Today was a special day for Nya as it was her first flight with my dad! It was very last minute so I wasn't sure how she would feel when I picked her up from school and told her we were going flying. She was so excited! It may have had something to do with the fact that I said we were going to a fancy restaurant and she asked if she could use her fancy voice. Yes, she could use her fancy voice.
We met my dad at the Langley airport and off we went!
On Thursday it was my 36th birthday and to celebrate we had many things planned! Back in the beginning of July, I won Fort Langley's Ultimate Dream Date so we decided to do it all on my birthday. Unfortunately the helicopter ride has to take place on a different day but we were able to do a lot of other things. We dropped all three kids off at Gary's parents around noon and we were off for 24 hours of fun.
We started at the spa for a couple's massage. Gary and I have had one before...on our honeymoon 9 years ago! This was probably the highlight of the day. We were so relaxed and probably could have taken a nap there in that room. We will definitely do this again to celebrate something special.
Then, we went to Lelam Cafe in Fort Langley for lunch. I have never been there but we will go back here (well, we have half of our gift card left so that's another reason to go!). I would recommend it and likely next time we will go for breakfast.
I'm delivering a Double Chocolate Boston Creme Cupcake to Gary. I've been eating very low amounts of sugar for the past 3 weeks so only had a taste. I had Butternut Squash soup and Gary had a Meatball Sandwich. They had way more fun things to try but I wasn't that hungry.
Then, we went for a walk to check out the flower shop and chocolate store. We didn't actually buy anything there yet so we'll save those for later. We're going to let the kids each choose something fun from the chocolate/candy store.
We walked a few of the trails in Fort Langley that we haven't been on yet. Here Gary said, `I want to take a picture of us holding hands for my blog.' He doesn't have a blog by the way. He's funny like that.
Next we headed to the Fort Wine Co for a wine tasting and tour. We tasted 10 wines and got to pick one to take home (I took home the apple/pear table wine).
Then we got changed to get ready for our dinner date at Eighteen 27. Our reservation was at 6pm but we were ready by 4:30pm so we decided to eat early as we had such a small lunch.
We were the only ones in the restaurant the whole time which we loved! They changed their menu 8 months ago so now it's all tapas.
We shared 4 different ones. Above is the Crispy Risoto Gary got. I loved the Short Ribs Wellington below. We also shared a Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert. Would we go back? Yes. Would we get the Beef Kabobs again. No. Would we get the Tuna and Short Ribs Wellington and Lava Cake again? Yes.
Then, the less glamorous part of our 24 hours....we went home and worked for 4 hours editing photos and fun stuff like that.
The next part of our 24 hours of freedom was that we got up at 5:15 am to head to Garibaldi Park. We started hiking at 7:30am and made it to the lake by 10:30am. The suggested time is 3.5 hours so this old lady is still under the recommended time. Phew.
Unfortunately it was super foggy so we couldn't see the gorgeous mountains or the glacier. The plus side was that it wasn't hot. If you've never done Garibaldi Lake (or Black Tusk), the first 2 hours (6 km) are switchbacks and quite the work out.
We stopped and ate some food which I probably should have done 2 km 's earlier. We relaxed for half an hour and then it was time to head back through Taylor Meadows. I was hoping that all of the wild flowers would be in bloom but they weren't. Oh well.
I've done Black Tusk twice but I've never done Garibaldi Lake. I'm glad we tried something new! The last time I hiked it was over 10 years ago...it sure is a lot harder with 10 years and 10 extra pounds on!
The final 6 km (switchbacks down) hurt my knees so badly. I truly am getting older. I don't mind pain but I don't want to damage my joints. So, next time, no hike ending on 2 hours of downhill.
Very thankful for grandparents that could watch the kids for 24 hours. I know they aren't the easiest kids and that's why it was so nice to have a break from them! Seriously, so great to just focus on Gary and I. Yay, glad we like to be together :)
Gary's favourite part: The Massage For 2.
Louise's favourite part: No kids (is that bad?!) and the Massage For 2.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Love,
Louise
PS When Nya saw me, she gave me the hugest hug full of giggles and laughter. She gave me a big squeeze saying, `Mommy! Mommy! I love you!'. Then she pulled back and looked in my eyes and said, `SO MUCH!'. She's so cute.
