My Summer. The End.

Well, it's Friday night. Our foursome family is intact again, the girls having spent the last five days at Camp Charis. I missed them... but now, listening to their constant banter and staring at their piles of laundry I'm wondering what is was exactly that I missed. Oh well. Back to conflict resolution and doing wash... living the dream, living the dream. 

Wednesday, Stew took the day off work and we drove to the camp facility in East Chilliwack to visit the group. Got in on the rock climbing, watching, strictly, and then Stew played water polo with them for an hour before we headed home again. 

Love these two.. and they sure love each other!

Ma'am tried her hand at the rock climbing. Here she is, getting belted up. 

And off she goes...

...swinging herself back down again.

And living to tell about it. Dramatically.

And so it ends. Eleven weeks of fun and freedom. Back to reality, come Tuesday. 

My Summer. Week Ten.

It's still hot here.

Hot enough for these crazies to spent one night sleeping outside on the trampoline. Although they were scared half to death at the sight of a family of raccoons who decided to visit around one o'clock in the morning. They were up with the Sun around 0430, which is when I happened to snap this photo. I was awake, obviously, for the raccoons and the Sun, but I didn't look this good. Nor was I this happy.

And still hot enough... to spend an entire afternoon splashing around in a friend's pool.

And still hot enough... to enjoy clear, blue skies at the playground!

Aaaah, summer. How I do love thee!

My Summer. Week Nine.

Not much excitement this week. Just a couple of funnies.

What a dog. What a life. And I always seem to be the one she chooses to curl up next to on the couch. She's certainly a pro when it comes to making herself comfortable. 

This says it all about my house and summer vacation. Although I hardly think I'll wait till they're in college before I clean it! Made me laugh, just the same!

Looking through some old photos, and I uncovered this. 

Big brother and me, some years back! Rocking the hair bows and knitted vests. Oh yeah. Then I found these school pictures of the girls, probably taken when they were the same age as I was in this oldie. I get that we're all sharing the freckles, but who do you think resembles who?!

My Summer. Week Eight.

This week was busy with Vacation Bible School, followed by a weekend visit from our favorite Kelowna family. Love this amazing couple and their darling kiddies.

Little Miss Melt-Me-Blue-Eyes, enjoying the bubbles!

This picture of all the kids is from an earlier visit... since I neglected to do a group shot this trip!

My Summer. Week Seven.

Enjoyed entertaining some British company, in the form of hubby's cousin and family. We appear to be very discriminate here, separating the sexes for photo opportunities!

My Summer. Week Six.

Summer in our family seems to be a time for birthdays! This week we gifted this adorable, little peanut, who is just turned TWO years old! She's full of fun and busyness, and keeps us laughing out loud.

The celebration was a back-yard water party with a Dora theme, complete with Benny's Bubbles, Swiper's Slide and Tiko's Tacos. The last of which I, ahem, thoroughly enjoyed. This little girl's mama adds a lot of appreciated talent to our family with her creativity and cooking skills! Love you, Jessie!

The cake was designed and decorated by two very adoring Aunties. Yours Truly played a large production part, and then demonstrated amazing ability in concealing all the flaws!

Happy Birthday, big girl! We all love you to pieces, in case you can't tell!

My Summer. Week Five.

Celebrated this lovely little lady turning twelve!

This girl's got a big heart. Loves others. Loves to help. Her motto... if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. My mom, who challenged me with that same phrase as a child, would be proud of her.

Was honoured to attend the wedding of a little boy I watched grow up. Here he is with his crazy siblings, the rest of the family, and his pretty, new wife. 

And the Fabulous Four were very excited to hang out again!

My Summer. Week Four.

Visits from the grand-kiddies. LOVE.

Visit to WA to celebrate the latest adoption for this amazing family. LOVE.

Visit to the water park with the babysitting kids. LOVE. 

Visit to the hospital. LOVE... not so much. 

No worries. It's all good. A minor injury that only required four days of crutches and three days of hobbling. Now she's back to her daily routine of somersaults and cartwheels on the trampoline. 

My Summer. Week Three.

Thanks to Seedscapes, our yard has been transformed into a dreamy, outdoor living space. Highly recommend them, by the way, if you're in the market for some landscape upgrades! 

Here's some progression photos of the project. And the finished plan, complete with furniture. Come on over. There's lots of coffee and conversation still to be had around here!

The beginnings of a paved patio. 

Hello new pad for the trampoline. Bye-bye non-producing apple tree. The Boss-Man ponders. 

Privacy cedars along the fence. That's the Landscape King in the background.

Underlay and river rock around the giant cedar...

...and the apple tree. 

Sod... and a great deal of satisfaction! Can you see Miss Bella? She's enjoying the new yard too!

Paved pathway. 

Had a sleepover with some old friends. Man, these girls are growing up fast. Miss Anna turned 12, so we spent the morning at Krause, again, sugaring up on some fresh berry waffles. 

My Summer. Week Two.

Week Two seemed to be a celebration of wedding anniversaries.

June 30th was the Diamond Anniversary for Stew's mom and dad. Sixty years! Not many reach that milestone in a lifetime, but these two did. It was a day of limos and laughs, and food and family.

We also celebrated our wedding anniversary too. Stew booked some time off work. The kids were checked into the Cam&Jess hotel. The dog was dropped off with the neighbour. With the absence of humans and pets, the house was eerily quiet, but I can't say I minded for a few days. It was peaceful.

The gloriously sunny weather had us out and about, enjoying the sights and each other's company. We ate lunch by the ocean. Beach-hopped. Drank lattes at Starbucks. Strolled by the sea.

What a fabulous 16 years I've spent with this awesome guy! Happy Anniversary!

My Summer. Week One.

Crazy how a whole summer can whip by faster than Cyclone Camille. Here we are already, mid-August, with school and classes a mere two weeks away. So... time to seize the laziness of these last few sunny days and blog some summer memories!

Right out of school, way back in June, we took a sunset walk at Derby Reach. Love this idyllic little spot on the banks of the Fraser River, with a painted backdrop of trees and mountains. 

Krause Farms got a lot of our money this year. Enjoyed one of many waffle lunches there with these lovely friends, then came home and made strawberry jam. And raspberry jam. And filled the freezer with local BC strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Summer smoothies, here we come!

Our back yard, in the early stages of being uprooted and prepped for a new makeover. 

End of Week One celebrated this young lady. Thirteen gifts for the teenager!