fall in BC

fall has been good to the fraser valley.  our days have been full of sunshine.  never let it be said that we failed to protect our fair children from UV rays.

not because it's true, just because i don't want people talking about us that way.  a while ago our neighbours gave us their old dog bed.  niko likes it, but the boys love it.  a great way to lounge on the deck.

speaking of decks, it's time for a new one.  we knew when we bought our house that the deck and particularly the stairs wouldnt last, however i thought we could make it until springtime.  one stringer required buttressing earlier this year, and i was procrastinating on doing the other side.  it seemed ok until a few weeks ago, but having no guests i still didnt get to it.  whoops.

ty has been engaging with music more and more.  his favourites are the drums and the piano.  he is also big on singing his abc's.

last week the waning blackberry crop brought us to vedder mountain as a family.  it's a place frequented by myself and niko, but never the entire family.  biking the vedder trails has given me an inside scoop to the best blackberry spots.  unfortunately a local bear had the inside scoop as well, and we saw many trampled sections with the berry clumps sucked clean.  we were still able to pick enough to make a pie before dusk, and then we took ty on the bike trails to get back to the car.


ty likes trailrunning on little mountain, so i anticipated his enjoyment of the big boy berms and bike jumps.  we were not disappointed.

after running downhill for about 5 minutes, ty entered a trancelike state (previously noted in niko) in which all concerns aside from speed receded into the background.  he would trip and fall, only to jump up, give a little shake and take off.  one of these recoveries was digitally captured and is featured in the opening seconds of this clip.  forgive the extreme shakiness; it was hard to keep up with ty on the trail while filming and carrying zeke on my back.

this weekend was the st. pauls hospital whistler emerg conference.  a time of biking, eating, learning, biking, networking and biking.  there was a pretty packed schedule, what with all the biking, so kylie and the boys stayed home while i refreshed and flexed my brain.

a few friends attended, including graham, a BC emigree like myself, who also can't believe how amazing his backyard is.  i only took 3 pictures the entire weekend.  on the way to whistler i stopped in north van and biked on the famous north shore with my buddy chris.  the first full day of the conference graham and i enjoyed the lift access trails in the bike park and after an exhaustingly full day i slammed myself into a tree on crack addict and called it a day.  there were evening lectures schedule, but i opted to lie in the hottub and use the jets on my bruises so that i could get in a big xc ride the next day.

pictured above is the start of "kill me thrill me" which led to whistler's famous "comfortably numb" (picture below) which was an accurate description by the end of the afternoon.  i made it to the evening session that day, but unfortunately the keynote address was the worst lecture of the weekend and i went for a walk and talked to kylie instead.

after the conference was over, a stop in squamish on the way home was essential.  our good friends chris and yael have recently bought a house here, and chris was excited to tour me through his new backyard.  here is chris on the climbing trail leading to "angry midget".  what fun.  nice backyard chris.

we got in one more camping trip for the season last week, but sent our computer off for repairs with our pictures on it.  hopefully it comes back soon and hopefully time machine works.  until then, keep fit and have fun!