Green Lake 2018

Green Lake is a special place to us as it's where Gary and I got engaged and married! My parents built this house in 2003 and we try to go up at least once a year to enjoy it. The summer months fill up fast (it's rented out) so I booked way in advance in order to get a few prime days. Just the week before we decided to leave Baby behind with a friend so that she would get a lot of attention and we would get some time to relax; one-year-olds are busy.

Green Lake 2016

Every Spring Break we head up to Green Lake with my sister's family who also has four kids.   The drive is about five hours with the stops that we take and our first one is usually Alexandra Bridge! It's a great 30 minute walk and you can go over the old bridge where there are holes to see right down to the Fraser River below! I'll be honest, I'm a chicken.  This was the first year I went all the way across.

Green Lake 2015

Every Spring Break, we head up to my dad's `cabin' (house) at Green Lake near 100 Mile House.  We go with my sister Maria and her family which makes for 7 kids between the ages of 2.5-9 years old.  Gary and I had just come back from Las Vegas, and 24 hours later, we were already up at Green Lake!  Here's the post from last year, it's crazy to see how much Nya's hair has grown and how snowy it was last Spring Break.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and the adults just enjoyed some downtime.  Fortunately (for me!) the snow was gone so that it was a lot more comfortable to explore outside.  The kids usually love the snow for sledding but I think they enjoyed the quad just as much.

Our trip was cut short as the cold that Nya has had for the past 2 weeks turned into a chest infection with a high fever that didn't go away after three days (reached 40C/104F ).  I ended up taking her to the 100 Mile House hospital on the second day and they were so wonderful there.  Great nurse and doctor and there was no wait.  She was given a prescription for antibiotics but I asked if it was okay to wait a day or two to see if she could fight it on her own.  I just don't want to wipe out all the progress we've made on her digestive health.  Unfortunately, this has made for a grumpy/tired/sick Nya so we had to cancel the Williams Lake portion of our trip. I was so looking forward to visiting friends there but the good news is that they will be there for a while so I'm sure we'll have another chance to go visit!

{Throwing rocks on the ice, breaking up ice, making an ice castle...}

{Always someone to play with!}

{We went for a short hike up Mt. Begbie}

{Poor Nya not feeling so hot for movie night}

{I love that the house is right on the lake.  It's beautiful.}

{We also did a walk in 100 Mile House through Centennial Park}

{There's a great playground and hills to roll down too.}

{The benefit of having two families there is that you can escape with another adult.  I went on a run with Maria one morning and Gary and I went quad-ding on another day. Wish I could get video as we went through the bush but I didn't want to lose my phone.}

We had a great time together.  I love that our kids all get along so well.  Hopefully next year everyone is healthy!  By the way, if you are ever interested in renting Green Lake, it does get rented out and you can check it out here.

I hope you all had or are having a good Spring Break!  I look forward to checking a few things off the `To Do' list this week.  It's good to be home.

Love,
Louise

Green Lake Family Time

We had a weekend free, which rarely happens, so we decided to head up to Green Lake (near 100 Mile House) where my dad has a house.  It's a special place to us as we spent time there with my mom and dad, it's where Gary and I got engaged,  AND where we got married!  It's easy to vacation there because it's a house with ample bedrooms and a big kitchen :)

Along the way, we stopped at one of our favourite spots; Alexandra Bridge.  It's about 1/2 hour past Hope and it's a picnic area.  You walk 15 minutes down a path and end up here.  Isn't this bridge gorgeous?

Next time I'll take a tripod.  Balancing the camera on my camera bag didn't work very well :)

The whole drive up was beautiful as it was clear, sunny, and full of beautiful coloured fall leaves.

My dad had flown up to Green Lake for the weekend so he spent some time with us.  He took the kids quadding which gave Gary and I some down time!

On Sunday we went to 100 Mile House Baptist Church.  I met up with another blogging mom there with her husband and 5 adorable kids.  So fun to see people in real life :)  

Then we checked out Centennial Park in 100 Mile House. It was cold and Nya was a tad grumpy, but once we got going they all had fun.  I love the trails there, they are so pretty!

Koen was very excited to have his class bear for the weekend.  He wanted to make sure that he took Olaf quadding.

I was able to relax and read!! So nice.  Our kids are great ages for travelling and just hanging out.

This is the view from the deck.  Pretty nice, hey?

