Long Point
Not only is summer a busy time for work, it's also a great time to play. With a spare week and a bunch of campsites booked, we headed out to Long Point to brave the mosquitoes - and to enjoy the area.
The beach was great for the kids to play at, alternating between cool water and
warm foot-scorching hot sand - you all know the feeling, don't you. They were also able to bike around the entire park without too much worry. There was a couple of kayaks for them to use, as well as some good fishing.
One day we went to the sand dunes. I had heard about them before, but was impressed with the size of them. The steep climb up gave some great views of the lake to the south and countryside to the north. The kids had a blast climbing up and leaping/running/tumbling down the steep slopes. They slept well that night!
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The difficult to access women's washroom in
a little store in Port Rowan |
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| Father-in-law and uncle out for a paddle in the kayaks |
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| Sunset over a puddle in the road |
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| Aspen, opening a can of worms... again. |
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| Boathouses in Port Rowan |
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| Mother and daughter fishing |
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| A fish! |
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| Climbing the dunes |
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| Boys - living their wildhood to the fullest. |
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| Sand in the mouth... |
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| A couple of bright umbrellas on the beach |
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| Playing with clay out of the lake |
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| Glow-stick figures walking around at night |
Auburn
We spent the August long weekend up near Goderich in the little town of Auburn. We were right on the banks of the Maitland River. The campground had an elk enclosure - with three real live elk actually inside the enclosure. (Enclosures are less effective if the thing to be enclosed is on the outside.) There were trails for riding bikes, a nice swimming pool, a beach volleyball court, an over-zealous table mover, and of course, the river.
There was also the beach in Goderich, which we checked out as the Highland band 'piped down the sun', and again a day later to enjoy the water and sunshine.
We were treated to a big storm on the Sunday night, with the reports of 3 or 4 tornadoes spotted in the area. I was amazing to see the clouds rolling in towards us. EF2 was the scale of the one that touched down near Listowel. Fortunately, we didn't lose anything more than a pop-up tent and an awning off a trailer. There isn't much place to hide in a campground!
Andy caught a nice, scrappy rock bass early one morning. Later that day I caught the same fish out of the same hole. It had a rough day!
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| Sunset over farmland |
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| The moon over a dead tree |
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| Early morning fog on the Maitland River |
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| AK's nice Rock Bass |
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| Wounded warrior |
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| All better now! |
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These were the first clouds we saw as the storm rolled in.
It was a crazy sky! |
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| Clear, calm water in this section of the river |
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| Brother KP crossing the river with a crayfish in his grasp |
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| Crayfish beats a hasty retreat into the water! |
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| Sunset over Lake Huron |
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| Jumping off the pier in Goderich |
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| Playing at the beach |
We like hanging out with this group. I think we can safely say we'll be doing it again next summer... as long as the event coordinators get together to sort out the details!
The Rope Incident
We have a large maple tree in the back yard. On one of the limbs I have tied a long, heavy rope that hangs down to the ground. I think it's 23 feet long and it almost touches the ground. This is a 2" thick, natural fibre rope used for holding ships at docks. It's rated for 8,100 lbs tensile strength. I also tied a few knots in it so it was a bit easier to climb and play on. And it got used a lot.
We also have a lot of cousins and friends the same ages as our boys. They are all good kids who get along well together.
This afternoon LP, Charlie and (Team 1 Leader) Aiden were climbing on the rope. LP was at the top knot, Charlie on the one above the foot loop, and Aiden was sitting in the loop. They were swinging on it, probably trying to knock each other off, as boys would do. Today the rope broke...
It simply broke. Whether it rotted, was chewed by squirrels, suffered abrasion - I won't know until I pull the other chunk out of the tree.
When the rope broke Aiden dropped a few inches to the ground. Charlie fell about 7 or 8 feet and hit his head and neck. LP fell almost 17 feet and landed on his butt and back. Lots of moms rushed in to assist the boys.
Charlie had a bit of whiplash. He was complaining of a bit of a headache, and was checked out for a possible concussion. Latest word from his parents is he is doing fine. Thankfully.
LP was in a lot of pain, but wasn't crying. He had the wind knocked out of him (likely why he couldn't cry), and was rolling on the ground. His mom (how is it that she always ends up doing this???) drove him to the hospital and waited with him there. After a few x-rays, belly ultrasound and a few other exams, he was eventually sent home. He had a bit of blood in his pee, most likely from his kidneys taking a pretty good shot. He also sustained a compression fracture of the L5 vertebrae. It could have been worse for any one of the boys. God was watching over them despite the fall - and a couple of guardian angels are on stress leave!
Lots of answered prayers today. Just a reminder that we are never far from having our lives up-ended.
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| A picture from 2013, when the rope was installed |
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The dad - being swung by Brother KP - testing the stated break
strength. You can see the last knot just below the one limb. |
That last picture was taken this evening. The frayed rope, after the fall. I'm not sure if it's going to get hung up again.
Oh, one more thing...
We've been approved to go to Togo, West Africa. We plan on going for 6 months to work at a small hospital there beginning in April 2016. More prayers answered - and more to be prayed!
More details to follow - guaranteed!
