OH Canada!

We made our way to the Bemis Family Cabin during the second week in June. The cabin is located in Canada, near Aticocin (sp) which is about an 8 hour drive from our house. We were debating on how we wanted to tackle the drive up as we don't really like to dink around and make road trips last longer than they need to but then when you are at the mercy of an almost 1 year old you never know what you are going to get. We ended up deciding to drive through the night in hopes that Ezekiel would just sleep the whole way up and thank God that is exactly what he did! And we rolled the whole way up there, stopped in International Falls to get gas and go through customs and he did wake up during that part but then fell right back alseep! We didn't even have to take him out of his carseat or tend to him at all the entire trip! We arrived at the portage at 5 am. Yes I said portage, the cabin is on an island which is on Grey Trout Lake, which means you can only get there by air or by sea and since we are currently short a sea plane and a pilot/pilot license we went by sea. It was quite buggy but Mike got all our luggage loaded into the boat and we tooled our way across the lake to the island. As we were approaching the island Mike pointed it out to me (as this was my first time to the cabin) and I could tell that he was so excited to have our family there as he has had so many great memories there growing up with his family and he wants to pass on those experiences to our family.

We docked the boat and unloaded our bags and went to check everything out. Mike had called his dad and let him know that we were going to be driving through the night so to expect us early in the morning on Friday but they had left a day early so they never got out message. So Mike's dad was a little spooked by our arrival as the whole island is ours so there is no reason for anyone to be coming to the island or to be coming that close to the island (I don't think I saw another person during our whole trip other than when we went to town to get Mike's fishing license). But all was good when he saw it was us of course! Shortly after Z was getting tired (as he normally doesn't get out of bed until around 9ish) so we put him back down and I took a nap as well. Mike was running on pure adrenaline (as he drove the whole way and hadn't slept since the night before, I got a couple hours of sleep during the drive) and couldn't go to sleep, he was too excited to be there!

Later that day Joe, Carrie, Carlie, Tessa, and Brodie arrived! Which mean the cabin was filling up fast! There are actually 2 cabins on the island, the main cabin, which has running water and a bathroom and everything, but it only has one bedroom and then a set of bunk beds in the living room. Then also the bunk house which is a single room with 4 bunk beds, it does have running water, but no bathroom. We got the bedroom in the main cabin which was so nice of Joe and Carrie and then they set up Tessa's pack and play in the entry way and blanketed it off and they slept in the living room, hey you gotta be creative when you are working with limited space! The rest of the crew slept int he bunk house. We were all very thankful for sound machines during this trip! Without them I don't think our kidos would of been able to sleep much, but with them they slept great!

The next couple of days it ended up being in the high 80s or 90s which we were thankful for because it made being in the lake feel good (which was still a little chilly) but not quite as good when it came to being in a non air condition cabin. Thankfully there was great air flow off of lake into the cabin except...into our room. Which results in an inferno (almost) toddler waking up from his nap looking like this

yep, that's sweat! Needless to say he was drenched! Poor little buddy! So needless to say we tried to do a lot of stuff outside! Mike & Joe went on a few adventures to try to catch some fish. One day they went to walleye bay (i think that is what mike called it) and alls Mike caught was a sucker and the next day they went to sucker creek and I don't think they caught anything, maybe they weren't fishing that time...I can't remember. But when they went they took Jaxon and Brodie with and they just loved being in the woods and not having to be leashed! That was such a nice thing about being on the island, you didn't have to worry about anything with Jaxon because he couldn't go too far because its not like he is going to get in the water and swim away! :-P Jaxon Bear is not much a swimmer, though he is getting better, but if he fell out of the boat we aren't confident that he could stay afloat, so he too has a life jacket that he gets to wear! He gets teased a little bit for his life jacket, but I would rather be safe than sorry!

On Saturday we headed over to Liz Baw Baw beach. It gets its name from when they were growing up they would go to this beach and hang out there and then knee board in that bay and their dog growing up, Lizzy, would run from one end of the beach to the other and it was probably about a 1/2 mile to mile long as they boys with knee board past her and then when she got to the other end she would try to swim out to them. Then she would run back to the other side of the beach and wait to do it again! (so cute!) When we got there we made a fire on the beach and let the kidos play in the water and in the sand, the water was a bit cold so Ezekiel was a little unsure at first, but Tessa and Carlie loved it! As did Brodie of course! We made Jaxon get in the water a little bit which he wasn't too happy about but then Mike ran up and down the beach with him and he loved that!

Ms. Tessa-boo looking so cute!

Carrie & Ms. boo. Carlie & Joe were too busy swimming around to get their pic taken!

That night Jeb & Ellie and Mike's dad and China went out in 2 different boats to do some fishing. Jeb & Ellie returned first with a perfect size walleye for eating which I was really excited about because up to this point in my life I had made the decision that I did not like fish and Mike said that walleye is some of the best fish for eating (in his opinion). So I was really excited to try it, which I did do and it was pretty darn good! I wouldn't beg anyone for it but if it was served I could eat it! So that is a step in the right direction! Shortly after Jeb & Ellie got in we heard a bunch of screaming as Mike's dad & China returned to the island. Mike ran down there to see what the deal was and John had caught a huge trout! I think it was about 32 or 36 inches long! It was huge! They got a lot of pictures with it and hope to get it mounted to put in the cabin some day!

