Summer in Prince George

July was time for our annual trip to Prince George. Canada Day in Prince George is very good and by going first thing in July it leaves Kerry and the kids the rest of the summer to spend in the back yard. We arrived on the 30th which was much better than last year when we arrived on the first and headed straight to Fort George park. It was much nicer being able to go to the park earlier in the day  and left us the afternoon to go out to West Lake. Canada Day in PG always has lot's of food options. I kept it simple with bannock and a hot dog.

We only spent a few hours at the park with the kids spending most of it in at the water park. There is a great steam engine but the line up was long and the kids didn't want to wait. After the park we headed out to West Lake. Our family has property there and Callie had a blast with her new life jacket, riding the waves. The water was too rough to use the canoe but Carter still had fun sitting in it and fishing from shore. Just a plastic rod but it has a real reel and he caught a fish every time. (A rubber fish he called fishy.)

The other fun part of the trip was spending time with my 92 year old grandmother. We call her GG for great grandmother since that's what she is to the kids. We spent some time at her place, went out for Chinese food as well as to McDonald's. Other events included four trips to the lake, one of which involved Callie catching a poor toad and carting it around for about half an hour. We also headed out to Kerry's friend Sandy's for dinner. A great place on the river. We finished off the week with dinner at my parent's place with my brother Eric and his fiance. Wedding is in September so we'll be back soon.

Annual Garden Project

Every year I do a different landscaping project. Our house is about 22 years old so many of the out door landscaping needs a refresh. This particular area used to have a huge tree that lost it's leaves every couple months and a very ugly trellis. I'd already done a few temporary projects but now it was time for something permanent. A new fence and a fenced in garden with a concrete retaining wall. When I first started I didn't think it was as big as it was. I started in March and didn't end up finishing until the end of June. This of course didn't make the neighbor very happy as I finished the fence last.

The fence was last for a good reason. I had to get the posts in right away but I wanted to finish the garden in time to plant it. I also didn't realize it would take so long to stain all the fence pieces. Thankfully Kerry took on that task. The retaining wall is just split face block filled with concrete. Easy to install and should last a while. The gate should last a while as well since I did it with mortise and tenons and screws. Callie and Carter each have their own area and the rest is filled with raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb. Need to keep the rhubarb away from the dogs. The kids love going in and out of the little gate. The only remaining task is to stain the little fence. I'll let Kerry finish that.

Frost Road Country Fair

June 7th was the date for the annual Frost Road Country Fair. A Friday evening of food and activities    to raise money for the PAC which this year is purchasing additional playground equipment. Last year it was moved by a week due to weather and it was looking similar this year but in the end it turned out to be warm and dry. One of Callie's favourite activities is the pony rides. Last year Carter rode them as well however this year he was interested in the idea but not interested in actually participating. Maybe next year.

A new event this year was the talent show. Callie and a friend had created a dance for their class and they got chosen to also perform in the talent show. I was amazed at how detailed it was considering they had choreographed it themselves. I felt the choreography was actually better than several of the older kids. The song they performed to has a point in the middle where it slows down so everyone started clapping. This didn't make Callie very happy and she set everyone straight before finishing off the performance.

A family favorite is the cake walk which unfortunately we don't usually do very well in. Not this year though with Carter winning two cakes. Even Callie got a cake though it took her many tries and she ended up winning towards the end of the evening for best dancing. They were trying to get rid of cakes quickly as the night was almost over. The other favorite event of course is the pie eating contest. A favorite because Kerry has to participate. She won last year but not this year. She cheated last year but with the local fire department watching that wasn't an option this time.

Fraser Valley Grape Escape

I attended the Fraser Valley Grape Escape again this year in early June. It's a two day 135k bike ride for MS. A colleague from work started arranging a team several years ago and I've now attended three of the past four years. The team and attendees are pretty similar each year. There was about 300 riders and we travel through the Fraser Valley between six wineries and Krauss Berry Farms, which happens to sell wine now as well. They changed the starting point and I was glad they did. Previous years have started at a high point in Langley meaning each day ended on a hill. We started in downtown Langley this year which left us with a downhill at the end of each day.

