Faith Family Friends

Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Thursday 21 August 2014

Family Time in the Summertime

I am Summer, come to lure you away from your computer... come dance on my fresh grass, dig your toes into my beaches. ~ Oriana Green


Hello everyone! I was down with a bug at the first of the week and had to cancel my tea party. Thank you to all of you who stopped by to wish me well. I'm recovering and thought this would be a good time to share about my family's visit.

Most of you know that my Summer has been super busy with all the company I've had. My whole family was home in July and it was my little granddaughter's first visit to PEI. 

My oldest son and his family live just five minutes away, but my second son and his family live in Vancouver, BC, and my youngest son lives in Illinois. It was wonderful to have them all home! The little ones from Vancouver wanted to stay here forever. That would be such a blessing!

Having a place to go is Home
Having someone to love is Family
Having both is a Blessing.


The family picture is a bit blurry because my son set his camera on his sandal and then ran back to get in the picture.

So, grab a cup of tea or coffee and join me as I take a stroll down memory lane this past Summer. 

Warning~ Heavy on the pictures!

July was a fabulous month so we spent a good deal of time outdoors and of course, we spent most of our time on the beach. The Island is such a lovely place to holiday.



Being surrounded by water gives us Islanders many beautiful beaches to choose from. Our sand varies from the north shore to the south shore. Some of the sand is red while some is white with a pink tint.

This is our spot at Stanhope Beach.

A few of our back roads are red clay and our cliffs are red sandstone. These make for stunning photos!


The little ones from BC had never seen red clay roads before. 

And some of the cliffs had small caves.

One of the first things we did was introduce my mother to her great-granddaughter. Her little great- grandson, she hadn't seen since he was two so she was thrilled to see him again too. He is five now.



My son meeting his little niece for the first time.


It's quite a novelty having a little girl in the family. I had all boys and my sons had all boys until this little princess came along.



And she hit it off with her Aunt Jo too.

While they were all here, someone lost a tooth and the 'tooth fairy' was very generous to this little guy.

A boy's story is the best that is ever told. ~ Charles Dickens



One day we planned a Family Day and so we headed for the south shore where we enjoyed the scenery and just being together. 

The contrast between the red cliffs and the green grass was beautiful! 



There were lots of puddles for the kids to play in once the tide went out. 

The boys had fun collecting hermit crabs and they got buckets full. Boys will be boys!



A treasure to a little boy does not consist of money, gems, or jewellery. He will find far greater pleasure in the wonder of a rock, pebble, stick, or beetle. ~ Author unknown

This guy sat around with the adults most of the time. He's at that age, you know.


This little guy enjoys exploring.




The girls spent a lot of time in the water.


And had fun going for a swim.



 And my little lambie enjoyed making mud pies.

My Vancouver son and his beautiful wife sure enjoyed themselves! And so did the kids.



Afterwards we went back to my son's home for a barbecue and bonfire. 



While the bonfire was being prepared, some of the boys got rid of some energy on the trampoline.



My little lambie is intrigued by the marshmallow.

































Mmm, roasted marshmallows are yummy in the tummy!

This year Charlottetown is celebrating 150 years since the Fathers of Confederation met here to discuss Canada becoming a nation. Islanders and tourists alike have been enjoying all kinds of events, and so did my family.

Down at the waterfront, was this sand sculpture of the Fathers of Confederation.


There were lots of things to see and do. Here on the site Hubby, my son, and the little ones enjoyed some refreshments under a tent.


Meanwhile, my DIL and I enjoyed breakfast out and some shopping together. She bought this cute dress.



Another day we all went to the north shore where we spent another fun-filled day. 

A couple of the boys got buried in the sand. I remember my Dad used to bury my brother and me and it was so much fun! 



Unlike the south shore sand, this sand just falls right off you.


 Life brings simple pleasures to us every day. It is up to us to make them wonderful memories. ~ Cathy Allen

They dug 'holes to China.'



