.
My brother Rob has only recently discovered Murtle Lake and has made it one of his yearly vacation destinations. We were lucky enough to be able to go with them on one of their five-day canoe-camping trips. Look how beautiful it is!
Another reason why it was so memorable was because my whole family (except for my oldest brother Otto, who had to hold the fort in Williams Lake) came, making it a total of 13 people. We missed Otto, but he didn't miss us! He had a good time on his own he said. Here's a good picture of my dad sitting on the beach.
We had four canoes total. In one canoe sat my brother and my parents. Don't worry though, despite what this picture looks like, my brother Albert did his share of the paddling too! Even if he had to arm-wrestle my mom at times to convince her to have a rest!
And here's a rare family picture of Tricia, Rob and their slugs. Rachel is in the front with Tricia and the three boys are in the middle. Some of the time, the boys were in their own canoe too, paddling, fishing and hollering away. Eli got to ride with them once and he really enjoyed that.
This is a view from behind me: Serious Scott and the giggly, restless kids. I think Scott was giving me that look because I had just had a nap while he paddled and he wondered when it was his turn. 
Rachel and Dana would get the same great idea from time to time:
Nothing like napping in a canoe...
Or playing (in your underwear) on the beach...
I love this picture of Tricia and her boys! It was taken on the way to a trailhead along the shore as there are various hikes near different campsites. The boys had an easy time finding gun, knife or sword-shaped driftwood, but maybe not such an easy time of it trying to carry it all.
Rachel was asleep in her dad's arms as we hiked along the trail. The kids were too little for us to make it the whole way, but Scott, Albert and my parents went the whole way.
Here is a picture of my parents and brothers on the fifth and last day of the canoe trip. Slaviks, by nature, can usually be seen doing one of two things: they are either upright, working hard or horizontal, napping in the sun..
It was a great trip.