The weather was perfect and along with the different starting point we attended a new winery which I felt was much better than the one they dropped. The first day is 86k if you do the long route which leaves just 49k for the second day. Since I hadn't got a lot of training in it's always good to have a shorter second day. Unfortunately for me though I showed up 25 minutes late. The map I had showed a start time of 10:00a and since I hadn't attended the dinner the evening before I didn't know it was wrong. It meant I had a lot of catching up to do. It was good to finally catch up to people and they turned out to be from my team. They had a slight injury that was being attended to by the first aid car. With the earlier start and quick ride it also meant that I ended up at Krauss Berry farms earlier than anticipated. Kerry, the kids and the Dukes were planning on meeting me there so all I had time to do was say hello and then I was back on the road.

It was another successful year. I raised $300, our team raised over $8000 and the event itself raised close to $100,000 to support MS.

Callie's Dance Recital

In mid May it was time for Callie's annual dance recital. After 10 months of lessons that we don't get to attend, we finally get to see what we're getting for $160 a month.This year she is in four classes across three different disciplines. One hip hop, one tap and two ballet. This year it was Mom's turn to come to watch. We only get to purchase four tickets so not all the grand parents can see it each year. The theme was Survivor which allowed them to do pretty much whatever they wanted to because they could pick a country and perform a dance that was appropriate.

Callie's first dance was hip hop. I'm still not entirely sure what the country or the theme was but every year hip hop tends to do whatever it wants anyways. I think the reason they even have this style is because it allows them to be fairly free on what they teach and learn.

The next dance style was tap. We're not sure what style Callie likes best but Kerry thinks this is what she's best at. Unfortunately her teacher from this class is leaving this year and we all really liked her. Callie was most excited about this particular dance because she was assigned the special task of kissing goodbye to the crowed all by her self. Considering how shy she is at school, I'm amazed at how different she is on stage.

The final dance was ballet. She only had 3 minutes to change between styles as was evidenced by the fact that she was a snowball for tap and a Bon homme for ballet. Both from Canada. She managed to get it done though. (I'm sure Kerry wishes she changed that fast in the mornings before school.)

We finished the evening with flowers and a trip to Subway and another year is done. She starts again in September and will likely be going up to 5 different classes. Good thing it's only a 5 minute walk from our house.

Field Trip to the Aquarium

In early May I got the opportunity to chaperon Callie on another field trip. The teachers must not talk between the different grades because last time I momentarily lost a kid or two. (In my defense, they ran away.) Luckily another parent found them and quickly returned them. This time we were headed to the Vancouver Aquarium. Our friend Brenda had said that her daughter Kennedy was hoping that she would get to be in my group. Her wish was granted and Callie got put with Kennedy and two of her other friends.

We took what I think is the long way by going through Vancouver. Kerry and I have found that going through North Van and coming back over the Lions Gate Bridge is quicker. We did eventually arrive and got there just in time for the dolphin feeding. I had to rush the kids past all the exciting exhibits at the entrance but I was glad we did. We were one of the few groups to see them. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. We managed to see all the exhibits including the Four D movie which Callie wasn't too thrilled about as it sprays water and other surprises that she couldn't anticipate. We finished off with lunch by the playground and were back by 2:30. A fun trip.

Aloha From Maui - Day Seven

Our final full day and unless something exciting happens tomorrow likely my final blog post from Maui. We got up at our usual time around 6:30a and got out the door by 8:15a. We wanted to make the most of our last day. Our destination was a beach that Sean had heard about from some random people he was speaking to. It was out past Big Beach at the end of McKenna road. We drove separately and both ended up going too far. It wasn't a total loss though as we drove through a national park encompassing a relatively recent Lava flow. It was like being on the surface of the moon.

When we finally did find the beach we were looking for we discovered it wasn't a sandy beach but it had lot's of rocks for the kids to wander around and based on the number of people in the water, it likely had good snorkeling. When we got out into the water we weren't disappointed. Lot's of fish very close to shore and some very nice looking coral. Turns out we were just around the corner from the real Turtle Town though we didn't see any. At the very end we convinced Callie to put snorkeling gear on and just put her head in the water. We were very lucky that there was fish so close to shore. She saw about four different fish and even accidentally did some real snorkeling when her feet floated up. She was only out for a few minutes but she really enjoyed it.

Once we all had our turn in the water we packed up and headed back to the condo to spend some time on our beach and around the pool. Callie and Carter are both getting better at randomly meeting kids their age and starting to play with them. Good to see and it keeps them out of our hair. We also headed back to the Shaved Ice place though we were low on cash so we could only afford to get the kids some. I believe Callie had Bubble Gum and Cotton Candy and Carter went with Pina Colada and Cherry.

