What's Up Wednesday: July 2026

It's a "we're on vacation in Saskatchewan" What's Up Wednesday so this post will be less of a review of our whole month and more of a recap of the last week and a half, or so.

Answering these questions monthly helps me reflect on the past month and I really appreciate having a record of what we've been up to. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... We're eating all the yummy Saskatchewan food -- Saskatoon berries, carrot pickles, fresh veggies from the garden, excellent coffee-hot chocolate, and milkshakes. It's been a good week and a half of eating!

 

I'm particularly proud of the Saskatoon berry pie because I made it! My mom had surgery on her hand in June, and still doesn't have full use of it, so I've been baking a lot more here than I normally would. Mom still mixes things up and advises, so I'm not doing it all on my own.

 

I somehow managed to make a happy face in my coffee-hot chocolate on my first morning here! And Dad picked sour cherries yesterday and they're really good. Sam and I, especially, have loved snacking on them.

What I'm reminiscing about... We did a little road trip this past weekend and I'm remembering the Saskatchewan road trip Mom and Dad took us on a few years ago. We checked out southwestern Saskatchewan and visited Cypress Hills, the Great Sand Hills, Fort Walsh, and Scotty, the T Rex at Eastend. It was a fun trip!

 

 

What I'm loving... As always, when I'm at Mom and Dad's, I'm loving Mom's bouquets. These are all from their yard. I try to create bouquets from our yard but I'm nowhere near as successful at it as my Mom is.

 

 

What we've been up to... We've been up to a lot! Dave, Sam, and I flew to Saskatchewan a week and a half ago (Rachel flew out a few days earlier than us). We've enjoyed prosecco toasts... 

...we've picked Saskatoon berries (and made pies) and done a South Saskatchewan river cruise.

 

Rachel, Dave, and I visited Wanuskewin, an archaeological site and cultural and historical centre of the First Nations, just outside of Saskatoon.

We've seen buffalo...

... and our road trip was to attend a powwow. This was such a unique, and interesting, experience. These are pictures from the Grand March when all the dignitaries and dancers filed in. Then we watched some of the dancing and drumming. The powwow was beautiful.

The next day we went to a rodeo, which was on the opposite end of the cultural spectrum! We saw saddle bronc, calf roping, steer wrestling, and barrel racing. It was really fun! 

Since the weekend we've been weeding, eating good food, visiting, and playing games!

What I'm dreading... The mosquitoes are really bad in Saskatoon this year so I kind of dread every time I have to go outside. However, my dad ordered some really powerful mosquito repellent and it works really well so I don't know why I dread it. The other day when I was weeding, I didn't get one bite but the mosquitoes kept buzzing around my ears. It's not just my imagination that the mosquitoes are bad either; stores in Saskatoon are putting a limit on how much mosquito repellent you can buy right now. Read about it here.

What I'm working on... I spent about an hour earlier this week helping my mom weed and now Dave has taken over. I will go out again at some point but for now, I'm happy to advise Dave on which are plants and which are weeds, with my mom's overall direction of course!

 

What I'm excited about... As always when we're at Mom and Dad's, Dad is inventing new drinks. And I get very excited about drinking them! Hahaha!!!

On the left is the "Moon Lake Madness," a Moscow Mule type drink with Saskatoon berry juice. On the right is the "Burp 'n Fart," named after a hilarious ride in my dad's very old truck! This is again, inspired by a Moscow Mule but with some extra fruit additions. It's delicious and I've enjoyed one almost every day!

 

What I'm watching/reading... I've been watching the birds at the feeders -- goldfinch, chickadees, hummingbirds -- I'm definitely in my bird watching era!

On our road trip this past weekend, I was loving watching all the canola fields. We even stopped to get some pictures. I absolutely love canola season in Saskatchewan and I'm so happy we get to be here for it this year. 

 

What I'm listening to... As I'm writing this, I'm listening to Rachel and Dave work on a crossword puzzle together.

What I'm wearing... Earlier this spring, Rachel and I bought some rodeo inspired pajamas. They're so fun and I've loved wearing them with her!!!

 

Aren't these fun!?!?!? Image from here.

 

What I'm doing this weekend... We don't have any specific plans but vacation continues so I'm sure it will involve plenty of relaxing and enjoying life :)

What I'm looking forward to next month... August will contain some more time in Saskatchewan, some more time relaxing at home, and then, by the end of the month, I will be back to work. I'm hoping to tackle a few last corners which still need to get back in order after the renovation (laundry room, my office), so here's hoping I get to some of those spots while I have a little more time.

 

So that's what's up with us this last Wednesday in July. We're soaking up all the Saskatchewan goodness while we can, even if it does include a few too many mosquitoes! Happy Wednesday! 

Summer: Part One

My summer, this year, is divided into three distinct parts. We are solidly in the middle part, our vacation to Saskatchewan, but I wanted to write about the first part of the summer, and what it looked like. This is a bit like a "life lately" post, except this all happened the first few weeks of July, so it's not all that "lately."

We hosted four of Rachel's friends for a belated birthday sleepover, followed by a pancake brunch. 

 

Sam and Rachel headed off to a youth sleepover. Poor (or "lucky"?) Rachel had two sleepovers in a row. Phew.

I made strawberry freezer jam with Janice and Rachel and I helped our pastor get ready for Vacation Bible School (VBS).

We headed off to a Blue Jays' game with the kids to (sort of) celebrate our anniversary. So romantic!

We had our summer kickoff "strawberries and ice cream for breakfast" and watched the Blue Jays dominate on Canada Day!

 

We cheered Canada on in World Cup soccer and were so excited about how well they did. 

We checked out a Buttertart Festival with Tim and Janice. 

We sent Sam off to camp for two weeks. 

Rachel volunteered at VBS and started summer school (online) and I walked her back and forth almost every day. I visited with a few friends, and I spent a lot of time reading on the deck.

I also took care of my daylilies (a daily task when they're in bloom) and worked on growing grass (a lot of watering!). 

 

I unpacked more boxes and set up our games shelf. And encouraged Sam to unpack all his Lego cars before he left for camp.

Rachel and I made an Earl Grey Tea Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese icing for a "cake break" at a cafe in our downtown which was super fun!

 

I got into a new podcast, Acquired, and Dave, Rachel, and I had to make a stop at Starbucks while listening to the episode about Starbucks.

We had lunch on the beach and enjoyed a beach day on Lake Erie.

Dave worked at his company's local office for two weeks while I unpacked boxes in his home office. I made a lot of progress which was so exciting!!!

Lucky Rachel got to start her Saskatchewan vacation a few days before the rest of us! She flew on her own for the first time and did an excellent job!!! And then sent many texts of all the fun she was having there without us :)

Dave and I listened to the Acquired podcast on IKEA as we drove to IKEA to buy some more shelves, and a few other things, for our new spaces. Then we went out for supper and saw the musical "&Juliet" as a more romantic anniversary celebration. I've been singing late 90s/early 2000s music ever since!

We picked up Sam, with a new haircut (!!!), from camp, and got ready for Part Two of our summer: Saskatchewan vacation!!!

 

The first part of our summer was filled with fun, relaxing on the deck, getting things done, catching up with friends, reading some books, and it was just what I needed after finishing a very busy school year.