Summer Vacation, Part 2

With the party cleaned up and our bags packed, we (my mom, my sister, me, and James in one car, and Jason, my dad, and Drew in another) hit the road for our 10+ hour journey north to Canada. I have to admit that the girls got the better end of the stick on that journey. I thought we'd have a cranky, crying baby while Jason and my dad would have a birthday-party-worn-out toddler that would fall asleep quickly. Instead they had the privilege of listening to Drew talk incessantly for SIX hours! When the "girl car" arrived at the hotel some time after midnight (where the boys had already checked in) Drew was still wide awake almost bouncing off the walls. Jason looked as if every ounce of energy Drew was using to bounce around the room was being directly drawn from him. "He didn't fall asleep at ALL!". I, on the other hand, was worried we were in for a long night because James was quite the opposite- he slept almost the entire time and I worried he wouldn't want to sleep anymore! Thankfully both boys settled down and let us get a decent sleep for the second leg of the journey.

We arrived at our cottage in Bala, Ontario the next day. What a beautiful location! I had never really spent time in this part of Ontario, so I really enjoyed getting to see it. The cottage was on a very quiet part of the lake where the water was smooth as glass. I knew it was going to be a good week as soon as we arrived! 

But there wasn't much time for relaxing, yet! We had a big 70s-style birthday party to get ready for! We spent Canada Day celebrating my Aunt Jane's birthday in typical Paulen family style.

I just love the family I belong to! ;)

This would be a whoopie cushion farting contest

The sisters!

And the boys celebrated their first Canada Day IN Canada!

We visited with various different family members throughout the week. My mom's sisters rented a cottage one house over, so we had a lot of fun just hanging out, going out on the boat, water skiing, hanging by the "beach", having campfires, and laughing, as always.

We also had a family get-together planned with my dad's side of the family later in the week, but a few weren't going to be able to make it then, so we squeezed in a few visits!

My uncle Doug has a lake house
not far from where we were staying

It was so great to see family after almost 3 years since our last visit to Canada! But there was still lots more fun to be had on our adventure!