We got back around 6:00p and headed straight down to the beach for one last sunset attempt. The day had been nice and sunny but there was a lot of cloud cover in the evening. It wasn't spectacular but for the last couple minutes as the sun dipped below the horizon we could see the full shape of it. Close enough. We then headed back for our last steak dinner and whatever other left over food we could find that we can't take back. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 12:40p and I'm back to the work the next day.


It was an amazing vacation and kudos the Dukes for making it even more enjoyable. I highly recommend going with another family with kids the same age. Having other adults to talk to and another kid to keep your kids busy makes for a much more relaxing vacation. I'm sure we'll do this again.

Aloha From Maui - Day Six

Our initial plan for the day was to head to Turtle Town as it sounded like it would be a sure thing for turtles but after a bit of research we realized it didn't have much of a beach for the kids so we decided to head to a different area that looked like it had a sandy beach. Wherever we ended up it wasn't Turtle Town, it didn't have a sandy beach but it definitely had Turtles. As soon as we arrived and got out on the rocks we found a turtle and the way the rocks were situated we could walk almost right up to it and still be far enough away that it could feed in peace.

Between Kerry and I, we probably took about 60 pictures of various turtles though amazingly I think the very first one I took is probably the best. It will take some time to weed through the others and get them cleaned up off the camera. Kerry and the kids wandered around the rocks and found 4 or 5 different turtles and watched them feed. It's amazing how close to the rocks they get without getting tossed right against them and injured.

Meanwhile, I decided I would try some snorkeling. There were too big snorkeling boats off shore with some big groups so I knew it was good. The only issue was there wasn't really a good place to get in. I saw two girls jump in which seemed rather foolish since I'm not sure how they would get back in. I decided to try walking in from a small cove. The waves were a bit big but they came in sets and I figured I could get out in between. No such luck. A large wave hit me at the exact wrong time and I lost a flipper and stubbed my toe. (Or so I thought.)

By the time I got my senses back together I realized I was out far enough so I flippered out to where the boats were, swam with some turtles and got in some great snorkeling. I also followed some people back into shore and found an adequate place to get out of the water. I mentioned earlier that I thought I had stubbed my toe. Turned out I had stepped on a Sea Urchin and I spent the afternoon digging needles out of my big toe. Kerry had to go get me some vinegar so I could soak my foot. It was all quite painful till I got the last stinger out.

For the afternoon we headed back to the moose. Kerry found that one of the students from her school was here and Sean joked that we should get her to baby sit. The very next day she came over and said she had her CPR and baby sitting course so how could we resist. It was probably the easiest $25.00 she's ever made as some kids from one of the other condos came over and they all played Zombie tag off the lanai. Most likely a very memorable first baby sitting job.

Aloha From Maui - Day Five

It's Saturday and we decided to check out the local Farmer's Market. We were not impressed. It was about eight tents in a parking lot and you'd think you'd be able to buy a pineapple from a market in Maui but apparently not. We pretty much just drove through the parking lot and left for the beach. Today we decided to try out Uala beach as it wasn't far from us and a friend of Kerry's was planning on being there. Unfortunately we didn't connect but the snorkeling was excellent and Carter had great fun yelling at the waves.

We headed back to the condo for lunch before walking down to the local shaved ice place with the Dukes. Shaved ice is essentially a snow cone or slurpy but rather than crushing ice they have a machine that shaves very thin layers off. Similar to a snow cone they add the syrup to the big pile of Ice. I had Strawberry and Banana. Carter had 'Sharks Blood'. Callie had Blue Raspberry and Bubblegum. Kerry had Pina Colada and Cherry. Very sweet but when it melts it's probably only about a quarter of a cup total.

In the afternoon the kids spent some time at the pool and we decided we would order pizza for dinner. I had no idea where we were going and Sean had had a few drinks so it took us a bit of time and a few phone calls before we found it. We looked for the sunset and again had no luck. Only two days left. We may have to settle for the Maui flowers.

Aloha From Maui - Day Four

We're finally starting to get up a t a regular time. Between 6:00a and 7:00a. Unfortunately that is 9:00a and 10:00a in Vancouver so getting back to work on Wednesday is going to be tough. Callie and Kerry have started a regular trip up the road to a cinnamon bun place. Pretty good though I'm glad Kerry eats the macadamia nuts off it before I get it. Carter has been the last one to wake up each morning so I hang back and watch woodworking videos on the iPad.

