Island Work and Visiting...

So lucked out and was able to go to the Island for work at our Colwood location (everything paid for) so I took advantage of that and was able to go spend some time with Katie, Ian and Aaron before they leave for their new adventure in San Fransico! It was great to see them and we spent a bit of time doing some family pictures.

Weekend at Dad & Jeanie's

Julie, Cali and I headed up to visit Dad and Jeanie for the weekend in Kamloops! We all had a really nice time and it was fun to take one last little trip (for me) before the summer is over!
Jeanie gave Cali a new 'baby' which she was just thrilled with!

On saturday morning we all got in Julie's car and drove out to Vernon... our goal was to get huge tomatoes at Mitz's Farm where we used to get awesome produce... This was lunch at Denny's in Vernon.

We decided to see how things looked at our old Cabin and maybe say hi to Wally if he was around. We ended up not even recognizing our old spot... the only things left were the cabin and the outhouse that was painted blue! Wally is no longer on the lake either, he sold his cabin last October due to health issues. It was sad to see how things ended up, but we still have all the great memories!

Jeanie entertaining Cali while we made the drive back to Kamloops looking for some sort of fruit or veggie stand along the way... where did they all go??

We finally found a small farm in Westwold that had a fun little store with gifts and produce and lots of cool old displays around (see below).

After a long day of driving around... relaxing at the house... Dad was having a good time confusing Cali (they were looking at a Map book and Dad kep asking Cali 'do you see a kitty?' etc)

Dad putting together one of his famous breakfasts this morning! Waffles, blueberry pancakes, fruit and bacon! Yummmm

We took Cali to the river to wear her out before the drive back home again.

Dad and Cali playing in the water park

I think they were looking at a bicycle... either that or its just another goofy pic!

Checking out the interesting bark on the tree....

There were lots of flowers in this park... the fountain had been turned into a huge flower pot

Playing in the park with Grandpa!

Cali thought it looked like fun... mommy and auntie Holly playing on the teeter totter so she decided to join us! (Julie and I have a long history on this particular toy)

Thanks again for a fun time everyone!

Blackberries!

Brian and I went blackberry picking last night just up the street from our house. We actually got quite a few, I guess with the heat wave over the last few days its been the right weather for these berries! (I surprised Brian with fresh Blackberry Scones for breakfast this morning... yummy!)

Reno Update... Bye Bye Tree..

This is what we came home to today! A little bit of a surprise to not even be able to see the ground!! The big tree came down today.

The tree was originally standing in the middle of the hedges along the side.

All the paving stones were removed a few days ago... its like a beach now!

Our little friends...

This would be #5 of the 'Larger' spiders we have been catching in our basement suite over the past couple weeks and its actually probably the smallest one... ugh!!

Crescent Beach Photos

Brian and I went to Crescent Beach today because it was so nice out... I wanted to take some pictures and get practiced up! I am doing his brother's wedding in a few weeks and wanted to make sure I still know how to use my camera (haha, just kidding...)

Books & Cupcakes

I babysit Cali for the day on Friday... when she started playing with the novel I was working on, I decided to take her to Hemmingway's and then Traceycakes for our very first shopping trip together! I think she had a fun time!

Baking today...

So today I decided to do a little bit of baking! I thought I would try baking some fresh buns and Brian has been bugging me for brownies! I realized as I was making the buns that there was going to be too much for the two of us, so I made half of it into a loaf of bread. Anyhow, its all so yummy and I have an open invitation from Brian to make fresh bread and buns anytime! (it smells soooo good in our house!) The brownies are yummy too :)

Exterior Renovations have started!

Ok... so things are starting to happen at our place! We had the official email today telling us to beware of the scaffolding going up in the next week! So of course I had to take some before pictures!! here is the front of the house... the big lump of dirt there is usually our parking spot!Here is a picture of the back of the house.. the lower half is ours and this is where the work started today. They were removing all the paving stones from our patio area... its going to be replaced with new decking for us and above for them. Glad I don't have to do any of this work! Yikes...

The shed was moved from right close to the house... it actually was about 10 feet from our door... this move was being worked on for, well, since we moved in... last weekend a huge group of guys showed up and the next thing you know, the shed was in the corner and this HUGE back yard was revealed!

I hope we get to keep the palm tree... I love that tree...

I will post more pictures as things change... its kind of exciting, I hope the landscaping happens soon also!!