Our BC Summer Vacation Part 3

This is the last BC post! I will always attest that this blog is for me and my family. I don't write to appease to anyone...but at the same time I don't want to bore my readers with every.single.detail of everything we do. So this is our last day in BC, which was 1 week ago today. We spent it at Parker Cover on the Okanagan Lake. This is where Jay's grandparents retired to and he spent 6 weeks there every summer. I'm happy we can share this with Braden!


The weather was beautiful, there was lots of shade provided by the big, beautiful trees if we needed it...and Braden and Jay enjoyed floating around the lake in the dingy and building sandcastles on the little beach.

Even the doggy had a great time on our vacation. I don't know if she really appreciates coming, after all...she is just a dog! But it sure beats a week in the kennel, at least we figure so!

 

Then that little thief stole my chair as I got up to take those pictures of him and the dog. Braden moves a LOT faster than Mommy these days!



Then it was back to the lake. He loved to pull the boat down to the water "all by 'yself!"

 

And was very proud of his sandcastle that he built with Daddy!

I loved this vacation so much! I aspire to bring my mom, meet up with Nelsons, my in-laws if they can make it too, and have Ben, Jess, & Abby there at the same time next year. These kids are going to have a great time growing up together, I want to do big family vacations and make lots and lots of memories together. Family is just so important and I cherish mine every day. We are stronger now than ever!

Our BC Summer Vacation Part 2

The next day took us to Kelowna to visit my cousin Amy and her awesome little son Kingston. Kingston is about a year younger than Braden and he looks JUST like Amy did as a kid! Amy and I were very close growing up, I went to go visit her a couple of times when I was a teenager and she lived out at the Okanagan, we lost touch for many years and thanks to the power of social media...we're close and keep in touch regularly! I'm so happy we'll be able to see her and her family (hopefully!) every year that we go out to BC!


They had an awesome spray park, so we made an impromptu visit there before the time ran out on our parking meter as we met Amy in Kelowna for lunch.

Braden had a BLAST running around with Jay at the spray park and the weather was in the high 20's so it was just perfect! Since he had so much fun there...we knew he'd have a blast at Atlantis Water Slides in Vernon the next day...

And boy did he ever! I was a grumpus and didn't take my DSLR camera with us...plus I didn't want to guard and protect it or carry it around with us while we were there. We got a nice picnic table and Jay took Braden around all morning down the slides! They had 2 little kid slides which Braden could do "all by 'y self!" And he LOVED it. I would be at the top to help him wait his turn, then Jay would be at the bottom to catch up  and set him on the ground so he could do the cycle over and over again! Even though he had to push himself all the way down this slide...Jay said he was ear-to-ear smiling the WHOLE time!!

I LOVE on this video you can hear the joy in his "weeee!" as he pushes himself down the slide. He had the time of his life - bar none!

And this video is why I'm so glad I put Braden in swimming lessons for the next 2 weeks! He's just thrilled and loves to swim!

I think that day was the best for all of us! Just seeing the joy that the water slides brought Braden...amazing. I hope to provide joy like that to our kids for all their lives...or at least I can hope! Later that day, we took Braden and Kihei down to the park, as we do every afternoon. Jay was playing with Braden in the park, and I took Kihei on a walk through the woods around the park. She was tracking something...and then I found out what. It was a deer having a nap in someone's front yard! She was interested (of course) but not "excited" about it nor wanting to chase it. She was very calm. So I let her look at it for a few minutes and then started walking back to the park. Then Jay said "she's following you!" I thought he meant the dog, "well, duh, Jay! Of course she's following me she's on a leash." But nope...the deer was! The deer was VERY curious about Kihei! I'd walk a bit and stop, and there she was.

The next day we would find out from a neighbor, that while we were gone in the morning and had Kihei tied up in the front yard, he would see her having a nap with 2 deer! He does have a picture of it, but we didn't make contact with him in order to get it, so I hope he saves it and Ray can get it next time they go there!

Once Braden was in bed, for dessert I sliced us up some fresh BC peaches. This picture was quite a buzz on my Instagram and had many a girls salivating...as I find myself doing right now! The answer is, yes...they are as good, and BETTER as they look!!

One more BC post and that's the end of our summer vacationing for this year!

Our First Camping Trip

It's something I've wanted to do with Braden since he got here. Take him camping. I know his first summer at 5-7 months old he would have been great! We even had the trip booked...but it rained so we cancelled. That summer it didn't really get nice until August. Last year, he was 16-18 months old and there was NO WAY I was taking that hooligan camping! That still marks the "worst" age and stage we've ever been through with Braden. Not old enough to listen, yet completely marching to the beat of his own drum. Did not want to sit still for a minute to eat and constantly running away - ACK! Anywho, we booked a Sunday night, Monday night trip to a campground only 1.5 hours away with a big lake...this way we could stay cool with the heat wave and the family could meet us there with the boat! (Andplusalso we could bail at any time and take the short drive home!)

