The blur they called September

We thought August was busy, and it seemed that even more stuff piled on in September.  Both Adam and Parker went back to school (Adam to finish the Aviation Maintenance program at Canadore College, and Parker to begin the Paralegal program at Mohawk College).

We had planned to have our back yard ripped up and a new patio get installed, and that is what happened for most of the month of September.  Essentially, we had our 1964 original pink and green 2x2 patio stones removed and a new patio designed that would allow us access to the the new shed (which Adam finished last August) and be able to get to the front yard. We decided on 'exposed aggregate' rather than plain concrete, and added a permanent patio roof similar to what we had originally but needed to remove for our major upstairs renovation.

Here is what it looked like before the contractors started:

Faded pink and green... so lovely! We will miss the weeds.

Initially put in place to handle a stroller (Adam), but it never worked well. 

Used to have an awning above the patio door - we missed it more than we thought.

It has looked unfinished like this for over 20 years!

A few during photos:

Stones were the first to go!

A curving edge was our choice

Sono tubes for the awning/patio roof

The final finished back yard:

Awning will give shade and shelter all year round

Looks much more finished

Full width step for Maddy (and Eric)

Wie walkway to the driveway, through the gate

Translucent awning makes the back room very bright

A great place to sit/stand when it is raining and the dog is out on the grass

The final product!

In all of this construction mess, Ying and Fanfan got everything packed up and prepared to move back home to China after a whole year in our family.  We also had someone new move in!  Sally, a Ph.D. student at McMaster, moved in to our small guest room and planned to move to the larger guest room when Ying and Fanfan returned home.

We had some visits with the "Canadian cousins" (our great nieces and great nephew) so everyone could say their goodbye's.

Fanfan, Brynn, Elyse, and Laura

On the evening that they left for China, Wendy read a new book to Fanfan (which she brought home to read to her sister) and took a few pictures.

The last 'book time' in Canada for Fanfan

There were hugs and tears all around

We will miss our Chinese family.

We have had a few video calls between us and Ying and Fanfan, and it seems like things are settling back into a routine for them. Maddy was a bit sad after they left, and Wendy noticed how quiet it was - so much so, that we had to replace our loudly ticking wall clocks that we had not previously noticed were so loud.

Eric continued to wait for medical appointments and also still had his sore neck that appeared at the end of July. He also started noticing lumps on his neck that should not be there.  Our family doctor made many referrals, and the internal medicine clinic at McMaster was the winner of that race. The specialist decided they needed to get an urgent CT image of Eric's neck and arranged it within an hour (that is very unusual!). Even before the radiologist had read the image and reported the results, the specialist called Eric at home as urged him to go to the ER at the Hamilton General Hospital. Not knowing what it was we were dealing with, off we went. 

Here we go again!

Essentially, they found a very large tumour/mass (roughly 8cm x 6cm x 5cm) in his left thyroid that was pushing his trachea (windpipe) off to the opposite side of the neck. They were worried about his airway being blocked, but eventually settled on it not being quite so urgent. They made some calls and got connected to a surgeon who would see him a few days later at St. Joseph's hospital.  Eric continued to deal with the significant and relentless pain from the mass as best he could, and monitored for any drastic changes.

Somehow, this puts the August 'losing the licence nightmare' into a different light.... priorities completely changed once faced with this new problem.

August ended up being more eventful than planned!

Sorry for the blog going quiet for such a long time. Things kind of got out of control as August moved along. We had just finished our fantastic trip out to Banff and were embarking on the final planned trip of the summer - a week at Sauble Beach in a rented cottage.

First time mini-golfer!

We didn't always eat what we should eat on this trip...

Wendy set up a puzzle station in the cottage

Wendy, Carolyn, and Bill finishing a challenging puzzle

Around the camp fire... where it all went down hill

The moment the relaxation started to set in (i.e. the day after Ying, Fanfan, Wendy, and I had arrived), our plans changed.  Big time. Eric had a sudden unexpected medical event (neuroelectrical) that had him head to the hospital in an ambulance, get an urgent CT scan, and lose his driver's licence. We were very lucky that our friends Carolyn and Bill were there, as the chaos associated with essentially losing our only driver was a bit overwhelming.

Eric, at it again...

We stuck it out at the cottage for the whole week and had Adam come down from North Bay to be one of the drivers. Carolyn thankfully was able to stay and be our other driver (the car was too full to fit anyone other than the original 4 of us!).

One of our side trips was to pick up some fresh corn, and wouldn't you know it - we saw 3 bear running across the road. We had just had our bear experiences in Alberta and said that bears were not likely going to be around the cottage area.

The weather turned out to be cool and windy for most of the week, but we did run the 2 blocks down to the beach the odd time.

Ying and Fanfan had a lot of fun playing with the sand once they figured out how to make it into different shapes.

Adam was a big help around the cottage (Eric wasn't up to much), and he also drove us to visit some friends one day and Wendy's Aunt and Uncle another day.

Adam, Wendy, Eric, Bruce, Mary

On our last night, with a nice sunset.