Today was a very exciting day as Sean had convinced Kerry that they were going surfing this morning. I'm sure it sounded like a better idea when Kerry had a few drinks in her the evening before. By morning she wasn't so sure. Land training was quick. Only about 15 minutes and then it was out on the waves. Kerry had a tough go of it for the first hour or so but she managed to get up about 5 times before it was over. The toughest part was the way she would wipe out. Typically quickly and face first.

By the time she was done she was very close to throwing up. It was definitely a great experience for her though and I'm proud that she never gave up. Believe me. After watching her for 45 minute it wasn't looking good. :)
The kids were quite content to stick to the beach. Callie and Kennedy met a friend named Julia and they spent most of the time trying to create a sand wall in the surf. About every third wave would wash over it. Unfortunately I accidentally ended their attempt when I asked them what they would use it for.

In the afternoon we headed to Moose McGillycuddy's with the Dukes for Happy Hour. Beer was $3.00 and mixed drinks were $4.00. (I'm fairly certain there's not a lot of alcohol in the mixed drinks. The beer is probably a better deal.) Dinner was back at the condo and consisted of steaks and giant over-priced potatoes. We watched for the sunset again but we didn't bother going down to the beach as it was very obviously still too cloudy. It's not looking good for a Maui sunset.

Aloha From Maui - Day Three

On day two we spoke to some people on the beach who informed us that the turtles liked to come visit our beach around 7:00a so Sean and I decided we would head out early for some snorkeling. Each of the Kamaole beaches outside our condo are flanked by some rock outcroppings and we figured they would be good places to go. The good thing is that they have nice sandy beaches which make backing in with flippers much easier. We were going to go to the first outcropping but a local with her dog recommended we go to the next one.

The snorkeling was pretty good but we didn't see any turtles while we were out. Kerry and the kids had walked down to see us so we got out and got ready to head back to the condo. Amazingly, just as we got out of the water two sea turtles arrived and hung out right where we had been snorkeling. Good for the kids. Bad for us as we were too lazy to go back in.

Callie also brought her Maui journal down and was doing some sketching of the rocks. She would have fit right in on Darwin's ship.

As soon as we got back to the condo we packed up and headed to Lahaina and Baby Beach. It's a great beach for kids as the waves all break about 200 feet out and there are virtually no waves on shore. You can walk all the way out and still be on a sandy bottom. Carter was very excited as our previous beaches had been a bit wavy and he didn't venture much farther than where the waves came up on shore. Baby Beach was perfect for him and he jumped right in.

After Baby Beach it was over to the Hoola Grill. Brenda was very excited to have us all go there for lunch as it's right on Ka'anapali beach and the tables are right in the sand. No five second rule here. The Dukes have been to Maui the last two years and usually stay in this area so they are frequent flyers of the Hoola Grill. The food was great and the atmosphere was perfect for a nice sunny day. Carter managed to spend his $20.00 from Gub and Gampoo. Where Callie has been very selective he pretty much bought the first thing he saw. He's very happy with his treasure chest though.

I'm fairly certain the sunsets the first two days were quite amazing. We never left the lanai but the way the clouds lit up around 6:30p it was fairly obvious they were good. We didn't think we'd have any trouble seeing one but had no luck today. (Probably a good thing since I'd let the batteries in the camera die.) It' hasn't really rained since we got here but it's been cloudy and based on the forecast we may have missed our chance. We'll be trying every night.

Aloha From Maui - Day Two

Adjusting to the time change going east is very different from adjusting going west. Maui is 3 hrs behind us so it was difficult staying awake the first night and we were all out cold by about 8:30a. This didn't work out too well for Kerry who was up at 3:47a and had to lay in bed until about 5:00a when Callie woke up. Carter and I followed at around 5:30a and we were all out the door to watch the sunrise. Carter and I had to head back a bit early as Carter had some sort of trouble with his foot. We're still not really sure what the problem was.

Out first road trip was to Big Beach with the Dukes. It's a big sandy beach with some pretty powerful waves. The only issue was that there weren't any showers which resulted in a large amount of sand making it back into our car. Car rental places must have very powerful vacuums. The reason for all the sand had a few obvious sources. Callie got buried and both kids spent much of their time crawling around in the surf. I never did venture over to Little Beach. Those familiar with Maui will know why this would have been either a good or bad idea.

