Camping with Canadians

My nephew Steven, his wife and four children from Ft. St. John, BC made their way down in their motor home and joined three sets of their aunts, uncles and cousins at South Beach on Friday. They were all wearing matching t-shirts that said "I'm not perfect,I'm Canadian - and that's close enough!"

We were blessed with sunshine and wind! What fun to watch children play on the beach - especially to see a two-year-old explore and discover! Over the years my kids have buried each other in the sand many times, but I have never seen such a thorough burial as these kids did. They started out in a little pit that was already dug when they got there. It took Nick and Duane quite a while to fight their way back out!

Will flew a kite with a little help from great-neice Katelyn and great-nephew Stanley. After flying this one a while, he decided to go to a kite store and get a better one. Somehow, he managed to get three of Steven's children along for the trip to the store and a kite-flying stop at the beach. I figured he'd come back a little frazzled, but those Canadian kids are delightful. He actually said it was fun!

Little JD loved the sand so much. He discovered the horse shoe pits made a wonderful sandbox. However, he didn't want to just play in the sand, he needed to experience it fully. I happened to be the one watching him at the time, and when he tossed off his coat and then his shirt, I made no objection. He threw his body in the sand and decided that still wasn't good enough, the pants had to go too! He cavorted nearly naked in the sand for quite awhile in spite of the chilly wind! He is an adorable busy boy and he certainly doesn't mind getting a little dirty! Once again it was confirmed to me that little boys are some of God's most delightful handiwork! Especially when I don't have to clean them up!

In fact, families are another outstanding evidence of God's genius. I can't imagine life without lots of aunts, uncles, 6 brothers, 3 sisters, all the in-laws, neices, nephews, cousins, etc. It doesn't seem that long ago that Steven and his brothers and sisters were little children who loved to wrestle with Uncle Will when they visited from Canada. Steven remembered that the first time they visited after Will and I were married, Will told them that when we were ready to have children, we were going to get them at K-Mart!

But this morning we lined up the kids for a final picture and said good-bye. They are heading down the coast and we will see them on their way back north later this week. It is so much fun to be a part of this big family with all these cute little kids! Actually, the big kids can be pretty fun too! And of course the weekend would have even been better if more family members could have been there. We missed all you guys!

JD, Rachelle, Kayla (Venisa's friend), Katelyn, Venisa, Duane with Penny the dog, Nick, Stanley, Eric, Molly