Fun in the Sun and on the Boat with Nanny and Papa

The end of this week wrapped up the Official Nanny and Papa visit to Yellowknife in summer weather, which was in stark contrast to the cold visit they had in March.

We got up past 30 degrees on this visit.

In March, we got below -30 degrees.

Papa will return for Summer Part Deux after the family reunion they are attending in Saskatoon this weekend, and Nanny will fly back home. 

Papa found a wee bit of work up here, so he's going to stick around for a few more weeks, like an ant, to prepare for the winter.

To show off the Yellowknife summer weather to Nanny, we spent a few days lounging in the sun at Long Lake beach. 

Clearly, Miss G has mastered the art of beaching.

Lena and the boys met us there, too, and we all had fun in the sand and water. 

Mr. S was very taken with my waterproof camera, and thought it was awesome.

The sandy bottom made the water to cloudy for really clear underwater shots, though. 

Miss A, I think, could easily adapt to living in a place with more summer!

Eli, how about a Hawaii posting next?  That only seems fair after a posting to Yellowknife! 

There is a great play structure on the beach, so that when the kids are tired of digging and swimming, they can play.

Lots of Miss A's classmates were at the beach, so she was happy to find her friends! 

Now, this being Nanny and Papa's only visit so far with an unfrozen lake, we thought it would be fitting to Nanny and Papa on the Big Lake (Great Slave Lake) on their last evening in town.

Nanny was not so sure about this. 

But, she was a brave soldier (in the Mustang survival jacket), and got in the boat! 

Papa had gone out fishing with Eli twice so far on this visit, so he was able to help out a bit, and the girls are ol' pros. 

Miss G helped to tie the boat to the dock. 

And, Miss A was also diligent about helping to tie.

(If you look back to other posts about trips on the Big Lake, you will see that the house boat in the background is nearly ready for new owners!  Should we buy it??)

So, we took off under sunny skies and a few big puffy clouds to take a short ride around Yellowknife harbour. 

We spotted a float plane coming in to land on the lake. 

And, in fact, saw a few others land and take off on our tour. 

I sat in the front of the boat with the girls, to make room for Nanny and Papa. 

We had a chance to see the houseboats up close and point out where the ice road was, that both Nanny and Papa had an opportunity to drive on in March.  In fact, they got to walk around the Snow King's castle on the lake. 

This was a totally different experience with the lake! 

As we putted along, the girls had their bedtime snack on the boat, as it was creeping in on bedtime, even though it looks like it is mid afternoon with the sun. 

And this picture, I love.

It truly captures fear and joy.

Nanny does not love boats, and did not like moving fast over the waves.

Miss G loves boats, and loves moving fast over the waves.

The more bumps the better, she says.

As we approached land, she asked Daddy to make circles.

Nanny almost had a cow.

Then, when we docked, Nanny looked over the dock to see how deep the water is, and her sunglasses slipped off her face and to the bottom of the lake.  She almost cried.

Yet, she lived to tell the tale, and can now say that she has been on a snowmobile, a dog sled, the ice road, and Great Slave Lake in Eli's boat in Yellowknife.

With NO guarantee that she will do any of those things again.

Good job, Nanny!

Bloggeversary

Today is my blog's bloggeversary.

Happy bloggeversary, by SHANNON LEE.

I began this blog on June 12, 2011, on the road to Yellowknife. 

You can read all about the monumental cross-Canada drive that started it all by clicking on the Yellowknife or Bust tab on the top of the blog anytime.

I have posted all the links to the trip in chronological order there.

So, what has a year done?  Well...

1. I have bangs. 

2. We discovered that working two full-time jobs with two full-time school girlies requires balancing.  AND, we did it!

3. Autumn and Spring do not exist in the North.  In fact, you might remember last summer about me blogging about Autumn in August (I was wearing a toque on August 20th last year on an evening walk).

4. The Northern sky is huge, spectacular, and unlike any other perspective in Canada.  I would say that it is my favourite thing about the landscape and climate up here.

5. The girls are happy where their little family is.

6. It's freakin' cold up here, and there is snow from September to May. 

7. Spring is sloooow coming.  The picture above is the first day of spring.

8. Northern means EXTREME... extreme darkness, extreme daylight, extreme coldness, extreme sun.

9. The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) are worth living here for.  Period.

10. Eli loves his boat.  And, boats in general.



A few stats on the year... 

10421+ page views in one year (excluding my computers, for checking on formatting and the like)... wowsers.

The highest readership was at the beginning, peaking on our arrival in Yellowknife the end of July 2011, and again in December 2011 and March 2012.

