In my rather esoteric collection of pictures of signs I think this one will rate pretty highly.  Not too many places in the world you would come across this sign. It will go in the collection along with the elephant crossing and the kangaroo crossing signs. The thing about those signs is that I did not have my two oldest grandchildren in the picture with me so this make this picture extra special.  I love our vehicle in the background with the canoe on the top, that beautifully rounds out the scene, I don't thing you can get much more Canadian than that!!! I am truly disappointed that I was unable to get Barry to stop to take a picture of the penguin crossing sign we came across in Simonstown, South Africa, that would have been a good one. 

                         Eli with another mighty pike.                              

We have spent the last two weeks engaging in outdoor pursuits with our family. We have gone fishing about half a dozen times. Our friends in the sailing community came through and took us out sailing on two occasions, Eli came with us the first time around and took his turn at the helm. 

Aboard Pendragon, along with captain Kevin Quinn. Thanks for the lovely time Kevin. 

Cassidy and I were invited to be crew for the Wednesday night races.  We managed quite well and Cassidy did a great job on the controlling the main and has garnered herself the name of Mainsheet Specialist. She gave her number to the boat owners who we crewed with and hopefully they will give her a ring so she can do some more sailing this summer.

We all spent a windy afternoon down at the local beach.  The kids and Heather went in for a swim but I couldn't find the enthusiasm to join them.  We also played a rousing game of something that is a precursor to volleyball, tossing the ball over the net trying to toss it to an empty space so your opponent can't catch it.  The sand was flying as players were sacrificing their bodies trying to get the rather beat up old ball that was being blown about by the wind, fun indeed.  

Heather and I heading out on a fishing trip one day when the kids couldn't come. I managed to get one on the line and was greatly relieved when he spit the hook out before I could land him.  Barry wasn't with us and that would have necessitated one of us plying the pliers in the region of a fish 's mouth, not something I like to indulge in if I don't have to. 

We are heading to Edmonton tomorrow to go and visit with Bruce and Marg, Barry's brother and his wife.  

      BACK IN YELLOWKNIFE WITH FAMILY

Our grandchildren, Cassity, 14 and Eli, 12.

Our youngest daughter Heather

A great view of Great Slave Lake with 2 of my favourite people.

We drove up to Yellowknife 2 days after Karen's wedding.  After the first day of driving we ended up at the Alberta/NWT border where we spent the night.  We woke up in the morning to a record low on July 15 of 4 degrees, youch! We crossed the new bridge across the Mackenzie River for the first time. Yellowknife is no longer cut off at spring breakup having year round access by road.

On the road from the bridge we passed a number of bison on the road.  Thankfully none of them decided to cross the road while we were driving by, they are big creatures. 

We have been very busy meeting old friends and spending time with our grandchildren.  The other day we met the kids down at the basketball court, after a fairly sedate game of horse we decided to try out Eli's new soccer ball.  I haven't seen Barry move so fast in over a decade, he was running around like he was a 40 year old.  I got the ball and slowed the game down to a slow trot so Barry and I could walk the next day.  Eli's ball control was amazing and his athletic ability shone as he ran up and down the field. 

                          

Today we took them out to Reid Lake, about an hour's drive east north east of Yellowknife.  We borrowed a canoe (thank you Lorraine and Paul) and had a great day out on the water.  We paddled across to a set of rapids, it had been about 20 years since we had been there, 

Girl power, three generations under a canoe. 

did a short portage and then caught two jacks as we paddled around the area below the rapids. 

If you look closely at the end of the line you can see that there is a fish at the end of the line. It was a very small jack fish which we let go.  

I had a great time paddling around in the waves below the falls, once when I did it I didn't time it quite right and got a little sideways.  The kids were a little freaked when the canoe rocked a bit but I didn't dunk anyone this time around. 

