A Trip to Krause Berry Farm

On Saturday we headed out to Krause Berry Farm. Even with the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland there is still some great little trips we can make to interesting destinations. Krause Berry Farm is just off of Highway 1 in Langley and is open during the summer season selling berries, pies, baked good and all sorts of tasty treats. They've got horse rides and pumpkin picking in the fall and they must be doing well as they've added a great playground.

I first made it out here by bike during the Fraser Valley Grape Escape bike for MS which was a two day 150km bike ride that included a number of Fraser Valley wineries as well as the berry farm. Our favourites are their pies and this amazing creation that's cream and berries in a single serving shortcake. Even though it was over a year ago Callie still remembers coming out with Kerry during 'Daddy's bike ride' to ride in the horse buggy.

It was a hectic summer so this was our first trip out there this year. The only berry picking that was left was blueberries and blackberries though they also have strawberries, raspberries and a few others. I need to get a hold of some canes of their raspberries as they're much bigger that the ones I have. The kids had a lot of fun ducking in and out of the rows of berries and of course we came back with a giant pie that was about 80% berry.

Carter's First Soccer Practice

Every couple months we get Callie and Carter into some sort of sporting class. They both started with swimming lessons and 'Boots to Blades' skating as well as multi-sport which was a mix of soccer, floor hockey, basketball and many others. We'll keep them both in swimming but we've also been watching to see what activities they'd like to continue. Callie has moved on to dancing which includes two class on Saturday's now. Tap Dancing at 9:15a and Ballet at 11:00a. For Carter it has been pretty easy figuring out that he'd like to go with soccer. Whenever there is a ball he's out there kicking.

We've probably dealt with a couple dozen different teachers now through the Surrey leisure programs. The swimming and dancing teachers have been pretty good but we were really getting varying degrees of quality for things like Multi-Sport. I wasn't expecting much better for this soccer class since it's for ages 2-4 and it's indoor. I was pleasantly surprised however with his teacher. She had a very clear plan for the first class and even though the ages were quite varying she was still able to keep the class together and moving. It helps that we're still at a stage where the parents are out there helping each kid.

By the end of the class she had taught them three important skills. The first skill was stopping the ball. I thought this was very ambitious but quite a few kids figured it out. Carter fell down a few times but he was eventually stopping with the best of them. She then moved on to 'little kick, little kick'. Carter has always been more of a 'big kick, run' kind of player so it took a bit to slow him down and then when he did he was only moving the ball about 2 inches at a time. The final skill was 'Blast Off' where they put the ball up on a flat cone and kicked as hard as they can. She brought it all together with a 'Little kick, little kick, stop, blast off' exercise. This should be a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday Carter

I'm about a week behind getting Carter's birthday blogged. I'm choosing to believe that it's because I was behind on getting the cruise blog done but it's probably just because the second child get's forgotten. Good thing Carter's so easy going. Having Carter's birthday in mid September is going to be tough. When he's going to school he's going to have to show up with birthday invitations on the first day of school and with the first couple weeks of school being so hectic we're going to have to plan over the Labour Day weekend.

We did manage to get a bit of a party together for him in time. We didn't start Callie's friend birthday's until she was four so we kept Carter's third birthday to just family.  Uncle Corey and Auntie Carmen came over with Kristen and new cousin Ryan. Carter had decided that he wanted a Pirate theme so everyone had their best Pirate costumes on. (Mostly stuff we had from the Pirate night on the Cruise.) Even Ryan had a bit of a pirate costume on with the striped pyjamas.

