Spring Break 2012

Spring Break here got off to a baaaaad start!  The weather was horrible!  It poured for the first week and a half!  We had planned a camping trip with some friends of ours and we were getting mighty nervous about camping in the weather, BUT, we ended up getting the BEST weather possible!  The nights were chilly but the days were gorgeous!  It reached a balmy 18* celcius for us.  The kids even had a bit of a sunburn!  We thoroughly enjoyed a break from the rain and the routine of life!  We camped close to home in the beautiful Ft. Langley. We were only a quick drive from home, a Starbucks and a movie theatre (for a surprise we took all the kids to see The Lorax). We had a wonderful time relaxing, walking to town and visiting. Our trailer's an oldie, but we sure love it!  We have made some wonderful memories with it!

It's a relative thing...

So...are you still with me?  Last leg of the journey.  First off was the Oregon Coast, then back up to Centralia Washington, and now we headed back down, further South into Lebanon, Oregon to visit our relatives.  What should have been a 3.5hr trip down the I-5 turned into a 7 hour re-route due to the close down of the I-5 for an accident.  Ugh...this is where the trip got hard.  The kids were done, driving was crazy, lots of bumper to bumper.  But, we made it.  We pulled into our relatives' place at suppertime.  We needed to take Isaac for a quick trip to the ER to have him checked out after a bad fall, but he was fine.  We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for protecting him.  It was scary fall, but all is fine.  Thank goodness for travel insurance..don't ever leave home without it!!!  FYI..if your little one ever needs a brain scan, it's gonna cost you a few grand!  Anyway, unfortunate incident to happen, but we still enjoyed a short time with my Aunt and Uncle and Cousin and his kids. Our kids played wonderfully together!  There was a trip to the local waterfalls for a hike, a nice evening stroll through a neighboring hazlenut tree farm, and and enjoyable time around Uncle Wayne's beautiful property with all kinds of antique treasures!  Thanks to our relatives for graciously hosting us!  The trip home was a breeze through Portland and Seattle, but once we hit the border line ups things got hard.  Finally, after waiting almost 2 hours to cross back to Canada we made it home safe and sound.  Unpacking was done quickly, barely any laundry needed to be done, and we had a relaxing week of holidays still left to enjoy.  Can't say enough about how wonderful this trip was.  Great family, great memories, gracious Heavenly Father.

Families that tube together....

We had a blast, I'm sorry, I meant BLAST at our next stop on holidays!  My Mom & Dad treated the fam to a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge, in Centralia, Washington.  I had never even heard of this place until my Mom told me about it.  We checked it out on line and knew it would be a hit with the fam.  This place is phenomenal!  It's a huge, gorgeous facility, full of magic, and complete with indoor water park, amazing dining, kids spa, teen internet cafe, animated shows, bedtime stories by the fire, and the list goes on...OH AND DID I FORGET TO MENTION IT HAS A STARBUCKS INSIDE????  Cuz, that's huge people.  Check in was crazy, but organized..does that make any sense?  The crazy part was lining up in our cars at the entrance, and waiting for approx 45 minutes to check in.  We were prepared for this as we'd read all the reviews and were famliar with the popularity of the place.  Organized, as in, efficient, friendly, and you get to check in your luggage and head straight in until your room is ready, although ours was all ready when we got there!  The wrist bands also serve as your room keys..you just wave your wristband over a sensor on the door and voila, you're in!  This place was so cool...our kids loved it, and amazingly, we adults did just as much!  There is so much the kids could have done, there's always some kind of magical quest going on, and interactive rooms for the kids to play and learn in, but we were focused on family time and water fun.  The waterpark consists of a huge wave pool, a 'sports only' pool for volleyball, basketball and an obstacle water course.  Then's there's the huge toddler pool with jet ski's and a fort, then there's the huge climbing structure with waterslides and a massive bucket that dumps gallons and gallons of water every minute.  (I timed it;)  Oh wait....I'm not done, then there's the hot tub that's indoor and outdoor, you just have to swim through/under the wall.  But, I saved the best for last..there's this huge structure that you climb and half way up you can get on 2 man tubes and take the waterslides down, or, you can be brave and go to the top, where you can choose 1 of 2 wild rides.  These involve 4 or 5 man rafts where you hang on for dear life.  They involve free falls, darkness, half pipes, and so much more..what a blast!  We ALL went on them..yup, grams, gramps, mom, dad, brother, and the girls..nope, not Isaac.  What a hoot..I think I screamed louder than I ever have in my life!  But what a rush!  Anyway, would totally recommend this place to any family.  It's a family friendly facility, great staff, beautiful accomodations.  Meals could be pricey, so we headed off site a few times for these, but in general, an amazing place.  Thanks Mom and Dad...you're the best!  'Just' another wonderful memory created!  P.S...in case you're not aware yet, you can click on the pics to enlarge if you like:)

Bye to the Beach for now...

