Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving had all the right ingredients: brilliant colours, fresh air, family, and lots of food. We also had cottagers at Waupoos this weekend, for the first time since the end of summer. After the constant activity of summer cottage season, it was nice to have some down time, but this weekend reminded me of how much fun it is to be at Waupoos when cottagers are here!

This weekend was extra special for me because my friend Maxine and her 5 year-old daughter, Adélia, came for a vacation. It’s nice to meet new people here, but it’s also great to watch people you know fall in love with Waupoos. I hope that my friend and her daughter will be back. If Adélia has anything to do with it, I’m sure they will. Apparently, when her mom said something about going home at the end of the weekend, she replied with, “But THIS is our home!”

We didn’t have a host family this weekend, so the Farm Management Team took over the hosting duties. I led chapel time on Saturday morning, and Sabrina organized a cute fall craft for the kids. In the afternoon, Brendan started a game of soccer, which was followed by our traditional open house activities: wagon ride, Mass, and potluck. We had quite a few guests at the potluck - enough to polish off 50lbs of turkey!

Sunday morning we painted and carved pumpkins. In the afternoon, the Jackson’s and the Genest’s came by for a visit. We went for a walk around the property and then watched the kids play in the park. We even managed to get a picture of all the cousins!

There were no activities planned for the cottagers on Sunday evening, so I invited Maxine and Adélia for dinner. Maxine came in and swept through my house in a flurry of activity, putting toys away, doing dishes, and helping to prepare dinner. The place looked a hundred times better when she finished. I told her she could come back anytime! We had a nice visit and enjoyed watching our kids play together. Adélia only speaks French and Liam only English, but that didn’t deter them. They were inseparable all weekend. Whenever he wasn’t with her, Liam would ask when he’d get to play with Adélia again!

The cottagers left on Monday around midday. After a meeting with the farm families and afternoon naps for the boys, we went to the Genest’s for dinner. Jess and Joel served a delicious Thanksgiving spread to cap off a great weekend.

Our next event at the farm is Fall Clean-Up on Saturday, when we’ll be preparing the farm for winter. Despite it’s inevitability, I’m trying to delay the thought of winter as much as possible… yesterday’s balmy weather helped!

The farm's newest resident: Hoggle 

Summer Finale

Last Saturday we held our Summer Finale Open House. In addition to the traditional wagon ride, Mass, and potluck, we also held a tree-dedication ceremony in honour of the late John Shannon, a great friend and benefactor to Waupoos. Many of John’s family members, friends, and former colleagues joined us to celebrate his memory. Since John was so involved in the ministry of Waupoos, the event also attracted many former farm resident families who had been touched in some way by his service. It was moving to see so many people gathered for the ceremony and to have such great attendance at our Mass and potluck. After dinner, we were treated to a concert given by two local musical groups, Grace Note and the Hallelujah Gospel Choir. We also managed to raise some money for the farm through the sale of commemorative leaves, to be pinned on a tree that Sabrina had painted and displayed in the lodge. All in all a great event!

  

The next day we had a bunch of friends over to celebrate the September birthday boys, Liam, James, and our nephew, David. It rained all afternoon, but we managed to have a good time anyway. Sabrina painted kids’ faces for a solid three hours and we had a great potluck lunch, followed by a Super Disco Dance Party (Brendan’s words!)!!!

After such a full and busy weekend, it’s been nice to have some quiet days at the farm. Liam and I have started our home kindergarten and are both enjoying it. James wants to participate too, of course, so he gets to colour while we do our workbook, and listen to the stories we read.

We’re trying to savour these warm days, spending as much time outside as we can. On Wednesday we took a walk along the Mer Bleue boardwalk with some friends. The fall colours were out in all their splendour and we were there early enough that the mist was still lifting off the bog. The boys loved seeing the little spider webs stretched between bits of moss and low trees. It was both peaceful and vivifying to be surrounded by so much beauty. The boys ensured that I didn’t lose myself in contemplation though: Liam insisted on pushing Callum’s stroller, which he did haphazardly, and I never felt I could quite trust James not to jump into the marsh.

Today Brendan is busy tearing siding off our house so that new stuff can be put on next week. I’ve been gifted with some free time to write while the boys have been either playing outside or napping. Simple joys.

