were a sight to behold!!

                                              There it is waaaaaay above the cloud cover even!!

                                     The girls enjoying the event, waiting for the kite to touch down again.

                                       Beach day!! Another day..our last actually we all took a day trip to Rissers' beach. What a gorgeous day it was and what fun we had!

                                                 

                                              We were covered with sand from head to foot by the time we left, but what is a day at the beach without a little sand to take home?

                                        Elin ate more sand then she wore home I think..yuck!

                       Eva and Elin playing with Ryan in the surf.

                   Daddy snuggles

                          Love the freckles on her teeny nose!

                               Elin got tired out from all her fun and took a nap on Grammie's lap.

                                                Our last evening together, we took one last trip down to the dock for pictures.

                   Elin with Uncle Shawn..again!!

                                 The cousins on another crab hunt.

                          Emmy

                                           Elle

                                              Elle and Abi

                        Back at the house we had a talent show and Emily regaled us with her balancing skills..frontwards and backwards! There were many fine talents shown that night but my personal favorite was the performance by The Men of the Cloth...: http://youtu.be/fYnhNlDZSbY 

                                      The night ended with a glorious show of glowsticks wielded by several excited girls!

                             So here we are blessed to be together and to be a family.