Picnic Day

The weeks just seem to fly by now that we are "working" (ugh). I must say that I am really enjoying my new job. It's only three days per week so it's just enough to keep me out of trouble and to keep the wolves from the proverbial door. Doug is working a little too much at nearly 5 days per week right now. That should straighten itself out by the time we are ready for our September break. Can hardly wait for that!!

Anyway, you might wonder what that has to do with "Picnic Day", as in my title. Well, it seems that we are all thinking we are so busy but it just takes one person to put it out there "Hey, we should have a picnic at the beach". That's what Josh said and voila, here we are all, at the beach on a beautiful day, hot, hot, hot for sure!!  Josh is quick to point out that he may have put it out on social media but it was Kathy who did all the food, etc planning. Thanks to you both!! It wouldn't have happened without the "idea"!!

We spent the whole day at one of our favourite places, Crescent Beach. If you started walking from our pier here in White Rock and headed west and followed the beach, it would take you about 3 hours to walk to Crescent Beach. In fact, when our kids were younger, we took them out on that very walk. We parked a car at each end and walked, all the way around! I like to remember it as a fun family adventure. They may have different thoughts on it, however!! But, needless to say, it is pretty close to our house. About a 10 minute drive away, just round the point.

Great Grandma "T" with Jasper

Cousins.....Mason, Gus & Joey

Father and son trying to launch a little wee kite!

The gang, wisely seeking out the shade.....

Doug's brother Don (Grandpa Don and his little guy, Mason)

Do you think we had enough food????

Time to cool off some feet......

This boy has no fear of wading in the ocean. He loves it!

And I think he gets it from Josh, his dad. We could never keep Josh out of these

waters either when we would come down here. He would stay in the water until

his teeth chattered and his lips were blue!! Like Father, like son!! 

 

 

 

 

Cousins, Gus and Mason

 

Always gotta be a foot shot, right? Just cuz we aren't travelling right now,

doesn't mean I have forgotten! In fact, sometimes when I am at work, I look

down at my feet and think, why aren't we out somewhere fun???

Speaking of feet, where are MINE anyway??!!

 

This boy, we L-OV-E!!!!

 

So, eventually, everyone had other commitments and/or had to get the kids back home and out of the sun. That left my Mom, Nadyne, Don & Diana , Doug & myself. We just decided to hang out and have the same thing for dinner as we had for our picnic lunch. Just too nice of a day to pull ourselves away!!

Thank goodness for those "eze-up" shelters for the shade!!

 

So that was the weekend. We spent Sunday with our great friends, Bob & Danna. They were here for dinner and a beach walk (oh, and some pink wine too!). It is pink wine season, you know!!

 

Peace....

 

Thought for the Day: Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are….M.Williamson

CFL is here!!

It is no secret that I am a H-U-G-E CFL fan. I will put on a CFL game even if the BC Lions are not playing and even if Doug is not home. While I may not "watch" an entire game if BC isn't playing, I love having it on. Somehow it seems really "Canadian" to me and we certainly enjoy it.

So, with that pre-amble in place, we were treated to the BC Lions Season opener last Friday night!!

Josh and Kathy treated Doug & I and Mel & Rick to an evening of football. They even managed to score some field side passes for 4 of us to go down and soak up a bit of the Lions practice and some of the excitement that goes with being on the field level. Wow, is BC Place ever huge from that vantage spot!!!

Here, enjoy the evening with us....

 

Kathy's Dad, Rick.....aka Travis Lulay-Quarterback

The real Travis Lulay

 

One of my favourites from the BC Lions team is now President and GM, Wally Buono. It was nice to meet him. A few years ago, I sent BC Lions an email upon returning from Mexico. I had just found out that my favourite player and veteran player, Geroy Simon, had been traded and I was quite disappointed and did not understand the business end of the decision. So, I penned an email. I guess it made it's way to Wally and he actually called me on my cell and we had a 20 minute chat about it. Really, no lie - Doug was witness to it. Doug said that by the time I hung up, it sounded like we were old friends!! Pretty funny and he was so gracious with his time. Yes, I did come away with a better understanding of what happened. Happily, now in 2015, Geroy Simon is part of our team in a off-field position.
 

He said he actually remembered our conversation!!

One of my other fav's....Angus Reid. Likely the only team jersey

I would have ever bought, if I had bought one that is!

Good old number 65 - retired now though!!

Oh Canada.....

 

Opening ceremonies.....

Jasper suited up with his little head phones for ear protection!!

And....Josh doing what every good, self-respecting

CFL fan does, enjoying a brewski!!

He was good as gold too!!

Anyway, what a great evening. Kathy's mom, Mel was here as well but she Kathy and Jasper stayed up top-side while we were down on the field. To say we enjoyed the evening is an understatement. Even better was the fact that they were playing our really big rival, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and after trailing for the whole game, we muscled up and tied the game, went into overtime and WON!!! 

 

Thanks again Josh & Kathy! We really enjoyed the evening, but then, any time spent with you guys is fun!!

 

Peace....

 

Thought for the Day: Masquerading day after day as a normal person is exhausting!!

Camping Fun

Thankfully, the flu bug finally dissipated. It took both of us until the end of Thursday to begin to feel somewhat "normal" again. Phew!!
 
