Grand Guests

A rather delayed (and rather lengthy) recounting of our Opa and Oma’s visit back in August/September.

 

 

 

 Friday, Aug 24th –

The weather changed from summer to fall, almost overnight and we also drove to the airport to pick up some special guests.
Michiel’s Oma and Opa arrived at 11:40 pm to stay with us for 2.5 weeks 🙂

After a dark and rainy drive, we made it to our house by 2:00 am and Mike being excited, gave the whole house tour and renovation information then 😉

Saturday Aug 25th –

Saturday morning came earlier then I desired, as it usually does after a late night, but that only gave a good chance for a guaranteed nap 🤪
Oma and Opa deal with their age, better than I do mine 😂

We sipped coffees, put out some breakfast and joyously accepted their gifts of cheese and chocolate, a homemade herb mix from Opa and a couple other goodies 🤩👌🏻😋

It was a dreary day and after some morning routines were behind us, nap time did indeed beckon 😉👌🏻

Once nap time ended, we got ourselves together and went over to Mom and Dads to visit and enjoy some freshly made cinnamon buns… somehow the short visit turned into an entire afternoon one, after Mike invited ourselves to eat supper with them 😜

I’d made soup but Mom had fresh buns and meat, so Mike figured that they would enjoy my soup more than him and he’d enjoy the pork more… always trying to get a deal out of life 😏

It was a nice afternoon spent together though, making the dreary day more enjoyable before we headed back home to bed, as Sunday morning always comes early 😉

Sunday Aug 26 –

Oma didn’t realize she still had her watch set to their layovers time zone, so when I woke up to begin preparing myself for church, she was wondering how in the world Mike and I would be ready and eat in 15 minutes 😜

We went to church for that morning’s service and afterwords we were invited out to lunch with my parents and some family friends.
Opa requested Apple juice mixed with sparkling water for his drink, a request I don’t think the waiter would have heard before but he readily tried to accommodate it 😉

We went to Winners to try to find a light jacket for Oma and we left successful.

Going home to relax and then taking a small walk through MacDowall later that evening.

 

Monday Aug 27th –

It was forecast as another dreary, chilly day, so we’d planned to attempt making raspberry jam.

After a breakfast of lazy pancake, Oma and Opa went and picked the apples from my sisters tree, as they have yet to move here and the fruit needed using 😉

Mom came over and together with Oma’s help and the men’s taste testing skills, 23 medium sized jars were made ☺️

 

I made tortilla pizzas for an easy lunch and then after a shortish walk for the grands, we readied ourselves and left to go enjoy a supper at the home of our friends.

We (I) filled up much to full on the enjoyable meal and then continued filling up even more on the dessert.
What’s a visit without taste bud joy and bodily discomfort? 😜

Tuesday Aug 28th –

We made plans for the next day and after breakfast, decided on plans for the current day.

 

Mike took the grands to see Batoche, a historical site where they could wander and learn about the happenings in this area.

I opted to stay home and clean the house up 😋
Finding more pleasure in the laundry, silence and cleanliness, rather than in history, for the time being 😉

They brought back Chester Fried Chicken for dinner, a meal the grands HAD to experience before going home 😜

That evening as I called Atlas inside for the night, I heard another cat meowing loudly and assumed it was just a tom lurking about.
Mike came to see what the noise was and from his view on the porch, he spotted a little kitten running under the car!
I of course, could not let said kitten stay outside… thus an hour of calling, cajoling and bribing ensued😜
Mike would have preferred giving up and though persistence isn’t a strength I’d normally poses, throw in a stray kitten and see that change 😏😂

We finally captured him (around midnight 🙈) in the tomato patch and brought him upstairs to settle in😉

Mike was already slightly annoyed with the situation so when he began meowing around 3:00 am, I quickly went to his room to hush him and ended up having to stay with him till 4:30.
I said if it had been a kid keeping me up by whining, I’d for sure have been feeling decently annoyed but not when he’d look at me and purr  😂🙈

Mike doesn’t understand 😜

Wednesday 29th –

We four along with mother, decided to go to the city and then to Manitou beach.

The grands were introduced to Costco size living and poutine 😏👍🏻

Then it was what felt like a very lengthy one and a half hour drive to Manitou.