One of the big deals and big traditions up at the cabin (at least to Mike) is to take a sauna bath and then jump into the (rather frigid) lake. They first night I totally chickened out and didn't jump in the lake! To my defense Mike jumped in before me and yelped because it was so shockingly cold to him and in my logical mind if it was that way for him then there was no way I was going to follow! :-P Mike got kind of mad at me becuase this was one of  "the things" that you do at the cabin and he wanted me to experience it, so I promised him I would do it before we left. So Monday night I believe it was, I took a sauna bath again and then ran and jumped into the lake! You have to just jump in and submerge yourself to get the full effect and it literally took my breath away and puts your body in shock mode for a second, I kind of felt like a fainting goat! But it was very refreshing and I am very glad that I did it and got to experience it...and made my wonderful hubby happy too! :-)

Our last day there we decided to do an exursion because it had finally cooled off and it was pretty windy so if we went into a more wooded area the bugs wouldn't be too bad. So Mike, Carrie, Ezekiel, myself, and Brodie and Jaxon took the boat over to the main land to what they call Miller Rock. I didn't get a picture of it from the boat side but it is a large rock that you can either climb up like mountian climbing style or just hike up in a round about way. Obviously with the dogs and Ezekiel we took the round about way. It was only about a 10 or 15 min hike up, Ezekiel was loving the view from the backpack and the pups were loving the adventure! We got to the top looked at the beautiful few

snapped a few pics...

Family Photo, our island is the one right behind me

2/5 family photo!

almost lost Brodie by him going over the edge! Mike paniced a bit because Brodie got so close to the edge and he said I kept you alive this long while you were under our responsibility I am not going to loose you now! Thankfully we kept him on top and decided that we should head back down before it happens again! Little did we know the fun that would be waiting for us at the bottom! :-)

While we were hiking the wind had picked up which mean the waves had also picked up and while we were gone our boat had started to take on water from the large waves splashing into it! As we come up our water logged boat, we are thinking "Awe, crap! But no biggie". So Mike starts to try to bail the water out, well the water is coming in faster than he can bail it out. So then Carrie jumps in and starts helping him and it was kind of funny at first and so I took this picture because it would be fun to have some visual documentation for our excusion which has turned into quite the adventure!

This was when it was still funny!

Well pretty much right after I took this pic things didn't getting any better in fact they started to get worse and fast! To make matters even more fun it was approaching Ezekiel's nap time so he was starting to get crabby and also really wanted to get out of the back pack, so that adds an additional level of stress to the situation. I sat there feeling so useless as I tried to keep Ezekiel from melting down as Mike and Carrie were trying everything that they could think of to get the water out of our boat. It seemed like the more things they tried the stronger the waves got and the more water that ended up in our boat. I finally found a flat spot to set Zeke down in the backpack and went over to try to help and quickly learned that you should use a gallon jug for a bailer rather than just a half gallon because that pretty did nothing in our quest to get back to the island! We did everything that we could think of including yelling and waving out to the island trying to get someones attention in that someone would hear/see us and come rescue us. And Carrie and I tried so hard to help but really did very little, so Mike was pretty much on his own, and boy and I glad that I have a buff husband that works out!

Right about this time I really thought that the boat was going down and we would have to wait for someone to come get us. I knew we would be fine but that it might just be a while until we got back to the cabin, thankfully I had an endless food supply for Ezekiel ;-p Mike was finally able to get the boat pulled up far enough and we got a bunch of the water bailed out and during the process Mike continued to drench me with water and then bust one of the oars. Then Mike had the idea to get in the boat and start it up (which the motor had been under water for some time now, so hopefully it would start, especially because we now only have one oar!) pull the plug and zoom around the lake and let the water drain out. So Mike gets in and is trying to start up the motor, gives it a couple pulls and nothing. I turned my head back to Ezekiel grabbed his hands and we prayed a desperate prayer (come to find out later that Carrie and Mike did the same) and Mike pulled again and it started right up! Praise God! So Mike went zooming around the lake (with his life jacket on) and I look and the nose of the boat is like straight up in the air. So I turn back to Ezekiel and we say another prayer for a hedge of protection over dada! Mike got some water out of the boat and then found a spot around the bay, out of the wind and waves to dock the boat. Carrie and dogs were able to follow him over there but the ground was too rocky, uneven, and close to the water for me to follow with Ezekiel. So then Mike ran through the woods to come back and get us because I actually didn't know where they had gone, so I freaked out a bit mostly because I didn't know if the dogs went with Carrie or stayed with me or went to go find their own fun! Finally Mike came back (and Jaxon Bear) and said that Carrie and Brodie were over there. So we hiked it back over to the boat, got in, and booked it back over to the island. Mike had it wide open and it still was taking us forever to get back because the waves were so big and the wind was so strong! Needless to say it was a fun ride back as I had Ezekiel on my lap and was trying not to fly out of the boat as we hit each wave. Carrie was at the front of the boat and with her teeny tiny self, she was bouncing all over the place and we had the two dogs that were so nervous and just wanted to be held and comforted! But we finally made it back safe and sound and proceeded first to yell at Joe for not hearing us, though he did say he was just about to head out and look for us because we had been gone for almost 3 hours and we had said we would be back in about an hour. Then right after I set out a gallon jug to be cut up and put in the boat for a bailer! It was quite the adventure and now we have a really good story to tell Ezekiel as he grows up about his first time up to Canada!

Sorry this post has gotten so long, I just wanted to include as many details as I could for Ezekiel's scrapbook and to share with Mike's Grandpa and Grandpa on the East Coast who I am sure have been patiently waiting for me to write this! Sorry it took me so long! I hope you enjoyed it! And thank you for providing such a wonderful place for our family to grow and make memories together! I know Mike has treasured the memories he has there more than you can know and I know he is looking forward to making so many more with our family!
Here are a couple more photos to wrap things up!

There is a photo of the boys when they were little on this rock, I need to find it!

Brodie! How we miss him!

Carlie teaching Ezekiel how to walk!