Ok..so ya'll are getting tired of the pics by now, but remember, this blog is a journal for the kids to look back on too, so bear with us.  This is the last beach post..from here we'll move on to the next couple of adventures after our week at the beach.  My brother, Dave, gets a gold medal for surviving the trip with us.  We talked him into travelling with us so he wouldn't have to travel alone but Isaac proved to be not the best car traveller and we had to endure a lot of crying, snack stops, and dvd time in the car.  Way to go Dave...you did it!  Here are just a few parting shots.  We made some wonderful memories on this trip and are so grateful for the time with my family.

Holiday Happenings...

We were never at a shortage for things to do on holidays.  We spent so much time just playing at the beach and walking through the town of Seaside. The great thing about the Oregon coast is that you only have to drive a little ways to hit the next town which brings along the next adventure.  Here's a few pics of activities we did while at the beach...

First, and most importantly, we had a beloved daughter turn the big 1-0 during our holidays!  It was fun to celebrate with her while on holidays.  I have very fond memories of celebrating my B-day on family holidays too.  This lucky girl recieved some lovely gifts, and managed to save up enough money, combined with some B-Day $$$ to purchase a much anticipated DSi.  We figured we may as well do it down in the Oregon where it's cheaper and there's no tax!  Happy Birthday Olivia...you are such a joy to Dad and I.

In the main town in Seaside there are lots of activities to do come night time.  There's the arcade, the candy stores, the shopping, the coffee shops, the mini golf, and the carousel and bumper cars.  Our kids favored the latter two activities.  We all had our share of carousel rides and bumper cars by the time we left!

We came prepared with a few activities for the kids.  Grandma brought a big bead set along so the girls could make bracelets and necklaces.  To my surprise, they made me a beautiful necklace for my birthday!  Abby used some holiday money to buy a noise-making, drive us all nuts, recorder.

I brought along just a few card making supplies in case I got the bug..and I did...I managed to finish up 18 cards (3 different designs)  It was nice to have the time to sit and do something I enjoy with no phone interruptions or cleaning that had to be done!  The girls mailed off a few postcards to friends back home.

Olivia and Mom and I took a day to head just North to the beautiful town of Astoria.  Some of you will remember the movie Kindergarten Cop was filmed there.  It's a quaint litle town with lots of history and lots of curio shops to snoop through.  We found a cute cupcake bakery where we sat down and enjoyed a treat.  I just love all the flowers and bistro sets that are set out for tourists to use. 

We spent another day down at Cannon Beach.  It was a realllllly hot day and we didn't last all day, but it's a beautiful little town to tour through.  We found cute stores and ate at a great restaurant.  I got a kick out of some of the signs in the different store windows (see below) and I loved all the window boxes and huge hanging baskets all over the town.

Oregon Sunsets...

...are beautiful!  When I see the sun setting in Oregon it takes me right back to Hawaii.  Rob and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon.  Rob had been several times but it was my first, and I loved it.  We definitely plan to go back one day.  One of the things I remember about Hawaii was the sunsets.  I remember Rob telling me that you have to literally stand and watch the sun go down or you'll miss it.  He was right!  Well, in Oregon it was very similar.  We saw many beautiful sunsets while we were there.  On this particular evening we happened to be walking down the promenade at exactly the right time.  Every 20 feet or so I'd stop and take another picture of the sun setting.  It was a beautiful evening.  As soon as it gets dark out the vendors come out with their bundles of firewood and there's campfires all down the beach.  We planned to do a fire on the beach but we always ended up doing something else...usually meandering through town or having coffee at a bistro.  The fact that I could even take the time to stop and watch the sun set in itself was a blessing.  Enjoy the pics...they don't do it justice but they're still a nice memory.

(more) Vay-Cay Pics

I absolutely love the Oregon Coast.  I've always said, if I couldn't live in the Beautiful Fraser Valley, where I live now, my second choice would be to live on the coast somewhere.  I think I could easily handle the beach life...although my pale-skinned complexion would beg to differ!  1st choice coastal living destination:  The New England (East) Coast.  We visited the East coast in the States in 2000 and 2001 and I will never forget the beauty of that coast, Providence, Rhode Island being my favorite.  But, Oregon Coast would be a happy substitute, not to mention more feasible!  One of my favourite things about Seaside, Oregon is the long promenade along the beach.  We walked this boardwalk multiple times each day, starting first thing in the morning and always for the sunsets in the evening.  We walked miles and miles on this boardwalk by the time our vacation had ended.  The boardwalk begins at Main Street and heads South along the beach for a couple of miles.  The houses that are situated right along the boardwalk are so beautiful and beachy.  They cost a mint to rent, but one of these years we're just going to do it!  Here's a few pics of these houses and the promenade.  The single pic shown up top is my absolute favourite house on the boardwalk, and the single pic on the bottom is the house that's for sale on the boardwalk.  Any guesses on the price tag?  It's in need of a 'little' TLC, or a lot of bulldozer, but Rob actually went and chatted with the neighbor about it.  The neighbor was trying to sell it to Rob..dropping it by a couple of hundred thousand even..but hey, if we can't do Disney, we definitely can't do the million dollar (no joke) beach house.  But we can dream can't we?  Rob and I love to dream about things like this, and owning a beach house is a great dream!  It's cool that one of Rob's first imaginations of owning this house was..'just think of how we could let our friends come down and stay during the weeks that we wouldn't use it'.  I love him for this....it makes our dreams all the sweeter.  He didn't say...'just think of all the money we'd make renting it out every year'.  Nope, that's not my man. 

