Life's a Beach

 
Most of our summer holidays this year were spent at the beach at Waskesiu Lake.  This is a special place for Jason and I as we have many fond memories of the lake.  We spent many dates (even back to before we were married) at the lake and have some wonderful anniversary memories there as well.  And we are thrilled that we are now able to share that place with Maya....and she seemed to love it as much as we do.  We were so fortunate to be able to spend 6 days at the lake in a condo at beautiful Elk Ridge resort.  It's just a few minutes drive to the beach and gave us our own little lake hideaway.  It was a two bedroom condo so Maya had her own little room and when my mom stayed with us for a couple of nights there was also a large pull-out couch for her in the living room.  The condo was nestled in amongst the trees of the golf course and we really felt like we were able to get away from it all and relax.  Wonderful!

On August 7th, 2009 Jason and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  Wow, what a milestone!  I just can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  Sometimes I feel like it was just yesterday that we were married and then I think about all that we have accomplished in the last decade and realize that indeed we are very blessed.  And we celebrated our anniversary with very happy and thankful hearts.  I always thought that a milestone anniversary such as year 10, we would do something extravagant for each other like a trip to Europe or back to Hawaii but now that we have a 16 month toddler, leaving her to travel just wasn't something either of us wanted to do.  And of course with Jay's first triathlon being two days after our anniversary, we were a bit limited on where we could go.  So we decided to take full advantage of being at one of our favorite places on earth and truly enjoy our lake holiday.  We were so fortunate that my mom was more than happy to stay with Maya and so we went out for a beautiful and romantic anniversary dinner at the Elk Ridge Lodge dining room and spent over two hours eating and talking and reminiscing over the last 10 years. And even though we weren't somewhere exotic, it was our best anniversary thus far and reminded us that as long as we are together, then paradise can and does exist.  We can't wait to see what the next 10, 30 50?? years have in store! The next morning my mom continued in her role of super-grandma and took Maya for the morning so Jay and I could do an early round of golf.  These little "dates" were such a special time for us and we really enjoyed being a couple again.  Even after 10 years of marriage we still delight in being together and that is wonderful!

Here are some pics of Maya at the beach.  She literally squealed with delight the first time she felt the sand squish between her toes and found such joy in picking out the rocks in the sand and throwing them in the water.  Seeing her experience the lake and the beach for the first time was a privilege and a joy and something we won't forget.

Enjoying being in the water with daddy!  We were so fortunate that we had almost 30 degree weather for our entire time at the lake and air conditioning in the condo...perfect!!                                                                                                                                                                      

Digging in the sand.

                                                             

            

                     

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Picking up rocks and throwing them in the water.  The last picture is taken directly above the water.  It's so clear you and see the rocks beneath.  Love Saskatchewan lakes!

 

                                                                       

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I took this video of Maya while she played at the beach.  It's a bit long and again I'm posting it mostly for the grandparents but if you have time, enjoy!