I'm Back! (think creepy, sing-song voice...)

You probably didn't even really notice that I was gone.... well, maybe you did, since I did manage to post one set of pictures mid-way through my awesome month long tour de BC (also known as "I wish my freakin' relatives lived closer together so I didn't have to drive so GD far," but that is sort of long and sounds rather whiney and obnoxious, so I'll just call it the "tour" for short).

Now that I'm back, I am hoping to pick up the blogging again with some kind of regularity, but I'm not making any promises. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few more pictures of our month long trip... which included my 20+1 HS reunion. If I wasn't so tired and lazy, I might dig out my old photos and scanner and scan some high school photos for reference, but since I'm feeling pretty good about my aging process so far..... I won't.... I don't need to see how much I've actually changed, thank-you-very-much..... The reunion was the last day of the "tour", but since I'm talking about it... I'll show the pictures first.....

Just the grads... there are three attendees missing from this picture. One left too early, one hadn't arrived and one was at the beach purely by accident (I left a message, but he didn't get it). Our class was small, only 50+ grads. I wish more had been able to attend.... maybe next time?

The Families...

And....reverse,,,to the Island. After catching her shark, Chey was determined to go "real" fishing and my Dad was a good sport and took us out one morning so she could try her luck. I think this was a good decision because she has decided that she really likes fishing and Opa is ALWAYS looking for fishing partners..... she's also not squeamish, which is helpful in harvesting the bounty of the ocean.

A beautiful, misty morning	One of Chey's favourite things about fishing... constant snacks!
Her first "real" fish. A Pink Salmon	Helping Opa fish for rock fish.... they even caught a rock.... A bucket of Bounty!
the classic "Prawn" pose

Prawning around....

Note: Pink Salmon taste like feet.... they are gross.... just sayin'

We also visited Fort Rodd Hill park, The Butchart Gardens and the Butterfly Gardens... with a couple of stops to wander around Victoria.

That's a big... uh, gun?

See people... Dale really does exist.... I have not buried him in the back yard... yet....

Looked like "Diagon Alley" from a distance

Adorable OVERLOAD

mmmmmm.... broccoli 

After our trip to the island, we moved on to Kelowna and Salmon Arm, but I ran out of oomph in the photo department, so the pics are few (Thank Goodness, you say!)

Swimming at Bear Creek Provincial Park

Taking a ride on Grandpa Syd's tram

a lot of totem pole pictures were taken on this trip...

sanctioned graffiti in NanEB's studio.... can you guess which who's is who's??

All in all, it was a fabulous trip, but I'm incredibly happy to be home......

Why try to deny it?

I had said to myself (and anyone that would listen) that I wasn't going to buy a fleece this weekend when I took my Mom and Harold out to see sheep shearing, but I lied. I knew, even as I spoke, that I was telling a giant whopper and yet... I continued with the farce.... I continued right up until my friend Heather agreed to split a fleece with me in about the first three seconds of our arrival at the farm.... and ended up splitting two fleeces (although one is not in my hot little hands so it doesn't count yet, right?? ) with her.

The kids had a blast playing with the newborn bottle-fed lamb and feeding the sheep (until Eli started vomiting, but that's a whole different story.... a 12 hr story... Let's just say that large ziploc bags are now a permanent part of my necessary driving supplies and listening to your child vomit into said ziploc bag should be added to the "distracted driving" laws, but I digress)

Zippy the Lamb 

A very friendly wether (neutered male)

I love alpacas... they remind me of Dr. Suess characters

My Mom was fascinated by the shearing. I think she was really missing her farm days.

Poor Eli, this picture should have been my first clue that something was very wrong....

And finally...... my new fleece which may or may not be from the exact same sheep as last time.... A South African Meat Merino

I promise I won't try to deny my lack of self control next time. I'll own it!

Nephew Visit...

My 11 year old nephew has been visiting for the past couple of weeks. We've stayed pretty busy, although the first week was taken up with Eli's Robot Camp (he made a solar powered dragonfly... so cool!). We've also had quite a lot of rain, which meant that several planned activities, including a trip into the Rockies had to be cancelled.

We did manage several days at the beach...



A day at the Zoo.....



Calaway Park.....







Shakers Fun Centre....



We also managed a day out to the Kananaskis, where we walked, threw rocks in the river, tried to find a picnic site so that we could have a wiener roast and failed (it IS busy on the long weekend)..... so we walked some more.....






In the end, we had a wiener roast at home, followed by a water fight!


We've had a great visit and will be very sad to see Alex go......  I'm driving him to his Mommy on Monday after I take Eli to the airport for his first ever solo flight to see his grandparents... in Juneau Alaska, where he will travel on their boat to Bella Bella, BC and then fly home.... 2.5 weeks later.... that should be a great photo journey......