Killarney Sep 6

 You know it's gonna be a special day when you have hot chocolate for breakfast!

Even if it's raining.

 The loons came out to entertain while we enjoyed hot choc and bday candy. Yum! We did add something a bit more substantial to our stomachs as we were moving along today. Three (or four?) small portages and lotsa paddling.

 Jennifer got the front seat -- Daniel said he'd be a gentleman for her today.

 Candy at portages...makes it not feel like work! Makes the wetness not be as noticeable too. :)

 What a load to carry on a special day! Looks pretty impressive.

 For her size and body weight it is a lot.

 Evelyn has to carry a fair bit too.

 Yup, all the kids are helping out...so then we don't need to double back. :) Although if it's just 50 meters, the kids come back for paddles and odds and ends.

 Another lake, another paddle...

 And a new bag of candy at every portage! Wow!

 Almost there! The weather is clearing up...cloudy still, but no more rain. :) Time to set up camp. And open another bag of candy. Mmmm. (there's no cake, after all)

 A gift!! Someone packed that in with care and hid it well to save for today.

 Her own iphone! Daniel put a lot of thought into the apps he installed. And included a manual, as Jennifer doesn't know much about electronic devices. Very nice.

Jennifer and I went off to paddle together. It had been her special request.

 After we took off we saw Matthew and Daniel following us. After we explored the island we hid out of sight. Had they seen us land?

 Yup!! After they landed we dashed off again. And the chase was on!

 There was a really hilarious (for us, not the boys) occurrence of the boys getting way behind and desperate to catch up they ended up sitting facing opposite directions and making a huge racket. It looked like it was meant for a Norman Rockwell painting. They managed to get back to the campsite, rather slowly, but were not happy with each other. So us girls headed out for a quieter exploration trip. This time nobody chased us.

 Checking out a hillside.

 Take a picture of me!

 Practicing for PNG style play, the kids found an old pail from some other campers left behind as garbage and used it to play...lugging water (it did leak, but who cares!) and dumping it.