Salt Spring Island

This past weekend, Kevin and I were able to 'get away' for a few days.  We had found a Groupon for a place on Salt Spring Island and so we snatched it up.  It was a place that neither of us had ever been to and it looked like a nice place to explore. We've been to Mayne Island  (another one of the Gulf Islands) a few times before and enjoyed it there.  Salt Spring is the biggest of the Gulf Islands.

 Esther and John and the girls graciously agreed to watch our children for the weekend, which we were extremely appreciative of.  We are blessed by their willingness to do that for us! - and our kids love it there!

We started on Friday night by taking the 10:30 p.m. ferry over to the island and arriving around midnight.  We enjoyed sleeping in the next morning and then we started exploring.  There is a huge market on Saturdays so after a late breakfast we headed there.  It was full of lots of produce, baking and other goods, all containg the word 'organic'.  Along with many other tables of jewllery, woodwork, crafts, clothing, etc., it was a fun place to poke around in for a while.

Kevin, of course, could not refrain from buying some second hand books.  Now, if he could only find the time to read them!  Maybe if the Canucks are eliminated after round 1 . . .  :(

After some time spent in the info center and looking at a few maps, we spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the north half of the island, just stopping at different places and taking in the scenery.   It was a beautiful day and every place we stopped at was just gorgeous.

How nice would it be to have one of those places on the coast?  We can always dream, can't we?

After a day of walking around, we enjoyed a few bevereges by the marina, along with some local fish and chips. 

The next day we drove around the bottom half of the island, spending most of it in Rykel Provincial Park.  We felt like we were the only people around for miles!  It really was such a treat to just take some time and slow down!!

Finally, here are just a few cool shots that Kevin took of places around the island. 

Summer vacation 2011 - More of Stage 3

Camping for this family usually means lots of "exploring"!  This is our way of getting the kids excited about hiking and learning more about God's wonderful and beautiful creation. 

Kevin and Jocelyn checking out the scenery at the start of the paint pot walk.

This was a walk out to the Paint Pots. I don't remember the exact science or geological information about them but their are minerals in the ground that turn everything orange and produce something called ochre.  This was and can still be used as a kind of paint.

Using the ochre to make a picture in their Explorer books.

Kendra snapping a beautiful picture!

Our next walk was out to Flow Lake where the kids had to do a scavenger hunt.  This area had gone through a forest fire a few years ago.  It was amazing how much new growth had already come back!

As part of the Ranger program, they had an afternoon of bug investigation at a local pond.  Kendra was in her element!

Our future park ranger!



One of many big horn sheep we saw right along the road.

 Our last hike was out to Dog Lake.  This was a bit of a longer one but absolutely beautiful! 

I love a good long suspension bridge!

Exploring we will go!

Stopping for lunch, although I think the mosquitoes had US for lunch!

Our crazy little girl!

Finally, a photo by Owen of the two of us.

Of course, this is only a small snapshot of our 2 week adventure.  We thank God for our family, for safety, for His Creation that we are blessed to live in and have the chance to discover and explore!

Summer vacation 2011 - Stage 3

Our 'new' tent trailor!

The main reason for our trip was to pick up our 'new' tent trailor.  We bought it from Rick and Henriette who had many good years of camping in it with their girls.  We are hoping that we are able to fill it with new adventures withour family! 

Enjoying a snack at the trailor table. 

 The kids were very excited about going camping.  Even just having breakfast (Fruit Loops of course!) was fun for them!  We had not attempted this yet as a family of 5 but all in all, it went quite well! 

Say "cheese"!

We decided to head down to Kootenay National Park, just outside of Radium Hot Springs for our first camping adventure.   We had never been there before and had heard that it was beautiful.  The National Parks always have great Ranger Programs for the kids and the campsites are very scenic and private. 

The first of many beautiful walks/hikes that we did.

Sitting with my buddy outside Sinclair Canyon.

Our little family

Owen checking out the scenery.

Marble Canyon

More camping pictures to come. 

Summer vacation 2011 - Stage 2



After almost a week in Edmonton, it was time to move on to Central Alberta.  We first made a quick 'birthday stop' in Fort Saskatchewan.  We enjoyed a piece of birthday cake to celebrate Ciara and Madison's birthdays! 

Happy birthday beautiful girls!  Wish we would have had room for the balloons!

Then it was on to a BBQ with friends in Red Deer and finally our home for the next few days, the home of Uncle Mel and Auntie Sandra, Kiera and Stacey in Lacombe.  This was our base for the weekend as we also spent time with Uncle Rick and Auntie Henriette in Ponoka.   

Kendra's newest favourite toy: Auntie Sandra's i-pad!  They loved  playing Angry Birds and setting up a zoo for Auntie Sandra.  Kendra now has a new item for her Christmas wish list - she better keep wishing!!

 Then, it was on to Drumheller for the day.  For those of you who may not know, Kendra is a little bit of a dinosaur enthusiast!  Honestly, she knows more about those creatures than I thought a 6 year old could know about anything.  For the past 2 years, once she found out about the dinosaur museum in Drumheller, she has been saving her money to go here.  Well, her day finally arrived!  We left the 2 younger kids at a friend's place in Drumheller (thanks Summer!) and had a great afternoon, watching Kendra be totally fascinated by this place.  It really was fun to watch her!

Her excitment grows as we drive into Drumheller!

She is taking after her father and loves to take pictures.  These are the badlands where the dinosaurs used to roam millions of years ago!

Me and my crazy girl!!

Getting a little of the silly excitment out of the way before the serious dinosaur learning.

These creatures truly were amazing! 

On our way from Drumheller to Airdrie, we had stop to and take a picture of one of the many canola fields that were in full bloom all over Alberta.  Beautiful!









Summer vacation 2011 - Stage 1

Our main holiday this year was a trip to Alberta. We left at 4:30 a.m. on a Monday morning thinking that the kids would nicely go back to sleep in the van for a few hours once we started driving.  Well, not so much!  We almost had to stop for breakfast in Hope!  We didn't and actually made it to Kamploops for breakfast at A&W by 7:30.  Then it was time for some gravol and a good stretch of the driving.  We made it to Mount Robson park in the early afternoon where we stopped for lunch, some exploring and walk down to Overlander Falls.  The kids did great in the van and we made it to Edmonton in one piece!

Here are the kids enjoying their lunch with Mt. Robson as their backdrop.  Beautiful!



Overlander Falls

The first few days of the trip were spent with Sid and Holly, Liam and Ivy.  The weather was hot and so the slip and slide was a big hit! 

Kendra doing a knee slide.

Owen doing his own version of a slide.

Jocelyn was also enjoying the water, taking a slide into the pool.

Jocelyn and Ivy enjoying some time in the sandbox.

One of our day trips was out to Jurassic Forest, north of Edmonton.  It was a great place to go for a walk through the forest and check out some dinosaurs.  There were on sensors so they moved and made noise when you walked past them.  The kids had great fun running to see which one would be next!

Checking out a pteradactyl.



Jocelyn was tuckered right out after all the dinosaur watching.



Nothing like a popsicle to cool off after a hot and busy morning!

The next few days were spent at Rich and Janelle's, along with baby Myah and their dog Snoopy.  Besides the rain/storms we had while we were there, we enjoyed some good meals, a trip to the waterslides/indoor pool and sitting around the backyard campfire making smores! 

Rich and Myah.