Holiday by the Bay

We’re back at the farm now after a 10-day holiday in New Brunswick. Liam spent the first half hour of Sunday morning crying because he wanted to “go back to Fredericton.” I took this as an indication of how much he had enjoyed his holiday, and despite how annoying it was to listen to him whine, I couldn’t help but feel satisfied. We all had a fantastic time.

We left for New Brunswick on Thursday the 4^th, after Brendan got home from work. We drove as far as Rivière-du-Loup, where we stopped to have a terrible sleep at the Days Inn. The boys had been sleeping in the van, so when we stopped after midnight, they thought it was time to be awake. Liam and Callum were compliant with bedtime number 2, but James just wanted to jump on the bed. Which he did until 3am. We all got up again around 7:30, had breakfast at the hotel and got back on the road. The kids did pretty well in the van on both days. Callum let his discontent be heard a few times, but mostly he either slept or looked around happily.

We got to the Marshall family cottage on Friday afternoon and were greeted with hugs from Nana and Papa. The weather was gorgeous and the boys were eager to play outside. Thus began our week-long holiday at Bay du Vin, where we spent our days playing on the beach, eating, reading, and resting. Happily for us, the weather was beautiful the whole time we were there – much sunnier and warmer on this September vacation than when we were there last July.

After our week by the bay, we spent a few days at Nana and Papa’s house in Fredericton. We had a birthday party for the boys on Thursday night with all the Fredericton family. We had already celebrated Liam on his actual birthday (Sept 6^th), when he had turned 4. He thought that since he was having another party, he must now be turning 5, and that he’d be 6 at the party in Ottawa at the end of this week! Fortunately, he didn’t seem too disappointed when I explained that he got to enjoy being 4 for a little longer!

On Friday night Brendan and I went to see Blues Traveler at Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival. It was the first time in 10 years that Brendan had been home for the festival, so he was pumped. The morning came much too soon, as it does after such nights (especially with little ones who have no taste for sleeping in), but we managed to collect ourselves enough to make it to the market. Brendan grew up going to Boyce Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning, and we never miss it when we’re in Fredericton. We got the traditional donairs, samosas, and pastries, and chatted with the old friends Brendan ran into. I also purchased some soap nuts from one of the vendors, for which Brendan teased me relentlessly. “What kind of gimmick is that?! A nut made of soap?! A nut that washes clothes?!” etc., etc. I’m looking forward to using them, to prove the value of my investment. Apparently the bag I bought will clean our laundry for a whole year.

From the market we made our way to a free outdoor kids concert downtown. Liam, the consummate contrarian, refused to participate, but James danced and played the hand drums with some other kids. We left around noon to finish packing the van for the long trip home.

The drive back was much better than the drive out, simply because we spared ourselves the miserable hotel stop. We arrived home around midnight and the boys transferred to their beds without complaint. The crying in the car was also minimal, although Brendan will say he nearly lost his mind (his threshold for car-crying is about 3 seconds). Nothing that some snacks and one emergency pit-stop couldn’t remedy!

We don’t exactly feel rested (is that even possible at this stage of life?!), but we are refreshed. Our vacation this year was one of the best we’ve had as a family, and although it would be nice never to have to leave the ocean, I’m looking forward to what the fall will bring.

Week 8

On Monday morning of Week 8, I let the boys outside on their own. When I opened the door to go out myself, I saw James having the time of his life:

Our last group of cottagers arrived that afternoon, most of them visiting Waupoos for the first time. I’ve found that some weeks offer more opportunities to get to know people – last week I had the privilege of spending time one on one with several women and was moved by their stories of courage in the face of adversity. We also had a lot of really great kids here last week. There were several baby-lovers among them, so Callum spent a lot of time being passed from arm to arm, delighting everyone with his easy smile.

One of my favourite activities of the week was an outdoor Zumba class. Even Callum was grooving to the Latin beats!

Friday was Brendan’s birthday, so I invited the other farm couples over in the evening for some delicious chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. I have to admit, I was quite proud of my accomplishment when Lee-Ann said in disbelief, “You made this? You MADE this?!!!”