Here's a one minute video for a taste of the hike. Thank you, Gary!
On Thursday, Gary and I went on a date! There's a place we've been waiting to try out for months....
Years ago we visited Vij's in Vancouver and it has remained one of our top 3 restaurant experiences. Amazing Indian food. We bought two of Vikram Vij's cookbooks and love the recipes in there. Well, when I found out that he was opening a restaurant in South Surrey, we were super excited. My Shanti is at Morgan Crossing and just opened this month.
They don't take reservations so we arrived a few minutes before opening at 5 pm and were one of the first people in. Phew! It fills up quickly so I would recommend going right at 5 pm if you don't want to wait.
{Isn't the ceiling fun?}
Vikram Vij was there and welcomed us all in. He loves to walk around the restaurant seeing how everything is going and he has a good sense of humour too.
Some Tapioca Crisps with Garam Masala spice were brought to the table and then Gary and I ordered our meals.
We started with Wild Boar Kebabs and Gary had some Shrimp Ceviche. Both pretty good. I loved the raspberry chutney with the wild boar. I've never had that before.
{Chhatra Sagar's Wild Boar Kebabs $13.50}
{Peruvian/Indian Shrimp & Local Fish Ceriche $3.25}
Then our meals came and in great time too. Gary had the Goat Curry. It was spicy to me so he knew he wouldn't have to share. He said it wasn't `break out into a sweat' spicy but it was just right.
{Banglore's Goat Curry $24.00}
I had the Chicken Korma. I loved the sauce that it came with but didn't love getting all of the chicken off of the bones (I should have realized in the menu when it says 1/2 chicken).
{Awhadi 1/2 Chicken Korma $23.00}
And of course, we had Naan bread. I looooove Naan bread. I could eat so much of it but we restrained ourselves at one each. So yummy dipped in the Korma sauce.
{Naan bread $2.25}
We really enjoyed our time and will probably go back once a year as it was a bit on the higher side of our budget. For experience, value, service, and quality, Gary give it 9/10 and I give it 8.5/10.
Let me know if you have tried it or when you do! I would love to know what you think.
Yesterday morning I found out that I had won the Ultimate Fort Langley Dream Date through She's A Valley Mom. I could not believe it and had to confirm with her that I was truly the `Louise D' that won. I love winning things. I enter A LOT of contests. If I win a $5 coffee card I get excited so you can imagine my excitement over winning such an amazing prize! We love Fort Langley and go there many times throughout the year, usually because it's the perfect photo location for weddings and sessions.
What is involved with this date? A lot.
1. Meal at Lelam (Never been! Can't wait to try it!)
2. $150 at Aime B Clothing (Beautiful clothes? Yes please!)
3. Wine tour and tasting at The Fort Wine Co. (Love wine. Never been on a wine tour! Yay for Gary, my designated driver. Oh wait, the helicopter is picking us up!)
4. A helicopter ride by SKY helicopters. (My dad will be so jealous)
5. Flowers from Greenworks (Love fresh flowers on our kitchen table!!)
6. Checking out the show home at McBride Station (Uh oh, last time we checked a show home, we bought our house!)
7. Into Choclate Candy & Confections gift card (Chocolate, need I say more?)
8. Massages at Su Casa Spa (The last time we had side by side massages was our honeymoon and we LOVED it).
9. Dinner at Eighteen 27 (Went there this year for the first time, great food!)
I am so incredibly excited. I love all of these things! I am a tad bit nervous about the helicopter ride but it will definitely be a once in a lifetime experience. Gary and I celebrate our birthdays in August so I have a feeling this will be the best way we will ever celebrate them!
Yes, date nights. Plural. We usually go out maybe once every two months but last week we went out twice! The first date was for our anniversary. We love to try new restaurants and my friend recommended the Fat Cow and Oyster Bar in Walnut Grove. I always check out Urbanspoon's ratings and comments and it wasn't rated super high, just 70%. It seemed that people either loved the food our were super dissapointed with the service and food.
