parental guidance strongly advised

september is half over and visitors numero dos have come and gone. my parents came through chilliwack after visiting shareen and craig in victoria and my uncle gil, aunt helen and cousin marcie in surrey.

we picked my parents up from my aunt and uncle's place where they had already been shown a grand time in vancouver, biking all over stanley park and granville island.

on our first day with them we got a picnic lunch and set out to explore tynehead park in surrey. what we found were blackberries... lots and lots of blackberries.
after completely filling our stomachs and upper esophagi we found we could not stop ourselves from picking these brilliant black bulging buds of berrylicious bonbon so we started filling doggy bags (and i dont mean paper bags from a restaurant) to take home and bake with.

after gorging ourselves on blackberries we proceeded to langley where we first visited oma g (no relation), who has recently moved from lethbridge to a stunning new seniors village in the valley. we surprised her and she was so excited to see us alberta imports!

after a nice visit (and a nap in a chair for me) we moved further up the valley to our good friends martin (oma g's son) and sonya and jannessa and mike, and their dog chester.

there we had a fantastic dinner (bacon wrapped steak - oh joyous juxtaposition!) and martin enthused about their new house and its location right next to a gorgeous little ravine where we walked our dogs.

(warning - this next paragraph may sound familiar to regular blog readers)
the next day was anchored by a hike up mt cheam, the most prominent peak in chilliwack. we saw no bears along the way and stopped to eat some of their huckleberries while they were or were not otherwise occupied.
yes, that's right... we hiked up cheam for the 2nd time in a week, and we may do it again tomorrow... it is that beautiful. my parents loved it and my dad couldnt stop taking pictures of the peak from various vantages throughout the valley thereafter.



after cheam we travelled see our friends and my mom's cousins gerry and anne. they are always a fantastic time and this night was no exception. at my parent's request we watched the final of canadian idol to witness the crowning of theo tams... lethbridge pride! at gerry and anne's we feasted on icecream cake and blackberry/apple crumble.

the next day involved a hike on harrison lake to a nice little beach


and while my parents and kylie continued along the harrison river i ran back and rented a kayak to come out and meet them.

after enjoying an ice cream cone while perusing the world sandcastle competition entries we took a sunday drive (on friday) back through fraser valley farmland to our house where we hosted our friend dave, who introduced me to some sweet tunes and caught up with my mom.

all in all another great guest visit. i really loved hosting my parents and watching them enjoying all the beautiful sites and great friends.