I need to share an post for the kids at our campground. I’m going to do it super carefully because it involves many children that are not in fact my children, as well as a foster kid. So bear with me, and please hear my heart in this.

So we had a pretty challenging time not long ago. During our week of holidays, we made a switch in our family. Sugar Beet moved along and we took in a nine year old with high needs. I will not get into it on here, for obvious reasons, but the child only stayed for a couple of days. In those days, they fished, swam, kayaked, ate s’mores, and experienced a lot of fun firsts. That being said, it was a VERY difficult situation, and we were at camp the entire time, and this child needed to GO absolutely every waking moment. Which was especially challenging considering they walked with a walker.

Guys. I kid you not. Those days with this child would not have been possible without the campground kids. Walker or not, they included our child in everything. Man tracker. Laser tag. Kick the can! Our kid who walked with a walker kicked the can!!! There were at least ten kids ripping around the campground, playing for hours on end, without leaving anyone out. Not even the kid with special needs.

We left the campground to move this kid in an evening. It was later, around 9:00ish. The campground kids paused their round of man tracker and came to see us off. Our child just BEAMED. “You all came to see me????”

We loaded up in the van and slid the big door shut. I opened up the front windows and started driving. The way the campground is, I circled the loop before driving up the hill and away from Kinasao. And the kids all waved and whooped and called their goodbyes after us. As we circled, a couple of kids dashed across and waved again from the other side. Just as we were about to start the hill, kids ran over and waved, making a big scene. Rowan chased us halfway up the hill.

And this little one who had been placed with us was absolutely dumbfounded. They felt like an absolute celebrity. SO important. SO special. SO happy to be loved and included. They kept looking back, long after we hit the highway, commenting on how Rowan was probably still trying to catch up.

The whole thing got me feeling pretty emotional. These kids just rallied around our newcomer, indirectly coming around our entire family. The campground full of children showed up. Some of these kids, I had never even met before. No one hesitated. If we can be super blunt and honest (which I really hope we can be) having this child didn’t make things easier. Including a child with special needs is not easy. Sometimes, the games aren’t as fun. Sometimes, kids take a hit to include another kid who can’t quite keep up. But not a single kid showed any sign of distain or impatience. They just rolled and included and played hard. And then honoured beautifully by sending us off SO warmly.

We need more kids like this. I only wish I could show you a picture of the incredible lineup we had there to send us off. However, while you cannot see them, that image will forever be burned in my brain 💜

The weather is so confusing these days. What season even is it?! Today felt both like fall and summer.

Fall at breakfast…

And summer at lunch. Or “dinner” if you’re a Dahlsjo.

Despite the downpour we drove through on our way to camp this weekend, the fire ban refuses to lift. Which I can get behind. I can’t beak about it because I love Tom so much, and he’s our fire chief, but secretly, my heart makes a face about the ban.

😒

Its ok, though. The season continues, and we make the absolute best of summer! Dekker went off to nerd camp today!

Don’t worry. “Nerd” is not an offensive term over here. Dekker is totally proud to be a nerd. I kept referring to his robotics camp as “probiotics camp” which he didn’t like as much, but I felt confident that I was hilarious.

He headed off, and by the time I got back from settling him in, the van was mostly loaded up for the drive home! I quickly dumped the fridge stuff into the cooler, and hit the bathroom before loading up and going home!

We made it home safe ✅

Unpacked ✅

Laundry is running ✅

Majority of the kids are tucked in ✅

And now…

The blog is done ✅

Time for a bit more crocheting and watching Netflix with Brady 💜

Today was Western Days out here at Christopher. It was oddly quiet this year. Way fewer events. Way fewer tables at the market. No animals. No ice cream. It was odd. I don’t mean to be negative. But it was a bit disappointing. 

The parade was good times. The first year one of our babies could run out and bravely collect candy from the street when it was thrown in our direction. 

We went back to camp and spent the afternoon split between the campsite and the beach. The beach was cold and blustery but that’s how I like it. I crocheted and enjoyed the grey sky. Would’ve been nicer without the smoke but I’ll take it. 

Supper was delicious, as it tends to be here at camp. I cooked it today! 🧑‍🍳🥦🥔 Heyooo! 

Aaaaand now it’s time to sleep. I had the pleasure of learning at the end of a visit I took one of my babies to on Friday that one of their siblings has hand foot mouth. Anything. My throat really hurts and I’d like to ride the denial out. To bed I go in an effort to not have to talk. 

