I had asked my sister what my oldest nephew was doing this summer cause if he needed a job we sure could put him to work, she said he had to get a job somewhere and it turned out he did neither of the options in Calgary so out here it was, but his younger brother wanted to come out and work too so we got them both to work for us for 2 weeks.
It was a lot of fun, we did all kinds of stuff, most exciting was tearing down my roundpen so we could build an arena! And we trimmed trees, built barbwire fence, made salsa, drove, cleaned house, and had lots of fires, it was fun. It was kinda bad time for us as our shower quit, but we were heading down to the campground to shower so we brought them with us as well, might as well make it an adventure :)
After the museum tour and walk they come home with us. We knew the power was gonna be out on Tuesday so I planned a lesson and Neil took the boys to Stettler to look at cows and they went swimming on the way home. I was surprised he wanted to do that since Neil is not a swimmer at all, but he said it wasn't that bad haha. It was fairly hot out so we spent the afternoons in the house relaxing and went out when it got cooler. We started on the roundpen, I had them pulling nails but they wanted to pull the slabs and planks off. Not a problem with me cause its way easier to pull nails so I did that. They were good sports cause they soon realized it was a harder job but they stuck with it. It took us a lot of evenings but boy were they excited when we were finished. We took a tour to the ferry and the neighbors had a new corral with windbreak and Jaret says I sure hope they don't wanna pull that down....so I said I would ask if they need help and he was like NOOOOOOOO I love teasing them.
Neil's Mom and Dad were coming out one afternoon to pick saskatoons so I figured it was a good day to clean house, we had 3 jobs, washing dishes, sweeping and moping and cleaning the bathroom. Tristan was right on with I wanna clean the bathroom, and Jaret wanted to mop yay! I would rather it that way as well. Of course neither had ever done their job so that's probly why they picked them. I think it actually took longer than if I woulda done it myself but that's OK I don't mind not having to clean. Turns out there were very few berries anyways we tried to find a few to pick too.
We also headed down to Brooks one afternoon for a BBQ for Neil's Moms birthday, that was nice, corn on the cob and hotdogs on the fire, perfect summer afternoon. And a shower on the way home at the campground.
We also spent a day at the Hardgrass Havoc which I thought was the mud bog but apparently was not, was just an off road event for a bunch of people to build crazy vehicles and go over obstacles and stuff. Was kinda interesting but not at all what I thought it was gonna be.
We didn't get a lot of horse time with them as I only have one horse they can ride and nowhere to really ride but my farrier was supposed to come so they helped me catch and tie up all the horses and then he called to say he couldnt make it so we turned them out again. He came a couple days later but they were leaving that day so missed it. Maybe next year I will borrow a horse for a week and we have the arena now so that will help a lot.
One day they wanted to make something and so we made a box for the kindling to put in the garden shed. It was a good project, just an afternoon and they both could help lots. Even picked a piece with a knot for a handle. My Mom come out that afternoon and boy where they excited to show her what we made that day.
I also had been to the grocery store and bought peaches and since my mom cant eat tomatoes I always make her peach salsa and so I had them help me cut up stuff, the onion was so funny, both boys were crying, lol and I was away from them washing dishes so it didn't bother me. They thought it was neat how we pealed the peaches by boiling them too. Lots to learn out here.
One day our neighbor called while they were sleeping and asked if I could give him a ride home if he brought his tractor over so it could go to town with ours when the guy came and so I said sure. And I was out hanging clothes on the line and saw him but boy was Jaret surprised when he knocked and then walked in the house without waiting, lol. Things are different here for them for sure.
I had planned on some painting but they never brought old clothes they could wreck so next year I have that in mind. As well as I am planning on a wood project they can make and take home with them. And hopefully we can get more driving in with them helping Neil pick up bales from the field, or driving tractors. So many things I wanna do with them will be fun. And they musta enjoyed it too cause they are already planning when they should come out next summer.
