COUSIN FUN - Day 9 - Family Photos and PLAY (and goodbye Bates Family and Andrew)

PHOTO DAY!  We have been talking about the photos so much, so much!  First yay Michelle!  I can't remember when I first messaged Michelle about making dresses, it seems like forever ago now.  We talked about the style, then the material, and then how we would tie it all together.  The girls dresses are so awesome!  I LOVE THEM!  I'm excited to see the whole group shot.  I love matchy matchy, but Suzanne and Michelle didn't really want that, so the girls had the same style and the same pattern but in different colours.  Everyone tried to stick to the palate.  Everyone took lots of behind the scene pictures today.  I'm not sure when we'll get the photos back from Emily, but I hope she puts a teaser up!

A word about the shoot.  First the location.  Funny thing, we spent all that time driving around the other day and then Mom said, oh, we drove up the road past Scenic Caves and there was this really nice lookout from the top of Blue Mountain.  She took this pic with her tablet.

Then the timing, it was that mid, to late morning time and we were late and then Fiona fell asleep on the way.  She wasn't really happy to be woken up when we finally woke her.

Individual families were photographed first, then Mom and Dad, our family last, the group shots, and then pics of the grandkids.  Between takes Seth fell and scraped up his face, Fiona cried lots, Alice had a half-fit kind of melt down and I kept thinking about the one person who's been missing all week and was still missing today, Rayna.

Rayna was doing training for a new job this week, a new job it turned out that just wasn't the right fit.  I missed Rayna.  I was sad that she wasn't there to hang out with all the nieces and nephews and the grown-ups too.  I was sad that she was sad because of the job not working out.  And I was sad that Andrew was sad for his sweetheart.

I'm so glad we did pictures today.  With all of the craziness of taking pictures with 10 children - or 9 if you count Isaac as a teen, or 10 if you count Dad has a kid, since he really doesn't like having his picture taken... it was awesome!   I love the pics that Michelle and Matthew took today, so I'm including them in my post.

After the photos it was time to eat!  We went back to the chalet and ate lots.  Then it was on to the next thing.  Matthew, Jon and Isaac went to do the Zip Line at Scenic Caves, Andrew and Michelle, Joey, Thomas, Marcus and Seth went go-karting.  And the rest of us went to the outdoor pool to swim.

I don't have any pictures of us swimming outside.  And I don't have any pictures of the Bates family (or Andrew) pulling out of the parking lot.  I can't believe they're already gone, and that tomorrow is it.  I love my family so much and I'm so grateful to have had this awesome week with everyone together. 

COUSIN FUN - Day 8 - Ste. Marie

This past winter was long and very cold.  The predictions for this summer, colder than normal.  So far this has been true.  Today was cold, wet and rainy.  I'm not sure that we knew what the forecast was yesterday when we picked our activity for today.  We didn't exactly get going very early either, and it was over an hour to get there, and we stopped and had lunch in Harvey's, and well eventually we reached our destination!

Ste. Marie Among the Hurons is a mostly outdoor historical site.  There are buildings to go inside, historical interpreters to talk to, but you have to spend lots of time out of doors.  Everyone was wearing as much clothing as possible and we were all feeling a little cold.  It helped when the rain stopped.  And in spite of the crummy weather, we all had a good time!

From Wikipedia: Sainte-Marie among the Hurons was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the province of Ontario.

After our chilly tour through history the thought was to drive to Wasaga and get dinner and ice-cream.  I didn't really want to go to the place that was chosen and all our kids were asleep!  So, Ken and I ventured on, stopping at Grandma's Beach Treats - OH MY GOODNESS!  We had their in house special ice cream - so good.  I also bought some Bacon-Butter Tarts for later.

We then drove back to Collingwood, stopping at Subway to pick up dinner.  We went back to Cranberry were soon joined by everyone.  There was more swimming, and pizza and fun hanging out!  And I took a picture of Bacon's (and a Bates) eating Bacon Butter Tarts, which were really yummy.

This week is flying by... I LOVE MY FAMILY!