Most of you read more when I was posting links on Facebook.  I'm not on there now, so I wonder if that is very inconvenient for you?

I've made 160 posts, including this one, in a year.

I've had web traffic from all over Canada, the United States, Belgium, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico.

Thank you for reading!!

To the End of the Road and Back

We went to the end of the road on Sunday afternoon. 

I'm not kidding you. 

The road to Yellowknife ends about 70 km past the city, and it is THE END OF THE ROAD.

Of course, it is not the end of the road from about February to April each year... it is the the beginning of the 600km ice highway to the diamond mines, made famous by Ice Road Truckers. 

In the summer, though, it's a fast moving river, and the girls loved it. 

Miss A was thrilled to discover

"FISH!  Daddy!  I found fish!!!" 

The girls took turns wading out into the river with Daddy. 

I had to photograph Miss G.

She is barefoot.  Barefoot!!  Amazing! 

She much prefers the socks and sneakers looks... it's much more practical.

The girls were anxious to get out to stretch their legs and explore.

70 km is certainly the farthest we've travelled in, oh, say a year.

I believe I have filled my car a total of 6 times in the last 12 months!! 

Nanny and Papa enjoyed our exploratory drive, too. 

The girls find everything to be such an adventure at this age. 

And, Daddy... what is he thinking?

Well, I'll tell you.

Tonight, we were driving back from a date night to have supper together at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant in town, and Eli sighed and said, "You know Shannon, I really love... boats." 

Not, "I really love you". 

"I really love boats." 

So, I said, "Boats?!  Are you kidding me?  Boats in general??  Are you professing your love for boats to me?"

It went downhill from there.

So, I think Eli is thinking about boats, or at the very least fishing with this pristine river flowing by. 

Miss G is thinking about rainbow sparkles and all good things all the time. 

Soon, we were trying to get the girls out of the river, but it took a little while. 

Miss A was very busy using this fishing lure (that Daddy found at the bottom of the river bed) to catch the teeny tiny minnows. 

She did not catch any. 

Then, the sandal began to float away.

Miss G shrieked, "Daddy!  My sandal!  Help!  Get it!!" 

Oh, and he did. 

The girls thought it was the best game EVER. 

We did snap a few pictures at the End of the Road. 

It was fitting to do this within our first year here. 

Papa and Nanny made it, too! 

On our way back, we stopped at Cameron Falls for a hike to see the waterfalls. 

It was a fairly rigorous hike for the little ones, and it was a very warm day, so Papa and Nanny found it hot, too. 

Some of the trail had boardwalks and steps, but a lot of it involved scaling over rocks and up and down rocky hills. 

For you Bluenosers, it is much more rigorous than Cape Split.

The tourism place says it is a 20 minute hike, but with the girls and at a more leisurely pace for Nanny and Papa, it was more like 40 minutes, to the falls and back. 

In my opinion, it was worth it! 

It was beautiful, and the whole hike had beautiful views. 

The girls approved! 

Papa and Nanny at Cameron Falls. 

After this picturesque vantage point, we kept on moving. 

Miss G was eager to lead the way, and Miss A wanted to keep up, but she was getting tired. 

Up river from the falls, there was a bridge to walk over and a little foot path to follow. 

So, we did. 

It was a scorcher, but there was a nice breeze. 

This was our turning point, and Miss A wanted Papa to "rescue" her, but she couldn't quite reach. 

So, she trundled around. 

Miss G is taller by a centimetre or two, and could juuust reach Papa. 

Up, up, and away! 

The girls with Nanny and Papa. 

Eli snatched my camera, and wanted to take a picture of me, so he asked me to dance, and I did. 

We retraced our steps, and made our way back to the car. 

Miss G absolutely loved the inukshuks other hikers had built along the path, and lent a helping hand to fix this one that had fallen. 

Miss G as an inukshuk. 

VERY shortly after this picture was taken, Daddy and Miss A were leading the way (with Miss A taking a rest on Daddy's shoulders). 

Papa was leading the rest of us, with Miss G and me taking the end.

Suddenly, Nanny took a stumble, and fell and rolled down a series of rock shelves, maybe 2 metres in total height.

I couldn't catch or stabilize her from behind, and Papa was too far ahead of her to break the fall (and she was slightly off the path).

Luckily, she was just a little bruised and a little shaken up.  She's fine.

Maybe Nanny was just enthusiastic about Cameron Falls...  the falls is for viewing, not participating in.

The end of the road... literal.

Falls... not advisory to be taken literally.