Last Update: 2019-09-04
We like to have fun, try new things, be different, and enjoy each others company, nature, and
some nerdy things.
This page tells the stories of our adventures. Some are repeating rituals, some are spontaneous
chaos, and some are just plain weird. But they're all adventures...
Sandbrook summer in Canada
Stuff we did during our Canadian vacation
-airplane arrival had a turbulent descent,
resulting in a bag shortage
-finished Paddle To The Sea
-measured heights on the "tall wall" in the basement
-visited with Aunt Nic, Uncle Alex, Zoe and Teddy
-saw aunt Martha
-visited MEC & got gramps a new camping stove
-had visits with Parker and Linton
-visited Lindsey's Grandma
-went to the beach twice
-brought back Parker's hat
-had a fire with songs and marshmallows
-played 65
-invented games and songs
-had bike rides with papa
-got haircuts for Elliott and Robin
-did crafts and exercises in new workbook
-played monopoly
-ran down the slip and slide
-threw water balloons
-went to Clovermead & saw animals & bees
-made cricket bats & shin guards, & played cricket in the garden
-played basketball at the school
-played at the Bostwick center all day with swimming
-went ice skating
-went on a canoe trip (which has its own list, see below)
-visited the Bog with Emily Giles
-went to Springbank park
-built wooden kits and erector set kits
-went to the Children's Museum
-played, saw animals, rode train at Kusterman's Farm
-did science experiments with papa from a kit in the garden
-jumped a lot at the trampoline place
-built another fold-down bed in the playhouse
-had a playhouse sleepover with Teddy and gramps
-swat team took Elliott for a sleepover wee via the playhouse balcony
-visited with Miles and Cleo
-went to Martha's neighbour Gloria's pool
-visited Lise & Gil & Michelle & Michael-san & their pool
-finished a 999 piece jig saw puzzle on plywood leftover from new playhouse bed
-went to Y day camp, with skating, swimming and super hero day
-Gran helped Robin's wiggly tooth to come out, & Canadian tooth fairy left a tooney and a note
The one thing we didn't do was visit the fire hall, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
Fireman were out & hall was empty both times we checked.
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Sandbrook Canoe Trip, Aug 13-15, 2019
Stuff we did on the canoe trip
-gramps believes that "the North" starts at Severn Bridge
-forgot to phone grandma to tell her we made it to the park OK.
-paddled a lot on the way in through Rain Lake. There wasn't any rain.
-carried our stuff over a 310 meter portage.
-slept all together in Larry's huge tent that papa could stand up in
-fished, casting from boats and from shore, and trolled a bit too.
-kids obeyed all the safety rules (listed below)
-undid a lot of lure snags, but never lost one.
-roasted marshmallows
-sang silly songs around the campfire
-saw some minnows in the water
-hung our food pack from a tree branch over night
-kids wore safety whistles all the time
-had the kids start the campfires
-talked on gramps' walkie-talkies (over)
-saw lots of interesting bugs and beetles
-made the Wee River near the tent
-found the Fairy village near the next camp site
-used the awesome new gravity feed water filter
-paddled to the sandy beach across the lake and explored
-had mama and one kid paddling the red canoe
-everyone except Elliott had siestas on Wednesday
-put a plaster on Elliott's toe that had a blood sucker on it
-had loons on the lake answer mama's loon calls
-had canoe congestion at the end of the portage on the way out
-saw several families with small children, youngest was 2 year old Lily
-picked water lilies in Rain Lake
-had dragon flies land on us in the canoes
-slept in the canoes on the way out of the park, Elliott bottoms up.
-never had any rain in the park
-watched papa steer a canoe with the bow up in the air on a windy day
-watched Elliott run off the end of the dock at the take out
-stopped for awesome burgers & fries in Kearney across from the park office on way home
It was unanimous that we should do another canoe trip.
The kids safety rules (from memory until I find that piece of paper)
-wear your hat and suncream whenever it's sunny out
-wear your life jacket whenever you're in a canoe
-don't go near the water unless an adult is
watching you
-if your canoe tips over or you fall
out, hold on to the canoe
-wear your safety whistle around your neck whenever you're on land
-don't go into the woods unless there's an adult with you
-if you get lost, sit down right away, blow your whistle 3 times, wait a while, repeat until
someone finds you
-only blow your whistle if you're lost or hurt - no playing with it.
-don't touch the fire if there isn't an adult with you.
-don't eat any berries in the woods - they might be poisonous
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Back to Sandbrook Canoe Trip
The Marshalls come to Canada
Hard to find words for how great it is to have everyone together, kids playing together,
adults drinking together... Zoe is such a cutie and a charmer - she's going to break a lot of
hearts. Teddy was sporting a new look, having recently trimmed the surfer dude curls. More hearts
will be broken. Will add some pictures below
The Marshalls were fresh from visiting their other grandma and grampa in Burlington the previous week,
so they were in the right time zone to start.
Stuff we packed
into our London Ontario vacation:
-run around pizza dinner at Springbank park
-full day at Bostwick center, playing and swimming
-visited with Sarah Vaisler and Sloan and Mark and parents Sheila and Peter
-got plywood at lumber store and had it cut on giant wall saw
-built a new folding bed in the playhouse
-gramps read stories to Teddy
-had a playhouse sleepover with gramps, Teddy, Robin and Elliott
-Teddy was still asking gramps questions long after the Sandbrooks were asleep
-Teddy fell out of the new bed twice onto gramps, but didn’t seem to mind
-visited Lise and Gil’s swimming pool
-Teddy said that gramps was his best friend at one point
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