Jill and Correen and Crystal's Great Kayak Adventure!

 It all started with a simple question!

My friend, Jill, asked me at Ladies Golf, "Would you like to kayak the creek?"

The creek is a sleepy little waterway that meanders through Last Oak Golf Course in the Qu'appelle Valley. Most years it is shallow and dry in places, and easy to find your wayward ball. But, this year, with all the rain and runoff we've had, the sleepy little creek has woken up and is quick flowing. 

So my answer to Jill's question was, "Yes"!!

My girlfriend, Correen, caught wind of our, "kayaking the creek journey" and joined in. Now a plan began formulating. Since Jill was the only one who owned a kayak, Correen and I needed to roundup kayaks for ourselves. The generous dear souls of Len and Arlene Antel, and Leo and Sharon Parker came to the rescue and loaned out their kayaks to us.

Jill did the research on the creek, and asked Jamie, the golf course manager, if anyone has kayaked the creek. He said yes, and gave her directions on where to go to launch the kayaks.

Greg Walchuk, Jill's partner, offered to drive us to the starting point and helped us with the kayaks. We had a generous and interested team behind us! Antels wanted pictures, Parkers were concerned for our safety, and Greg was drop off and pick-up guy! 

We checked our schedules, the weather forecast, and chose a favorable day. Thursday it was! We packed snacks, hats, light jackets, water, cell phones, and wore our water shoes. Hoss gave me a whistle to ward off bears, and we were ready. We loaded our gear into Greg's truck and off we went, excited about our journey.

We headed toward Cowesses! We passed the golf course turn off, and continued up the hill for a few kilometers, turning at the ball diamonds, and followed a donkey trail down to the creek. We got as close as possible, unloaded and took our gear and kayaks to the creek with Greg's help. 

Into the creek went the kayaks, our gear, ourselves, and off we went not knowing what to expect! 

 

                                            Stopped for a snack.

                                               Something big has come this way!

                                              

We exited at the Men's #10 tee-off box.

We were all surprised at how many rapids we had to go through. Not big ones but dozens of them! We didn't see much wildlife...1 deer, a couple of ducks, and a lot of birds! We had a glorious time! 

Our Big, Fat, Mexican Family Vacation

 Twenty of us gathered at the Royal Hacienda All Inclusive In Playa Del Carmen for a  Mexican family vacation. The Souslbys, Ziolas, and Karius clan, 20 in total, enjoyed the family gathering in the sun, with the beach, pools, drinks and food. So much fun was had!!!

                                                       Wyatt, our Aussie grandson....
 

                                               and his brother Booker(also Aussie)!

 

                                           Jess, our DIL, Catlin, our son, and Hoss

                                                 The beautiful waters of the Caribbean.

                                         A lot of erosion is occurring on this stretch of sand.

Marie, our very good friend from high school and onward, who is Jess's mom.

                                                        Lots for the kids to do!

The other grandpa, Norm, who is also a very long time friend who is Jess's dad, holding one worn out grandson.

                                            A bit of rain every now and then.

                                           The grandkids couldn't get enough of the pools.

 

                                           We did spent a couple days on the beach.

We went for a beach walk, and took Wyatt with us, and discovered a homemade playground.

         Booker, enjoying the delicious pizza, that was made in a wood fired oven by the pool.  The waiters took very good care of us!

 

                                                        Kaiden, our oldest grandson

 

                      Our boys, Catlin and Addison! I'm not sure who enjoyed the pool more...the kids or the adults!

 

Halie, our granddaughter 

                        Here is Kim, our DIL Kelsey's mom and our very good friend.

 

 Abbey, Kelsey's sister, is lying on the lounger beside Addison. We always took up a lot of loungers and chairs!

                                                  Our grandson, Max

                         

Our little granddaughter, Mae, who looks tucked out, with Kelsey's dad, Tim, who is also a very close friend.

                                         Max got to celebrate his 4th birthday in Mexico!

                                                              Halie and Booker

 

 

                             Jess's sister, Amanda, her hubby Matt, and their little daughter Madison. 

                                       Another beach walk in the opposite direction.

                                                            Brave Kelsey!!

                                         Playa Del Carmen sure has changed a lot!

 

                                               Many cruise liners visit Cozumel.

 

 The three sets of grandparents babysat while the three sets of parents and Aunty Abbey enjoyed a a delicious meal at one of the al a carts.

                                            

                                                  Night swim!

 

                       Hoss also got to celebrate his birthday in Mexico, two days after Max.

                           There is a lot of sargassum which is a full time job to clean up. Sargassum is a brown macroalgae that floats freely on the ocean surface forming golden brown mats or rafts. Annoying as it is for the hotels that employ many workers to clean it up, the sargassum provides habitat and food for diverse marine species...from juvenile fish and crabs to endangered sea turtles.

Well...our big, fat Mexican family vacation has come to an end! Three sets of grandparents, three sets of parents, one aunty, and seven grandchildren have had a wonderful time together!

Lots of love, and hugs, and laughter were shared! It's a good thing that we all get along!