Beaver Lodge Tournament 2011

Every year Kevin's family have their annual family reunion and golf tournament.  The family is spread across 3 provinces and a different province hosts each year, making the travel more accessible to all.  It is a time to catch up with Aunt's and Uncles, distant cousins, to laugh and be merry and know that we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves.  We are linked to all these different people by a thread of DNA but every year they get together and remember those who have past and made them all who they are today.  I find it a truly amazing event to be a part of and I am so glad that my children are part of it too.  Unfortunately though, in the last few years the younger generations have not been appreciating the magic of this event.  The numbers are slowly dropping and the enthusiasm is waning.  It breaks my heart to see.  A plan was made this year to make the reunion every second year in an attempt to bring back the love.  I sure hope they succeed!! 
This year we travelled with Dave and Gail to the reunion which was in beautiful B.C.  It was held in Harrison Hot Springs, an hour outside of Vancouver.  We decided to head down early and visit Squamish for a few days.  We biked, we hiked, we shopped, and we watched the local Squamish Days Logging Sport event.  It was wonderful and very entertaining.  It is a beautiful spot.  On our trip home we stopped overnight in Rock Creek and tubed away the afternoon.  It was really fantastic to have that time with my in-laws as well.  They are great with the boys and fun to travel with.  It made for a memorable trip that we hope will continue to happen in the future. 

Shannon Falls

Dad, how do you skip rocks??

Oh, like that huh?!

Tubing at Rock Creek

Our final night together sharing a beautiful dinner prepared by the hosts

Auntie Melrose makes the best chili - right dad?!  Auntie, Harry really is your number 1 fan!!!

Our new ride and 'trailer' - I feel so grown up!!!

Squamish

Happy days!!!

Back to school.....

What do you mean I have to put both straps on Mum, that is so NOT cool.....

And my 2 darling boys are off to school....oh my....

We have had a pretty amazing summer filled with lots of days at the river, camping, hiking, playing and enjoying the sunshine that finally showed up in August!  I will share more on our adventures soon but I wanted to share some pics of my school aged boys.  My heart was breaking sending them off but I know new adventures are in stall for us all.  Sam was so ready to start school.  He displayed some very old man qualities indeed.  On his first day, he sat patiently at a desk whilst all the other kids were playing and exploring the classroom.  I tried to coax him over to the toys but he assured me that is what he was supposed to do and the teacher would talk to him soon!!!  Then he hugged me and said good-bye and turned back to the front.  Oh boy, I was so proud and yet so gutted that my little man didn't need me.  Sniff. 

Buried treasure?

Look what we found when we were cleaning up some overgrown brush in the back yard.  It seems the family that lived here for years did not believe in the local dump but rather 'dumped' all their unwanted remnants into their back yard!  We found a monster pile of old bricks, old furnaces, old water pipes and the list goes on. 

I must admit though, the bricks kinda got me excited.  We rummaged through the ghastly pile and took out all the usable bricks in hopes of a BBQ or pizza oven in the near future.  Not bad huh?

Now for the back yard itself, it really is a blank canvas.  First things first though, we need a fence to keep in the lovely hounds from visiting the neighbours.  Then there will be a lot of levelling and grass seeds, garden boxes and borders.....grand plans......if only I had a grand budget!!!  We will chip away at it but for now I will dream....

Easter Sunday Fun

It has really been too long since the sun shone on my skin it seems.  After such a beautiful day on Saturday, Sunday was even more spectacular.  We planned for a hike with friends after the Easter Bunny frenzy of the morning.  It was such a pleasant way to spend family time and I love seeing my boys enjoying nature.  We had a wiener roast half way through and enjoyed one anothers company.  I am so looking forward to Summer adventures.  Bring on the sun!!!! 

In the afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a fun filled afternoon with cousins, Aunts and Uncles.  The boys really enjoyed themselves and slept VERY soundly.  I know I have already said it but bring on those summer days!!!

5 years old!

My little baby just turned five.  Wow, does time ever go by quickly.  It feels like just yesterday I was in labour in our lounge room anxiously awaiting the arrival of our second child.  What a joyful experience and a wonderful moment meeting our little man. We celebrated his 5th year with us with a yummy breakfast and presents from family in the morning.  (In true Harry style he made a card for Sam and wrote "To Harry, Happy Birthday, Love Harry"  Harry is reading the card to Sam when they suddenly realised what he had written!!!)

Then the party started with 5 little friends.  Thankfully we had some beautiful Spring weather, so we were able to play games in the front yard.  The party was from 11am - 2pm, about 1 hour too long!!!!  Must remember that for future years!  Fun was had by all and a very exhausted 5 year old fell into bed that night and sleepily asked "How many days until I am 6 Mum?"

Happy 33rd celebrations

My husband is not the hopeless romantic type that I sometimes expect him to be but every now and then he surprises me.....I mean really surprises me.  He organised for the kids to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, then whisked me away to one of my favourite places for a romantic, relaxing weekend.  The weather was unpredictable with sunshine, snow, rain and wind but it suited the weekend perfectly.  We lazed when it was yucky out and when the sun shone we went to the hot springs, hiking along rocky riverbanks and walking with the dogs along the beach.  I missed my boys terribly but I enjoyed the silence so much!!!!!

Another year older and another wonderful year ahead.  I truly am blessed with an amazing family, a home and exciting adventures awaiting us all. 

The first real Spring day just happened to be on a Pro D day from school.  We headed straight for the park and spent hours playing soccer, on the playground and climbing the rocks by the river.  On our return home all the neighbours were out playing in a newly discovered dirt pile.  What better way to spend an afternoon, than digging and making a lovely mess?!

The next day was not as sunny and beautiful but still warm, whilst overcast.  We decided to go for a family hike that turned into a trail blazing exercise.  It was really fun upgrade the trail and trying to find another easier path to our destination.  It was pretty hard going as some parts were particularly steep but the reward at the top of hot dogs and fruit were well worth it.

 Our house is right below Harry's head.  Pretty cool to be able to hike right from your back door, huh?!  We saw lots of deer tracks and evidence that the bears are also waking up and enjoying the warmer weather too.  There was garbage strewn across the hill which Kevin and the boys spent a good hour trying to clean up.  They came down with 3 garbage bags full and still more to be picked up.  The bright side is it was a lovely weekend celebrating, cleaning and enjoying.  What did you do this weekend?