 

We wandered around the town, checking out some art gallery type places, getting ice cream and iced coffee and then sat at the beach for a few moments to simply soak up the sun, as it was a hot +25 😉

During the drive back, we passed an abandoned homestead that we’d seen before, but this time we decided to stop and take a look/stretch the legs.
(They aren’t used to driving so far, so often in Holland, so thought Opa and Oma did not complain, I don’t think it was a favourite route 🤪)

Old homes are so interesting, sparking my curiosity as much as the castles we’d visit in Europe.
Questions of who lived there, why was it left, where was the pretty broken glass from and what did it look like when it was new and the sun light poured through? Did they sit on the porch to look out over the fields or was it treed area then?

Sadly all the questions are left unanswered… much like those awful true life podcasts depicting crimes that’s happened but not knowing who did them! 🙄

Once home, we had taco salad for dinner and I don’t recall exactly but I’m pretty sure we had coffee and sat around until bedtime as per usual 😜

 

Thursday 30th –

Mike wanted to take Opa for a quad ride, so off they went after breakfast to explore the surrounding area.

I used the time to tidy up the house and upon their return, begin making lunch.

Italian cheese bread was the outcome and every time I make it I am reminded how much I like it 🤤

Though this time, it was extra good as we not only had cheddar cheese but also Asiago and a Gouda cheese brought from Holland 🧀

That evening we dined with my family at the parents home again. They had promised a steak meal and they delivered 😏👌🏻
I made a watermelon cucumber salad, Dad grilled, Mom made potatoes with onion soup mix seasonings, a carrot dish (which I prefer not to describe as it was mostly onions 😂) and a garlic parm bread and Beccas contribution was Davy Crockett’s for dessert.

All that to say, it was a very good meal 💕😎👌🏻

We moved our stuffed selves to the couches and were entertained by Oma’s origami crane making for the kids, gifted to them with a song and everything 😉💕

Their faces when Oma and Opa sang in Dutch were priceless 😂

 

Friday 31st –

Fresh bread was made that morning, as they are Dutch and multiple pieces of bread are required for mornings… and sometimes after meals 🤪🙈

We had errands to run in town and they’d yet to really see ALL our fair city of Prince Albert had to offer 😏

Giant Tiger isn’t a store I regularly peruse but after that shopping trip, I might 😜
I found good undershirts on for 3 for $9, Oma and Opa found a nicely boxed Jenga game on sale for $9 from $25, we got bread on price check, so it was usually $3.66 per loaf, now for $3.14 for two.
Some cheap tea lights for the bathroom and an outdoor door mat for $2.50.
I’d call that all a success 😉
(Cacti were also spotted for a good price, though not purchased as my display space is limited.)

We ordered burritos for lunch and though I had my doubts, we actually all thoroughly enjoyed it… I don’t think either of our cultures intergrade much Mexican food 😉

Ice cream was needed to wash it down and then we were home bound.

We’d eaten late, so supper was a simple meal of garden tomatoes from Moms house, on toast with cheese, miracle whip and seasonings.

 

Oh, and pink lemonade in the fancy glasses 😉

 

The newly purchased Jenga was brought out so that the grands would know how to play it once they were back home.
It turned out to be a lot more stressful than we’d first expected and we made it 32 high before Mike toppled it while counting the layers 🤪

 

Earlier that day, I’d purchased some Warheads.
I explained them to Oma and we decided to trick Opa into trying one.
Post Jenga was the time to do so and it was the best $2 I’ve spent in a long time 😂

 

Saturday Sept 1st –

While Opa and Mike began renovating the porch, Oma made a dessert using plums they’d purchased at Costco ☺️

I readied some more overnight bread, as we were going through our stock rather quickly 🙈🍞🥖🥐

I don’t recall much of the Saturday happenings besides that… it was a slightly dreary day and so we piddled around the house and that was that.

I made gnocchi with chicken and a creamy tomato sauce for dinner and after that, we opened up the game of Trivial Pursuit we’d recently purchased and began playing a round.
Once learning the categories, I strongly avoided geography and history and aimed for as many art and nature questions as possible but we got tired and recorded who was where, so we could continue some other evening 😉

 

Sunday Sept 2nd –

The long weekend… the last weekend of summer vacations and fishing, results in rather small church congregations and many people being away.
We decided to visit a fellow church spur of the moment, as we knew more would be gone from ours, than ones who were there 🙈

The sun was shining and though the feeling in the air is no longer even hinting but outright yelling of fall, it was a pleasant day… temperature wise 🤪

We left church and decided that since we were near to a Greek restaurant we’d heard of and been wanting to try, that we would go there.

