Haircuts and bike rides...

No more hat hair!!! (His hair looks like a hat!!)

6:45 am with these two!!

Dinner on an open flame ...

Chris loves steaks over a fire .... So he was on dinner tonight .... And I was on dessert. 

Marshmallow and chocolate chips melted inside a banana, wrapped in foil, is the best fireside dessert!! Only Elliot and I ate them!!

What a time we live in!!!

So, I lost my phone today. The last time I remember having it was this morning when chris and I were washing the boat. But I retraced my steps from the house to where we were washing it, and no phone. So I turned on the 'find my phone' app on my iPad.  I was able to push a button that said sound alarm on iPhone. In the distance, I hear a beeping coming from the boat, that was now parked by the entrance of the camp because we are currently getting ready to head onto the big lake.  Turns out, my phone had somehow fallen amongst the anchor ropes at the front of the boat. I don't think I would've ever stood a chance to find it on my own.

This week ....

Meredith was at my door every morning this week at 7 to work out.  I greet her every time with a "ugh, you're here on time".... Then we laugh cause this is what I need. We alternate cardio then weights. This was Thursday's rainy run. We do sprint intervals through mesachie. 

 And here's the weight program morning. 

Thursday max got a ride to his landscaping job. But I leave too early so he joined Nikki and I for our coffee. He's a funny kid. Pretty interesting to talk to ...

Spontaneous lunch with Chris.  He loves this new Thai place. 

Friday morning was spent filling Elizabeth's freezer. I miss her.  It was a good morning.  

Made her noodles too. 

Made the boys cookies for after they got off the bus on Friday.  

Isaac turns 13!!

He had a great day!  Stayed home and played with his brother and had fun having water balloon fights with zalinkos while Chris and I were at work. 

Chris brought home the gift he made for Isaac.  A backlit drawing table to so cartoons on. He's already done a bouncing ball :-)

Family came for dinner and we had a nice BBQ and I didn't get any pictures but Chris took this one. Lol. His requested vanilla cake!!

Happy birthday my beautiful boy. I love you. 

Isaac and his grade 7 locker.

German ear needling Acupuncture

Trying to solve the issue of my shoulder pain ..... I told her she was lucky I didn't see the size of the needles before she put them in!! They are huge!! But my favorite is the green forehead one- it's a spot that releases stress and calms you ... And it does!!

She taught me what she was doing as she was doing it.  I won't say it here for fear of looking nuts but it was super interesting!!  I hope my mother in law goes to see her for her migraines .... It's amazing what she can do. Our bodies are so sensitive!!

Keeping worry in check ....

I love this. Sandra Denton posted this today and it reminds me that I'm not in charge and worrying is more crippling than helpful.  My faith is often still so small but as long as I can hold onto the small little seed that IS my faith, I can know that I will be shown how to handle my challenges and it's not all on me. 

It's the whole theory of just because you can't see the wind, doesn't mean it isn't there!! I love that I have a God who promises to always be around me despite my awareness (or lack of awareness) of Him.  

Birthday letter for a 13 year old.

I have missed a few years, but as a rule, I have written each of the boys a letter on their birthday since they were born.  They are kept sealed in their baby boxes. 

Today, Isaac's letter consisted more of 'things I want you to know' rather than a letter to him. Here's a little peak at the last 4 things out of the 13 (you know, because he's 13 today). Things like:

The yard is ready for summer 2017!!!

Got this sweet new gazebo from a woman who couldn't put it together .... her parting words to Chris and I were "make sure you have a bottle of wine when you try to put that sucker together!", and I wonder if that was the reason that she couldn't put it together! ;-)  It is a hexagone with built in solar lights!  Very cool .... the yard looks great!!  Summer is here!! right?  right?

Friday friend day!

Aisha's surprise wedding shower was Friday night in Sooke ... it was for the whole weekend, but I only went for the evening .... but I had the day off, so I figured I would try to make the most of my day in Victoria.  I started the day with Nellie ... a sweet mom who has been coming to WOA for a few years, and we have never really had a chance to hang out, but I just always really liked her.  She was happy to have some company that morning.  I brought my noodle attachment and we made a ton of noodles for her freezer!  Grayson and Liam were pretty helpful .... lol

Then it was lunch in Sidney with Darlene ... this lady was a fast friend when we first met years ago at WOA.  Not sure what it is about her, but we laugh a lot when we are together ... she threw my 40th birthday in her beautiful home in Sooke ....

