Every picture tells a story

We have lots of photos from the week at Lake Idabel.  They all tell stories and I could be here all week sharing them.  But some will always bring a smile at a special memory.  Serious, funny or tender, getting out the photo albums has changed a bit from when I was a kid but I still love to browse through the pictures.  Here are some special memories for me...

My favorite for the whole week is Anne's daughter helping her fasten her life jacket before a canoe adventure. Just so gentle and loving.

They made it to the edge of the marsh.  Since they are  both accomplished paddlers so that was no surprise.  The weeds did surprise a bit as they caught the paddles.  And they didn't see either the moose or the beavers which live and visit the marshland.

Alison and I investigate the pirate ship - complete with a Jolly Roger flag on a paddle.  The kids drag this ship back and forth across the water with the tow rope.  Seems to be great fun judging by all the shouts and screams.

Anne & I took a walk and found an old corral full of daisies.  No horses had been there for a long time, I think. This was one of my favorite places near the lake. We liked it so much that we chose this location for our photo shoot with Wendy.

If you're going to grate beets by hand you have to suit up.  I wrapped a towel around me and stood over the sink.  Grating was my special job this week as some salads needed grated carrots.  I had stupidly (well, I thought it was clever in the store) bought the little snacking carrots instead of normal garden variety. So, I was allowed to grate them.  And, if you can grate those tiny nubs, you can grate anything.  Beets?  No problem!

 She's an accomplished paddler.  But some skills do leave you, apparently.  Like how to get in the end of a canoe when you don't move as quickly as you did a few years ago.  The sinking canoe at the dock is what I saw from our window .   Then I spied a head in the water.  Bob up - then down - then up again.  I grabbed a towel and ran. Here the canoe floats a little low in the water.  Definitely needing a rescue.

It was not a true disaster - just a funny story. With bruised arms and ego.  The clothes and shoes dried very fast in the hot sun.  I confess that I was really quite worried at first.  It was a great relief to pull Anne up on the dock even if she was streaming with weeds and water.  Even the resident mallards were curious about this creature I hauled out of the lake.  They quacked and paddled over to see what all the fuss was about.

Like camping everywhere, meal time was a constant activity.  This was our pizza night with everyone getting in on the act.  Even a well-stocked cabin like ours has a limited number of pans to cook with.  Every flat pan was pressed into service.  We had brought homemade dough, frozen, and I didn't have to grate the cheese!  The pizzas were delicious, by the way.

It wasn't all reading and knitting.