Kai and Opi put together a model airplane.  Kai thought it was great practice for a career in engineering :)  A while back we thought up some jobs for people who love math and that was one of them.

We had a nice relaxing weekend and I'm thankful for a place to go to! Thanks, dad.

I hope you all had a great weekend and are able to set aside some time tomorrow to remember those who have lost their lives serving our country.  

Love,

Louise

Green Lake Summer 2013

  On the 13th, Gary and I went on a date! Yahoo!  We went to `Date Night' at Eighteen 27 in Fort Langley.  Three course meal for two for $39.99.   There were some additional rules to this that we found out when we got there.  Each person had to order a drink (add $10) and you share the appetizer and dessert.  Would've been good to know that info ahead of time!  I had the ribs (as usual, I always get them!) and they were really good.    I gave it 8/10, Gary gave his salmon and experience  a 7/10. 

We have committed to date night once a month.  In June, we went to Cactus Club and it was really, really good.  I loved it and was surprised how much I loved it.  We did have gift cards which made the experience much nicer because you aren't thinking about the money you are spending!  

The picture above is from our Cactus Club date and that bread appetizer was AWESOME.  I also got ribs there:)

For my birthday, this is going to sound terrible, but I got a bunch of alcohol.  Beer and then wine.  Gary had the kids decorate labels and then he wrote on the inside.  I don't drink a lot.  Maybe a glass of wine three times a week?  I think because I didn't drink for so long (pregnant, bfing) I really do enjoy it now!  Anyway, the birthday was pretty uneventful.  I think next year I will spoil myself with the spa or something.  I'm very low maintenance (in my opinion) but I really do enjoy being `spoiled'.  Not with gifts, but experiences.  And loving words.

On my birthday, we drove up to Green Lake.  This is the best sight you could see; Babes sleeping on the way up!!!  Okay, so she only slept 30 minutes and then the other 5 hours were spent pointing out of the window saying `Mama! Mama!' meaning `I want outside!!!'  She has started nodding yes and no to questions, it is amazing!!  She can `tell' us what she wants. So great.

The power was out for 12 hours when we got there.  Not ideal.  We had lasagna on the bbq.  The next night we had a greek pasta salad with bbq chicken. Yum.

Nya had this funky rash for over a week.  No idea what it is.  She is teething so that's what I'm assuming it is.

The boys went on the quad

and they went canoeing.  Kai loved canoeing.  Kai and Koen LOVE Amazing Race Canada.  Kai is determined to be a mom/son team in 9 years.  He told me I needed to `train' paddling with him in preparation.  He talks about the race every single day.  He's trying to figure out what our team name will be and what sort of training we should work on. 

We played some Balongoball.

There is a fire ban so we couldn't make s'mores but we could make s'morepedoes!!  Put mini marshmallows and chocolate in  a waffle cone, packed full, cover in aluminum foil, and bbq for 5 minutes. YUM! So good and way neater to eat:)

We did a hike together, just 10 minutes away at Mt. Begbie.

The boys loved the hike.  I carried Nya up but she wanted OUT. 

So we took a different path down and she did the whole thing on her own!! Her first hike!

On the last day, my dad flew in to visit.  He landed on a private air strip just 5 km down the road.  It's on the grass field!  You can see his co-pilot on the leash; Boom Boom.  My dad is hilarious because he's just so random.  So, he hung out with us for the afternoon and then I drove him back to the plane.

I forgot to say that Kai vomited the first night and Koen did the second night.  I think our kids are still struggling with some residual stuff from the SE Asia trip.  Nya is teething but still sleeping pretty well at night.

The kids had fun so that's good.  I was able to finish editing a session and even read a book! The joys of not having cable or internet:)  

When we got home, we picked out our new pet.  Swimmy Gordie Chapman. Kai picked `Swimmy' and Koen picked `Gordie'.   This is as much pet responsibility as I can handle.

Kai starts hockey camp this week and he's excited!   It's just ball hockey, not ice.

Not sure if you follow the news but there was a ferry that sunk outside of Cebu, Philippines.  It is the same ferry company that we used (2Go), and the same port.  It was coming from a different island, but still.  So devastating.  800 people aboard and almost 100 missing/dead.  It had collided with a tanker.  Once again, I am so thankful for our safety on our trip and my heart grieves for all of those that have lost loved ones.

I'm off to a couple of family sessions now....it's awesomely cloudy so should be good.  Hope you had a good weekend.

Love, Louise