Callie helped out a lot with Carter's gifts. She convinced him he wanted to get a scooter so that he could scooter around with her.  He got a nice red three wheeled scooter and a Cars sleeping bag from us as well as numerous gifts from friends and family. It was good when the family gifts were delivered because Callie was very worried that Carter wouldn't get as many presents as she did. It was quite refreshing to have her getting along with her brother so well even if it is for just one day. I think she feels he deserves at least one day. :)

Disney Crise - Our Final Day At Sea (By Kerry Schwab)

Today is our last day of the cruise. I got up this morning at 6:30a and headed up to the gym. I did 30 minutes of spinning and then tried to go up top but it's so windy that you can't even breathe when you try to cross the deck. I got some more cereal to add to our stash (Carter is living off of Rice Crispies) and one of the boxes blew across the deck and I had to chase it! Oh.. last night we talked to our tables mates about Ketchikan and they said it was a nice place and that they did get off the ship but only went into one store, (the one closest to the ship) and came back on. Good grief.

Everyone is still asleep so hopefully they are well rested and we have a good final day on board. Carter and Evan headed up to the buffet first this morning then Miss Callie and I followed, She didn't get up until 9:30. We went to check out the pictures on deck 4 when we were done eating and the kids spotted Mickey and Minnie just walking around in their sailor outfits. We didn't have our camera with us so I flew down two flights of stairs, grabbed the camera and flew back up. They were still there and they hadn't been spotted by the masses yet. We got some great pictures with them. We headed to the gift shop for our last visit.

The kids had $10.00 left each and so Callie decided that they would pool their money to buy a Mickey Pirate play set. While our room was being made up we hung out at our favourite quiet spot on deck 3, the Route 66 port hole seats. Evan and I took turns getting food from the buffet and bringing it back to our room. Today was seafood day! My plate was piled high with 2 types of shrimp and crab legs! Yummy! Callie and I also stood in line to see Donald and Daisy in their sailor suits. I love Donald! They are really laying the magic on thick today. There is music playing everywhere and we're always bumping into characters.

This afternoon was one of our best experiences. We took the kids to the lab to participate in Ratatouille's cooking school The kids had a great time making chocolate chip cookies. Chef Pepe was hilarious. He kept picking on Evan calling him a 'Crazy Canadian Guy'. We all had a blast. All of the bowls each individual kid had mixed were put in one big bowl and sent to deck 3 to bake for 2 minutes. They miraculously came back as individually wrapped cookies. Very fun. Tonight was our last dinner at Triton's. Poor Carter fell asleep at the dinner table. Evan and I both had the tenderloin and I had baked Alaska for dessert. It was delicious!

The show tonight was amazing! It was called Disney Dreams. We got to see Ariel, Beaty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Aladin, Pinnochio, Mickey and Minnie. It was fabulous show. Callie and I really loved it.

We really loved our cruise, the only issues we had were that the weather was really rotten and that resulted in no deck atmosphere. Hardly anyone was ever out there and the pirate deck party had to be moved inside which wasn't as exciting. We had a really wonderful experiences and have some truly amazing memories.

Disney Cruise - Ketchikan (By Kerry Schwab)

It is now 7:00a and I am sitting in the bathroom writing and eating fruit so as not to wake the sleeping beauties:) I got up at 5:30a and forced myself to go run my 6 laps on deck 4 and I'm so glad I did! I finally got to see a humpback whale! It was quite big and kept surfacing (just the middle of it ) and blowing water and air out its blowhole. It stayed with the ship for a while and then wandered off. Beautiful! I was actually able to see the sun come up this morning as it wasn't raining. Hopefully the weather holds up today but apparently Ketchikan is situated in the second largest rainforest in the world!

We don't dock until 1:00p today and are only there for six hours so unfortunately everyone will probably want to get on and off the ship at the same time. The people at our table have not got off the ship yet. I think Shaleena is about the same age as me and is a dentist at Metrotown. Her husband looks about 10 years older than her and is hard to understand. He said he's originally from India but grew up in Kenya. I'm not sure what he does but he's not working right now. They have a 6 year old daughter (Narissa) and an almost 2 year old daughter (Kalia) They live in Port Coquitlam and are ready to go home because they are cold and tired.

