Yep, you guessed it!

The ample public picnic-ground I had scouted out the week before just happened to be reserved for a huge company BBQ of 300+ persons - consigning our little group to a tailgate party in the parking lot. The upside to that misadventure was a front row seat to the elephant caravan en route to their daily bath in the pond.

What's this? Aslan on the loose at the African Lion Safari? Nah, this image is too wimpy to fit the bill. The Aslan I know isn't even safe, but he IS good. Capital G Good.

I dunno....gives me a headache just lookin' at that head-dress.

Yes, well, uhm... ahem.... front row seats to the typical monkey-business of course!

The African Lion Safari proved to be a surprising treat for all involved -- except it was almost too much excitement for one day. Half day actually. We were practically the first caravan in line to pass thru the gates at 9am and then first in line for tickets on the Safari bus expedition thru the compounds. Can you imagine deliberately taking your own car through this jungle?

Fourteen of us occupied the back four seats plus back bench of the bus.

As it turned out, to ride a vehicle unrestrained by seatbelt and carseat proved to be a new, trepidatious, possibly overwhelming experience in and of itself to our three 3 year olds.

I should have known.

We were in place waiting for a loudly idling coach bus to start the safari, I was standing in the aisle making conversation with the twins when little Rachel - worry and fear etched all over her elfin face, squeaked out a tearful plea for me to sit down. How interesting that such a simple thing could be the undoing of little miss 'go-get-'em while her brother Micah, more commonly known as mister type A for anxiety, just bounced non-stop from one lap to the other squealing like a monkey. ?? And cousin Julsie? She uttered nary a beep all the while clutching Grandpa's arm with a vice-like grip. (see below) What a moment.

This was an odd fellow compared to his counterparts - all scrunched up in a solitary smug pose.

Can you 'see' the conflict in her countenance? Wonderment and finger fidgeting worry all rolled in one? (The pic of her vice grip is portrayed in the previous blog post)

Julsie will always be the cautious one me thinks.

I don't believe they caught the difference between a mechanical zebra and the real thing. This one definitely moved faster and was more engaging to watch as it roused the lions and lionesses into action.

Part way through the next hour after making some internal adjustments and relaxing a bit, Rachel allowed me to stand in the aisle and converse with her without scolding me back to my seat!

The Veronica thing..

I have a childhood friend who owned so many Archie comic books - piled high against one wall of their rec room that I couldn't read through them even after five years worth of quiet Sunday afternoon's at her place.

I was always mystified and oddly impressed with Veronica Lodge who had to buy a matching purse and shoes for every occasion and day of the year. Odd, because of my lifelong objection to shopping in general. Having said that - I was in the market for a new purse last week and stumbled upon the Miche road show at Costco. You can buy a black or brown purse and pick out four 'shells' that attach themselves magnetically to its exterior... it's a 'four purses in one' type of deal. I was smitten.

The giraffe theme had my fancy at that particular moment, knowing where I would be spending the next day.... totally a no-brainer, once my friend corrected my mistaking it for a cow-hide!

Let's Go Wild!

We took the three new three year-olds et al to celebrate the occasion and we went with a picnic basket in hand to someplace really WILD. Can you guess? Next post will bear some clues before I give it all away. For now? I hope you catch some of the excitement and enjoy their expressions like we did for an entire morning.

Touche!

Guess who's crawled out of hiding long enough to threaten me now?

I found this posted last night on the Inevitable Consequences - the Backstory.

Hmm..... what to do now she wonders? Any suggestions dear readers?

Anonymous said...

If the libelous information regarding the Peters Family is not removed within 24 hours, you will receive a libel lawsuit from my attorney.

Forty Ten

The second half of our week burned bright as you can see. Our round of golf at the beautiful Cobble Beach of Owen Sound Georgian Bluffs made for a great jump start to Barry's birthday celebration the next day. It is a remarkable course overlooking the Owen Sound of Georgian Bay for those who love the game as well as for those who simply persevere at it! :)

I myself, took another sound beating from that silly dimpled ball of mine... but the company and the ambience diminished the pain enough to leave a favourable impression of the day.

Dinner at the clubhouse stretched out an hour longer than we had supposed so it was 10'ish before our headlights found the dusty gravel road back up to our cottage. Barry spotted a handmade sign embellished with a spray of balloons out of the corner of his eye. It was our first clue that something was up here at the camp and it read: Guess Who's? rather cryptically. Every 100 feet or so was a marker for 10, then 20, 30, 40, Over the Hill (strategically placed at the crest of the hill) and finally Barry's 50! as we rounded the corner to our cottage.

All the lights were on at our cottage, another sure sign of foul play. The driveway was lined with emergency tape, a rather large inflatable dog and more sprays of balloon bobbled their greetings.... on closer inspection there appeared to be many bodies within the well lit cottage.

Fortunately - the perpetrators of this surprise couldn't find a live old goat for hire (plan A) and had to resort to the Old Dog theme. Everyone came to sign the momento ... we'll definitely have to find a special place for the beast - a basement cupboard perhaps?

I must confess, it was an odd but wonderful feeling to 'host' a party and have all the fuss and bother done FOR me. I believe that is the first time ever - and we loved every minute of it!

Our guests stayed long enough to usher in Barry's special day and then some and then some more. LOL. In the end, there weren't too many hours of July 10 that we didn't savour in the company of others, if you get my meaning.

Someone had thoughtfully built a campfire down at the dock to create a choice of gathering places. The deck above was delightfully crowded for most of the evening.

Campfires are SO cozy!

Family of ours?? You've outdone yourselves and we thank you sincerely for making this milestone so memorable for us.

Beloved Blessings

Today my beloved turned 50. We marvel at this. We read Psalm 90 concerning our human mortality to 'celebrate' this day...

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting

you are God....

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom....

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days! ....

May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children....

May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us -- yes, establish the work of our hands.

My family planned a wonderful surprise party for this occasion whilst we were gone golfing for the day at Cobble Beach ... I will post a pictorial tour of those festivities next. What a great evening. Thanks so much for blessing us with a most memorable mark of this milestone!

Happy Birthday Barry. You are loved muchly!

Campfire Camaraderie

The rules are simple.

You grab a bag of munchies to share - take a beverage of your choice, throw a lawn chair over the shoulder and set out to find the nearest raging camp fire with a crowd that'll accommodate another body or two into their circle.

The munchies get tossed from one side to the other as easily as the conversation - and blast, the Sour Cream and Onion always disappears first. At times we miss the toss...

Who needs a flashlight (or any 21rst century 'torch') when God places a moon like this

in the night sky? Simply amazing, filtered through our canopy of trees.

One of the younger tykes around our campfire suggested a word game which we enjoyed so much, we carried on with for three more rounds! Everyone had to choose a word and whisper it in the ear of a neutral player who made record of them. They'd be read aloud only twice in random order and someone would start the game by matching the word to a person around the campfire. A correct match eliminated you from the game. An incorrect match scored you the right to guess. The most common, non-descript words usually ended up winning the round since they were easily forgotten and of course, the more people playing - the trickier the round.

The 'other' campfire crowd down the way were clearly not having as much fun - we were ambushed sometime after midnight with a torrent of foil balls over the tree line. The raiding party beat a trail out of there but Michelle's trademark uhmm...'snicker' blew their cover. LOL