July 09 Pictures

Maybe if I get a bunch of new pictures on here at one time it will make the posting easier: here it goes...

This is an action shot of the jello eating contest at cousin R's 9th birthday party in Vancouver. It was a lovely warm day (before the temperature kicked up a notch). We gave her a North Beach surf shirt, can't find that down in the city :)

We spent an evening at D&C's place. Here's another action shot of the sandal flinging contest... there is a little park behind their house and they were kicking off their shoes to go over the alley and up over the neighbours garage. No shoes were lost in the playing of this game. The boys also tried out the water balloon launcher and balloon rockets that D&C will take up to Princeton for the huge group camp out this summer.
Lounging on the new deck at D&C's place. AK came over for a visit too.

We spent a day at Kits watching the Beach Volleyball Tourney. Uncle B came out from Toronto to referee the event and soon-to-be Auntie J came from Cincinnati to hang with the family too.

J and grandpa had a front row seat at centre court.

We have had fantastic weather here the past week. Every morning starts of foggy but it clears up by mid day. Last weekend we went out at low tide behind the elephant cage. B made a fire, the boys rode the machines and we waited for the fog to lift. Then I got a sunburn :(

And there were super low tides last week; perfect for crabbing. The wind was very light so there were no crashing waves to make the crab catching difficult. It was the best day yet.

The crew of crab hunters.

And we have a freezer full of fish thanks to the two outings B has had. Here is B processing the fish in the backyard.

Here is the catch!

Now I will enjoy my last few lazy days until the waves of family start arriving in town all through August then it will be g0-go-go. From little cousin J at 1.5yrs old to Great Grandpa, we will have fun stuff to do with everyone!

I would rather be...

rolling pennies
peeling potatoes
pitting cherries
looking for the special lego piece in D's collection of 1000's.

the list could go on... but when there are 2 bags full of delicious cooked crab in the fridge, they must be shelled, packed, frozen and saved for another day. Apparently I should be canning it. no thanks. too much prep work for me. My back is killing me standing over the sink that long. B's pliers came in quite handy though.

I spent hours yesterday cleaning out the freshly caught and cooked batch; I made a hot crab dip and an orzo/veggi/crab salad to take to K's birthday party, where we ate even more crab... I got the leftovers to take home.

I have been using www.allrecipes.com for my crab and halibut recipes. Didn't even think to look on the oracle of all wonderful recipes www.mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot. Since when do us mennos cook seafood? My mom never did :) I just looked on there and there are a few. hmm. I guess we can.

How'aa

I just got home from a wild weekend in Vancouver picking up the boys. So much to do, so many people to see... and some of you were not even home when I stopped by unannounced :) We will be down again for a bit mid-September so maybe I'll catch you then!

So a big How'aa very very very much to everyone who spent time with our boys the past few weeks: thanks so much for your time, your caring, your spare room, your patience, your driving, your entertaining, your FOOD! They had a great visit with family and friends; reports back were that a good time was had by all, especially little cousin J.

The rest of July will be TBA around here. I am only working a few days a week to leave lots of room for FUN stuff like crabbing, fishing, beaching, camping, wave jumping... Then in August, we will be the official Masset Tour Guides (we should get T-shirts made) with all the family coming through town for a visit. More good times to come this summer :)

Looking forward to HAIDA GWAII MMA class happening tonight. Ben had a really good turn out last week and with the new equipment he just got, classes will be even tougher. I think we need MMA T-shirts too!

missing the boys

It has been really quiet here the last week. It's quite different without the boys around... there is little laundry to do and few dishes to wash. I quite enjoy the quiet lunch hour at home with B; maybe over summer, lunch would not have been so rushed anyways. I open the fridge and there is always food in there. We haven't even finished the jug of milk and the cheese has almost expired. So while they are in Van, we will enjoy the peace and quiet. My grubby, hungry, noisy, messy boys will be home soon :) but I do miss them.