Squeezing the Last Bit Out of Summer

We are approaching the end of our second week of school, and it has been eventful, let me tell you.

Lovely, in almost every way.

Except for my cell phone being stolen. 

Oh, and I confronted the thief (who was in my classroom), but didn't realize he had stolen my phone until after he'd bolted from the school.  Nice.  Classy.

I tell ya, Pumba, if I weren't the size I am I would have pummelled the guy.

Now, on to the whole point of this blog post... summer is slipping away.

It's true in every way.

We are losing a steady 6 minutes of precious daylight every day now.

Three whole hours will be gone in a month.  Six hours in two months... 9 hours in... oh, forget it, the stats are bumming me out.

The temperatures have dropped.  But, nothing negative.  Yet.

The leaves are DEFINITELY changing.

And, we have toques by our front door for the morning air.

Last year, I wrote about Autumn in August, and it is just oh-so-true.

We'll have snow on the ground in about a month.

And, by the end of October, Eli might try to get in one more boating trip, and find the lake frozen, just like last year. 

(Don't worry, he has a boating trip planned for later this month!)

The girls and I are more prepared for the winter this time around, but I must admit that I cringe when I see "normal" daylight hours whip past me in a month, and lead into... "The Dark."

Miss G knows how to take advantage of the last days of summer...

A picnic!!

Have I Mentioned that Eli Loves his Boat?

It's true.

Eli loves his boat.

A few weekends ago , Eli finally took off for an expedition fishing and camping and boating trip to the East Arm of Great Slave Lake.

It's where the REALLY big fish hang out, and they think they are oh-so-cool because they live in the 'burbs.  Know what I'm saying?

Eli and a coworker buddy of his took off Friday, July 20th, from work, and left at about 2 am in the morning to take advantage of the calm winds. 

2 am in July in Yellowknife means sunrise, y'all. 

That's the Midnight Sun, right there. 

And, Eli's boat.

The darkness of the looong winter exhasts me, and I must say that I was surprised to discover that the light of the looong summer days exhausts me, too.

Yellowknife is home of the extremes... extreme beauty and extreme exhaustion, I guess. 

But the beauty is amazing, isn't it?

Isn't Eli well-trained? 

He's been working on making that horizon straight when he snaps a picture to make his photographer hobbyist wife happy, and the pictures from this trip are outstanding! 

Eli says this was totally worth waking up at 2 am. 

About 2 hours later, the boys arrived in the East Arm, and headed to a secluded island protected island (yes, that's not a typo...) that Eli had picked out long before with his charts and maps. 

He's an obsessive planner, and it pays off on these elaborate trips.

Oh, and Eli loves his boat.  Did you know that?  He loves those motors.

Eli said the weather was perfect and the fishing was amazing.  He said that at one point they were getting a big fish every 10 minutes!! 

They saw two moose on the trip, too.

This one was swimming close to the boat.

I'm assuming that Eli zoomed in a bit here, but even still, that's a close moose encounter!

The other one was on an island facing the campsite, but Eli said that he didn't get to the camera in time. 

They boys ate well, a la Chef Eli. 

This is their camp set up.

Eli snapped this one as his buddy reeled in a large lake trout.

His pal brought along his dog for company and protection, and Eli said that it was pretty cool to have a dog in the boat. 

De nuh, de nuh, denuh-denuh-denuh... 

Eli was so impressed with the trout.  Even without a trophy trout, they were still among the biggest fish he's ever caught. 

I like this one.  The dog is staring at his master... "Uh, Eli?  Are you sure master should be steering the fish catching aparatus??" 

Eli like this one because you can see the two down riggers and rods.

Eli loves his boat.  He calls it a fish catching machine.  I know it's really his mistress. 

Happy Eli. 

Bird covered island.  Look at them all! 

This was the big one from the fishing weekend.  16.22 lbs.  That's 7.36 kg. 

That's waaay bigger than Twofour. 

Eli and the Big Guy. 

Yeah, that breath cannot be good!  Man, Eli must be hard up on these trips. 

At least he always has his mistress.  The Boat.

Saturday night, Eli said that a thunder and lightning storm lit up the sky.

He snapped this from the boat as the storm approached, and as he headed back to camp. 

Eli got back late on Sunday. 

There are no pictures of his return trip because it was a lot windier, and he had to add an hour on to the travel time to safely manage the waves.

On Monday, however, he sorted out the filleted fish, and I found this in the kitchen when I went to check on him. 

WHY would you need scissors and masking tape to fillet fish? 

Well. Miss G really wanted to help, but the smell was driving her bonkers, so she improvised an ingenious stink-blocker all on her own! 

She was so proud to be able to help Eli with the fish! 

Smart Little G.

She loves Daddy.  She loves fish.  She does not love the smell.  She loves tape, though!

And, Daddy.  Well, Daddy loves his girls.  And, he loves his boat.

Northern Skies Air Show

We did end up missing Papa's family reunion in Saskatchewan this weekend due to vacation scheduling challenges, but on Friday, we got a tease for our very important consolation prize.

As soon as I heard the familiar rumble, I ran outside barefoot (because I CAN do that when it is not sub-Arctic temperatures), with my sunglasses on and face looking upwards. 

I yelled for the girls to come outside and sit on the grass. 

Confused but compliant, they did, and were treated to a preview of the Northern Skies airshow! 

I think my neighbour, Jaime, and I were much more excited than the kids, seeing as we are of the Top Gun era, and both of our husbands are in aviation, and we grew up with airshows in our back yard.

Yellowknife is about the size of Miramichi, so it is nice to have the busy airport sounds overhead all the time.  I missed it. 