Upon sitting down and opening the menus, we discovered the cheapest meal was $28 and the prices only went up and we just weren’t willing to go that route 🙈
Sooo we left, bellies empty and a 50 minute drive home to go.
During said drive, our tire split…
On a long weekend, Sunday.
Thankfully we made it to a little town and were able to get ahold of a tire shop owner.

We’d gotten ice creams while figuring out where to go/who to call, so our stomachs growled a little less but weren’t nearly so full as they should have been either 😏

So the nice man at the tire shop helped us out and aired up the spare tire (which had turned out to also be in not so prime condition 😜) and we slowly drove back to our house, grateful we made it back and hadn’t needed someone to drive and get us and leave the car parked along the highway.

I was passed hungry and tired so I straight away went for a nap 😏

Upon waking, I went to slicing up potatoes for Mike to deep fry along with chicken fingers etc.for an evening snack.
After slicing and preparing the taters, Mike frying them in two batches and then taste testing them… we discovered the oil was bad.

Sooo I turned on the oven to cook the chicken fingers and made a cucumber salad and that was our dinner.

It was just one of those days 😏

Monday Sept 3rd –

Due to the lack of functioning car, plans were a little, sideways 😏

Supplies were needed to really continue on with the porch but tires were also needed so it was a waste to go to town multiple days in a row for little things.

So I made an egg bake for breakfast and then Mike and Opa went to work on what they could and I went for a speedy 5 km walk with Mumsie.

It was then figured out that Mike would take the grands to Fort Carlton.

I stayed home as I wasn’t ready to learn more about the same place we’d visited when his parents had been out 😏

While they were gone I laundered, cleaned house, prepared supper and did the general house chores that slip whilst guests visit… feeling much better about the state of the house afterwords 🤪

Mom and Dad joined us for meatloaf, carrots, cucumber salad, rice and toast and I admit to being unaccustomed to cooking for more than two 🙈

 

It wasn’t hard but I’d much rather over-estimate than underestimate and there was a dish or two of the latter 😬

 

 

Tuesday Sept 4th –

Mike and I loaned the mothers truck, as are car situation had yet to be remedied and we went to town to get groceries and stain for the porch.

Oma and Opa were invited for lunch to my sister’s house, so they walked there and thus had entertainment while we were gone.

The porch makeover ensued for the guys and I think naps for us ladies 😜

 

We went over to Moms for a supper of chicken stew and dumplings and I gorged myself on it.
Dumplings are one of my favourites 😏👌🏻

Mike has grown accustomed to the size of things here in Canada but the size of his eyes upon seeing Moms roaster and his amazed exclamations were very entertaining 😂
(It wasn’t full to the brim but one could say that Mom has mastered overestimating food portions where I have yet to learn 😉)

We didn’t visit long as we’d already seen them the other night and we wanted to finish some porch preparations for the next day.

Wednesday Sept 5th –

Wednesday was mostly filled with porch things.
Thankfully it turned out to be a nice sunny day, perfect for painting and outdoor activity.

After getting out of this ‘blog’ thing, I greatly lack in taking picture throughout the day to spur my memory, so I really don’t have much else to say at this point🙈

We had garden fresh tomatoes on toasted bread with miracle whip, cheese and a generous salt and peppering for dinner, as cooking two meals a day for two weeks turned out to be more tiring than I’d first expected 😜

I made yogurt soufflé for dessert though, topped with strawberries.

(I almost always pronounce soufflé as ‘suffel’ on purpose, because it’s one of those words that I can’t get over how it’s spelt, so it’s more entertaining to purposely pronounce it incorrectly 😏😜)

Thursday Sept 6th –

‘‘Twas the day to show the grands ‘the bush’ 😏

Mother dear drove us out to where Dad and the bro were working, whilst the car got a spare tire put on, because the new tires Mike had ordered had been delayed 🙄

Anyways, we drove through the bush, which to them sounds like we go to a jungle not a forest 😜

Mike hopped on the skidder to show them how that worked and Dad showed them the delimber and slasher.
Questions were asked and answered and show and tell came to an end 😉

We headed back into town and got Pizza Hut for lunch and then home for a short rest before going to Becca’s for another family dinner.

