summer

this is our first summer in our new place and we have been enjoying our yard as well as the surrounding area. this is the dyke holding back the roaring fraser river a few kil0meters north of our house.

we had a bbq on the evening of the summer solstice, fully utilizing the deck and the backyard. kylie and i are blessed with pretty awesome friends. there are kids all over the place now!

after kayaking on harrison, and biking and driving along hope river road to our house every day i decided to get a kayak. we have a river (more of a slough in the winter) running along the bottom of the mountain we live on and i wanted to explore it, so i found a good deal on craigslist and drove out to aldergrove to pick up my new boat.
this is the beginning of our street from the water.


the waterways offer a different route through the countryside and i enjoyed exploring tonight. there will be a lot more in the future. i threw the kayak on the roof and drove less than a minute back to our driveway. i wanted to walk down the street with the kayak on my head, but kylie saw my wobbly start as ungainly mr. kayakhead and predicted downhill disaster. perhaps i will fashion some sort of head mount.

harrison retreat

kylie and i just returned from our 27 hour retreat at harrison hot springs. kylie's mom is in town and offered to babysit ty so kylie could have her first baby free night since he was born.
we stayed at the resort in a room facing the lake. it was idyllic. having the afternoon and evening of wednesday, and the morning and afternoon of thursday available to us, we packed two full days of activities into just over a day. it is amazing how much you can do when you don't have to pack a kid and his accoutrements around.
we managed to go for two kayak trips, have a picnic on the (tiny) beach, soak in the mineral springs on four separate occasions, go out for dinner and watch (the first 2 periods of) the stanley cup final, have an amazing buffet breakfast, go out for coffee twice and afternoon tea once, go for a walk on the beach and finally go for a walk in the cheam lake wetlands.


on our excursions we saw a seal (above), a family of crested river ducks, a bunch of rabbits, a deer and two brand new fawns and a legendary sto:lo chief who was turned to stone. can you see him and his torso sticking out of the water in the below picture?
we are blessed to have such an amazing retreat less than 40 min drive from our house. thanks cherri for the babysitting!

Finally some summer weather!!!

Although it is cloudy tonight as I type this, we have been experiencing some lovely weather in the past couple of weeks. We have enjoyed lots of walks in the sun and even found a new one close to our house.

Shareen and Craig passed through Chilliwack last week on their way home from vacationing the states.

Here is Ty showing Auntie Shareen the path on our new walking spot along the dyke:

Ty really like to walk on our walks right now. Imagine that! He is getting better at walking with us rather than stopping to eat rocks and throw dirt. Although we have found that he is much more difficult to do come training with than Niko. ;)

Eating pulled pork sandwiches on the deck

On the second day of Shareen and Craig's visit, we walked up to the cemetery across the street from our house. It was quite hot and Marc got a sunburn on his back while weeding with Shareen. (He remembered to sunscreen his front but totally forgot that he was wearing a tank top since it has been quite a while since it has been nice enough to sport one!) Ty however was sunscreened up and down even in his hair. For some reason this hair style just makes him look brilliant. ;)

Swinging with the boys:
Ty has been to this park quite a bit since it is right across the street from our house and he is now starting to understand the concept of "going home." Every time we start walking down the path to go back home he runs the other way and as soon as he is scooped up he cries most of the way back, either hiking pitifully through his tears or letting Marc carry him home.

This particular evening he was in a delightful mood after dinner on the deck:

We have been enjoying watching (some) of the hockey games, depending on the score. :) This particular night, Vancouver won and we enjoyed the game from our deck with some friends!


"What should Mommy finish this post with? I know, I know!!! Pictures of Niko!!"

Niko has gotten his annual spring shave this week and this is by far the most beautiful he looks!! Before and After:





MUCH better than this:

UGH!!

It's Race Day!

I completed my first 10k on Sunday! I never would have believed 10 years ago that I would be a runner! Okay maybe not quite a runner but perhaps a runner in training.

Crossing the finish line. The times above the finish line are not my correct time, nor is the time published online. hee hee On our way to the start line, I handed my friend Ang my bag of pins and race tracker for my shoe so I could put my ipod arm band on. When she gave handed them back to me she actually gave me hers. Thankfully she is a much better runner than me and my time looks great online!! :)

Yeah, I'm done!! I was so happy to see Marc and Ty at the finish line. Marc was very supportive of me doing this race and was ALWAYS willing to take Ty so I could go for a run. Thanks Marc!!! Little did he know that I was actually going for breve lattes.

Relaxing after the race

Ty showing he is so proud of his mama he is playing her like a drum. He also used these sticks to taser a man relaxing with his grandchildren.

Well I cannot really say that I enjoy running, but I do enjoy being done running and having to replace the calories lost with pizza and oreo ice cream sandwiches on the deck with our friends!!

Catch Up

We have definitely been neglecting this ol' blog of ours but that means we were out enjoying life and there is nothing wrong with that! My dad came for a visit in April and had a great time playing with Ty and reading the same book over and over and over again. ;)
Auntie Shareen made Ty this super cute T-rex tail for his birthday. He loves it and really likes wearing it. I think he feels like a scary kid. ROOOOAAARR!
Sunny days here have been few and far between but we have definitely been spending time outside and on our patio when they do come around. Ty enjoys the patio rain or shine!!!

Ty showing Daddy his developing climbing skills.

This is the first sign of spring in our house. Marc adopts his warm weather attire - no shirt!

Ty's personality is definitely starting to emerge! He is very social, happy to be picked up by anyone. He also loves beer cans and toothbrushes at this stage. I was just remarking that although Ty doesn't take a bottle or a soother to calm down, he definitely is happiest when he has a Hell's Gate can in one hand and a toothbrush in the other. Here the toothbrush has been replaced by the mallet . . .

Wearing Mommy's hat from when she was a baby

This picture makes me chuckle every time I look at it. I shall call it "The Pantsless child enjoys his beer can while dog plays with puppy cousins stolen toy in the foreground."


Carlynne came for a visit on the May Long weekend and we got A LOT of photos and pictures hung. We love this extra homey touch for our house. Thanks so much Carlynne, we love it!!

Carlynne came up with this classy way of showcasing one of our bedouin hangings. Marc really wanted to display it, but I had deemed it too "college". She cut the centre into 4 pieces and framed them, and then flipped them ipsilaterally.
The picture to Carlynne's left is one she painted for us in Kenya. We have many fond memories of matatuing through Africa with her.
Thanks again Carlynne. Well presented.
We wish you all a wonderful last few days of May! May June bring more sunshine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!