To extend the birthday festivities, the Baker’s, Gernon’s, and Jenkins’ came to Saturday’s open house to surprise Brendan. Our last potluck of the season was a great success and we enjoyed sharing it with our friends.

After saying goodbye to the cottagers on Sunday, we headed to the Capital Fair to see the sights and support Danny in his bbq competition (he had lured us in with the promise of ribs and chicken barbecued to perfection!). We were hoping Liam and James would enjoy the kiddie rides but they weren’t that interested. I think they were just too tired to have fun. Here’s James on the first of two rides to which we subjected him:

He liked it at first but then started to frown. The ride stopped just as he was gearing up to cry.

Danny’s barbecuing scored much higher than the rides:

It’s quiet around here now that the summer vacation season has ended. Liam keeps asking when the cottagers are coming back. He’s doing well with the transition though. Having the Garcia kids around helps, but he’s also spending more time building roads for his cars on the living room carpet. He loved the active pace of the summer, but I think he also missed his down time. He’s been playing with cars this way since he was just over a year old and it seems to be therapeutic for him. He was becoming a wild thing in the last few weeks, so it’s a relief for me to see him return to his former self!

Scrunchy Faces (The summer staff taught Liam how to take selfies.
Now he wants to take them all the time... )

James has grown up a lot this summer. His vocabulary is expanding daily, allowing us to become better acquainted with his joyful, mischievous, affectionate personality. He has also decided that it’s time to potty train, which has mommy awestruck. It took a full year and a half to potty train Liam, with tears from both trainer and trainee. I’m trying not to hold my breath, but it looks like things will be MUCH easier this time. James is taking this big boy step like a pro, with very few accidents.   

Surveying the garden stones

My sweet Callum is already seven months old, adept at crawling, eating solids, and melting hearts.  I can’t believe how quickly the months have gone…

We’re leaving for a holiday in New Brunswick next week. Looking forward to some family time after a very full summer. We have many memories to savour and much to fill our hearts with gratitude. It will be nice to have some time to let the summer sink in and recharge before the start of autumn.

Week 7

Last week the rain thought it was invited for a vacation at Waupoos. It arrived on Monday afternoon, with all the other cottagers, and stayed until midday on Sunday. The sun finally came out once everyone had gone home.  We made the most of our rainy week though, with some great crafts and indoor games. Our host family were well seasoned Waupoosers, so they knew how to keep things fun, even on a dreary week.

Enjoying a sunny Monday morning before the rain came!

Making sun catchers

Another one of our crafts this week. Liam's is the orange and purple one at the back.
Sabrina made the adorable octopus!  

Who am I?!

Story time with Erica

Apparently this is called Rock, Paper, Scissors World Domination!

Liam at the talent show, flashing his teeth (he sang a song about them!)

James and his best bud, Gabriel Garcia

We also had another visit from Andrew and his reptiles:

On Saturday, our dear friend, Fr. Maxime Allard, came to celebrate Mass for us. He has an unbelievably full schedule, so I am always touched when he makes time to visit our family, and am delighted that he is now willing to make himself available for the Waupoos community. In his homily, he spoke about expanding the circle of those we serve – not just focusing on the people close to us, but being willing to bring the gospel beyond our immediate circles. His words inspired me to reflect on the expansiveness of love. Love has a drive within it, an energy that propels it to grow, to reach out, to go beyond, to break barriers. As I journey in faith, I’m understanding more deeply that love pushes against the categories we construct. It doesn’t discriminate or compartmentalize the way our minds want to do. It’s easier to understand things when they are clearly defined and differentiated. Love challenges us because it strives towards unity. It doesn’t analyse and break things down to be chewed and digested in neat little morsels. It rushes over us like a torrent - a fierce and awesome expanding tide. Giving myself over to the expansiveness of love is a bit scary. How much will I have to give? How many ways will my heart be broken? But it’s also exciting: how will God use my life to manifest his glory? What role will I play in the coming of his kingdom? In the end, I’d rather take my chances with love and the unknown than allow fear to barricade my heart. Not loving seems a far more perilous risk.

It stopped raining long enough for a game of soccer.
The boys love wearing their uniforms!

Cheese!