Recalling Summer...

It's August 31st today, and in less than a week and a half I will be going to University. In a way the summer seemed to have passed by quickly, but I also felt that it was very eventful. Maybe not quite as much as last summer when I went to Quebec, but memorable just the same.

In July most days were spent swimming in our new pool that we aquired near the end of June. On Canada Day the family went to Assiniboine Zoo, my mom, myself and the kids went to the Goose Park (which is a park by a duck pond in our neighborhood). Next thing I knew it was my birthday! The big 1-8. It was over all a good birthday, though a friend of mine got sick and couldn't come and I really missed her. The day was supposed to be mostly rainy but for a short period of sunshine my friends and I were able to go into the pool for a swim :)

Then Folklorama began! I don't know how well known it is across Canada, but people from all provinces and the states come to see it. We started off with the Indian Pavillion, which was excellent & the food? To DIE for! We got Abby and Amber (for those who don't know, my foster sisters) their own Indian outfits, and we HAD to have a photoshoot :D!

Next was the GREEK Pavillion! Also very good, (and one of the male dancers was really cute) :P But what made it really special was that it was done in a building adjointed with a Greek Orthodox Church that you can tour. And it was BEAUTIFUL! I love how the Catholics & Orthodox go fullout on their churches!

My pictures don't even come CLOSE to depicting just how gorgeous and omnimous and holy that church was like. No joke though, it looks identical to the church in Big Fat Greek Wedding! Except the big chandelier isn't the same and the order of the pictures of the saints. Oh, and we met the Mayor of Winnipeg there too :P

Then to finish it off, normally we go to the Russian Pavillion, but we heard from some friends that it was bad this year, which was a real downer because we always look forward to the exquisit food that you don't find just anywhere! Blinchiki, pilmeni, pirasky, I could go on and on...So instead we went to the Ukrainian Pavillion, and it was, in a word: Delightful!

I really liked the fact that the show had some variation, while the past two pavillions had only dancing for entertainment. This one had an orchestra, a small play by the children, and dancing. Unfortunately, I was sitting in the balcony, and though I had a good view of the show, the distance and lighting proved for some dissapointing shots by my camera. But we were able to had some food we were familiar with, but nothing is like my Babushka's cooking. Nothing.

The next big event I guess was Camp Nutimik day when our church has a service and lunch out at the lake. But it was a dismal, cloudy day, couldn't do a picnic or swim. Well, Abby and Amber were crazy enough to, and by the time it was time to leave, the sun was coming out and some kids started to swim.

My mom's garden has had a really good first summer. I even got to eat one of the raspberries that were ripe enough, and it was quite yummy! We've also got golden raspberries and blueberries! Our trees were treated badly by nasty bugs that ate up many of the leaves, we'll be doing something to prevent that next year. And our sunflowers (the ones NOT squished and trampled over by Sonny) are doing well, but are rather short but we do expect to see a handful of them bloom in the fall, hopefully.

Apart from outdoor activities like our trip Kildonan park and the Palliser Zoo day, I've been doing a fair bit of reading. In July I would read to Artiom, Abby & Amber the Narnia Chronicles. I read the Magician's Nephew (my favorite), The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and we only got 4 chapters into Horse and His Boy before it was Abby's turn to go out for camp for a week and when she came back, we just never got round to reading before bed again.

But on my own I started readign some books from the library and some I got at a really good bookstore called Aqua Books that was having a sale. I read Sense and Sensibility (gotta love Jane Austen!) Half of Journey to the Center of the Earth (I took it out twice and its a really long book! I decided I'd finish it later :P) I've read 10 chapters of Emma and am on page 108 of Lord of the Rings (which I've finally got to reading for the first time!). I also read a while back Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity of Bill O'Reily who owns his own show The O'Reily Factor on Fox news. And on the side I've been re-capping some Ancient Greek facts and information, and self-teaching myself a wee bit of Calculus before university starts.

All in all, if there's one thing to complain about, or two, would be the inconsistant weather of this summer and the fact that I only got inspiration enough for a great idea for a book I plan on entering into a publishing contest in New York, but not enough inspiration to actually start writing the bloody thing! At least most of it is in my head and in notes...

I really hope next summer will be another summer of travel like last year. This year was more of a family summer, and it was great. I spent a lot of time with my brother (considering he bunks with me for the night for the summer!) and my mom, whom I've realized is my one true best friend and I am very much like her and I keep discovering this in new ways and areas of life. And though I haven't made much progress with my foster sister Amber, I've grown more attached to Abby and we can get along really well.

As for baby Justin, I love him even more than the first month we had him, and I will continue to grow more in love with him each day! He's a bundle of joy, and hard work and sometimes stresses me out, but he's a blessing and I can't imagine our family without him.