Gordon's 70th birthday party!!!

I was too busy trying to enjoy the evening, but I was able to capture Marg singing Happy Birthday to her husband!!!  So sweet ....

Chris was contemplating a funny card for his dad and texted this to me to ask if it was funny ...

I thought it was funny ... and I mean, it means something that it is Chris picking out a card since I am the one who does these types of things .... but in the end ....

in the end ... a loving card won out over the 'funny' card .... he loves his dad ....

The kids spent part of the evening out on the road eating blackberries ... and writing all their names on the road and a birthday wish to their grandpa so that 'he would see it when he drove out of the driveway'....I wish I could have captured all their names in the picture ... but it was designed with blackberry juice!! 

His words to us as we were leaving were 'Not everyone is fortunate enough to grow old' .... I am glad he feels so fortunate ... he is very loved.

Saturday afternoon Day Off on the Water!!

Isaac ran upstairs and grabbed our box of tapes for the day on the water .... I forgot we had these!!

It was a beautiful day!  And we had 3 hours before we needed to be on the road to Gordons 70th birthday party!

Relaxing .... doing nothing .....


We got gas and snacks and then headed to a little bay for the boys to do some snorkling.....

Elliot was first in, and first out ... Lake Cowichan is much colder than Mesachie .....


Happy Place ... I actually fell asleep and drooled all over the upholstery on the way home ....

Isaac FOUND this 100 year old bottle while snorkling!! (Chris was a tiny bit envious)

Oh my goodness ... may we ALWAYS have a boat!!!

Homeward bound ....

Birds and pudding!!

Had a physio appointment for my shoulder on Friday morning ... and so we headed to Laura's for breakfast because my appointment was so early and the kids wanted to come but we didn't have time to eat before we left ... so I made cottage cheese pancakes (favorite!) ... and while I was there, I clipped the wings of Oscars 2 new birds!!  They are the SWEETEST!!!!! 

I clipped them and then took them to the washroom so we could handle them and both birds were like "yeah!  This is fun!"  Kiki, the white bird was more friendly, but they are both a couple of sweeties ....

Then it was over to Cristins house so the kids could have a visit ... here is Olivia making chocolate pudding for their snack while watching Mary Poppins! So grown up!

Just a quick snapshot of a break for Chris ...

Elliot and I walking to the dock ... I love love love that both boys still hug me and hold my hand ...

Nutty kid ... this is his happy face ....

Snorkling .... I can't express how happy it makes me to have a boat for this family .... being out on the water together brings me SUCH joy!! Especially a boat where I can ride up front in the bow, or lay on the back like when I was a kids ... such a comfort to do this with my own kids now ....

Tuesday happenings ....

Tuesday morning I was in the café making latte's for Elizabeths kitchen staff.  I know she loves the café, and so to keep her happy and wanting to come back, I made a point of coming in early twice this week to make her crew coffees.  Meredith was in early as well ... so she was nice company ... 

As was Chris, once he came back from getting his crappy Iced Capp ....

Tuesday morning I booked to meet a service provider at my favorite coffee shop for our meeting to review her funding .... I have decided to make more appointments outside the office since I hate my new office space ...

Cristin met me for a quick drink after work ... I never see this girl ...

Truth .... but not really ... I don't want to be fat, but I don't love salads .....

My kids truth .... Elliot says he is a flee'er where Isaac said he would clean .... so funny ... I wonder if I really look like this .. probably.

Boat ride to Wildside tonight to give Jon and Mel a squeeze for their anniversary ... 8 years!

Home again ... just a moment before bed .... such sweet boys ....

 

Eli and Emily visit!!

This lovely couple made the trek out from Tofino after Dennis's wedding ..... we weren't able to make it to their wedding, so I was so thrilled to be able to see them only a few short weeks afterwards!!

Here is Emily warily looking at my kid who was probably on his way to tag her in the Lava Forest ;-)
 

Eli making a dash for it, so obviously Elliot was IT at this point!

Scheming - who to tag? who to tag?

Isaac and Eli playing Slockey .... Isaacs favorite game ... pretty sure he creamed Eli .... lol

This beauty taking it all in ....

The tour continued but then abruptly stopped when Elliot suggested getting out on the water ... I love that Eli just shrugged and was like 'yeah .... sure .. of course' ....

Off they go ... while Emily and I snuck away to continue our walk as neither of us were interested!

Eli was asked to jump, and again he shrugs 'yeah! sure! ok!'

Chilling on the deck ..... Chris finally came home ....

Lovely evening ... way too short ... they need to come back soon ...

A pretty great Sunday .....

Chris and I have been walking first thing these last 2 mornings ... he always takes me on a different route, which I appreciate because I am often happy just walking in circles to get my heart rate up and stare off into space .... when he takes me into the forest, one must be a little more 'aware' ;-)  As you can see, we left for our walk after his Tims run .....

Moments before we walked almost right into a hornet or wasp nest that was buried in the ground!!  He heard them before he saw them and yelled to 'get back! get back!' ... I never even saw one before my leg was stung!!  It hurt so bad and swelled pretty quickly ....

The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was hot and hurt for the rest of the morning til mid aft - but by last night, it was fine.  Always exciting when we are all out with Chris ....

Chris also spotted this antler ...

One of my favorite parts of living on site is the amount of people who stop in for the various reasons ... I love love love feeding our friends and giving them drinks ....

JL also stopped in with the kids, she doesn't stop in enough .... I wish she did ....

Made the biggest pot of chili last night for Wildside because Aimee was at a wedding -- I have never made one so big!  For 40 people .... and according to Mel, Quinnie had 3 bowls!!!  I loaded it full of veggies including sweet potatoes!!

It was the Pony Express game last night and Chris needed everyones help.  It seems to be a really sweet group of campers this week ....

Isaac is one of the best camp 'Bad Guys' because he will chase the kids but not tag them (unless they mouth off to him! ;-) .... He makes them feel good because they are able 'get away and have a story to tell how they OUTRAN the outlaw!!'

He looks like a bad guy!!

Oh the lighting was amazing last night!!  Perfect to capture my beautiful boys!!


Meredith .... quickly became one of my favorite staff this summer ... she is doing such a bang up job as Chris's assistant ... and she is sweet and fun and loves my kids ... so what's not to love?

It's nights like these that make me pretty thankful to live here ....