🥱 

Well, friends, after a surprisingly hard week, we had a surprisingly relaxed week in some ways. We slept more, and waited all the way to the end of the week to get a cold 😅 Go us!

It is really really the end of the week now because Brady has wrapped another immunotherapy infusion!

Not one of the huge ones that makes him super sick at least!

He’s driving home, and I’m packing up the loose ends. Dekker is loading the van, which he offered to do and requested he get to do it by himself. Lol! He’s growing up, that one!

Last details – the cooler is packed. Babies are having a quick snack to settle them before the drive, as well as keep them contained while we run around a little.

Almost forgot Princess Margaret! 😬

Got ‘er!!

Almost time to go! The countdown is on for Brady to make it home!

Christopher Lake Days this weekend! 🥳

We had some really nice quiet time today where the babies napped, I crocheted, and most of the kids played lego at the table. They actually had a whole game going, where their lego guys played together. They don’t always play so interactively, and I really enjoyed it. It was peaceful and giggly and whispery.

And then, as tends to happen, Solly burst out crying and stomped down the hallway. He sobbed loudly. However, I didn’t run, because this is a regular occurrence, often motivated by almost nothing. I asked the kids at the table what had happened that made Sol cry, to which Laela responded “It was Wavy.” I asked her what had happened and she hemmed and hawed and wouldn’t really commit to anything. Wavy lives to bug Solly, and Solly cries and runs away any time he feels a feeling, so they’re a tough pair sometimes. This was one of those times.

When Solly reappeared, I asked him to recount the story of what had brought him to tears. And here is that story. Hold onto your hats, guys.

Wavy had told Solly that her lego guy was screaming.

And Solly’s lego guy was sleeping.

Yup. That was it. The whole tragic tail.

I laughed and ughed all at once. Goodness, children. Goodness!!!

Anyway. Thats about how my day went over here 😅 Tomorrow is back to camp!

We spent the afternoon at the zoo! LD has siblings in the city. We teamed up with a friend who has clearance to bring the siblings out for community visits, and met at the Forestry Farm after lunch.

I only wish I could show you all the pictures 💜 We ran all over the place and saw as much as we possibly could. I liked the dingos, personally. The bears were cool. The blue frogs were cool. We saw a lot of things, and did a lot of visiting and catching up. The kids played hard, and we eventually ended up at the little snack stop for popsicles. Cyclones, specifically. Which was fun for me when one of the babies abandoned theirs and I got to eat it. Felt like a child. In a really yummy way.

The kids played on the playground, and then we crossed the parking lot and left the zoo to hit up the other park nearby. By the end of that, the kids were absolutely wiped. They loaded up in the van and it was a quiet drive home.

I am SO grateful for these connections, and to be able to keep some siblings connected, as well as friends, considering my kids are always along for the ride. It is worth the extra. Every single time. We had a total blast, took tons of pictures, and made important memories.

I crocheted today. My priority for today was finishing up a baby blanket I have been working on. I’ve been trying to punch it out really fast for the intended baby, and when it reaches that crunch time point, I get to prioritize it!! I’ve been picking away at it as much as possible, but today I finished it up! And in the morning no less!!!

Because I finished in good time, I got to pick away at another little project in hopes of making some of our babies some squishy sweaters for fall. Assuming they’re still here. Its always hard to know 😅 Always risky to invest our time and love and care, but it NEEDS doing!!!

Aaaaanyway. It was really nice to crochet a little today. Or, a lot. Tomorrow will be fun also, but in a different way. I’ll tell you more about it once its happened, since things tend to change at the drop of a hat in our life 😅

Supper time!

Todays post will be short but also funny and informative.

*insert comment about letting other people tell you whether or not things are funny*

If you’ve had someone in the world of cancer treatment, you may or may not know about magic mouthwash. Its a prescription mouth rinse that helps take the edge off of the wild mouth pain that is experienced by many cancer patients. Brady’s tumours are higher up on his spine, therefore the targeted cells are near/around his neck, affecting his mouth. So Brady has been in a bummer boat for the last few months, where food has no taste, or it tastes very wrong, or his entire mouth and throat just burn all the dang time.

FOOD
IS
HARD.

There is a lot more to talk about on the subject, but that’s a post for another day. What I can tell you is that we requested magic mouthwash a long time ago, and it took the edge off a bit, for sure. A month ago, he requested a refill through a different oncologist.

Our pharmacist texted me later just to laugh at it, though, because it is apparently known as both “the pink lady” aaaaaaand…

PRINCESS MARGARET!!!

