Summer: Part Two In Saskatchewan

So I mentioned in my first post about our summer that my summer break this year is basically divided into three parts. You can read that post here. Part Two was our vacation to Saskatchewan. As Rachel flew out earlier than the rest of us, and Sam and I flew back later than Dave and Rachel, some part of our family was in Saskatchewan for over three weeks! I've written about a few our adventures in these posts here and here, but I wanted to write about a few other things which happened.

Saskatoon has an amazing art museum, the Remai Modern, and I've been wanting to visit it for a few years now. So we made it happen this trip. There were a few galleries with different exhibits including one of "found objects art" and an Indigenous woman who creates impressionist art with First Nations' themes. I loved that exhibit. She created art with paint and beads and it was so intricate. The Remai Modern also has the most comprehensive collection of Picasso's linocuts so those were very interesting to see too.

Another thing we did that I'd been wanting to do for a bit is touring a distillery near my parents' house. We had an extensive behind-the-scenes tour and got to see not only the distillery, but also the flower gardens and orchards.

 

The massive gladiola field is behind us with canola behind that. I love this view!!!  

We got started with a complementary drink and I got Rachel to take my picture in the gladiola field. Lastly, we toured their distillery. My dad bought some of their raspberry gin.

We enjoyed a couple of wiener roasts...

...and Rachel and my dad made a few batches of pesto. I also loved my mom's bouquet of sweet peas and zinnias.

We also enjoyed quite a few games nights. We played Skip-Bo, Trivial Pursuit, Phase 10, and other games. They were so fun and my dad often made milkshakes to accompany the game nights!

And that was the end of our Saskatchewan vacation. We had so much fun, a lot of relaxing time, saw some unique Saskatchewan sights, and most of all, got to spend so much time with Mom and Dad.

 

This current week has been one of the only weeks in the summer when Sam and Rachel are both home and I don't have to work. So the kids are hanging out with friends and we are getting appointments taken care of, but I will tell you more about that in a few weeks, when my summer break ends... Until then, I hope you have something fun planned today. I'm taking the kids to the dentist so I don't expect much fun in my day! Hahaha!!!

Currently: August 2026

It's the first Wednesday of the month so it's time for "Currently" hosted by Amy at Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa You can find Amy here. So let's get to it!

[savouring]

As I'm writing this post, I'm "savouring" a raspberry milkshake made by my dad. It's really good and I will miss my (almost) nightly milkshakes when we go home. We've had strawberry ones, sour cherry ones, and raspberry ones. I really can't pick a favourite flavour.

I'm also "savouring" every happy hour. Every afternoon, my dad mixes drinks and we've had so much fun making new ones this time. Below is a raspberry gin, basil martini. YUM!!! 

 

[wrapping up]

While Dave and Rachel flew home a few days ago, Sam and I extended our Saskatchewan vacation so we're "wrapping up" our last few Saskatchewan days in the next little bit. It's been such an excellent, relaxing trip, and I'm sad it's coming to an end :(

Sweet peas growing off my parents' deck. I'm already scheming about where I can plant a "cutting garden" for our yard as I'm also envying her zinnias!!!  

[preparing]

Well yesterday, Mom and I picked about a gallon of raspberries, and froze them. We're "preparing" for winter milkshakes when we just can't go and pick the fresh fruit off the bush!

[remembering]

Every day this year I've been going through my photos from that day from previous years. These past few days, I've been "remembering" our vacation here in August 2020. That was when Mom and I invented our first drink (the St. Petersburg Burro, which was the feature drink at my 50th birthday party!). 

We also picked raspberries that trip (although they were yellow) and had wiener roasts out back. We've had some wiener roasts this trip but haven't found any yellow raspberries.

 

[organizing]

I'm not currently "organizing" anything but once I'm back home, I will be organizing the laundry room. I've mentioned here before but that is the last lingering task from the renovation and one of the things I really want to get done before I have to go back to work.

So we're still enjoying our summer but we're recognizing it's not going to last forever, which makes me a little sad. Dang. How's your August started off?

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.