Jesse's Wedding in Sydney

In July we headed over to Sydney on the island for my cousin Jesse and his new wife Genevieve's wedding. Actually the real wedding took place in Toronto a few weeks earlier. This was the reception for their west coast friends and family. We headed over first thing on Saturday and immediately headed to Beacon Hill Park. Kerry has many fond memories of feeding the birds there when she was a kid. We never made it over to Victoria very often when I was a kid but I'm fairly certain our family went there as well. The whole place seemed oddly familiar.

We drove over and Mom and Dad flew so they came with us to the park as well to kill some time before the reception. The kids enjoyed the ducks and at one point there were about 30 of them streaming towards Carter. Luckily they like to stay in the water, otherwise he's small enough they could have trampled him. Dad seemed to enjoy the peacocks. All the birds in the park seemed to be very used to humans. There were no signs saying don't feed the birds so I think the park is resigned to the fact that these birds and fairly domesticated.

After the park we went down to the waterfront in Victoria and toured the grounds around the parliament buildings. I'm always impressed by these buildings. It took true craftsmanship and I'm sure a lot of money to create them but they are an excellent heritage item for our province. We took lot's of pictures of the kids. Who knows, maybe one day they will be members of parliament or work in the government and it will be fun to have Carter sitting in a replica of the Speaker of the House's chair.

Everybody got dressed up for the reception. Callie had on a lovely purple dress we had bought just for this occasion and she accented it with a set of fake pearls. Very glamorous. Carter had on a nice little boys outfit though parts of it didn't last very long. He was feeling a bit ill and had to throw up on the beach. Whatever the issue though, it passed quickly. The reception was at the Saanich yacht club and it was an excellent venue for a reception of 100 or so. Right on the water of course and the building itself was over 100 years old with trees to match.

A well planned wedding doesn't forget about the kids. There was a bucket full of older toys for them as well as some brand new ones purchased just for the occasion. One of the highlights for the kids was the air powered rocket. They all lined up and took turns placing their rocket on the launcher, stomping on the foot pedal, watching the rocket soar and then retrieving it before getting back in line. Things started off a bit rough when Dad launched the first rocket into the trees and it got stuck. The adults had fun using soccer balls to knock it out.

We had to head home somewhat early as Carter was feeling a bit under the weather and the next day we went to Uncle Bob and Aunt Glennis' house. It's a small house but the location is amazing. On a hill with stairs down to the water. We stayed for a few hours and then had to catch the ferry back. It was a quick weekend but very enjoyable.

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.