Having fun this long weekend?

The weather is trying to be somewhat good for this long weekend. It still can't seem to resist raining, but at least the days are mostly sunny and a nice temperature.

Rob hauled Clare over to Amberlea for the dressage show on Thursday; it looked pretty nice when we picked her up again on Sunday, but I guess the it was quite flooded Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, Rob, Ginger and I took the canoe out on the North Saskatchewan for an all day boat ride. We hired Edmonton Canoe to pick us up at Emily Murphy Park and haul the three of us, the canoe, and our provisions down to Devon. It was a nice day to be on the water, but silly Rob got a bit of a sun burn.


I was surprised by the lack of plant life in the water. I guess the fish in the river are all carnivores, so they don't need plant life to do well, but we didn't see much for life on the water other than one beaver and a bunch of birds.

Ginger did well on the boat once she found her balance...and the copious dog treats we bought. She enjoyed getting out on some sand bars, although I think she was disappointed by the lack of smells on the little islands.

We were surprised that she didn't try swimming at first, but finally at our last stop near Fort Edmonton she got excited by some wake created by a jet boat, and she tried attacking the waves as they reached the shore, and then finally went for a swim.

I think the last time I was on the river would be about 30 years ago; it has changed! More big houses and more activity along the river. It was a little freaky to see the houses poised to fall in the river by Riverbend. The two new foot bridges across the water looked impressive and well used.

The other thing that surprised me was the 17+ dogs playing in the water at Twilliger park. Ok, the dogs didn't surprise me, what surprised me was the 4+ toddlers also in the water with the dogs. Who brings a toddler to an off leash dog park and lets them play admist the dogs? Particularly in water that isn't safe to drink.

We spent about 7 hours on the water in total. My bum was a tad sore, but I would go again. It was nice being on the water with no bugs, crowds or horses : )

On Sunday I taught, then we went to pick up Magnus from the show. Clare was happy as she was able to break 60% at training level! Last night we went to visit my parents and brother for dinner. Dinner was nice. Dad isn't doing so well and is back on regular blood and platelet transfusions. Summer time is not a good time to need blood as less people make donations (hint hint), so their time spend in the hospital trying to located a suitable match means it is an all day process. Dad's mind is still 100% though, so he was able to explain to me how fish can still live in water that appears dead to me.

Today will be a day to relax and then lessons tonight. Lots of people are away this week, so the lesson plan will just be something simple...maybe we will even get outside this week? Now that there are less mosquitoes being outside is much nicer! I can't get over how much standing water there is.

Karen