Spending time with the boys

It was brief but great to see a couple of my best friends this weekend. Well worth the road trip, it's always nice to catch up with friends. We covered a lot in the car ride, LRT ride and pre concert conversations. Always great to spend time with these guys. Excited to do it again in a few weeks for our annual Smith Sauer Bussiere Invitaional Golf tourney!

The Tragically Hip Live

No words can describe the show tonight by the Tragically Hip!

Amazing to be there with 2 great friends! Thanks Troy & Trev, we'll be reliving this one for years to come!

D

My brother

Good to catch up with him and his family. We don't get to see one another nearly enough so when we do, it's always good.  

Tennis with the boys today and some frisbee on the old crescent. 

Thankful brother,

Darryl

Fun times with the kids without electronics!

Trampoline park

My old elementary school playground!

And this is how I used to get up on the school roof...teachable moment!

Walking the same way I did to school!

The old back alleys of Westview!

Sharing a little of my childhood with the kids and their cousins.

Nostalgic Darryl

My brother

Good to catch up with him and his family. We don't get to see one another nearly enough so when we do, it's always good.  

Tennis with the boys today and some frisbee on the old crescent. 

Thankful brother,

Darryl

Celebrating a birthday with family you don't see very often

All the way from Phoenix, for a visit back to their roots, my brother and his family were able to celebrate Abi's bday with her tonight with a great supper and bday cake of course!

Great job on the cake grandma and Jacqueline! Thanks for a great first day in Toontown!

DB

Celebrating a birthday with family you don't see very often

All the way from Phoenix, for a visit back to their roots, my brother and his family were able to celebrate Abi's bday with her tonight with a great supper and bday cake of course!

Great job on the cake grandma and Jacqueline! Thanks for a great first day in Toontown!

DB

Things to look forward to

Having the family together. Grandma, grandpa, the kids, my brother and his family. Should be a great couple of days in Saskatoon!

Free play lottery tickets

It's no jackpot but it'll do! Especially when you weren't expecting it!

Sweet!

Fingers crossed for the big one on Friday!

Lucky Darryl

My birthday girl

13

Wow!

Time flies.

So many great memories.

Each year keeps getting better and better!

So thankful for this special little girl in my life.

Can't imagine what it would be like without her.

Happy 13th birthday Abi!

I love you so much!

Keep being amazing!

Love Daddy

Cheezies and a good book

Sometimes it's all you really need!

#livinlarge

#idon'thavetoshare

#mighthavebeenaryeandcokeinvolvedtoo

#content

D

FaceTime

When the kids aren't with me, I can still be with them. Face time is awesome! I can see their faces, and have a conversation with them without being in the same place, no matter what the distance. 

Puts a smile on my face every time!

Darryl

Checking out the boat shops with my little guy

Spent nearly 2 hours with my little man checking out the Saskatoon boat shops on the way back from the lake. I don't what it is about this guy but he has turned into a serious boat fanatic. Now we're not talking about some little fishing boat, we're talking about the expensive, sweet, towboats. Mastercraft, Malibu, Tige, Super Air Nautique, Supra, etc. 

Yup, that's the dream boat. The Matercraft X10. That's one sexy boat if I do say so myself!

Dream big little man, dream big!

Daddy moneybags (I wish!)

Hitting the JACKPOT fishing!

It started off slow but picked up. A couple of near misses, seeing the eyes of the jack fish before they jumped off the hook.

Then they struck!

I think there were 9 in total. 4 walleye and the rest jack. And we let go a handful!

They say a bad day of fishing still better than a good day at work. I'd agree and thankfully I didn't have either today 

Smiles all around on the lake today :)

D

Relaxing days at the lake

Ahhhhhhhh.....one of those kick back and don't do a heck of a lot of anything days. A little paddleboarding, a little bike riding, some laying in the sun, some movie watching and a whole lot of good eating!

Nice to enjoy and appreciate the day for what it is!

Chillin'

D

Wiener roast and s'mores @ the lake

Perfect lunch with perfect company. 

Roasting hot dogs over an open fire. Can't beat it at the lake! Followed by s'mores for desert! 

Life is good!

DB

Road trips!

Some serious 1 on 1 time with my little man. Loaded up the Subaru and me and Nono hit the road and headed north to Echo  Bay. Tragically Hip blaring in the car, Pizza Hut as we drive, and some serious guy talk (and a few good Pepsi belches for good measure!)

Heck, the little guy even broke out the rainbow loom out for about 3 hours in his quest to make one of the longest rainbow loom chains ever! What a kid! Love him tonnes!

Here's to a great week with my little man.

D

Pull and peel licorice

What can't you do with this stuff?

Thinking of growing a moustache....not!

Football games

What a beautiful day/evening for a football game! No wind, sunny skies and a big crowd to cheer on the Riders with the rest of Rider Nation.

Tonnes of fun with these goofballs and a couple of other favourite fun peeps!

Riders couldn't pull out their first victor of the year, but in the end, fun was had by all and that's he most important thing!

Bleeding green,

DB

Saskatoon berry waffles

Mmmmmmm!

Tennis night with the kids

Sick shots out there tonight Abi & Noah!

D

Exciting, unanticipated developments

They say patience is a virtue. Being in the right place at the right time. Fate. Persistence. Luck.

Call it what you want but sometimes good things just happen and things turn out the way you hoped they would when you least expected them to. 

This is twofold for me tonight. Let me tell you about one of them!