Carter and Evan went up to the buffet first while I wait for the "Princess" (to become less snarly). We left about 15 minutes later and she chose scrambled eggs and hash browns (just like the ones at McDonalds) and she ate it all. We met up with Evan and Carter and headed to the Promenade Lounge for the paper airplane contest (we didn't do so well). Then we took the kids to "The Lab" for the Jr Rangers Talk. The kids made Petraglyphs out of clay and quite enjoyed it. Afterwards we ventured to the Oceaneers Club where they played on the pirate ship and big slide and Carter made a bear mask. We then went up to the 9th deck and filled our water jugs. Callie decided she wanted to go for a swim so we went back to the room and picked up Evan (we had parted ways at the lab) and he took the kids in the Mickey pool while I took pictures. It was very chilly out there! Carter went under and got very scared so Evan bundled him up and took him back to the stateroom.

I grabbed lunch from Pluto's Dog House (right beside the pool) for the kids then grabbed Callie and we headed back to the room. There was only about a dozen kids in the pool. No one stayed on deck for very long. When I'm out in the morning I run into the same 1/2 dozen people everyday. I guess we're the only ones brave enough to be out there! We got off the ship at 1:45p in Ketchikan. The main street was the usual gaudy t-shirt stores and jewelry stores but we found our way to the South Alaskan Discovery Centre to continue the work the kids were doing with the Ranger program. They didn't have any activities running today so I asked about a nice walk/hike that we could do.

The Ranger sent us on a beautiful little tour called Married Men's Trail. It started at a very quaint little fishing village area called Creek Street. The shops were all on stilts with a boardwalk connecting everything. The stores sold merchandise that was almost solely made in Alaska. I got some jam, coffee and canned smoked salmon for Mom and Dad. Callie picked out some salmon treats for the dogs. The "village" was at the mouth of the river that runs through town. The salmon were crazily running. We saw two cute seals having lunch in the river. As we walked up the boardwalk the river was rushing really fast.

We walked past a salmon ladder on the way to the fish hatchery. Very few people were on the walk we went on so it was quite peaceful. It didn't start raining until we were almost at the ship so we got really lucky. The town was really old with lots of stairs and steep driveways leading up to the houses. Everything is made out of wood and a lot of buildings were rotting but it was a very lush and pretty place. Evan walked us to the ship and then I brought the kids back on board while he went into look around some more. There were stairs leading up to the top of the hill in the centre of town and a neat trolley elevator that was $2.00 to ride up that he was thinking of exploring.

Now to get ready for "Pirate Night!" Carter hasn't pooped in 48 hours so we are also awaiting a storm. Evan returned soaking wet but he found a geocache. Then we got ready for our last dinner in Animator's Palette. Carter was super cranky. He ended up falling asleep in my arms at the table right after my soup arrived. He slept for about 45 minutes then woke up as we tried to transfer him back to the room. He cried for a while then said that he was sick. Callie really wanted to see Gnomeo and Juliet in 3-D so I took her to the Buena Vista Theatre and left the boys in the room. Just after we got back from the movie it was time for the pirate deck party.

The weather wasn't good enough to have it outside so they had to hold it in the atrium. Callie and I checked it out for about 10 minutes but she thought it was too loud and there were no characters so we left. When we got back, Evan ventured out to see what the Pirate buffet was all about (the only late night buffet the whole week). He came back with an assortment of desserts, including crepes. I'm so sick of food, I couldn't even look at the tray. Tonight we need to set our clocks ahead an hour so it's technically midnight right now and everyone is still awake. It's really windy and the ship is rocking, so I thought as a responsible parent I should give everyone Gravol! Here's hoping we have a good night's sleep and a good final day tomorrow.

The dinner in Animator's Palette was very neat tonight. The night started out with everything in black and white; the pictures on the walls, the video screens and the server's vests. The walls and screens gradually started to turn coloured and at dessert time all the wait staff disappeared and paraded back in lead by Mickey in his Sorcerer's Apprentice cloak and hat and everyone's vests were now colourful cartoon drawings. Very cool.

