Monday, June 24-Thursday, 27, 2019
The Bowman boys had a busy week with Grandpa, Barbara and
Grant – celebrating summer:
On Monday afternoon the boys visited the cottage (stopping
at Bouchette for ice cream). They took some casts from the dock. It was bug
jacket time! They enjoyed dinner and then tucked in for a good sleep.
Tuesday was Eagles and Dragon Fly Day. The boys played a game as soon as soon as they
got up and then David decided to make an eagle (out of an egg carton) like Sam
had made last year. Sam enhanced his
eagle with paper wings. Then it was fishing with Grandpa time – Grandpa caught
a pike. After lunch, the boys
noticed dragonflies hatching by the water. They cheered them on as dragon
flies love to eat mosquitoes. The boys had a happy reunion in the lake with
Killer Whale & Dolphin. David was
pleased to get a dragonfly to land on his hand at the Tims cottage.
On Wednesday, Grandpa’s boat repairs were finished and it was
ready for pick up at Maniwaki. On the
way to Equipment Maniwaki we stopped at the Hart store so Sam and David
and Grant could get their own bug zappers.
These were very popular! The boys
were quite attentive at the Equipment Maniwaki store and garage. It didn’t
talk long to get the “tube boat” attached.
Soon we were at the Tims beach to launch it. Note the bug zappers in the
photos. Grandpa and the boys took the boat out for a trial run. It was good to
have the boat back in action. Then David
and Grandpa worked on building a birdhouse with David’s tools. Grant and Sam played a game and David joined
them after awhile.
On Thursday, the boys started with a loon count with Grandpa
and Barbara. It was slow going for awhile,
just some grackles. Finally, we saw some loons on the east shore. Our usual loon
nesting spot at Seagull Island had an egg, but no loon, just a tern nearby. Our total was 8 adult loons. After the
loon count, it was time for fishing and then lunch (accompanied by zapping
bugs). As Sam had a baseball game in Chelsea
at 6pm we left the cottage at 4. Unfortunately,
at Kazabazua the police had blocked the road and we had to wait a half hour for
our turn to detour. Luckily, we got Sam to the ball field in Gatineau just before the game
started. We all enjoyed watching him hit as well as take a turn at being the catcher.
Friday was an adventure day.
We drove to the Bonnechere Caves near Eganville, stopping en route at
Grandpa’s favourite ice cream store in Renfrew.
Exploring the caves, we all learned a lot about underground tunnels and
fossils. Returning home, we crossed the Ottawa River at Portage du Fort to
Quebec. This route took us past the ruins
of the old McKechnie farm where the boys great-great grandfather, Archibald
MacKechnie, had settled in about 1830. Back
home at Chelsea, Maman prepared a delicious pasta dinner for us and then taught
the boys how to skip. A fun end to a busy day.