You see, me and my buddies have seen the Tragically Hip in concert on several occasions. When he band announced some shocking news a few months ago, everyone got their hopes up to see them in concert on their farewell tour. I was willing to travel to Edmonton, possibly Calgary or even Winnipeg to catch a show. Unfortunately all shows were sold out within about a minute making it nearly impossible to get tickets without having to pay an arm and a leg to see them.  Frustrated, I'd almost given up. Occasionally I'd check ticketmaster to see if any tickets had been released knowing full well that 1000's of other fans would be doing the same.

Well, tonight was my night. As I'm uploading a Hip cd to my computer, I figure I'd check to see if anything has changed. And guess what? Yup, on a Saturday night, 15 days before their show, a hundred or so tickets were released!

A quick text to my buddies and  next thing I'm doing is clicking secure my purchase and making plans to see the Hip in Edmonton. And to boot, they're sweet, lower bowl, centre ice tickets!

Woohoo! I'm going to the Hip in July 30!

I CAN'T WAIT!

DB!

Running in the morning

No wind, sunshine, the paths to myself. 

Empty my mind, forget the to do list and just run. It doesn't matter how far, how long, or where my feet take me, it's just the idea that it's me and only me and my thoughts as I wind through the streets, parks and paths.

Here's to great starts to the day!

D

Saskatoon berry pies

Can't wait to dive into one tomorrow night!

And it wouldn't be complete without finding Abi's recipe she wrote years ago when we first made pies together!

Mmmmmmm!

Fishing on a beautiful night

First walleye of the year and she was a beauty! Let her go to let her grow.

Nice work Cindy! Thanks for showing me how it's done:)

DB

Saskatoon berries

One of my absolute favourites! If you've never had them, you haven't lived. Picked 2 ice cream pales this morning at the cabin. Can't wait to make pies and have them on waffles with whipped cream! Mmmmmm....

Blue stained finger Darryl

S'mores

1. Build campfire

2. Let it burn down so the ashes are really hot (I'll perfect this next time)

3. Prepare marshmallows, chocolate (jersey milk, aero or some pure chocolate bar), graham wafers.

4. Carefully roast marshmallows so they're brown on the outside and soft all the way through, almost falling off the stick.

5. Place marshmallow on graham wafer

6. Carefully place chocolate inside of the marshmallow (so the heat of the marshmallow melts the chocolate.

Optional step

7. Very carefully place wafer with marshmallow and chocolate on tines of stick and place back into the fire so the wafer warms up and gets all toasty.

8. ENJOY!

Nothing beats a s'more over the campfire after an awesome day at the lake!

D

The lake

Spent all last week at the cabin and missed it so much, headed back on Friday for the weekend. Quickly forget how much I love this place. No schedule, nothing that needs to get done at a particular time.

LOVE IT!

Darryl

Forts

We all did it when we were kids (well, if you didn't there's something wrong with you!). 

A little down time, some cushions, blankets, pillows, bedding, stools, chairs, coffee tables, and whatever you can get your hands on! Add a lot of creativity and viola! You've got yourself a great Fort!

Or, as Abi calls it, her "homey hole"!

Cozy as can be!

Love the creative play!

Darryl

Watching your child do something for the first time

He'd talked about it. It I wasn't expecting it to happen this morning. Shortly after getting up, he dropped a ski and had his first slalom ski! He lasted about 30 seconds before doing an epic face plant. But that didn't stop him! Up again and he quickly dropped a ski again and this time went almost all the way around the bay!

I'm not sure whose smile was bigger, mine or his! 

So proud of my little guy! Way to go Noah! Can't wait to see you cutting rooster tails with me!

Proud daddy D!

Golfing with my kids

What a deal! $5/kid to golf! And a great day to do it!

Pretty impressed with both of them on the course today.

Lifelong skills!

DB

Summer storms at the lake

Tarping up the boat, we could see the walk of dark clouds roll in. Funny thing is, the power has been out for nearly an hour already. Then the wind picked up suddenly and the sky becomes ominously dark. First the rain came, then the thunder and lightening began. 

Lanterns are lit as we feel the cool breeze blow through the cabin as we listen to the rain beat down on the roof and against the side of the cabin.

There's nothing like a summer storm at the lake!

DB

Lake runs

Slept in until 7:30 this morning! Up before everyone else so I figured I should get in a run. Perfect temperature, wet trails and fresh air make for a prefect start to the day 😊. 

D

First waterski run of the year

Felt great to get out on the lake again after 10 months of being away. Despite a little drizzle and cloudy skies, Noah and I braved the elements and took to the water. And it felt great!

I feel a little more stretched out tonight and am now fighting to keep my eyes open. A small price to pay for doing one of my favourite things in the entire world

Man I love this place!

Darryl

Canada Day

July 1, 1867, Canada was born. I may be a little bias but I think it truly is the best country in the world. A lot to be thankful for with this great nation. And spent a great day at the lake capped off with fireworks to celebrate this great nations birthday. 

I'd agree with the Rick Mercer book title "A Nation Worth Ranting About", we have a lot to be proud of!

A proud Canadian!!

D

Summer holidays

Being a teacher, I'm a little bit spoiled. Nearly 2 full months of holidays before I need to turn my work brain back on. 

Hit the road this morning for the lake.

Hit the milestone of 180,000 km's on the Subaru on the road to Shell Lake.

Had 2 very excited kids in the car and they almost jumped out of the car before I came to a stop in the driveway! Perfect way to start the summer! Kids got on the tube and had an absolute blast both on the water and off the water. 

 And just think...7 more weeks to enjoy!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Darryl

Last day of school!

The students are long gone and it's just the loose ends and clean up to do! Them holidays officially begin!

Woohoo!