Disney Cruise - Juneau (By Kerry Schwab)

Last night we went to see Cars 2. We all enjoyed it but Carter only made it through the first half. When we got back to the room Callie was over tired and went crazy! She yelled about her toothpaste, slammed doors, kicked walls and scratched! It was awful! Finally I turned the TV on and she watched for 10 minutes and fell asleep. Yikes! This morning was super fun as well. I slept in until 6:30 and my legs were too stiff to run this morning so I just went for a walk up top and got my mocha. There was no line at the buffet so I got an assortment of items and took a tray back to the room. Everyone approved except Callie.

She wouldn't eat the scrambled eggs because they were in a bowl and not on a plate. She wanted to go up to the buffet and eat in her pyjamas. We said she had to wear her clothes. After about 15 minutes (and Evan and Carter leaving the room) she eventually dressed herself and we made it upstairs. After breakfast we headed into Juneau. It was pouring! We walked around the town for about an hour and half and then headed back to the ship.  Callie wanted to go to the Oceaneers Club to join the "Heffalump Hunt. " She surprised me by taking very good care of Carter. She held his hand and led him around.

She was also very concerned at the end of the hunt that he hadn't found one. Callie loved the hunt and participated constantly. Her hand was up and she was volunteering answers into the microphone. I think she felt safe because it was a Pooh Bear activity. Afterwards we went up to the buffet for lunch. It was Chinese food. Pretty tasty! This afternoon we went to see 'The Little Mermaid' in the theatre. The kids and I really enjoyed it. It is still my favourite Disney movie! Evan went back into Juneau to go geocaching but didn't find any of them. Tonight was a semiformal night and was the Captain's dinner.

I had Oysters Rockafeller, garlic shrimp and lobster. Unfortunately, my lobster was quite tough and had no taste. I was very disappointed! After diner we saw Pluto and then headed to the big theatre for "Toy Story-The Musical." It was amazing and the costumes and special effects were fabulous! The kids loved it, especially Callie.

Disney Cruise - Skagway (By Kerry Schwab)

This morning we docked in Skagway. I got up at 6:00a and went for a run on deck 4 (I did 6 laps). Then I went to deck 9 to make my mocha and have my morning stroll on deck 10. Skagway is a small town of 800 people nestled in the mountains. It's very picturesque and reminded me a lot of Hazelton. I saw a little family of seals. The little one was having quite the time trying to eat a large fish. On the way back to the room I stopped by the internet cafe to send mom a quick e-mail. We decided to try Triton's for breakfast to avoid the line up at the buffet. Evan and I enjoyed our meals but Carter essentially ate nothing while

Callie freaked out when her pancakes and waffles came with the syrup already on them, the scrambled eggs were touching other things and the pancake "tower" only had three pancakes in it. Oh the horror! After breakfast we headed into Skagway (the town was a 2 minute walk from the ship). We popped into a few shops but didn't buy anything. We stopped by the Ranger Station where the kids did a few free activities and were sworn in as "Junior Rangers." They both enjoyed that. I asked the Ranger about little hikes in the area and she sent us to one near the cruise ship. We hiked to Yakutania Point which was only about 30 minutes round trip but was quite scenic and very quiet.

We only ran into three other people! It started to rain so we quickly walked back to the ship. The kids and I changed and headed up to the theatre to catch the new Pooh Bear Movie. There were only about 20 people in the theatre and we all had fun. We then headed to the Oceaneers Club to participate in "Slide Time." This is when they have the pirate ship and slide open. It was fine for Carter to play there as long as I supervised (as the club is for 3-10 year olds). Callie really wanted to go to the Mickey Pool so we decided to brave the cold (it was 10 degrees and raining!). There were only 2 other kids in the pool, surprisingly I know! We only stayed about 20 minutes.