She is ready to be silly at a moments notice, and I need more of that in my life ...

This is Avery ... a girl I met last year at WOA, we have had a bit of a rough start with some mis-communications, but I find her interesting .... we blew up my hammock chair and had a visit in her backyard and then we made noodles for her freezer too. 

After I left, she went out and bought her own blow-up hammock chair too!

Avery lives beside the common wealth pool where my old friend shaleah was watching her 2 kids compete in swimming. So I popped in to see her on my way to Aisha's!!

Shaleah and I have been friends since before Chris and I had kids.  Rich and Chris would hike mountains together and they made having kids look amazing! They would drag their kids on all their adventures, whether just big hiking trips (putting them on their back and hiking up mountains), or taking them to Africa for most of their childhood .... it was Rich who technically named Isaac.  He sent us an email saying that he guessed his birth weight and also said his name would be Isaac.  And immediately, we knew that was supposed to be his name!!  (Until that point, we only had a girl name chosen, which was going to be Ruby).  So, seeing Shaleah at the commonwealth pool for a few minutes while she ducked out of watching her 2 kids in their swimming competitions, was awesome.

And finally, to Sooke ... for Aisha's surprise Wedding Shower!!  This girl was such a surprise to me last summer in lake cowichan ... I loved her immediately.  It was nice having her live so close and ready to come over for wine or hot tubs or fires at a moments notice. But then she moved to Victoria.... And we've kept in touch, but I miss her. Such a kind heart ...

When I got to the house, she and I were looking over the bannister at these wooden platforms that were covering something and we were both curious as to what was under there!!  So with no shoes, no bra, a pretty dress and wine in hand ... this girl and I trekked down through the bush to see.  Such a free spirit ....

She has really nice family too ... I was one of the only ones who wasn't family and didn't get adopted into, or grow up on their family farm in Lillooet. 

 

Saturday with our new boat!!

So while I was in Victoria, our 'new to us' boat got delivered and Chris sent this picture to us on the maiden voyage!!

Saturday was a beautiful day, so we put the boat into Lake Cowichan and our first stop was Pineapple Beach!!  A sweet spot that is only accessible by boat.  When we arrived, there was a fire that was dying out that Isaac got going again ....

And then Elliot enjoyed the rope swing ....

He also enjoyed my inflatable hammock type chair!!  They got it for me for my birthday last year and this was the first time we were able to use it and it's awesome!!! 

Thanks Wild Side for teaching Isaac about fire building.  At one point, he stands up and says "This fire needs some 'old man beard' as he walks towards the trees, I said "I think he's metal detecting over there" .... Isaac thought that was pretty funny ....

Read a book, in the sun ... watching my boys play ... if I could just bottle that moment, I could live off of it forever ....

And speaking of happy places .....

We got back into the boat and discovered this deserted island that had this house on it.  So, we beached our boat and bushwhacked it up to the house.  It was super sketchy!!

We actually made it to the END of the lake!!  Heather Campground is at the tip of the lake .... 16 years in this area, and we can finally say we have traveled the entire length of the lake!!!

It didn't take too long to get back to the other side, since we weren't stopping along the way ... but we were hungry and knew that Jakes on the Lake had a dock for their customers, so we figured it was a good day to see if we could get there!

We have to go through locks to transfer from the lake to the river ....

Turns out the locks are manned 24 hours a day ... you just need to drive up and pull a cord, and the guy will open the locks for you - any time of day!!??  Isn't that crazy?  Oh, and it's free!

So, we made it to Jakes on the Lake!!

The only ones parked ....

Check out the map of the lake!! We traveled the entire distance today!

And remember super creepy house?  It's on the map!!  Deadmans Island!!!

The ride home was beautiful ... kids were chill, laying on the back mattress ....

Man, I remember doing this when I was a kid ... just laying there, in the sun ...

We are going to have so much fun this summer ... we got a BOAT!!!!