Final Day

We decided to drive straight home from the Kilbreaths in Calgary to Abbotsford. It turned out to be quite an easy day for us and it included an hour pit-stop at Lake Louise (we couldn't go thought there without a little slice of its beauty).

We arrived home at approx. 9:30pm local time and we quickly ran around the yard and house to see how everything had held up over the past month. We again are so grateful to our friends and neighbors for their support and upkeep of our place. As we cashed in for the evening, we acknowledged how appreciative we were for our home - especially our beds! On the way home - Toby counted 11 different places that we had stayed (Julius got to 12 cuz of Calvin) and to be able to sleep in our own beds was truly a blessing. In our last few days and hours we also realized that this trip was as much more about the people that we came across, re-acquainted with, or met, as opposed to what we expected - which were the sites along the way.

Our car put 7,000 miles on it during the trip and we are so grateful for the traveling mercies that we enjoyed (including a few narrow misses, a speeding ticket in Washington, and a Wisconsin policeman's graciousness for a full car load that was caught speeding through the small town of Ripon, WI). From everything that we can tell - our car made the trip without any problems and the kids enjoyed noticing all of the different species of bugs and butterflies that our windshield and front bumper had accumulated. Our music of choice was the New Boys and Heidi's made up "12 days of driving song", and the Penderwicks book on tape made it three times through.


The trip didn't completely avoid the pains and sufferings of a month on the road ... but it was quite an exciting ride - one that we will never forget ... the Siebenga Summer Trip of 2011.

The Kilbreaths

After saying good-bye to the beloved Dinosaurs (not as sad as leaving friends or family), we said hello to the Kilbreaths at their home in Calgary. The Kilbreaths are family friends from our old stomping grounds in California, as they have recently re-located to Calgary. It was wonderful to re-connect and see how they are doing as a family. It was also fun to notice the changes in their children. Wow - is that Molly really something!

After an evening of re-connecting, and another late bedtime, we went to Southland Leisure center - a waterslide / pool park the next day, and then to their brand new house for an evening barbeque and play time in the park across their back lane-way. More fun!

Late that evening, we had a precious few moments to catch up as adults - so good to share beverages with Layne and Ann - we do miss them and hope our visits are more frequent. Thank you for having time in your very busy summer to share your life with us!

Drumheller

After a good drive and evening in Lethbridge Alberta, we made our way to Drumheller, Alberta in the middle of Alberta's badlands. A destination that has been circled on our calendar all along. Ever since we moved to BC and knew we were 10 hours from one of the best dinosaur museums and dig sites (where the Albertasaurus was discovered) we hoped it would fit in to our travel plans one day. So we decided to visit the Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum. What an afternoon it was as the kids were enthralled and became even better dinosaur and fossil experts. We loved it and highly recommend it to all.

Another Good Bye and Travel Day-July 31

On Sunday we travelled to Sioux Falls where the Van Donkersgooed's live. After crashing their neice / cousin's birthday dance party we settled down to sleep and prepared for another morning departure. We said our tearful good byes, stopped by Al's new coffee cabin drive-thru for a coffee and some specially made milkshakes, did some shopping at Hy-Vee's, and then we found ourselves back on the familiar I-90 for another 8 hours of driving - destination Sheridan Wyoming.

Before going straight through to Sheridan, we were "sold" by all the Wall Drug bill boards and made our way off the exit at Wall Drug for a quick pit stop. A fun time as we perused the gift shops and bought a few trinkets and t-shirts.

Round Lake - Saturday and Sunday - July 30,31

Spending time with Al and Sherra, and providing the opportunity for our kids to make new friends was truly a great experience. Al and Sherra (and Sherra's parents Vern and Elaine Ten Appel) treated us like kings as we slept in a beautiful camper (with air-conditioning!) Have we mentioned how hot it has been all along our trip? We are not used to 40 degree Celcius with high humidity!!! So the camper gave us a wonderful restful place to get our energy back for skiing, tubing, fishing, swimming and hanging out together. The first night the kids were having so much fun we didn't even notice is was midnight and they were still out frog hunting. This brought our mosquito bite count for one night to a grand total of about 50 for Toby. The bugs have been biting all vacation and we all are learning to cover-up and spray, but frog hunting has raised it to a whole new level. Toby and Jude were neck to neck with almost 50 each! But by morning they are almost recovered. Good talks and delicious campfire treats seemed to end each day and we are so grateful for our time with our friends. The kids trully loved being together and the freedom they had to roam the campground and explore was an extra treat.

