When everything with Oliver became accelerated, our plan to spend a week up at the cabin this summer went out the window. I have to go up to Royal University Hospital once a day at the minimum and our life has revolved around heading up to the hospital. Later this week after Oliver’s nurse assured me that everything was going fine, we decided to take a half day up to the lake. We went up to the cabin on Saturday night after seeing Oliver up at the hospital. The plan was to get up to the lake Saturday night and back to Saskatoon and see Oliver on Sunday. We drove out via Lanigan and Nokomis. Between those two towns the highway has simply disintegrated and while they are rebuilding them, I was stunned they didn’t redirect traffic but that was the worst and slowest stretch of highway I was on. The sand was so soft, it was almost dangerous to drive on.
Of course it was worth it when we got there. Mark and Maggi had the beach to themselves as we went for a long walk down it. Jordon and I took the land route while they went through the water. We were all a little darker and tanned at the end of the day and the dog was totally exhausted. Apparently retrieving everything in sight in and out of the water is hard work. I have never seen a dog love water that much. She spent probably 20 minutes just laying in the water, head out of it but entire body in it. Of course I forgot my hat and I ended up with a bit too much sun. I paid for it with a miserable headache last night and today. Advil is my friend.
Lee had given Mark a tent for his eighth birthday and we set it up behind the cabin for the first time and Mark slept back there. He never came in until 9:00 a.m. and loved this first time roughing it. The other advantage is that Jordon and I were able to wander down to the beach and watch the sunset knowing that Mark was safe and tucked in for the night.
Later in the day, Jordon and Mark took a load of stuff to the dump and took along Mark’s slingshot, a gift he got for winning an award for his grades in school. Jordon’s first shot after warning Mark of the dangers of shooting a slingshot hit a seagull. Seriously. If you paid him a million dollars, he couldn’t do it again but he hit a seagull who came into land mid shot.
We did have one problem and that was that during the middle of the night when Mark went to the washroom. After being a little longer than he should, Jordon wandered out and found him. He was certain he saw a bear. Jordon asked him, "Were you planning to stay [in the washrooms] all night?" To which Mark responded, "If I had to." It is now mandatory that he takes a flashlight to the bathroom and probably a two way radio.
We left pretty early Sunday but never managed to beat the heat. Oliver was resting wonderfully at RUH. Other than trying to pull out his feeding tube whenever he is awake, he is doing well and gaining more weight. I imagine Oliver will get to experience the lake in August.
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