We left McKenna around noon and headed back to the condo for a nap and some reading time. I've finally managed to finish reading 'The Hobbit'. Synopsis - 13 dwarfs and a hobbit walk a long way and find some treasure. Hobbit walks back.

Later in the afternoon we headed to Foodland for a few final groceries and then walked back down to the beach. We've now seen two separate weddings during the week take place down there. Great spot for pictures. Dinner was burger and salad and the Dukes were over until sunset.

Aloha From Maui - Day One

Our trip started very early on Tuesday morning. I was informed of the plan the night before by Callie. We would wake up at 3:30a, the kids would be up by 4:00a and we would all be out the door by 4:30a. Despite the early morning the kids were very excited and behaved nicely. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare and had no trouble checking in. Security on the other hand was a different story. A the last minute we moved a few things around in our suitcases and ended up with the sunscreen and toiletries in my bag which we had decided to carry on. We completely forgot about the no liquid rule.

Kerry went back through security to pay the $25.00 to check another bag. (Turned out to be $35.00) We figured it was cheaper than buying new sunscreen, toothpaste, shaving gel etc.) After that it was smooth sailing and everyone got on board the plane. We were a bit worried about Callie but other than a few tears during takeoff she was fine. The flight was pretty good with Kerry sitting in a row of three between the two kids and I was in a row on the side just in front of them. There was a point where Kerry went to the bath room and I started to hear screaming behind me. Not sure exactly what happened but Carter had a nice bite mark.

Our flight arrived on schedule and the kids were quite tired by this time. Nothing terrible happened as we left however every step seemed to take a bit longer than we would have liked. Our bags were some of the last ones to get off, we missed the first shuttle to pick up the car, and the car rental lineup seemed to take forever. Where our friends the Dukes were out in about 40 minutes we took close to two hours from touch down to Costco. Apparently if you go go Maui your first stop always needs to be Costco to get supplies for the week.

Costco was very familiar and was quick.We also stopped at Kmart to get a few items that we knew we didn't need a Costco sized version of. After a quick trip to McDonald's we finally arrived at the condo. Our room is in a great spot with the lanai opening up to the pool. We're on a bit of a hill so we can see the ocean and have a great view of the grounds. We made a quick trip down the beach across the street, had a bbq dinner with the Dukes and then got ready for bed. With Maui being 3 hrs ahead, even when if we went to bed at 8:00p it was like having a 3:30a to 11:00p day. Exhausting.

Christmas 2012 - Reported to You in February 2013

I should probably clarify that this is February 3, 2013 and not Christmas time. I took a bit of a break from blogging this winter but I figure I should still make note of what happened at Christmas. It was a fairly typical Christmas. This was Carter's last year with Santa at Day Care. I think they've had the same Santa since Callie went there and he's great because he's one with a real beard. The parents bring a gift for each kid and Carter sat very patiently until it was his turn. I'm glad he was in the first half because as more and more kids get their gifts it gets louder and more chaotic.

Callie's Christmas Concert was pretty good. They have two sessions because it's such a big school.  I went with Barb, Reg and Sean Duke in the evening. Looking back on my own concerts I'm glad our school was small enough that we could sit beside the stage and actually see all the other kids. Kerry has to spend the evening in her classroom with her class waiting to sing. She does  get out long enough to see Callie who looked very good in her newly knitted scarf from Gub. We didn't realize why she wanted it until we saw she was singing Frosty the Snowman.

It was a good year for gifts. No giant toys and I think everyone was happy with what they got. Barb and Reg got an iPad mini from everyone and we had a similar everyone gift of a TV. Callie and Carter both got lot's of lego and Uncle Ronnie helped Carter put together his Tyrannosaurus Rex. As per usual, the first Christmas is with Kerry's family and my parents come down for New Years. We also got in our traditional fondu and had a second one with the Dukes in between Christmas and New Years. A busy time.

Christmas number two had my Mom and Dad come down just before New Years. We keep the tree up until January 1 so we put the new set of gifts under the treat and have a second present opening. (If you count Daycare, Corey and Carmen coming over, Kerry's parents and then my parents I guess technically we have four Christmas'.) 2012 was another great year. Looking forward to Maui in 2013!