Here, Barry is being a Good Samaritan. This guy must have got hung up on this curb and his front bumper was hanging off on one side.  Barry used a pair of pliers try and pull the rest of the bumper off, another fellow came by with a leatherman and lent a hand and the two soon had the bumper off.  The fellow who owned the car was using a cane so Barry figured he wouldn't be able to help.  

This is our buddies Ian and Helen's boat.  They bought it in San Diego and trucked it up to Yellowknife.  It has spent the last four years in this shed being metamorphosed from a tired old boat into a thing of beauty.  The shed was made out of fibreglass insulation and they just cut the sides apart and a crane lifted the parts of the shed down.  The amount of work they have done is unbelievable, we just hope they have many years of pleasure sailing her.

Here is a piano that has been in our family for at least 60 years being transferred into the house where Heather is living.  We would like to thank Ian and Helen for storing it at their place over the last five years. Having it out of the way is just one more hurdle they have cleared on their path to the west coast. I hope Heather enjoys the music that she can make on that wonderful instrument. 

We have another week in Yellowknife and hope we can continue to make connections with old friends throughout the week.  Send me a message at ann_lange@yahoo.com if you are in town and would like to see us.  

karen and craig mccauley

we had a delightful time attending karen and craig's wedding this past weekend.  the party started off with a rousing game of family feud at the rehersal dinner.  craig set up a computer survey and sent it out to his friends and had the two families try and figure out what were the best answers.  it was great fun.  

 here is karen in front of the screen which would show the answers and how many points each of them were worth.  the next morning we went to the wedding venue at the university of alberta's faculty club and decorated the tables for the dinner. apparently the shade of purple to be used was a real bone of contention between the bride and groom.  

the bride's mother actually performed the wedding ceremony, she did a wonderful job, her words were very heart felt and moving, it must have been very special for karen to have her mother say them to her.  we had a great dinner and afterwards there were great speeches and much dancing. 

 the lange family, it was great that all the four family members could be there. 

 mom and i on canada day

prairie first nations peoples on canada day

a street performer doing his thing for the canada day crowds

 checking out the fishing boats on  hecla island

with my bridesmaid from 39 years ago. 

friends and fellow sailors the skopyk's from uranium city days

 i have been wanting to take pictures of falling down barns since ontario, i got a chance when we visited the malloys in leduc, alberta,

please excuse my lack of capitals, those keys won't work on this poor computer which has been subjected to the marine environment for too long. 

We are currently in Edmonton.  We will be attending my nieces's wedding tomorrow.  We had a great time with my Mom.  We spent about 6 days up at a cottage on Lake Winnipeg, north of Gimli.  The weather co-operated very nicely.  One day we went up to Hecla Island and visited the old Icelandic settlement there.  We saw remnants of the fishing industry that existed and saw a typical home that was restored to about the 1920's.  We spent Canada Day at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in Winnipeg.  The spot where the fur traders initially built the fort where everyone would come to trade their furs. I lived in Winnipeg for 10 years and I don't think I had ever seen the spot where the two rivers meet before.
I sewed a bimini for the boat, buying fancy UV resistant thread in Wpg. and purchasing the sunbrella material in Nova Scotia.  I had brought bits of the old bimini with me so that I could get the dimensions correct and I spent about three days at Mom's sewing up a storm. I would take up her whole living room when the bimini was laid out on the floor.  It's a good thing she sews and quilts because she never complained once.  Her machine was great and I managed not to break it.  I am pretty happy with the finished product.  I just have to have some grommets and snaps but on it on the West Coast and then it will be good to go.
We visited old friends from Uranium City, 1977-1980 years Terry and Gerry Skopyk at their home in Saskatchewan.  They have a boat that is in Panama at the moment so we have lots in common and had a great time talking about yachting life.  We are visiting some more old Yellowknife buddies, Dennis and Sylvia Malloy, we curled in the mixed Friday night league for years.  We played some bridge last night for old times sake and it was girls against the boys and the women prevailed once again!!
I will have to download the pictures later.