He's Got Wheels...Two of Them.

Can you believe it? Konrad is riding a bike without training wheels. He's already been on hour-long bike rides since then. He was so excited... can you see the smile on his face? There never was a prouder boy than Konrad.

Anders Birthday! (from July 18th - A delayed post)

Anders birthday was in July but I hadn't downloaded the photos until yesterday. Anders turned two and we spent a day at the Toronto Metro Zoo. Isn't that what every family does in the summer? The kids had a blast.


















Anders loves animals right now. He's all about the animals. Elephants are one of his very favourite animals so we had to take a photo!

























I was getting a few requests for proof that I had actually made the most amazing raspberry lemon cream cake ever. Here it is. The cake that I will never make again.




And the end to a great birthday for a 2 year old - swimming with Grandpa Jakob. It was a great day.

Jakob-Binch Family Reunion in Elk Lake

I know that I have a lot of other things to catch up on BUT I actually have photos for this event so I will document it. We arrived Thursday night with two large bass in our cooler. Yum-yum. Eric's Uncle Karl and Aunt Patsy hosted the reunion at their home in Elk Lake. Nearby, at their local landfill site, the bears feast on garbage. Sometimes there are more than 8 bears. I think it's sad but the bears are particularly hungry this year since the blueberries aren't as plentiful. Anders and Konrad had so much fun. There was a trampoline, lots of fishing, boat rides, fireworks and lots of cousins to play with. I should probably explain Eric's family to those of you whom do not belong to the clan. Grandma Christa Binch came to Canada from Germany with Eric Jakob and had Eleanor, Karl, Klaus, Martin, and Erica. After her husband died, she remarried Henry Binch. Then she had more children - Wally, Johnny and Ray. That's a lot of kids and there are MANY grandchildren who have followed. There's much more to this story and I am new in the Jakob clan so I don't know a part of it.



This is a photo of Grandma Binch at the beach with the family. She loves the water.




Here's Uncle Martin with their new speedboat. It was a lot of fun EXCEPT when you tried to speak to someone next you. The spit and drool would then fly out of your mouth. Speed.



Here's a great photo of some of Grandma Binch's grandchildren and great-grandchildren.






We had a great time. Eric and I took the boys out fishing Saturday evening and we caught several small perch, pickerel and pike. The kids were pretty excited about that. I read a short history of Elk Lake and it was very interesting. Ojibway peoples claim that there were elk and caribou here. There is a long history of mining silver and logging. There was a notable logging baron, J.R. Booth . He logged the Montreal River and sent the logs downstream toward Lake Temiskaming, then the Ottawa River. His lumber mills were in Ottawa. Like many small towns in northern Ontario, Elk Lake was once a hubbub of activity when mining was at its peak. I can vouch for the fact that it's pretty sleepy these days.