A delicious meal of ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli salad, beets and carrots awaited… and a chocolate cheesecake to finish us off, as if we weren’t already full enough 🤪

Friday Sept 7th –

The porch was completed 😁

 

The paint had dried and the first steps on the new porch were taken… it’s crazy how changing the location and size of the stairs, made the whole thing look bigger!

Mike and Opa worked on some finishing touches and painted a few other spots on the house, before they along with Oma, left to explore the nearby bush and enjoy a walking/ski trail not too far from our house.

I stayed to prepare for company that evening 😉
And I’d taken that walk and didn’t really relish the idea of doing it again 😜🙈

Chicken Caesar salad was our supper and we’d requested our pastor and his wife come to enjoy coffee and dessert since our kitchen island isn’t the most enjoyable place for 6 to dine 😜

They came and I received some homemade dill pickles! 🤤👌🏻

As well as a homemade exfoliating soap holder, which I thought was pretty cool 😎

I served up some raspberry torte, coffee AND tea… it was probably the 4th time tea’s been made in our home 😜

It was interesting to learn about the different people and places that Oma and Opa and Paul and Holly had in common from their travels, though never having met one another.
A name would come up and recognizing nods from one or the other would follow and then the stories about said times ensued ☺️

Mike gave them a detailed home tour and by the time they left they knew where all the mishaps were as well as the best bits, for he spared no detail 😉… and Holly could fill in the blanks from having read the blog 😜

Saturday Sept 8th –

We headed to Waskesiu, wanting to make use of the nice day and wanting to spot some wildlife for the grands.

We did the first bit… but the second part was to no avail 🙄

They seen a few deer and a few coyotes (alive or not, does it really matter? 😜) but aside from that, they didn’t get to spot a bear, moose or elk and we thought we’d spot at least one of the three at the national park, as we couldn’t remember a time NOT seeing something there.

Now we shall remember a time 😏

We walked around the little beach town, passing through shops getting ready to close for the season and then we took a drive down a side road in search of animals but instead we just found a place to eat our earlier purchased Subway lunch 😋

We got a Big Olaf ice cream, as it feels wrong to leave there without one of those big waffles cones filled with toppings and then we made our way back to Prince Albert.

We had a few store stops to make, showing them Nutter’s, a bulk health and food store, as our previous guests had found it interesting and these did too 😉

Montana’s was the chosen place to dine and though in my mind the kapow shrimp can’t be beat, I don’t advise trying their new flatbread 😜

Sunday Sept 9th –

It was time to enjoy the lazy pancake once more 😉
Making for a somewhat easy Sunday morning meal.

The grands were happy to be able to hear our pastor preach and after the morning’s service, we took them to the dear friends who invite those who live further away, to dine with them on communion Sunday’s.

It was a top priority on my ‘show them how we live here’ list… I think they understood my pleasure in this certain event much better after enjoying BBQ ribs smothered in sauce and falling off the bone, creamy dill garden potatoes, Greek salad, homemade bread, garden carrots and balsamic garden beats.

And then dessert 😏👌🏻🍴

And THEN nap time!

How could an afternoon be spent any better ?!😉

We headed back to church for the communion service and so the grands got to participate and see how everything goes here, commenting on the large number of children 😜

We were invited for a little visit post church and we squeaked in just over an hour of enjoying refreshments, snacks and conversation, before having to head home 😏

Monday Sept 10th –

Mike was finally able to take the car to town for the new tires.

It was a gloomy day but there was packing for some to do and tidying for others so it wasn’t all that terrible 😏

Dad had mentioned making fish sometime during their visit and he made good on his word that evening 😉

I made a Caesar salad and cut up some avocado to season with lemon and lemon pepper, tarter sauce was readied, Dad fried fish, Mike fried fries and so we dined! 😁

I’d made a sopapilla cheesecake for dessert but we had to sip our coffees as it finished baking, which in realty was probably good as it let the meal have a moment to settle 😜

Tuesday Sept 11th –

Departure day was upon us.

We left the house around 9:15, after a double check of the area and a goodbye to the house 😋

The airport doings went as planned and so the time came to say our goodbyes.

It’s not every grandkid that has grandparents who will/can travel all the way from Europe to spend some time with you and want to see where exactly you live life, so we were thankful for that opportunity and for the examples their lives are 💕

 

They arrived with many hugs and hello’s to bestow on us and they left with the same to take back… along with some goodies and jam, as raspberry is Opa’s favourite 😉