Gull Lake

Today we left home bright and early to adventure out to Gull Lake and meet up with friends! We had to first stop in town for gas and snacks.

I am so thankful to have children who are old enough to navigate the grocery store and pay while I gas up. It made our morning go so much smoother and I was impressed with the choices they made. I gave them a loose list to follow with a few different ideas. We were essentially having a picnic lunch at the lake and needed things like cheese buns, pepperoni sticks, and chips. They tried to choose the best prices and did a great job!

When we showed up at the lake there was hardly anyone there. We loaded the wagon and headed towards the beach to claim a spot on the sand.

The children enjoyed wading out into the water while we waited for our friends.

With the smoke and cloud cover, I didn't think much about putting sunscreen on the children. The boys were fine with their swim shirts, but poor Lily ended up with a bit of a burn on her back. When we were done at the lake I stripped her down into her diaper and loaded her in the car where she happily slept the entire hour drive home.

In the evening we were joined by our good friends the Wolseys! We discovered these two girlies had matching dino jammies, which was pretty stinkin' cute! 

After putting the littles to bed we had a really nice visit. It had been too long!

Morning Baking

This morning we baked up a double batch of double chocolate chip muffins, as well as some chocolate chip banana muffins. Half of these will be put in the freezer to use in lunches next week.

The littles were a big help mixing and getting things ready for the muffin pan.

 

In the afternoon I took Lily and Sawyer to the spray park that had just opened over the weekend. It was a warmish day, though the breeze made it seem a lot colder. Mr. Stannix met us there and we visited while Sawyer and Lily braved the water. At one point Lily kept pushing Sawyer in front of her like a shield. It was quite funny to watch!

A Slow Start

This morning some of us got off to a pretty slow start. Lily ended up falling asleep while eating her breakfast, and we all got a chuckle out of watching her slowly nod off. She ended up snoozing through most of the morning chaos.

 

After Fin's shower tonight I told him he smelled REALLY good, and that the girls would find him irresistible tomorrow at school. 

He smirked, "Well, there's already one girl....She gets three of her friends to help her and chases me around all recess."

I chuckled.

He continued, "Thank goodness we have indoor recess right now or I'd be FINISHED!"

He never did tell me her name, but it was such a funny conversation.

Blossom Season

This morning we went into town for swimming lessons and groceries. 

Taking these two out is always an adventure!

 

Lily won't sit in the cart anymore so they usually fight over who will stand on the end of the cart.

Sometimes they share the riding space, and sometimes they don't.

And after all of that swimming and adventuring, Lily took a pretty great afternoon nap!

The evening called me to the orchard at sundown to listen to the bees and birdsong. Our favorite apple tree is loaded with blossoms this year! The haskaps are buzzing with bees and the nanking cherries and saskatoons are in full bloom. I love this time of year!

 

Palmyra

The second part of our trip brought us to Palmyra where we took in the church history sites. We started at the smith farm and learned some neat things about the beginnings of the church. The boys loved the stories and the tours from the missionaries.

At the end of our tour, we were able to walk to the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith prayed and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appear to him. It was neat to walk through the grove of trees and watch the boys take it all in. 

Next, we visited the Hill Cumorah where we watched a video about Moroni, the last remaining Nephite in the Book of Mormon times, and about how the plates were found.

 

We stopped to grab lunch at the Grill and Chill upon recommendation from some friends!

Joseph found some cash stuffed between the seats in the rental car and was pretty excited to use it at some point before we left the states.

For dessert we had GIANT ice cream cones!

Mr. Stannix pretty well finished his, while the rest of us didn't even come close.

We finished off our day by touring the Book of Mormon publication site and learned about all of the work it took to put together and publish a book at that time in history, along with many other fascinating facts and tidbits.

The boys were amazed and came away with a greater appreciation for all that was done to bring the Book of Mormon to life. We love providing these testimony growing experiences for our children and hope that the boys remember the stories that were shared and the way that they felt.

Niagara Falls

Today we woke early, ate breakfast, and then drove to Niagara Falls! The traffic in Toronto is so crazy and Mr. Stannix was a champ for navigating all of the freeways and offramps and crazy things along the way. We were glad to get onto a bit of a highway on our way to Niagara Falls and notice the wineries and farms along the way.

When we got there, we payed for parking and then walked over to the falls and took in the magnificent sight!

The power of water is truly incredible!

The boys were sporting their new shirts and sunglasses for the day, and getting along well!

As we wandered around the gift shop, the boys began complaining of hunger, so we decided to move on with our day and find somewhere to eat.

As we drove we stumbled across an italian joint called Zappi's where we had delicious pizza and pasta!

When our tummies were full, we hopped back into the car and made our way across the US border towards Palmyra!