We spent an action packed, hot and fun weekend up at Golden Ears Provincial Park in Maple Ridge. What a blast it was, indeed!!

Here is a little "technical" information about the park:

As one of the largest parks in the province, Golden Ears Provincial Park is prized for its recreational opportunities. The extensive system of trails within the park provides an excellent opportunity for hiking and horseback riding.  Alouette Lake is a popular spot for swimming, windsurfing, water-skiing, canoeing, boating and fishing. The park also has three large campgrounds. Vegetation is typical of the coastal western Hemlock forest of B.C. and the mountainous backcountry is extremely rugged. 62,540 hectares

 

History: The park was named after the twin peaks of Mount Blanshard near the peak’s western boundary. Originally part of Garibaldi Provincial Park, the establishment of Golden Ears Park in 1927 recognized the almost impenetrable mountain barrier between the two areas.

Cultural Heritage: Human activity in Golden Ears, both past and present, has been confined to the accessible Alouette Valley in the south of the park. In the 1920s, the forested slopes of the valley became the site of BC’s greatest railroad logging operation until a disastrous fire swept through the valley in 1931. The lake and its forested surroundings were also the traditional hunting and fishing grounds for the Douglas-Lillooet (Interior Salish) and Katzie (Coast Salish) First Nations peoples.

Wildlife: The park’s lush plant growth, numerous waterways, and mountainous terrain provide habitat to a variety of animals including beaver, deer, black bear, and mountain goat.

Conservation: The park represents the Coastal Western Hemlock bio-geoclimatic zone and is characterized by a second-growth forest of western hemlock, western red cedar and Douglas fir. There are a series of sphagnum bogs at the south end of Alouette Lake.

 

Suffice to say it is gorgeous. A short 45 minute drive from White Rock, it's hard to believe that there is no cell phone coverage! Actually makes it very relaxing and enjoyable. The park does not have electric hook-ups or water at each site. There are plenty of fresh water taps, full-service bathrooms & showers. Also tidy and clean pit toilets throughout the camping areas.

The park, as in many areas of BC, are on extreme fire-hazard. Hard to believe it here in BC, isn't it? Many movies were filmed here. The First Blood (Rambo), Twilight series and The Lightning Thief all had scenes done here.   

Come along for a little tour of our weekend....

Sitting with Grandma while we maneuver the van into position.....

 

Our little Jasper is getting bigger every day.

First camping trip at 4 months old!!

 

A bit of "roadside" assistance by Dad....

And now leading the way.....

Gus explains to Grandpa how this old water pump works!!

Always one of our favourite things to do once we are settled, go for a walk

and look at all the trails and various campsites.....

Sometimes even an avid cyclist needs a ride with Grandpa!! 

 

Josh, Kathy & boys were actually here for a few days before we got there. They had camp all set up so it was nice to just pull in with Euri and unpack the van and get right to relax mode!! But first Gus needed to do a full and complete inventory of the contents of Euri's kitchen......

First up, plate counting.....

 

 

View from the campsite.....only WAY drier than it should be!!

 

Nature study with Dad.....

 

 

From our campground in the Gold Creek area, it is about a 20 minute walk down to the beach at Alouette Lake. It is a well-groomed walkway but does get a bit steep when you first come off the beach but it's a fairly easy climb.

 

 

 

Happy little water boy.....

Mostly we just enjoyed hanging with our kids.

It is, in our minds, time well spent!!

 

 This is a happy way to start the day.....

  

Hanging out with Grandpa and Euri....

Somebody is hungry for Sunday morning pancakes..... 

 

Where is that batter???

 

 

 

Oh yeah!!!

What do you mean, Euri has an upstairs?? 

 

 

As quickly as we got here, it was time to leave. Always sad to pack up and head back to reality. But, it was really nice to get out in Euri "officially" camping again. It's been a long time, that's for sure! 

 

Unfortunately for us, there is an extreme fire hazard in all (or most) of BC. That is a total fire-ban while camping. The kids have a "fire bowl" which looks like a fire pit but is fueled by propane and this is totally allowed. Almost the same as a real campfire but you sure do miss the crackle of a fire. But, like Kathy says, you don't get all your clothes smoky!! 

 

While we were frolicking in the forest, the city continued to bake in the heat wave. It reached 41.5 degrees C on the way home!! YIKES!!!!

 

Here is the look out our window tonight. The skies are grey and thick with smoke from

surrounding forest fires, here on the mainland and up on the island. Scary.......

 

 

That is the past few days. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We will carry on working on our rain dance!!

 

Peace....

 

Thought for the Day: Your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behaviour does....

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 148th Birthday Canada!!

It is also time to, once again, be very thankful for this wild and amazing country we call home. Although we haven't travelled afar very much, each time we come back home, we are very grateful. While no country is perfect, we wouldn't trade this great country of ours for anything!!

 

 

We wish we could have gotten out and enjoyed the festivities in White Rock today. There was so much happening, just a few steps from our door. We could even hear the music and laughter!! Both Doug and I came down with the flu and were house-ridden (ugh...) Can't remember the last time we had this flu-bug but it isn't fun.  Managed to get outside for a few minutes (literally) but otherwise spent the day between the bathroom, bed and couch. Yikes......

 

Peace....

 

Thought for the Day: True North, Strong and Free.....