But, the Snowbirds?!  Yeah, baby!! 

The girls FINALLY understood why I was so excited about the airshow this weekend. 

They kept thinking that Snowbirds were ptarmigan. 

Somehow, I can't imagine a ptarmigan getting up to any significant speed. 

While the Snowbirds were thrilling when buzzing our neighbourhood, the girls did find other things to keep them busy during the long rehearsal. 

Like a dirt wheel.  Second only to the puddle wheel. 

Jaime and I kept our eyes on the sky. 

Huh?  What's up mom?  Why do you and Jaime keep yelling and jumping up and down, because I think it's noisy and weird.

I didn't have my camera on hand later in the afternoon when the CF-18 roared through (nor was I going to miss the teaser), but Jaime and I whooped and hollered and had a grand ol' time. 

Top Gun has united a generation of women forever.

The very next day, on Saturday, the family went to the airport for the show.

Eli loves airshows as much as I do.

We had a pretty sweet set up at the airshow with our umbrella, chairs, and picnic lunch. 

The CF-18 Hornet started off the show!  Yeah, baby!

Up-freakin'-side down!! 

And, LOUD, baby!!  I loved the soundtrack they had for the airshow, it was wonderful.  But the Hornet's roar?  Unlike anything else!

Now, you put a Bon Jovi concert together with an airshow overhead, and I think my head would explode.  That would be the ultimate entertainment experience.

Check out how the air is compressing over the Hornet's cockpit.

Bernoulli's principle in action. 

The Hornet was specially painted with these beautiful snowflakes... 13 for the 13 provinces and territories. 

Now, that is just showing off.

Upside down with the landing gear out.  Love it! 

Miss A loved the pita and noise blockers we brought along.  The CF-18 is LOUD! 

Loud and fast.  Just the way I like an airshow. 

The CF-18 taxied right past us, and you can see the polar bear detail on the fin, and the snowflakes on the plane. 

Paco waved at the girls.  They thought that was awesome. 

Here's a vintage plane that treated us to a demonstration, but I didn't get a picture because Miss G had to use the washroom, and the line up was loooong. 

Miss G was also happy that Daddy brought along noise blockers for her.  We were sitting next to some military folks Eli knows, and they were very impressed with our preparedness. 

The water bombers also did a demonstration for the show. 

Eli grabbed my camera to snapped pictures of Super Dave in his stunt plane while I was in the endless potty line. 

Super Dave freaks me out, but what a show! 

The girls were amazed at the stalled plane, and controlled fall Super Dave does with the smoke trailing. 

The Griffin helicopters did a really amazing low show. 

At times, the rotating blades almost seemed to touch the ground! 

It is unbelievable what this helicopter can do. 

Miss A waving at the helicopter. 

This is potty break Number Deux.  This time, I grabbed my camera!  Look up! 

It's the Sky Hawks!! 

I think they were among the girls' favourites. 

I loved watching the formations, and the breaks. 

This parachutist must have spun around almost 20 times before coming in to land! 

Miss G was very impressed with the "rainbow" spiral! 

That's got to be liberating.  And, nauseating! 

All safe landings! 

The girls really loved the Canada flag parachutes. 

It looked beautiful with the blue sky.

This was a crazy formation. 

Check out the parachutist in the centre holding on the other two, while they have their legs locked together. 

And, BREAK! 

See you on the ground! 

Miss A was very focused on trying cotton candy for the first time.  She's not sure she liked it. 

Miss G was very sure she loved her lollipop!! 

And, Miss G practiced the art of relaxation. 

The Aurora did a demonstration for the crowd too. 

Eli has been a navigator on Auroras on previous postings, and can appreciate the nauseating lulling back and forth and in circles necessary to hunt submarines and the like. 

See that panel open?  Eli says that is where the torpedoes are kept.

Eli "helped" Miss A with her lollipop a bit, when she needed a break from the sugar.

And, Miss G perfected the art of relaxation. 

There's the water bomber we saw earlier!  Oh, no.  Wait.  That's a twin otter.  Oh well, they are both yellow.

And then, we had a break of anticipation as the closing act prepared itself... 

THE SNOWBIRDS!! 

It seems like forever since I've seen a show as good as this one!! 

I think it's because I miss the Miramichi Air Shows of days-gone-past. 

The Halifax Airshow just isn't the same... the crowds were larger, and the threat of rain was always there... 

But, Yellowknife was a lot like the airshows of my childhood, with a small enthusiastic crowd and clear blue skies.  I guess it just depends on where you grew up.

I love the Snowbirds. 

And, after this weekend, the girls are HUGE fans, too. 

Their stunts are truly unbelievable, and they make me nervous. 

But the beauty and grace of the demonstrations are breathtaking! 

Up, up, up... 

And, over! 

One of these things is not the same... 

This plane weaved around the other four planes...  I almost had a cow. 

It was amazing. 

They are just SO close together! 

Wow. 

Whoa. 

I popped on my wide angle lens for this one. 

The four-Snowbird heart, just under the Midnight Sun.  It was awesome!

Do you see the planes exiting at the bottom of the heart?   

Miss A was impressed, but the lollipop was still a pretty important priority! 

The girls did very very well for being outside in the sun for nearly five hours straight. 

This one is taken with the wide angle, too, because I didn't have a chance to switch to my large zoom lens in time, but THIS is a special formation designed this year for the Northern tour. 

It's an inukshuk!! 

The girls LOVED it! 

And, this, THIS is my favourite. 

It's the classic nine in a line finale exit, and I got the beautiful Northern sun in behind it.

It may be among my favourite pictures I've ever taken.

So, when the airshow comes to your town, do the Canadian thing and GO!