Glorious Summer

What a beautiful summer this has been so far! July has been filled with so many good times and friends and food and exceptional weather - I am loving it!
These two enjoyed a night of tenting by the lake recently, and then spent most of the next day IN the lake - both of them love the water. Last year Maeve was still a bit timid of the water, but this year she has discovered what her life jacket will do, and she plays on the raft, jumps off the dock and goes out really deep, as long as someone is with her. So she and Becky were great pals that weekend.

Our friend Gordon came from England for his first summertime visit. Always before he came in the fall, so he found everything quite different at this time of year. I was glad that he got to experience perfect weather. Here he is on the deck with Jen and Rich and their girls.

Earlier in July we had visitors from Ontario. Jen's friend Jeanette was her first-year room mate at college (that's about fifteen years ago if you can believe it!) and she, her husband and five-week-old daughter stayed in their camper at our place at Yoho. She and Jen really enjoyed "catching up", and we all loved having them with us for a few days. Here are the three of them.

Here is another shot of their visit - the two mothers and their three daughters.

I love this one of Jen and her girls too.

Here are Amy and Robin - he and Josy are growing so quickly!

Jen and Rich are living at our house in Tracy right now, since they have sold their house and will be moving into a new home (which is actually a charming old farmhouse) in mid-August, so Jen and Amy are neighbours for the time being. They do lots of things together and often come to see us at the lake. On the weekend we had a full cottage and tent with everyone here for the night! A campfire on Saturday evening was a special event, and we hope to have another one soon. I must put marshmallows on my grocery list!

Before Gordon left we had a feast of lobster and it was soooo good. Hopefully we will do that again when Jon and Miranda are here in August.

And here's the feast

Why do I love Yoho living? Everything moves at a completely different pace; life is much more casual and less structured; I have lots of quiet time, which is good for my soul; I am surrounded by the beauty of the lake; I love summer weather; friends and family are always dropping by - this really is my retreat, in every sense of the word!