Inverhuron, Aug. 22-24 2014

What a wonderful relaxing weekend we enjoyed. Nothing like spending time with family and all of natures beauty to rejuvenate ones body and soul. Most of our time was spent enjoying the sights and sounds at our campsite. We did take a drive into Southampton so that I could order more of my delicious hot chocolate, pick up fresh veggies and to pick up our dinner at the Enchanted Fusion. We spent the remainder of Friday enjoying the crackle and flicker of the campfire. Saturday morning was spent enjoying some of natures creatures.  We had chipmunks, a red squirrel that I hand fed, blue jays that we very friendly, a number of birds and a young red breasted grosbeak that would come and eat seeds with me sitting right beside them. We also had company join us. Drew, Ian, Brittany and precious Emma came for lunch and to also introduce Emma to beach time before the weather cools off. It was warm, humid and overcast so it was a great afternoon to enjoy the beach. Unfortunately Emma was not impressed with Lake Huron's cool water. Ian tried a few times to get her into the water but the reaction was the same both times. It's too cold, Daddy!!! She did enjoy watching the wee waves rolling in and spending time on the blanket. We had lots of fun entertaining her with hats, keys and sunglasses. Emma is now sitting up on her own so that made for some good picture opportunities. Emma was quite content to have her nap at the beach as well. We visited for a bit back at the campsite before they headed off on there trip back to Kitchener. Seems Emma was a good traveler as this was a test run for there trip to Virginia in October. Saturday evening was a repeat performance of enjoying a campfire. Sunday we enjoyed a quiet time at our site with lots of the parks feathered and furry friends before heading up to Southampton and Port Elgin for an afternoon of shopping. We ran into Nancy & John Ouellette at the mall in Port. Duncan use to coach their son Ben softball. They were camping at MacGregor. We then headed back to Inverhuron to hook up and head home. We certainly loved our leisurely week-end away.

Chickadee trying to carry away a peanut

My first photo of the Red Eyed Vireo that shows the eyes

Red Squirrel eating a peanut on his perch

Female Downy Woodpecker

Red Squirrel coming for a peanut. A first for me.

Emma loves to hang onto her toes

Trying out the water in Lake Huron

Its too cold Daddy..... : o (

All bundles up in her duck towel

Nap time at the beach

Beach baby wearing Pop's hat

Emma trying out Pop's sunglasses......lol

Looking good in her hat and sunglasses

 Trying on Pop's sandals for size

Always wanting to hang onto her feet while eating

Love the milk chin.......lol

A robin enjoying a berry

A young Red Start came for a visit

This molting Blue Jay looks pretty sad without it head feathers

Juvenile Blue Jay all fluffed out

A juvenile male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Chippy looking down from his perch

Juvenile Baltimore Oriole

Young male Grosbeak was quite content to get close 

to me to have some sunflower seeds

Female Red Start

Juvenile Red-breasted Grosbeak enjoying a wild raspberry

Young Mennonite family we passed on our way home

ISC World Fastball Tournament Aug. 8-17 2014

We camped for the entire tournament at Peter Hallman Ball Yard. We had a few late nights and it was wonderful to be able to just fall into bed when the day was finished. Most days started at 8am but there were a few 7am or earlier days. Duncan was going from morning til night and I was lucky enough to catch two naps during the 10 days. Friday evening was the unveiling of the "Angels In The Outfield" memorial stone which Duncan and cousin Tom along with a few others had been working at fundraising and completing over the past year. It was an emotional unveiling ceremony with family members in attendance but was very much appreciated. The stone carver Rob did an amazing job.
I worked in the diner during the evening shift and it was always a busy time. On Monday night I was there until 2am. When the cool weather moved in on Thursday it was a full time job just trying to keep coffee and hot water going for hot chocolate to try and keep the visitors warm. That day we went through more than 1000 cups of hot beverages. During the week we went through almost 2,300 pieces of pie and over 2,700 sandwiches. I was hoping to spend more time taking photos but going shopping every morning to re-stock supplies and working on the food orders for the next day kept me quite busy so I was limited to the amount of time for pictures. I am not quite sure how Duncan was able to keep going all of the time but the use of a golf cart for getting around the park sure save him many hours of being on his legs. It was nice to meet up with ball friends that we had not seen in a while and catch up on all the latest news. It took us a number of days to catch up on sleep and get our energy back but it was a successful tournament.

Saturday game at the tournament

 

Mallard stretching her wings

Duncan at the unveiling ceremony

Cousin Tom speaking at the "Angels In The Outfield" tribute

A piper played in the background

It was a nice touch for the unveiling

Family members revealing the memorial stone

An amazing tribute to softball enthusiasts

A young muskrat in the creek

Mist rising off the creek late Sunday night

I love the colour of this blue flower

Butterfly on the cedar tree

Pollen collecting on the thistle

Enjoying some breakfast along the creek

These were so pretty with there purple colour

Getting started early to play fastball.

His twin threw the ball and he hit it.....Wow!!

Emma in her warm hat when they came to 

visit during Thursdays cold day

Wheatley, Aug1-4 2014

It hard to believe we are into the month of August already. We had a good long weekend away once Duncan recovered from the chills and hot flashes he came down with on our drive to Wheatley. His knee also became very painful and he was achy all over. We had a relaxing Friday and I enjoyed time out at the campfire. Duncan was out for part of it but otherwise he rested. It was raining a bit on Saturday morning so we just hung out at the cottage until early afternoon. We decided to go for a tour into Leamington to the bakery to get some fresh bread and then took the scenic route back to the park. We made several stops along the way to check out ponds and the lake. We picked up perch, fries and coleslaw for dinner in Wheatley at Liddles. It was a great dinner and we spent the rest of the evening by the fire. Sunday was our day to go to Point Pelee and check out the sights there. We saw a number of monarch butterflies which was nice since there are not so many around. We hiked out to the point and walked the marsh boardwalk. We had a few laughs as we watched some of the inexperienced canoer's  trying to navigate through the marsh.....lol  Once we returned to Wheatley we went to the marsh boardwalks and I was able to get some great photos of a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. That was a first for me and it stayed for quite a while. Didn't seemed bothered by us watching it but when a few noisy kids came by it flew away. There were lots of Great Egret and Blue Herons out fishing for there dinner as well. We enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner and relaxed by a fire for the rest of the evening. Monday we explored some more of Wheatley and had a lazy time at our site before packing up and heading for home. We drove through some heavy rain in the London area but other than that it was uneventful.
We will be at the ISC's Men's Fastball Tournament here in town starting Friday and running until Aug. 16th so I will not be posting anything unless I get time to come home and do it. We will be working there for the week so we are camping at the park so we have a place to rest.

A Herring Gull protecting it catch

Red-spotted Purple Butterfly

View of the underside of the wings
  

Blue Heron flying over the pond

Dew on the purple grass leaves at the pond

Blue Heron at the pond

Spotted Sandpiper at the edge of the lake

 

6 Great Egret and a Blue Heron resting in a dead tree

POINT PELEE

Sign indicating how far south Point Pelee is

Monarch in the garden

 

The water comes from both directions on the tip

 

Looking back at the point from the tip

 

Tiny flowers in the Marsh

Red-winged Blackbird Just had a bath

 

Lily pad flower and reflection

Black Tern in it non breeding colours

 

SIGHTS FROM WHEATLEY PARK

Flowers at the marsh

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

Close up of its face

 

Looking down on Lake Erie on a hazy day

Sunday evening sunset from our campsite

Painter Turtles sunbathing

Spider on it web at our site

Young Heron in the marsh area