End of Summer Fun

We went to the Kilby Children's Festival again. The kids got to participate in performances as well as get their face painted. There are always animals to touch and feed. We also went to our second Corn Fest. It was fun to make a scarecrow in western theme and play some old fashion games like the three-legged, potato sack and wheelbarrel races. We won the scarecrow competition this year!

Parade Fun

This year was the Pacific National Exhibition's 100th Anniversary. They kicked off this years fair with a parade in Vancouver. Heather's Brownie Group was part of the parade and I got to accompany her. Lots of big balloons and community groups were involved. Fin, the Canucks mascot, saw Vanessa and decided to bite her on the head.

Fish On!

After a three year break because of low salmon stock counts, we are finally able to fish for Sockeye salmon again on the river. I headed out with a friend on his boat opening day. Did not have a lot of luck but was able to pull one in that day. The second day I took the girls to a place where you can walk in and fish. Along with what seemed like hundreds of others, I fished for hours with no luck except snagging one by its back which I had to release and losing a lot of gear in snags. The girls were really good and entertained themselves with only their imagination and millions of rocks. We ended up fishing next to these guys who were having all the luck in the world and they even helped the girls bring their first one ever for each of them. Great group of people. We took home five. Made some fillets and I am going to smoke some as well. Unfortunately, I lost Heather's picture off my cell phone but she didn't have a happy face anyway because she thought it was gross to hold on to it. She said in the end she had a good time though.

Concert at the Zoo

The girls and I, along with our friends, spent a couple days down in Seattle. Our purpose was to go see Great Big Sea in concert at the Woodland Park Zoo. We spent the afternoon at the zoo and then enjoyed an evening of good music and dancing. They always put on a good show. We all had a really good time. The shopping was productive as well. Everyone loves flamingos!Saying hi to Toucan SamUncanny human resemblance hereLet the concert beginThe musician on the right, Alan Doyle, spotted Vanessa dancing on the far side and was almost hanging off the stage to see her and made faces at her while she blew kisses and waved. He even sent another band member over to check her out.


You know you have had a busy day when you fall asleep with a lollipop on your tongue.

Cooling Down

I started to take Jigs to the creek when Todd and the girls were away. He needed the exercise and we both needed to cool down at the end of the day. I had to teach him how to swim. Boxers are known to not be good swimmers and that was the case with Jigs at first. He stood up on his back legs when he first got into the water. He walked around like a person. It was very amusing. He finally got the idea to use his paws to propel himself. He is now using his back legs as well. By the time the girls got back from their trip, he was getting really good.

We set up a lemonade stand for the girls last Sunday. It was really hot and we thought it would be a good way to teach the girls about money. They sold lemonade and cookies. Our street gets a fair amount of traffic and they ended up making $24.00 dollars at 50 cents a glass and 25 cents a cookie. The money lesson didn't go as planned because so many people said keep the change. The entrepreneur

Monday, we went to White Rock to try out the beach. We went to the dog beach so that Jigs could come. He had an absolute blast and got the dirtiest ever. He rolled in all kinds of things. The girls had a lot of fun collecting sand dollars and snail shells. Jigs liked all the interaction with other dogs. The little ones were the ones that really gave him a run for his money. Jigs learned the meaning of Ankle Biters!!!

The Pick Up

I finished my school for the summer and headed up to Westbank to visit and pick up the girls. I took them to Vernon to check out Planet Bee. We learned a lot about bees. I had no idea how complicated their little world can be. The honeys were a treat to try as well. We then went next door to Davison Orchard. We got a tour of the orchard in an old apple crate pulled by a tractor.

The following day I took the girls to get haircuts so that hey could actually see through their bangs. We ended the afternoon with a nice trail ride up the mountain and got an amazing view of Westbank and Okanagan Lake.The little hill on the left side of the lake is Mt. Boucherie which is a remnant of an old volcanoThis horse greeted us upon our return. Rascal was the Great Dane's name. Very cute but huge!

Thanks again Grandma Tutu and Grandpa Dave for taking the girls for a week and a half. Now you need the vacation.

The Roadies - Part Three

Making their way back into BC, Todd and the girls stopped and camped at Radium Hot Springs. In Revelstoke, they went to a place called the Enchanted Forest. Lots of things to see there.

Argh!!!!!

Little Pig, Little Pig, Let me in!Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin

I question the enchantment of this place...a pillory..really?

The girls were tired of camping so Todd arrived a day early to Grandma Tutu's and Grandpa Dave's. They stayed there for the second week of my schooling. Thanks Mom and Dave for looking after them. Todd had to head home and go back to work.