More BC adventures

I'm taking more photos from Kaylin's Facebook so that you can see Kaylin's great adventure. The tree planters all had a few days off and what did Kaylin and some others decide to do? Go camping. When I heard that, I immediately said, "Isn't that what she is already doing?" But as you can see by the photos, they went to a gorgeous park and saw some amazing scenery. 

A photo of Mt Robson in the distance.

Kaylin's knees are the ripped dirty ones. Some legit hiking and some real dirt. 

I don't know the name of the river but it looks like it's moving at a good pace.

The aqua blue is striking at this lake.

Kaylin had a couple of photos of mountain goats blocking traffic. Kind of cute. All in all, it looks like camping in Mt Robson park was quite different from what they had been doing. What an adventure.

First weekend of summer

The first weekend of summer has come and gone and it was a great way to start things off. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, but warm enough to know it's summer. We spent Saturday afternoon at the multi-cultural festival and enjoyed it just like we always do. The food vendors are great and the prices are just right. We tried food from Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Portugal, and of course, good ol' Canada. Peter was feeling his maritime roots and had a whole fish. We think it was herring. He loved it.

Gaëlle had fried noodles and bites of pretty much everything but when she saw the drumsticks, she was pretty keen to have one.

We spent quite a bit of time watching some African dancing. This lady was great and so entertaining.

We watched for a while.

She was full of expression.

The first time she asked for people to come forward and learn some of the steps, Gaëlle wouldn't budge from her seat.

We actually left and came back and slowly Gaëlle started moving towards her. She was so patient and fun for the kids and adults who tried it. By the end, Gaëlle was fully into it.

We saw some Scottish Country Dancers.

One of 2 groups from the Chinese Association. We could have stayed longer, but Peter had a party to get to, so we left.

Sunday afternoon we had a puppet picnic at Lake Banook to celebrate the end of our puppet year. Robin brought his camping stove which was perfect for hot dogs. We all brought something to share so there was plenty of food.

The water was cold but all but one of the kids went in. One family brought their dog and she was so well behaved; spending most of the time in the water.

Adults and Gaëlle just hanging out and enjoying the sun. The kids were throwing baseballs and footballs around, kicking a soccer ball, and of course, going in and out of the water. 

Gaëlle took this shot of me and I just thought I would put it up to prove that, yes, I am here. Do you like the artistic slant she used? Just a little tilt of the camera. Totally on purpose. 

I'm going to write about this day

Time for a Gaëlle story. Last Saturday afternoon, we had one of those beautiful summer days. The kids of course wanted to be outside enjoying the great weather. Peter managed to find a way to amuse himself but Gaëlle couldn't find any neighborhood kids to play with.

So she asked if she could call a friend from her class. She's asked before but I haven't allowed her to make any phone calls. This time she had the phone number already in front of her, so we practiced what she would say when she called her friend. It was so cute. And her friend was able to come over. Robin overheard them on the steps as they were eating a jumbo freezie. Gaëlle said, "This is the best day ever. I'm going to write about this day. Are you going to write about this day?" Her friend looked at her in complete puzzlement. But then she agreed, "Yeah. I guess so." Very fun.

This week Peter had his grade 6 closing. It was a pretty low key event, just the way I like things. But before we went, we gifted Peter with a new ball glove. He was using mine and let's just say that his hand is much bigger than mine and will only get larger. 

The family showing off the mitts.

This is Peter with some of his friends from school at the grade 6 closing. Quite a range of boys. None of them look terribly thrilled with the picture taking but they played along. The kids still have a week left of school and then the summer fun will begin.

A quick snapshot

Sunday was the last time the Hillside puppet group performed until after summer. The song went really well and the kids did a great job.

Then it was home for a father's day lunch. And what a treat to see and feel the sun. So we ate outside.

Not the most flattering as some eyes are closed, but I wanted to prove Josh was here.

And of course, where there is food, you will find Peter.

Robin's request was just grilled chicken panini sandwiches. I made a dried tomato mayonaise and we also used goat cheese, lettuce, bacon, and grilled chicken. A big hit.

Hard work from a 7 year old perspective

The kids love to craft and make things. Their location of choice to create is on the kitchen table. The other day I asked them to clean up their mess, and believe me it was a huge mess, so that we could eat. They cheerfully went to it and after a few minutes Gaëlle asks me, "Aren't you going to get a picture of this hard work." So enjoy the hard work photo.

The next hard work photo is a rhubarb cream pie I made for Robin's birthday. I'm really not a pie maker and so when I do, it's a bit of work for me. Robin requested a rhubarb strawberry pie for his birthday but I found this rhubarb cream recipe from Aunt Floris in the Sandford Wesleyan Cookbook. Let me just say, that it was delicious. We all loved it.

Notice the creative presents made by the kids. Multiple hand made cards by Gaëlle.

A painting from Peter.

One candle. No reason for only one. I guess I was just lazy.

This was also Emily's last night here. Some of her friends came over and Gaëlle invited them to play a game. She chose "Fancy Nancy" and fortunately they obliged her. Peter took the photo for me. They all look serious here but they were super to the little girl who loves Fancy Nancy and there were lots of laughs. 

The big bags full of the necessities of life for one summer counsellor.

Big hug good bye.

Robin's birthday started off with a trip to the airport. Emily is very excited to be off to Wisconsin and the Easter Seals Camp. She will have a great time and hopefully be exposed to some great resources for children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. So happy that she has this opportunity. 

It's year end

Well, I didn't do too well getting this photo but if you look closely, you can see Peter leaning forward. There was a final concert for the grade 6 band and local junior high band. The music was very fun.

With our nice warm weather, Gaëlle has been outside a lot. Even taking her dolls outside to do their hair. 

And there's been plenty of outside gymnastic demonstrations. She loves to practice and loves an audience even more.

The girls all together. Emily is currently in Toronto with Penny for a conference called Breaking the Ice. Click on the title to follow the link to see the speakers as Penny is one of the presenters. This is such a great opportunity for Emily to see once again what is possible for the part of our community we call "non verbal".  

Tree planting cooks

Every single picture here today was taken from Kaley's camera. I asked for permission after the fact, so I hope it's ok. But the pictures she has posted really give a flavor of what is happening. The first ones show the 2 cooks preparing a Hawaiian feast. Kaylin is threading fruit and veggie kabobs for the grill.

Kaley is slicing the ham.

Doesn't it all look so nice? Impressive.

They even decorated the juice coolers. 

The camp has moved to a new location but back a few weeks when the fires were around, Kaley took the road leading into the camp before the fire and smoke, and after the fire and smoke.

These last few pictures from Kaley all show some of the yummy desserts they make for the tree planters. 

I bet these were amazing.

Apple pies.

Pumpkin cupcakes. 

It's pretty impressive to see what Kaley and Kalin come up with in a cooking trailer in the middle of the woods.