The water was warm and the Mickey ear hot tubs were a little warmer but the air was very chilly. Evan and Carter dashed out ahead of us and then Callie and I quickly grabbed hot chocolate and tea and dashed back to the room. A hot shower was definitely in order. We had a rest before getting ready for dinner. Tonight was "Taste of Alaska". We were back in Triton's. Callie wasn't feeling well when we first got there but perked up about 1/2 way through. Both kids ordered chicken noodle soup to start and followed up with chicken fingers. Evan and I both started with Alaskan King Crab legs (absolutely delicious) then he had the honey-mustard baked salmon and I had the pork tenderloin with a wine mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Yum! For dessert Carter had the chocolate mousse and Evan and I both had the "Sweet Temptations" the trio included a little chocolate mousse, a little cake and a pear custard. Very nice! Now we are off to Cars 2 in the big Theatre in 3-D.

Disney Cruise - Tracy Arm (By Kerry Schwab)

This morning I got up at 5:30 after a restless night with the kids. We didn't go to sleep until 10:30p. Carter was mad because his "eyes were falling down" and they needed to be open. Callie was up to go pee at 2:00a and Carter was restless all night because he was constipated (for the first time ever!). I got up and went for a walk on deck. It was much windier and colder this morning. I walked around for about 45 minutes and then went to the gym to do some spinning. Very relaxing!! This morning we decided on the buffet for breakfast. Carter didn't eat much because his tummy hurt. Callie was being stinky about what she ate and where we sat.

I told her if she kept it up I was cancelling our Disneyland trip next summer. After breakfast we went to the Oceaneer lab. Callie joined the "Lava Flow" class where they made volcanoes. She really liked it but wanted us all to stay with her. For lunch we ate at the Beach Blanket Buffet. Then it was time for the ship to head up Tracy Arm. We were out on the deck from 12:30p - 4:00p! We were wearing jeans, hoodies, jackets and wrapped up in blankets. Callie did really well. She was cold but took a 45 minute nap and spent a lot of time looking for wildlife. We only saw one seal!! It was very beautiful and Sawyer Glacier was breathtaking!

We then came back to the room and the kids had a 45 minute hot bath. They were so cold! We watched 'Rango' in the room and had a lay down. Tonight was dinner in Parrot Cay (Island Theme). Our table next to the giant porthole was beautiful going through Tracy Arm. Callie was very social tonight. She spent the entire dinner talking with Narissa (the other 6 year-old at our table). I had the mixed grill for dinner (lamb, beef, shrimp and bacon wrapped sausage). Everything was delicious except the sausage. Evan had steak which was really good and a very tasty jerk chicken appetizer with blue cheese sauce. Carter had mac and cheese and Callie had chicken fingers.

For dessert Callie had vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Carter had the Mickey ice cream bar, Evan had the 'Smore Vanilla Cake, and I had the "Sweet Temptations," a little lemon meringue tart and a piece of creme brule square. Delicious! After dinner the kids changed into their jabbies and we went to see "Tangled" in 3-D at the Buena Vista Theatre. We own the movie and have seen it several times but never in 3-D. Callie loved it! She never wanted to see a movie in 3-D before because she didn't want to wear the glasses, but now she's hooked! We went to sleep as soon as we got back to the cabin.

Disney Cruise - Day 2 At Sea (By Kerry Schwab)

This morning I had the best run of my life! I got up at 5:30a and headed up to the top deck (Evan slept from 8:00p to 6:30a) It was still dark when I got there and there were only 3 other people up. It was cold and windy but at the same time exhilarating! I ran for about 25 minutes and then made a mocha outside the buffet and went for a walk. At that time the ship was clearing the northern tip of Vancouver Island. Daybreak was beautiful. I stood at the back of the ship (my favourite place) by myself and watched the last bits of land go by. I was lucky enough to see a pod of 5 orcas! OMG! Amazing! At 8:00 we went for our scheduled character breakfast.

It was a little rocky getting out the door but then everything was fine. Evan had eggs and bacon, Carter had chocolate chip pancakes and a Mickey Mouse waffle (Mickey Surf) Callie had 2 scoops of scrambled eggs and I had a bagel with lox and cream cheese. Very yummy!! Goofey, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale all came to our table for breakfast pictures. Callie loved Minnie and Carter liked Goofy the best. Our waiter made us head gear out of napkins. Callie and I got bows, Carter got a Peter Pan hat and Evan got a lost boys hat.

