Wet. Dry. Hot. Warm. Fall. Climb. Ride. Smile

 I sit here in the basement with warm, heavy rain dribbling down into the drain just under the floor. It is a wonderful noise. It is the noise of money well spent. Money that we paid 6 years ago to dig down the sides of the house to install weeping tile and to fully waterproof the outside walls of the building. 

The sound of water, swiftly finding a route out of the house is much better than the sound of water dribbling down the interior walls and then and through the damp carpet, which is what greeted us back in 2016 when the rain fell. Unfortunately, the water at the cabin does not seem to be draining at the moment - not in the cabin itself, but in the lake. Due to the humongous amounts of snow and rain that have fallen since Christmas, lake of the woods is currently a lake IN the woods. It is probably over a metre deeper than normal at this time of year and maybe more. Which doesn't sound like much until you realise that the lake is over 4000km2 (Its over 100km long) It isn't a small lake - so that is just a little eensy weensy bit of water, that shouldn't be there. Here are a couple of photos of what the docks usually look like and what they currently look like. 

The steps and ladder on the swim dock - you can just see the water level 

The wood you see are the dock boards - removed to stop the deck from getting broken. The ladder and steps can be seen by the orange buckets on the right side of the photo

A coupe of boats on the boat dock. The two uprights are at the top of the ladder.

Here is Susan - she is standing on the dock, right by the ladder - which is completely underwater. 

Take a look at this link - it explains just how much-wet stuff has fallen from the sky recently.... It is fairly incredible!

Lake of the Wood rainfall

To get to the boat and across to the island, you have to walk through the lake!

Luckily, we are still able to land on the island and clamber along with some wood that sits on top of the dock, to get on land. Lots of people in the area have lost boathouses or docks - just washed away or destroyed by the water. Hopefully, it doesn't get much deeper and soon, we might be able to lie on the swim dock, without drowning!! 

We have been out a couple of times this summer and will be there again soon!

The kids have enjoyed playing in the cabin, although Hannah didn't really get that playing Hide and Seek with a headlamp, kind of gives you away!!

Ollie loved playing with the Hot Wheels and Hannah loved getting wet on the boat ride!

We also got their new Bunkbeds put together so that we have more room in the bedroom, but that wasn't without drama.

Hannah and I were in there finishing the bed when we heard a huge crash on the roof! I immediately grabbed her and ran outside to safety, to discover a significant but not overly large tree sitting on the roof where it had fallen. Everything looked ok, but it was pretty scary for a minute!

The fallen tree!

Back in the city things have been going well. As much as we have had a lot of rain we also just had a record hot weekend  - Just in time for fathers day! It topped out at just under 40deg Celcius. So we got out the paddling pool and combined it with the small slide and Jungle-Jim that Kreesta, our neighbour from across the back lane gave us for the kids and built our own little water park! The kids loved it. Hannah actually cleaned the slide herself with a hosepipe, when we were given it and did a really good job. Ollie also loved playing with the hose.

Buffy also treated us to a great Father's day - a trip out to the new Air Museum at the airport and really cool 'Matching' Tshirts for me and the kids - Mine with 'The Mandalorian' Mask and the kids with Baby Yoda! If you watch the Mandalorian, you will get it, if you don't - then why not!? It's a fantastic show!

Anyway, here are a few highlights of the day.

Now that Covid seems to be slowly disappearing in the rear view mirror of our lives, we have also been able to see more friends! Adam and Alena, two of our best buddies added a new member to their little family a few weeks back - Norah. She is still a little bundle of sleepiness, so we went around to meet her and to spend a nice afternoon at their place as well as taking a little bit of dinner. 

Then we also go to go visit my old Brit buddy Chris and his wife Christen, with their kid Charlie. They have moved house since we last saw them so taking a look around their new place was a great way to spend a rainy weekend morning - Also Hannah loved the sneaky secret window door entrance climbing thing as well as the crown she found! Ollie just loved playing.

I could go on and on all day about the last few weeks - Zoo trips, splashing in puddles, finally finishing the kitchen reno, rain, cats, marble runs, parks, fairground rides and Buffy got a cool new Tattoo  - which has a secret meaning about the kids. - But instead of all that detail, I will just leave you with that short list and a few photos and videos - including Hannah's version of 'Lords of Dogtown - If you haven't seen the movie - Google it - Hannah would love the movie after she rode her bike through the empty splash pad pool...