On Saturday we also met up with Kristen De Weerd (Julius' cousin) and her 2 daughters Meghan and Moriah - her husband Mike was gone camping with their son Caleb. Sofie was amazed that everywhere we go we meet more cousins!! This trip has been a trip of reconnecting in a huge way and we are so happy our children have had this time of seeing a bigger world.

Travel Day to East Side Acres

After a fun night of visiting with Uncle Jack and Aunt Brenda's kids and grand-kids (Ross and his wife Ang and their 2 children Addy and Chase, as well as Marissa and her husband Dan, and Nicole), we managed to get away at a decent hour and embarked on another 7 hours or so in the car with a rendezvous set with Al and Sherra Van Donkersgooed and their 4 children (Noah, Kyla, Jude, and Titus) at East Side Acres. This is a campgrounds on Round Lake, just outside of Worthington, Minnesota. After driving through acres and acres of corn fields, and Sofie commenting again that all there is around us are cars and corn, we found our friends. The children were quickly off to see the dock, boat and find the fishing poles.

Being Lake People! July 28th

Thursday was a day devoted to hanging out with the De Blaey's and catching as many fish as possible. Our lake week in Picton Ontario had spoiled us, as we could catch something almost as fast as we could put our hook in. But we persevered in Plymouth Lake. Eliot spent many hours that day waiting for his fish to find him and gratefully by dinner time he caught a great large mouth bass (about 10 inches Eliot says). We went on the pontoon boat (something Sofie does not like!), rode the wave runner (something we ALL really like) and paddled around Uncle Jacks and Aunt Brenda's cove. The paddle boat gave the boys the opportunity to troll around the cove and the freedom that gave them was great fun and a an easy way to fish as Toby is getting his energy back. We had a big dinner with all the De Blaeys that night and caught up with cousins and their children. Uncle Jack and Aunt Brenda were more than gracious to host us for these days (especially since their house is under construction) and we are grateful for all their care. Despite Tobys strep diagnosis the night before and the lack of sleep for all the adults-even Jack and Brenda-we had a wonderful last day in Plymouth, WI. Tomorrow we are off to camping in Minnesota at yet another lake!

Visiting with Grandma DeBlaey

We woke up to a stormy day and plans to visit with Grandma De Blaey. Toby wasnt feeling himself, but we hoped it was just late nights catching up with him. Despite the rough weather Grandma De Blaey (our children's only living great grandma)was still happy to see us. We headed over and met Grandma at her place and visited for a while and then took her to lunch. We had a great time sharing about our life in Abbotsford and hearing how she was doing. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent visiting and fishing. The rain stopped and we were able to be outside for a while.

The children were all tucked in bed and the rest of us were on our way to bed too when we checked on Toby and he was not well. He seemed to have a fever, his throat was horribly red and he began feel very ill. We were worried about strep and when Toby said he wanted to go to the hospital at midnight, we knew something was wrong. After most of the night in ER Julius and Toby came home with antibiotics and a strep diagnosis. It was a rough night, but we are grateful for the good care we got and pray that he is feeling better in the morning.

(Some of these posts are almost a week late, but we have had limited Internet access)

On our way to Wisconsin

We got off at a decent hour from John and Jodi's as we said good-bye to Jocelyn and Kirsten who had to head to work in the morning. Destination: Plymouth, Wisconsin - approx. 11 hours of driving (give or take traffic in Chicago). We made very good time and the trip was highlighted by a dinner date at an Oasis over the freeway in Chicago with Uncle Marve and Aunt Phyllis Wolterstorff (they heard we were passing through). We caught up quickly as the kids enjoyed Subway / McDonalds / Panda. It was great to catch up with them as they shared what recently retired life is like ...

We managed to arrive in Plymouth at Uncle Jack and Aunt Brenda's just before sun-down and we were ready for a relaxing, fun 2 days with family on the beautiful Crystal Lake. We look forward to catching up, having fun, and visiting with Grandma De Blaey.

Niagara Falls - last day in Ontario

On Monday, July 25 Jodi (Julius' sister) and her girls, took our family to see the Niagara Falls. It was a perfect day to go because it was so hot outside. The cool mist off the falls was great in the heat of the day. The highlight for the kids was the "Journey under the Falls" as we went down under the falls to experience the majesty - it was beautiful and Heidi found herself overcome by it all (a small woohoo came flying out when entering the observation deck). After the falls we came back to the Klompmakers for shish-kabobs with Grandpa and Grandma Siebenga joining us. A bitter-sweet night as we said our goodbyes. Leaving in the morning was sad but necessary as we had committed to getting to Uncle Jack and Aunt Brenda's in Sheboygan, Wisconsin by nightfall. The Klompmakers were wonderful and we miss them already. Thanks Jodi, John, Jocelyn and Kirsten.