Vay-Cay Pics

We had a wonderful vacation this summer.  Earlier in the year we talked back and forth with my family about doing another vacation together.  We want to wait until Isaac is a little older to do a Disney vacation, and it really isn't in the budget these days, so we decided on going back to the Oregon coast for a stay.  About 4 years ago we went down with my parents and rented a beach house in Seaside and had a wonderful time.  We all love the coast, and especially the Oregon Coast!  We're all happy at the beach, and time with my family is always special.  So, Mom and I started looking into dates and then into possible houses.  My brother was able to get time off work to come with us so it really was a true family vacation!  We ended up finding a cute little beach house only 2 blocks from the beach, and just a few blocks further to the main street.  The house had 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, a full functioning kitchen WITH a dishwasher, and a washer and dryer.  It really was a cute house.  So, the next few posts will be about our vacation time.  We did the beach house in Seaside for 5 days, and then headed back up to Washington for a weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge (awesome!) , and then back down further south into Oregon to visit our relatives.  Seeing as how I took multiple (hundreds;) of pictures..we'll 'drag' this out over a few days!  Enjoy the pics!

Holidays...

One of our favorite activities of summer is camping. Rob and I have camped together since day one and it's always been something we both enjoy. We were just laughing the other day while we reminisced about our very first camping trip as a married couple. We were driving my little Chevy Sprint, that Rob didn't even really fit in, and we did the Oregon Coast. We had that little car packed to the brim with camping supplies and he had brought gifts for our anniversary and my b-day along too. Such great memories! Well, so much has changed since then but we still love camping! We have a trailer that we clean up and load in Spring and that way it's ready to go when we are. This year we went back to Wenberg State Park in Washington. We had been there a couple of years ago with a big group of friends and enjoyed it so much we decided to go back. Wenberg is situated about 10-15 minutes off the I-5 and about 1/2 hour North of Seattle. It has a beautiful Lake for us to enjoy and playground and such for the kids. This year our friends 'The Tams' joined us for their first ever camping trip. They borrowed their parents truck and trailer and away we all went. Between the two families there are 11 of us so we were busy! One of our highlights of the trip was a day at the Seattle Zoo...I'll do a later post on that, but for now here are a few pics from our week of chillaxin'. The weather was perfect, the outlets were close;) and good times were had by all! Lots of campfires, visiting and walks in the evenings. We even had some friends stop by for a visit on Saturday night...thanks Rich and Shell...that was a fun evening!

Home from Holidays.....

Well. we're home. Rob had the last two weeks of August off for his holidays. Holidays are really tough to pull off when you're a farmer. Luckily we were able to have someone do the 'bare necessities' on the farm so we could take a much needed break. We went to Osoyoos for 8 days. If you're not from around here then you won't know that Osoyoos is a desert area in British Columbia, Canada. It houses BC's warmest lake! The temp is usually in the mid 30's so its a very popular holiday destination. We pulled our 5th wheel up and enjoyed a nice, fun week. There are tons of fruit orchards around so we enjoyed lots of fresh fruit there and brought home 20 lbs of peaches which I've slowly been converting into cobbler, jam and pies.....

This was a first camping experience for our little man Isaac and he did great...such an easygoing little man. We usually manage to get up to Osoyoos at least once each summer and we're already looking forward to next year! We stayed at the Mk'Nip Native Indian Reserve campground. It has over 300 sites and lots of laundry, shower and store facilties. There's a cultural centre nearby and horse stables that offer daily rides.....but you have to be careful...it's rattlesnake territory! Luckily we had no run ins with snakes of any kind.

Disney Bound

Well, there's only one of us who's actually

Disney bound..and unfortunately, it's not me!

Grandma and Grandpa are taking Olivia to Disneyland! Olivia has never been before and she's very excited. She watches the Disney Promo Movie at least once every day it seems.

In order to build the anticipation for Olivia, and help Abby to understand it's just Livi going this time, Olivia and I created this 'countdown to disney' calendar. It hangs on the wall in our family room and she gets to add a Minnie or Mickey each day....49 days and counting! I had fun breaking in my new cuttlebug machine when we die cut the characters...thanks Dad and Mom...what an awesome early b-day present! Our family is nuts for Disneyland although we haven't been since we've had kids. This trip should tide Olivia over until the other 2 are old enough to go!