Since my Mom had her 70th birthday, we all came to Saskatoon to celebrate. My Mom
wanted to have Camp Grandma and keep our boys for a few days, so we then went to Candle Lake
where we rented a cabin for the week.


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First a shot of Henry having a Reese's pieces Beavertail at Calaway Park.


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I taught Walter how to play Risk one night.


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Here are the 'little' cousins having dessert at Grandma G's house.


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The cousins in my Mom's backyard.


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And again.


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Walter and Logan running after a soccer ball together.


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The 'bigs' playing at the playground.


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The splash park near my Mom's house. No, they didn't bring swim suits. Yes, they did get wet.


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This is Henry making a great face while playing in the splash park. This might be the cover of his
next photo book.


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Kale after the splash park.


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My mom on her 70th birthday with her favourite people, her grandchildren.

Singing happy birthday to Grandma G



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Grandma G with a terrific steak dinner on her 70th birthday.

Time at Candle Lake


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We rented a sweet cabin through VRBO from Susan and Ted in Candle Lake. This is the sweet bunk bed room.


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Some of the watercraft they brought for us to use.


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Natalia at the campfire spot, which we didn't wind up using.


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The dock at our lakefront cabin. The attractions to northern Sask lakes are the clear clear water,
the sandy beaches, and the great access from the highway (no ATV or planes required!).


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The mat that the boys loved was also included in the rental.


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Walking distance to the ice cream store is a big plus. Did you see 'Donut Boat'??


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Our prizes for the night. I really wish DQ would regularly have Reese's Pieces blizzards. This was
good, but not quite as good as DQ. I'm not even going to comment about the Tiger ice cream.


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Natalia reading while I worked upstairs.


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Early morning coffee time is delightful at Candle.


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This was the draw for our boys.


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Natalia thought the water mat with an adult beverage was a big win.


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That's trout in the air fryer. Seriously good!


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Yummy!


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The menu at the Craft ice cream store.


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Natalia's sister Lulu and her husband Chandler camer to visit and they got to take a kayak out
for a rip before dinner.


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Lulu and Chandler on the kayak.


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A lovely outing.


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Newlyweds having fun together.


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We went for a visit through the hospital home lottery show home. It was nice, but not $2M nice.
No dock and no well.


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The view from the BBQ to the lake.


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Walter with his 'chocolate fingers'.


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The boys checking out Minowukaw Beach. We didn't get the nicest day.


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So we went for a hike at the Homestead, which turned into a mushroom hunt and a Wordle game.


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Check out the wordle!


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A mushroom with a big stem.


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A big brown one.


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Walter at the climbing tree, which was a big terrifying honestly.


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Mushrooms with huge stalks!


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Walter walking through the kitchen at the old homestead.


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Weird shaped mushrooms.


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Lots of boardwalks on this trail reminded me of how much maintenance a boardwalk is.


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The boys with one of the letters for the game.


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I think this may turn into a puffball mushroom at some point.


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A better look at it with Walter's hand for perspective.


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A weird tree-growing mushroom.


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Big long boardwalk.


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Walter says this big brown mushroom is weird!


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We played mini golf as something to do one day with again not ideal weather.


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This castle hole was cool and I got a hole in one on it.


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Walking the ferry walk near town again to kill some energy.


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This was actually pretty neat. Some of the stuff was kind of junky.


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Sunset at Candle, actually over Torch lake.


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One of the boys' favourite activities at any lake is netting for minnows.


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Henry holding Walter's feet so he can get closer to the minnows.


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This was an unbelievable offer that our hosts invited us to join them on a boat! Here are Henry and
Walter getting ready to check out the tube for the first time.


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Natalia and I had to go first so that Henry and Walter were ensured it was safe for them.


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Natalia and Walter as he was braver than Henry and he was ready to jump in with his Mom.


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Walter thought this was pretty fun times.


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Henry tried it too once his brother failed to hurt himself.

Henry and Natalia on a tube



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Both brothers for a time.

Henry and Walter on the tube



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After beating the tar out of myself trying to get up on skis, Natalia showed me how it's done.
Just like riding a bike - apparently the trick here is forcing your skis together as the boat
aggressively tries to pull them apart. Also, ensure the skis are actually fit for your feet
as the first two pulls pulled my skis off my feet.


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Happy Natalia.


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Walter with his Mom waterskiing.


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As we came back from the calm area past Curly's Island, Ted said 'Okay Henry, your turn to drive the
boat.' I thought Henry's eyes were going to pop out of his head.


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He did actually pretty well to be honest.


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When Walter then got a turn, the jerkiness of the boat increased, but he was equally thrilled to be
given the power to drive this thing.


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That's a happy boy.

Henry driving the boat


Walter driving his first boat



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Walter sitting criss-cross apple sauce at the front of the boat with Susan.


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Natalia and I stoked to be getting some boat time.


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Henry and I making for home.


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And this boy was soooooo excited to drive a boat!


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Definitely illegal - not because of their age so much as their lack of an operator's permit.


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After our day on the boat, we continued the Walter saga of eating supper, which on this night took
2 hours and 23 minutes, including making Walter carry his plate with veggies down to the ice cream
shop or it would have been closed by the time we got there.


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These are called 'Shark Week'.


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I got ice cream nachos and they were delicious!


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I took this for posterity and to remind myself that some dishwashers have a cutlery tray
built into the top of the dishwasher. Soooo, this place wasn't lacking forks - just lacking
people who know how to unload the dishwasher.


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Our last day we had the pleasure of a relaxed late checkout (thanks Susan!) and we want to
Waskateena beach for some beach time. Most of the time the boys had spent at the lake hadn't
been amazing weather and this was shaping up to be a great day.


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Playing on the water mat.


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Both boys just loved it.

Playing on the water mat



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It took a bit of doing to fit it into the Highlander but it made it.


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Walter digging holes in the beach.

Going for a bike ride in Cochrane


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The week we got home it was smoking hot so I took the boys for morning outings to avoid the full heat
of the day. This is Henry on Sunset Trail 4.


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And Walter.


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Henry on Sunterra Trail 1.


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And Walter too.


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A bit of rust already on our new benches. Good reminder for regular repainting I guess.


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The boys having a snack after seeing off Brother Michael to Edmonton.

Camp Grandma


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The boys got sweaty while at the trampoline park. AND they got slurpees.


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Bowling with Grandma and Aunty Deb came for a visit, and to give them candy. Can you see a pattern here?


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Their candy bags.


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Bowling with Grandma G.


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Playing at the Children's Museum in Saskatoon.


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Clip and Clip Saskatoon.

Henry trying the drop


Walter trying the drop



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This is a speed climb wall.


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Henry tried to get to the top of these posts.


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Walter on the big space balls.


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Walter on the top post.


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Henry climbing the maze.


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At Lathey pool in Saskatoon on a hot day.


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Henry brought his shirt for the pool since he forgot his swim shirt.


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They discovered Swirl World, where you basically pay for the weight of your candy.

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