Minter Gardens

Last week we had a wonderful day out at Minter Gardens.  This is one of those places that you often drive by on the highway and think, "I would like to go there sometime".  Well, that sometime was now.  We went with Oma and Opa.  It was a birthday gift for Oma and she treated us to birthday lunches.

This really is an amazing and beautiful place.  There are obviously more flowers than you can imagine but the entire setting of the place is very peaceful and serene.  It was a great time to go as all the flowers were in full bloom and vibrant with colour!  We arrived right at 10:00 (opening time) and we almost had the place to ourselves. 

The kids posing in from of the Canada Flag.  They thought it was pretty cool made up of flowers.

One of many little water features around the gardens.

The kids had a great time here too.  There were so many paths and little trails for them to explore, but without going too far or geting lost. 

Oma and Owen

Checking out the old water wheel.

It was a wonderful day spent with Oma and Opa.  We truly are blessed to have them as part of our lives.  They love spending time with our kids, even if they are exhausted by the time our kids are done with them! Thanks, Oma and Opa, for a wonderful day together!

Me and my buddy!

And finally, a few shots of some of the flowers!  The creativity and artistry of God was so evident today!

Jocelyn just couldn't make it to the end of the day without falling asleep!  Good thing for Daddy's shoulders!

Mount St. Helens

One of the other day trips that we took on our camping trip was a drive to Mount St. Helens.  This was amazing to see!  Seeing how much of the mountain erupted and came crashing down through the valley below was unbelievable.  We spent some time in 2 of the visitor centers, reading about how it happened, how fast and  powerful it was and reading some of the amazing survival stories.  If you ever have the chance to see this, it is well worth the trip off the highway!

"Look, I see it over there!"

"We're up here!"

In spite of all the devestation that occured over 30 years ago there, it was very cool to see all the regeneration of life that has and is happening there now.  Many species of both plants and animals are again thriving there.  We really do serve an amazing Creator God!

One last beach day!

We decided to try to get in one more 'day out' before school started. Kevin had too much school work to do to get ready for his first day of University teaching, so Grandma and I packed up the kids and headed out to Harrison for the day. The sun was shining, the sand was perfect, the water swimmable and the ice-cream was delicious. A great day of relaxing before routine sets in again!

An all-day date

As much as I thoroughly and deeply love my children, it really is nice to get away from them for a day!!  Every year, Kevin's brother and sister-in-law and their 2 daughters offer (or agree after we ask them!) to have our kids for a sleepover and the entire following day.  So, how do we say 'no' to that!

 We began our morning with a delicious late morning breakfast from Denny's (after we had done some work on the floor downstairs but that will be another post!).   Delicious and relaxing!

 Then it was off to Vancouver.  The weather was absolutely spectacular so we just walked along English Bay and around Kits Beach.  Vancouver really is a beautiful city!

 At 3:00 we had tickets to Bard on the Beach.  We try to go to one of these plays every summer.  If you have never been to one, they are fantastic!

 This year we watched HenryVI. Times were pretty rough and dangerous at that time for anyone who was king.  The play was very well done!

 Finally it was out for a nice dinner and then back to pick up our sleeping children.  After a hot day with lots of swimming in the pool, they were tuckered right out!   Thanks John and Esther, Madison and Courtney for giving us a wonderful all-day date!

Finally, a sunny afternoon!

I know we don't live in Alberta where they still have snow, but it has been unseasonably cold here.  Usually by now we are planting our flowers outside, breaking out the flip-flops and enjoying time on the deck.  Not so this year yet.  Yesterday, however, the sun decided to come out and give us a beautiful day.  So, we figured we better take advantage and get outside to 'go exploring'!  So, we headed up to Rolley Lake, just north of Mission.  Kevin is training the kids young to have a love for exploring new places.  It really is fun to see them so excited about walking down a path and marvelling at the fallen trees with new growth coming out of them, to see how the trees look 'spooky' with the moss growing on them.  They are excited to find a new little path off the main one to go down and discover what lies at the end of it.  We had a wonderful afternoon!  Bring on the summer!

 Kendra taking pictures with her camera. 

Owen looking for something to discover under the bridge.

 Off to find something else!

 There were so many cool stumps to look at.  This one was completely hollow inside.

 Jocelyn had had enough exploring for one day - time for a nap!

 However, once she discovered the beach, it was a whole new world again! 

We forgot to take buckets and shovels but that didn't seem to bother the kids too much.  It is amazing what you can do with your hands in the sand!

ZOO

My friend and I decided to get in a trip to the zoo with our kids before school started up. (We can both say that now as we each have a child starting Kindergarten this year!) It was a beautiful day, actually much hotter than I had thought it was going to be. We all had a great day walking around the zoo, getting excited about seeing different and unique animals and just enjoying each other's company! One of the zoo-keepers had this animal (I can't remember the name of it!) out of its cage and was allowing the kids to touch it. It liked to grab hats and Kendra thought that was quite funny!

Good friends - good day!