Princess Margaret is a very important member of our family. She keeps Brady fed when he may not otherwise have the gumption to eat. But even more than that, she is someone to laugh at. To bring along to camp and bring home at the end of the weekend. She is the weird orange lady we keep in the fridge. I don’t know. Somehow, knowing her name makes her that much more likeable. She’s aggressive but she works hard. Like Jo from Supernanny. Remember her? Ya. Princess Margaret.

Thanks for your hard work, Mags. Much appreciated.

Cher and I took the opportunity today to celebrate our birthdays! Our birthdays are only eight days apart, and this year we decided to skip gifts and just go out together! Our ideal was to go to Freakier Friday together, but lots has gone on the last week, and the next week or so feels pretty unpredictable. So spontaneously, we decided to go out this afternoon!

Babies were about to eat lunch when we left, so I diapered them, and knew everyone else could easily pop them out of the high chairs and plunk them into bed. I also knew my mom was going to come after naps, so it left an open door for Brady to have some help with the kids. So I called around and made sure it was ok, and then out the door we went!

Being that our date was spontaneous, neither of us were photo ready, so we got creative, hahaha!

We started at Smileys for lunch. Buffaaaaaaay!!!!

Plus dessert! 🥣🥣

Someone showed us that the soft serve ice cream had fruity flavoured additions! They were yummy, but mostly, they were cuuuuute! Cher got 🍌. I got 🍉.

Thennnnn I got myself in a bit of trouble at Michaels… Not the sunshine one. Orchid Pop. But still 😍

But we also had fun perusing all the fun ghostly things, back to school stuff, and clearance.

Lastly, Starbucks, because neither of us go there regularly, so its a treat!

Chai tea lattes. Espresso for me, none for Cher.

We wrapped our date by picking up a huge stack of junior bacon cheeseburgers and bringing them back home. The whole schwack of us ate burgers and we had leftover birthday treats for dessert. It was yummy and also really homey to be all together 💜 It’s been a while since Cher and I got a date. And its been a while since we had a Sunday supper all together. After camp season, I sincerely hope they kick back into high gear!

I love you, sweet Cherice!! Happy birthdays to us!! 🎂 I love yooooou!!! Same time next summer!!

But hopefully before that, also 😘

Being that things got extra tricky and taxing towards the end of this week, we decided to call it quits early on our holiday. However, the fun continues, as we have lofty family plans to snuggle in blankets, watch movies, and have some real rest together 💜

So here is our photo dump. The one we can share, anyway. SO many cute pictures remain tucked away lovingly on our phones and in our hearts.

Photos and captions here we come!

We got Dekker back from Redberry!! He LOVED being a staff member 💜 He will 110% be back there. He and Piper have both been staff this summer. Solidarity 💪

Solly ready for the beach! 🥽

Laela was making a stupid face and then she buckled and laughed. Goodness she is SUCH a gorgeous girl!

Wavy made some pretty beautiful chalk art on our patio, but it was the chalk dust on her nose that really did it for me 😍

Dekker, arms full of condiments, as a teenaged boys arms should be.

Wavys nose started peeling a little and it was just SO stinking cute.

Rowan got hit in the face with a bottle rocket… that was a whole thing 😳

He definitely enjoyed the attention he got from it, though, and surprisingly, it barely bruised!

My birthday food began! Muffins for breakfast!

Corn dogs for lunch, with taco dip!!!

Aaaaand alfredo noodles with chicken and shrimp, aaand corn on the cob!! Ate like KINGS, we did!

For the first time in maybe two summers, Dekker actually got INTO the water! To PLAY!!!

Our beautiful lake spot. I am consistently overwhelmed with gratefulness for Kinasao.

Avery crochets positively everything now, including these little stuffed ghosts!! 👻

Lemon sorbet bubly 👌 plus some cute photobombers!

The first true sign of fall 🍂

This bathroom gets used by families a lot, and they tend to leave the floor positively COVERED in water. Its also the only bathroom Brady can use, and the water on the floor makes transfers way less safe. So at this point, Laela was squeegeeing the floor for her dad 💜

Spoons has begun collecting chestnuts in the bubble wands.

And one gooder from the drive home.

Me: I want to switch projects.
Brady: You want to switch crotches??
Me: *scoff* Ya, I think I’ll try a penis for a day.
Dekker:

All in all, there was so much good this week. Much to be thankful for. Even the really hard things were meaningful and important.

But we are all ready to let down a little. To breathe in through our noses and out through our mouths, and give our hearts, brains, and bodies a chance to catch up.

🏡