CE pt. II

in a true testament to the return of my regular work schedule (just in time for summer - no coincidence there!) after spending the week at bear creek, we came back home for me to work the weekend and then drove out to cultus lake for the next week.  ;-)

it has been said before on our blog that we used to mock chilliwackians for camping at a lake 10 minutes from town, but let it be known that we now happily admit our egregious error.  cultus was the plan b/c kylie had a few meetings that she couldnt miss, and the lake is an easy commute.  a happy side benefit is that our friends can come visit us, and sure enough, every day saw at least one and sometimes several groups of visitors.

the weather this time wasn't quite as sunny and brilliant, but it still turned out well, and the popup tent we purchased on the way out of town was a fun addition to our camp.

another advantage of cultus camping is that we have cell reception!  this allowed us to receive the joyful news that carlynne and dan welcomed their baby girl finola rose into the world.

we could even virtually toast her health.

cheers baby fin!

our friends mike and patty and james came to visit one day and mike and i explored inside a cloud enveloping vedder mountain, a mountain biking, hiking, dirtbiking 4x4ing paradise dominating the western aspect of cultus lake.

proving once again that it doesnt have to be sunny to be beautiful.

 after packing up and leaving cultus lake, we proceeded directly back to harrison lake for my friend jen's birthday party.  her husband arranged a bluegrass concert on the dock, which was a huge hit, particularly with ty.

 note ty breakdancing in the bottom left.  he served as a nidus for dancing and soon everyone was bopping.  kylie did question whether the dock was engineered for coordinated bouncing; she was concerned our bopping would become bobbing.  our host detmar assured us that that a dock built for the ravages of harrison lake can take some hits.

happy birthday jen!  awesome party.

Camping Extravaganza

Marc and the boys and I just got back from a lovely few days away at Bear Creek Forestry Site, about 50 km from here on Harrison Lake. The days were gloriously sunny and we had the campground mainly to ourselves.  The boys played for hours throwing rocks in the water, playing in the mud and getting altogether very dirty while Marc and I read our books and sat on the beach.  (With a bit, or in Marc's case a lot of kayaking in between). 

The boys are reaching the age where they are actually playing together.  After months of Ty being angry at Zeke for stealing his toys, they are really starting to enjoy each other.  That doesn't mean that Ty doesn't occasionally exert a few well placed hip checks but they are definitely starting to enjoy being together.  (That being said, I am sure I am going to have to break up some brawls between these two in the very near future.  Zeke is quick like a dragon with his swipes.)

I love this shot. Zeke chillaxin in his high chair while the campers watch the kite surfer. 

Ty threw rocks for the "Rock Dog" as he called her for hours.  Elsa the rock dog belongs to the camp hosts and is a permanent fixture at Bear Creek.  Ty would throw rocks and she would contort her body in crazy ways to try and catch them.  He was constantly asking to go to the "Rock Dog's house" to see if she wanted to catch rocks.

One of the days that we were there, Jack (the camp host) took Ty and Marc in his motorboat to this little cabin just up the lake. A family lived here about 15 years ago. 

 This was a super relaxing camping time.  The boys slept until 8:00 or 8:30 most days (one day it was even 8:45) For those of you that know Ty this is absolute craziness.  Zeke is an awesome sleeper inner (I think he takes after his mom!) and was happy to continue that trend while we were camping.  

 Speaking of Zeke, he is becoming quite the ham.  He loves to put on sunglasses and hats and always squints his eyes and sticks out his teeth right after he snatches them away and puts them on his head.

The most beautiful phone booth in BC....

There was something very attractive on the ground to these butterflies and they spent the good part of two days congregating.

He's cute, even when he's dirty!

Each evening after Zeke went to bed, we would keep Ty up to roast marshmallows and hot dogs  - the most protein he's eaten in one sitting in weeks!  Don't worry they were 100% beef, no additives here. ;)

A lovely lovely trip. We just got back from a couple of days at Cultus and hope to go out again soon!  Here's to camping season!

our boys are awesome, s & c's visit, and our garden

our boys are pretty much awesome.

here are ty and zeke in churchill colours for grandpa's colour day in lethbridge.  greg loves the excuse to show off his grandsons to his students.  if they can wear blue and orange, so can you!

we've had some great picnic weather lately.  pack a sandwich or two, or stop at a deli for egg salad and doughnuts.

we were all proud of kylie for running 10k in an hour at abbotsford's run for water.  ty loves yelling "go mommy go!"  kylie and her friends all got thoroughly soaked and had a great time.  she wasnt even sore.

shareen and craig made the g household an anchor stop on their tour of the pacific northwest.  i didnt even get a picture of 2 motorhomes in our driveway.

ty loves auntie freen.  last time he was here she taught him to make a scary face, which he does well to this day.

zeke loves craig.  every morning it was the same... "uuuuggghhh!  ugggh!!!" while straining to reach uncle craig, or be picked up by him.  pleasantly scratchy.

we loved having maggie visit as well.  bringing a dog on a hike really increases one's enjoyment.  bringing 2 dogs on a hike... things get a bit nutty.

our garden is doing awesome!  this is our first real gardening attempt since living in edmonton.  i remember standing in our backyard watering my little row every night and at the end of the summer we had a couple 2 foot tall morningglories, some sprouts with no veggies and a few marigolds.

this year in chilliwack, kylie and i spent 30 minutes planting and then we walked away.  no watering, and about 5 minutes total weeding time.

we did have a little greenhouse help with our lettuce.

the above shots are all from 2 weeks ago, with all the new sprouts poking out.

here is our garden today.  fully up and already providing us with nightly salads!  so far the lettuce, swiss chard, scallions and onions are all ready for early harvest, and the carrots arent far off.

 the peppers and peas still have a ways to go.  i love chilliwack!

speaking of loving chilliwack, last week was spent camping on the east side of harrison lake. we came back and i worked the weekend in abbotsford and now we're off to cultus lake for more (albeit rainier) fun.  D43.  come out and visit!