And some of us just sat back and soaked in the salt air and sun. My youngest son had not been on the beach in years and now he remembers why Mom and Dad enjoy it so much. It's just so relaxing.


On another day, Basin Head was the place to go and this beach is rated number one in Canada.


Here we have the 'singing sands' which sing or squeak when you walk on it.


My son claims if your sand doesn't look like this then it isn't really a beach. He's biased, of course!



There were romps in the play park up the street from our home...



....and walks along the boardwalk on the waterfront where Hubby and I drink our coffee in the evenings.
And like a lot of families, when the guys get together there is always a little horsing around. Not in the living room, guys!



Of course there was lots of eating and dining out.


And there were lots of cuddles.




And did everyone have a good time?


Oh yeah!!

These are the days we'll remember forever!

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

17 comments :

  1. What an awesome time you all had! I loved seeing all these happy photos of your lovely family -- and the scenery was pretty amazing too. Makes me want to visit! (That sand sculpture--oh my goodness, that was incredible!)

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  2. Oh Sandi! What a summer you had. That is one to remember and enjoy for a long time to come. I'm so happy you had this chance to hug and enjoy...Love Aunt P

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  3. Oh this is fabulous Sandi that everyone got together! What cute grandchildren. Lots of great memories made for sure!
    Sherry

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  4. So happy for you and your family! Looks like you had such a wonderful time together. Thank you for sharing.

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  5. Oh, the memories those children will have as adults of that wonderful summer on the island.

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  6. How lovely! What a wonderful time to enjoy the family!

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  7. A beautiful summer indeed...
    nothing beats family time...
    how wonderful yours all are.
    Have a happy weekend.
    Shel

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  8. How wonderful to spend time with family. Everyone looked happy and contended being with each other enjoying quality time. Your granddaughter is so cute Sandi and so are your grandsons. You are so blessed surrounded with all your loved ones.
    Hope you are enjoying the rest of summer.
    Blessings,
    Aida

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  9. Sandi, I'm so happy that all your family got home this summer and at the same time. It looks like they all enjoyed the beautiful beaches on the island too and made me realize that I miss them and need to get back there some year soon! Wonderful photos of them all and especially the grandkids. Blessings. Pam

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  10. sweet family get together for sure.
    That little girl would be special in my family also, of all grandsons (7) no girls even my sister have all grandsons no girls (4)
    11 boys and no girls for grand kids LOL

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  11. Hi Sandi, I hope you are feeling better. I saw your comment over at Martha's that you were a bit under the weather and wanted to stop by and wish you well.
    Sure enjoyed this post of your family time this summer and what a gorgeous family you are. Love all your pics at the beaches and home. Precious time making special memories.

    Enjoy the last days of summer and feel better soon.
    Hugs and Blessings

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  12. How absolutely precious, Sandi.

    I am so happy you had this wonderful opportunity. You all look so HAPPY!

    Hugs.

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  13. I enjoyed seeing your family visit and outings Sandi. It would so hard having family living a long distance away and not seeing them often. Your granddaughter is precious, poor girl with no other female cousins though. :-)
    I'll bet you pour over those photos many times, I know I would!

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  14. Hi Sandi!
    What a lovely family and post! I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was so nice to see your island from all these perspectives! It looks as though you had a gorgeous time with many wonderful moments. XO
    Wishing you a beautiful day,
    Linda at Beautiful Ideas

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  15. What fun! Family together times are wonderful! The scenery is wonderful!Glad you are back and well and had such a wonderful visit.
    Ruth

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  16. The one thing I will always remember about PEI is the amazing
    contrast between the green green fields and the red red soil! Absolutely stunning.

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  17. I LOVED seeing all the family pics and all the memories being made, my friend! Thank you for sharing all this happiness with us. xo

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I am delighted to have you visit me and I read every comment. Please forgive me for not being able to visit you all as there are so many of you lovely bloggy friends now. I will visit as much as possible. I wish you a day filled with JOY!

Also, due to the amount of spam I've been getting, I have had to set Comment Moderation. ~ Sandi

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