The kids all had a lot of fun, everyone went tubing, and Kihei was SO well behaved. Jay had to really encourage her to come and cool down in the lake...she is not a water dog by nature!

I love our family pictures! The progression of Braden NOT wanting to stop his fun to take a picture and Kihei obsessively staring at a chocolate lab hoping we'll let her go and play with it! The family came to our campsite for supper.


Then we were on our own. It was hot. I mean, really hot. 32C which is about 90F. We only get maybe 5 days in the 30's all summer if we're "lucky". It's just too hot for most Albertans, we're not climatized to the heat and humidity like that! Here's a summary of our evening/night:

1 - Braden and Kihei were VERY well behaved, better than I expected - especially the dog!

2 - Braden enjoying his bath in the 5th wheel, I remember this as a kid too!

3 - A bit of #SheReadsTruth camping style for me

4 - S'mores with Jay

5 - Braden and Daddy still sleeping at 9AM

6 - Braden enjoying pancakes for breakfast

So, the night. I'll try to summarize as best I can!

• Braden had been very excited to sleep in his Special Camping Bed....until it was time to sleep. No nap and a bedtime of 9PM, 2 hours later than usual and the kid was READY for bed yet tried to protest the same
• 2 stories and 2 songs later, I laid with him as he was fussing, rubbed his back and he was out
• 1:30AM I hear him cry out...but he settles
• 1:45AM full on crying and calling out for me, I go down to settle him
• Sing him songs, rub his back...nope! He wants to go play outside, he thinks this 4.5 hour "sleep" is it and it's time to go!
• I try lying with him, he says "Mommy go!" but then fusses as soon as I try and settle back in our bed
• I try letting him play with the iPad
• Jay steps in around 3:30 and I believe by 4AM we were all finally sleeping again
• Braden is not the kind of kid that has ever been able to sleep with us, so I was shocked to see the boys sleeping together when I got up in the morning

So Jay took Braden & Kihei for a bike ride while I made breakfast, and then we went to the lake for the morning.

Jay took all of these next pictures, he's pretty proud of himself!

 I didn't take any pictures of us playing in the lake, because I was hot, tired and didn't want to lug around my DSLR in the sun/water. Braden had a wonderful, wonderful time and finally has the attention span to stay at the beach and play. When we went to Maui 6 months ago...not so much! We came back to our campsite, had lunch, Jay and I talked it over and were luckily on the same wavelength and decided that after Braden's nap...we'd pack up and leave. It was just TOO HOT, no A/C in the trailer, and we really didn't want to risk another sleepless night for all 3 of us. So I put Braden down for his nap shortly after 12, I ended up falling asleep with him for THREE HOURS which I couldn't believe, he slept for 1 more hour as we packed and cleaned up...and then we were ready to hit the road.

TOO hot to camp for our Albertan butts!

But our "fun" wasn't over yet. Jay's truck has always had a problem with the coolant...so sure enough, a few minutes on the highway out of the town we camped at...Jay's truck is overheating and we're pulled over on the highway. The truck is spewing steam everywhere and Jay got a jug of coolant in it and we barely made it back to town. God was good to us that day, there was a gas station for Jay to buy coolant, a McDonald's with an air conditioned play place for me and Braden to kill time, and a nice, shady tree for Kihei to stay cool under. 1.5 hours later, the truck had cooled down enough and we made it, by the grace of God, back home the 1.5 hour drive.

That was a lot of work to go camping for 1 day and 1 night! BUT, we learned a ton, I know what more to expect next time we go and we will never go during a heat wave even though the really nice, sunny weather seemed appealing at the time. We're sure learning a lot about family trips!! You gotta learn one way or the other, right?! It kind of felt like a Griswold camping trip, but it's one to remember forever!

WW: I Wish I Had Taken This With My GOOD Camera!

Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above

It's been a few weeks since I've participated, mostly due to the fact that my camera hasn't seen much action lately! I gotta fix that. Anyway, I thought this was a great entry for this week's theme!

The challenge: All my photo challenges should be based around your children (pets are always welcome). Share a photo of your kiddo from a view above!

My fur kiddo last snowfall we had! Gotta love that dog...most days! Linking up with The Paper Mama.

Perfectly Spring?

Oh I'm a Canadian girl. An Albertan girl. I have been all my life. I know it is too early for spring, but this past weekend we've had record breaking high temperatures! It got up to +14C or close to it and the seasonal temperatures are usually around 2 degrees C! So Braden finally got to enjoy his birthday present Thomas Power Wheels on the deck!



 

 

Everyone was having fun outside!

Well....almost everyone!

 

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Mom was here for the weekend

 

I am loving this picture of him...this is Braden's version of a ride-on lawnmower I guess...

And then some play time on the slide!

I'm quite certain this beautiful weather isn't here to stay for too long, but while it is, we're outside playing on the deck every afternoon! There's always a spring blizzard (or 2) in our forecast before spring really settles in...but we can only hope!

Don't forget to enter to win one of my mom's crocheted hats!