Summer vacation get-away! ....and more...

Right after the kids got out of school, we headed off for a little family vacation before we had to move to our new home.  It was exactly what we needed & was absolutely wonderful!  We drove to a place called Collingwood & Wasaga Beach, a couple of hours away.  We left first thing in the morning, stopped for a quick lunch at Subway, and headed to the beach for a few hours.  The weather was perfect, warm & sunny, blue sky... perfect beach weather.  Afterwards, we went & checked into our condo, went shopping for some groceries, went to dinner, and then went swimming at the pool.  The next morning, we got up & Neil cooked some breakfast of pancakes, bacon, & eggs, we got everything together & headed to the beach again.  After spending several hours there again, playing in the sand & water, and soaking up some sun & relaxation, we headed back to the condo, got showered & changed, had some dinner, then back to swim in the condo pool & relax some more.

The next day was a little stormy, but we didn't let that stop us, we went to the beach for a couple of hours, despite the cooler weather & clouds, but once it started to downpour, we left, and went to see the movie "How to Train Your Dragon 2."  It was really cute.  Afterwards, we cooked some dinner, played some games in the condo, and watched a little T.V. before bed.

The following day, we headed up the mountain to the Scenic Caves Nature Adventures.  We went for a hike, through some caves, a beautiful forest, across the longest suspension foot bridge in Ontario, played some miniature golf, enjoyed some ice cream cones, & just had a blast.  Afterwards, we had some lunch & headed back to the beach again for a couple more hours.

Our last day there, we got up & got everything packed up & cleaned, and ready to go.  We thought about going to the beach again, but Tessa wasn't feeling very well & ended up with a migraine & by the time we got home was sick to her stomach & felt miserable, poor girl!  We got her some medicine, and after sleeping for a few hours, she felt much better.  Later in the afternoon, we were able to run to the government offices to get our new health cards, driver's licenses, and SIN cards (like social security cards in the U.S.), with our updated address, so that was all done & taken care of.  Then on that Friday, we finished up the last of our packing, to get ready to move early Saturday morning!  We were SO glad that we were able to get away for a fun family vacation before all the craziness of moving & other summer activities began!  In fact, we enjoyed Collingwood & Wasaga Beach so much, we are going back again at the end of the summer for several more days, before school starts back up again!  :)

Subway lunch before hitting the beach
(Check out Tessa's hair--she got about 11 inches cut off--very cute & easy for summer).

Beautiful day at the beach, having a great time!

Relaxing in the condo.  It was a family suite for 6, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large family room & full kitchen.

Neil fixing breakfast

Good morning!

Hanging out in the hot tub

Fun in the pool!

At Blue Mountain--Scenic Caves Nature Adventures

Me & my sweetheart!

Enjoying a beautiful hike

My favorite people in the world!

The longest suspension foot bridge in Ontario

Gorgeous view!

Having fun

Going through the caves--very cool.

So beautiful & peaceful

Walking through the forest

Squished into a very small cave!

Having fun at some mini-golf

We can't have any vacation without our ice cream!  :)

Right after we moved into our new home, PJ & Tessa headed off to Kirtland, Ohio to EFY (an LDS church youth camp).  They were there all week long & had an absolutely amazing time!  They met new friends from all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico, etc., had dances, games, fun activities, & spiritual firesides that they loved.  It was a great week!  Then after they got home, Tessa had just enough time to do laundry & re-pack for YW camp with our church.  She left on Tues. & will get back tomorrow (Sat.).  I miss our kids when they are away, so it will be so nice to have her back home again!  The boys & I have had fun around here, getting together with friends, playing at the park, swimming, roller-blading, watching videos, and more.  And PJ has gone to a couple of parties with friends and he & I have been looking at everything he needs to do to apply for colleges in the next few months.  Lots to do, but exciting to look toward his future... college, mission, and more...

Then in August, PJ & Tessa will go to a church Youth Conference in London, and then we'll go back to Wasaga Beach & Collingwood for another little get-away, and then school will start back up again!  The summer always goes by so fast!  Lots of fun packed into a short amount of time.  But our kids enjoy school & look forward to going back too, so that is good.    :)  We'll enjoy the rest of the summer while we can....