When Francisco was putting Evan's hat on he said "Your head is very big sir." We had a good laugh over that one! Then we stopped by the gift shop where Callie picked out a rattle for baby Ryan and a little Minnie Mouse for Kristen. Carter picked out a cuddly soft Pluto. We took a tour of the kids club and then came back to the room for a rest. We then went to Pluto's Dog house for a quick lunch on the deck ! It was freaking cold. We were bundled up in blankets! Afterwards we checked out the line up for the Princess meet and greet. We were told it was 45 minutes from the end point so Callie decided she wanted to wait.

After all was said and done the two of us waited an hour and a half. She was so patient and the look on her face was priceless when she saw Belle, Cinderella, Arial, Snow White and Tianna! Carter napped on Evan up on the deck the whole time we were in line. Tonight we had the captains welcome party complete with free drinks and pictures with Mickey. It was also "Fancy Night" so we threatened and made deals with the kids for good behaviour so we could get a nice family picture and enjoy our meal. The result... a lovely picture with Mickey and an enjoyable meal!.

Callie had chicken fingers, Carter had macaroni and cheese and mozza sticks. Evan and I had fried cheese ravioli and New York steak. It was delicious! For dessert Evan had Creme Brule, I had the chocolate celebration, Callie had vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, Carter had chocolate pudding and Lucia brought a strawberry sundae for us to share. Yum! Tonight was the Golden Mickey's show in the Walt Disney theatre. It was fabulous! Callie loved seeing the princesses and made sure she hid her new Dalmatian from Cruella Deville.

Disney Cruise - Bon Voyage (By Kerry Schwab)

For our cruise Kerry did a daily journal, so rather than creating something from scratch I thought I'd just use that instead.  The next seven posts are all from Kerry.

This morning Mom and Dad helped us get ready for the cruise and escorted us to the terminal via the SkyTrain. I was so worried about forgetting something that I forgot to say goodbye to Wilson :(. Getting on the ship was a breeze. We didn't have to wait in a single line up! Everyone was super nice. The bomb-sniffing dog guy offered to take a family picture for us and we got announced over a microphone as we boarded the ship! The kids were super excited to get greeted by Pluto! After we boarded we went out on deck to get pictures taken by Mom & Dad from Canada Place. Sure wish they could have come. =( Then we had lunch at 'The Beach Blanket Buffet'. The kids loved their mac and cheese and I loved my shrimp!

At 2:00 our room was ready so the kids changed into their swimsuits and I took them to the pool while Evan had a nap. The life boat drill was at 4:00p. At 5:00p we attended the sail away party with Mickey and the gang. Callie didn't like it at first but then a really nice crew member found her a perfect seat beside the stage. Afterwards we went to the highest deck to watch the ship sail past Stanley Park and under the Lion's Gate bridge. Beautiful! Then it was dinner time at Triton's. What an adventure that turned out to be! First Carter flipped out when we were going up the stairs and refused to go into the restaurant then he freaked out when I picked him up,

held his breath until he turned blue, and then passed out for a couple of seconds. Then he was fine until I wiped his hands with handi-wipes we were given as we walked through the door. He screamed for a good 5 minutes at the entrance to the restaurant then he was a perfect gentlemen for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately about 15 minutes later his sister took over. She threw a complete hissy fit because she didn't have enough fries, the plate wasn't small enough and there was corn on her plate. After about 10-15 minutes of freaking out (and she got some food into her) she was a perfect lady. If this keeps up we will be freaking mental by the end. Now it is 10:00p and I am soaking in the miniature tub while the kids watch Pinnochio on the TV.

Callie is over the moon because she gets to sleep in a bunk bed that pulls out from the ceiling! Carter loved the bath tub and said "Mommy, the bath tub is wonderful and it's Disney!". We have our character breakfast at 8:00 tomorrow morning so hopefully that goes well. BTW - Evan had sole for dinner and it was the best he had ever tasted. I had the beef tenderloin - Wow! I could have cut it with my fork. Delicious!