We got home OK from the cottage and started the inevitable arrangements for medical appointments and continued to work with Ying getting ready for their departure in early September.

Parker also turned 19 at the end of the month. What do you do on your 19th birthday? You buy a lottery ticket, you go to the liquor store and buy something to drink (cherry vodka and rum), you pick up pizza and an ice cream cake (Baskin and Robbins), then you take your parents to the Casino!

First time buying at the liquor store!

Pizza and presents

Ice cream pizza

First time at a casino!

August so far...

So far, August seems more relaxing than July, although we are still packing in the activities before Ying and Fanfan head back to China in September.  Our first event was to go to a live performance of Mamma Mia! in Hamilton. It was a great show and was closer to home than going into Toronto. 

With the weather cooperating, we decided to do a day of shopping in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Bought a few things, but could not resist going back to Cows Ice Cream again. This time, Christine was able to come with us. After the hot day of shopping and eating, we headed to our friends' house and had a quick swim before heading back home.

Only a few days later, we were on the move again. This time to Banff!  

Ying wanted to see the mountains, so that is what we did. We flew to Calgary, stayed at a hotel overnight that also had a casino and a water park, then drove to Banff the next day.  

We stayed at the same place we visited many years ago (Tunnel Mountain Resort) and had a fantastic room with 2 floors, full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 balconies, etc. 

Our first morning was looking a little overcast, but we had tickets to go up the Sulphur Mountain Gondola. We seemed to time it right, as we went through a very thin layer of clouds part way up the mountain as it started to clear and become a fantastic weather day.  The gondola gave us great scenery, but the view from the top was far better!

This layer of clouds disappeared shortly after we broke through it...

After lunch and a short rest, we headed to the Banff Upper Hot Springs. Wendy, Ying, and Fanfan went in - I stayed outside and watched people go by. The water was apparently very hot (93F).

Shopping in Banff seemed oddly familiar - like going to Niagara-on-the-Lake but with more people.  In fact, it was so familiar that we went into virtually the same candy store as we had a week ago, AND we got to visit yet another Cows location. I wonder how many more there are to visit...

We had wanted to go to Lake Louise but heard stories about it being almost inaccessible due to the crowds. We checked the shuttle bus - probably needed to plan for a whole day to do it that way. We also checked the distant parking lots with shuttles to the lake. Not practical, as they stop running around 4 (useless...)!  We decided to go there at an unconventional time - after dinner.

We definitely hit the sweet spot by arriving about an hour or two before sunset. We parked right next to the lake (ahem, not exactly in a legal spot... but the park people seemed to have shut down things for the day). The views were great and we were able to get out of there before the bugs got really bad. Took Highway 1a back for some different scenery, but sadly saw no animals at all along the way.

The light was starting to fade, but it is still beautiful.

The next day was our 'early day' - we left at 8:30 to drive 2.5 hr to the Columbia Ice Fields in Jasper National Park. The drive was gorgeous, with only a a brief bit of traffic as we passed Lake Louise. We stopped several times just to enjoy the scenery (we didn't have to be there until 12:45).

One of the best stops was Herbert Lake, a rest stop at the side of highway 93. We walked a few feet through the trees and came upon a glass smooth lake with this view.  Fantastic!

After lunch at the Icefields Discovery Centre (expensive, but hey, what can you do!), we took a shuttle up to the transfer location and moved onto one of the 'tundra vehicles' for the first part of our adventure. Ours was the only green one. Apparently there are only 24 in the world of these machines - 2 in Antarctica, 22 at the Ice Fields. Only one is green!

Wendy has previous said that she didn't want to be at work on her birthday (or at home, if possible). This birthday was spent with beautiful scenery and fresh glacier ice water!

Wendy collecting fresh glacier water to drink!

They put flags out to keep tourists busy taking photos, as well as to prevent them from going where they should not.

The final leg of the Ice Fields package was a trip on another bus to the SkyWalk - a glass floored extension 30 metres out over a canyon. Not bad views, but a little tame in comparison to the glacier. Wendy was not pleased that the glass floor moved when people were walking by...

Wendy is definitely holding on (it was windy as well), and she wasn't happy about looking down.

On the way back from the Ice Fields, we had told Fanfan that we likely would see no animals. This time, we were wrong! We saw two black bears. Below is one of them heading into the bush after crossing the road.

Having done our sightseeing, we headed back to the resort after picking up a take-out Chinese dinner and relaxed for the rest of the evening. The next morning saw us head out to Canmore, to visit with Wendy's Aunt and Uncle, plus her cousin and her husband. They were staying in Canmore while on their own summer adventure. I noted that we also saw them 1 year ago when they were visiting PEI, and a year before that on our way back from Hawaii. 

Back to the airport we went (after one quick detour to pick up a lost item at the first hotel of our trip), and away we flew to Hamilton. The late flight arrived just after midnight, ending a quick but worthwhile visit to the mountains.

Next adventure? We head to Sauble Beach for a week of relaxation prior to usual rush at the end of August.