Kelowna

For our second weekend mini-vacation we went to Kelowna with Brian, Andree and Johnathan.

We stayed at the Ramada Inn, which had a swimming pool. Rachael could have stayed there all day, every day! We got there Friday afternoon and after a swim met up with them for supper at Earls On Top. Great food, great view!On Saturday morning we went to Kelowna Land and Orchard (K.L.O.) farm. We missed the hay ride by 5 minutes, and the next one wasn't for 2 hours, so we decided to take a walking tour.We even saw Bambiand Owl with his family.The ad said there was a petting zoo, but all they had were goats and chickens.That afternoon we went to the beach. Since Darcy used to be a local, he knew the best place to go so he took us to the beach across the bridge from Central Park because that was less crowded.The kids had fun in the waterand playing in the sandwhile the rest of us supervised.That night we went up to Knox Mountain for another nice view.Sunday we went to "the best park, ever!" as Rachael said - better known as Central Park. Rachael and Kaitlyn played on the Zip line the whole time,while Jaden tried out the swing.We had a fun time, but it's really good to be home in our own beds (especially Jaden!).

Pender Island

On Friday we took the kids on their first ferry ride. Our friends from church have a house at Pender Island and they invited us up for the weekend. The girls were very excited to ride the ferry. They stayed out on deck almost the entire 2 hour ride. We had to stop at a Galiano and Mayne Islands before docking in Otter Bay at Pender. Just before arriving at Galiano Island we saw a pod of about 20 orca whales behind the ferry. We were able to watch them jump and swim for about 10-15 minutes as they swam between two islands and out to sea. It was amazing (but sadly, no pictures).We got off the ferry about 2:00 and drove about 20 minutes to Jim and Jan's house on South Pender Island. Pender Island is really two islands (North Pender and South Pender) that are divided by and narrow channel and connected by a single lane bridge. It's very hilly with lots of pine and arbutus trees. It's a friendly community where everyone knows everyone else and they gather on Saturday mornings at the Market, more to meet and greet eachother than to buy things. Every house has its own well, and in summer water is scarce and must be conserved. It gives new meaning to "water restrictions" when you have the very real possibility of running out!

Jim and Jan's house is about a 5 minute walk to the beach and has an amazing view! The first night we were there we saw another (or maybe the same?) pod of orcas feeding in "their" little bay (again, no pictures) and we were able to watch them for about 20 minutes as they jumped and splashed and gave us quite a show! Apparently orca sightings are fairly rare, so to have seen them twice was quite a treat!

We spent lots of time at the beach. The girls collected Sea Glass (broken glass made smooth by the ocean's waves and, depending on how long it's been in the water it can change color) and made a fort in an old tree that got washed ashore. We saw lots of boats, both big small, and everything in between.The weather wasn't that warm on Friday and Saturday, but things warmed up on Sunday. We didn't swim in the ocean but we did get to swim in the pool at the resort down the road.

Sunday morning we went on a 2 hour walk along the beach and saw all kinds of wildlife. Mr. and Mrs. B are both teachers and they gave us all kinds of biology lessons at the seaside. We saw starfish, sea slugs, big jelly fish (lots of those washed up on shore) and baby jelly fish,seals (and unfortunately one dead baby seal on shore) and lots more! Other times we saw otters, deer and eagles. Lots of wildlife! It was interesting to see how the waves had carved out holes in some rocks, yet left others jagged.Yes, Jaden was along on the trip, too. Most babies don't like being away from home and out of routine, and Jaden was no different, but he didn't do too bad. It's hard to nap when there's so much to see!Sunday afternoon we had to come home. We took a small ferry to Mayne Island and then transfered to another small ferry for the rest of the trip home. We left Jim and Jan's at 2:00 and, after stopping for supper in Delta, didn't get home until 9:00. A long travel time but we had lots of fun!

Cute Cousins

Johnathan and JadenWith Rachael and KaitlynThe Little Mister

Suspended

No, we weren't bad in school, we went to Capilano Suspension Bridge!Being the long weekend, it was a little crowded on the bridge but not too bad on the other side.We saw lots of big, old trees,walked the Cliff Hanger walk,and climbed the Treetops Adventure (and felt a little bit like Ewoks!).The girls liked looking at the fish in Three Sisters Pondand collecting clues around the park to win a prize (their badges).A "suspensefully" good day!

Sitting Tall

Mommy, Wow! I'm a big kid now!5 1/2 months old

It's Not Just MOSTLY Dead...

...it's ALL dead. The raccoons killed our swimming pool! They didn't just kill it, they destroyed it! You can see the "crop circle" of where the pool used to be.After they deflated it, they played with it and ripped it to pieces (well, one extra piece, anyway).I'm guessing it was raccoons because a little while after I discovered our pool I saw a big one on our deck. The pool was on it's last leg, anyway. The middle section had deflated, and I'd already patched it a few times. I think next time we'll get a hard plastic one that can't be deflated!