{I always think I'm blond until I see a picture of myself. I guess I was blond when I was a kid?}
The down side for us was that it was a night where they were training staff so it took a long time to get our food. It took over and hour and I was soooo hungry. They apologized several times. The upside? Great food. Maybe I was just so hungry that anything would've tasted good but we tried food that we hadn't had before. I had Lobster Mac and Cheese Grilled Cheese and Gary had Fried Chicken with Bacon Waffles. We also shared Duck Poutine. The food is a tad bit pricier than you might pay elsewhere in regards to portions but it's worth it in quality. I would definitely go back again and so would Gary. Usually we give restaurants a 7/10 but this was a definite 8.5! If you've been there, what do you think of it?
{If anyone has another restaurant in the Langley/Surrey area that they'd recommend, please do!}
Last week I had won the Eat!Vancouver prize pack from Breakfast Television. In it were 4 tickets to Eat! Vancouver. Gary and I had been once before, over 9 years ago, when we were planning our honeymoon! Back then, we tried some lavendar icecream from the Kingfisher Resort and Spa (from Courtenay, BC) and were sold on it which was where we then went on our honeymoon! This time, we invited Gary's brother and his wife Pam because they tend to enjoy fun food too.
Eat!Vancouver has a bunch of great vendors giving away samples with some cooking shows going on at the same time. It seemed like most of the samples were cheese and chocolate which is so fine with me! Now, I'm pretty frugal so I don't know that I would go more than once paying the $17/ticket but I would for sure recommend going once for the experience.
Up front is the Celebrity stage with Rob Feenie, Ned Bell, Jackie Ellis and Vikram Vij. I love Vij's (favourite restaurant) so I was happy to hear him and watch him do his thing. Did you know his comfort food is wine and salt and vinegar chips? Didn't expect that!
We went to the alcohol sampling area which was definitely the busiest. I tried a couple types of wine. I'm a fan.
Gary and Brent tried some deep fried grasshoppers from Mexico. I tried to find a body part that didn't look like an insect and couldn't so I did not participate.
We took our new car for both of our dates! I'm not one who cares a whole lot about appearances but I do have to say that I love saving gas, the reliability, and ya, well, I do like that it looks a tad cooler than our old car or minivan :)
A big thank you to my sisters, Maria and Jackie, for each taking a night babysitting. As I've said, I'm a tad cheap so babysitting swapping is totally my thing! Totally recommend it.
Thank you all for voting over the past couple of weeks. I'm very excited to find out if I won on Friday! If you have forgotten to vote (Ahem, Gary!!!), here is the link. Thank you, friends. Seriously blessed with so many awesome people in my life!
Gary and I just got back from a quick getaway. On Saturday afternoon, we brought the kids to his parents house and then we continued on to Harrison Hotsprings. On our way, we hit up the Bottle Depot and thanks to Auntie Trisha (Nut), we have enough for a Menchies Trip! The kids LOVE the sorting and I tried not to be grossed out by all the yuckiness of the depot and the fact that Nya was trying to drink from the bottles.
We said `Goodbye' to our Honda which is at their house as we are trying to get $1200.00 for it. Any takers? Needs a new transmission or it won't move. Also, the right sliding door needs a new motor. Otherwise, decent vehicle:)
On the way we stopped at the Cactus Club for lunch (gift cards!) and then went to check into our hotel.
We then went hiking, in the pools, out for dinner, back to the pools, reading (well, Gary watched sports), walk around the lagoon, drank wine (well, I did)etc. It was so weird to have so much time together! I feel like we had a months worth of quality time in just 24 hours.
It was relaxing and restful. I was feeling a little like `oh my goodness, cram as much relaxing as we can in!! How do we do that?! What should we do?! Hurry! Relax!'. I'm still exhausted as I think it would take 3 days of being without the kids to be `normal', whatever that means.
Gary's parents brought the kids to our house last night and then my sister Maria slept over here with them (and had to do bedtime and wake up with them). We do love being with our kids and were happy to see them again and look forward to going back to Harrison with them next time.
And seriously. I thought I would sleep until 9 am for sure. I woke up at 6:30 am!! Gary was up too so we went for a morning walk:)
Thank you to our family for watching our kids!! It was a great time.
PS Not sure the pools are as fun without the kids. We sat in it for half an hour and were like, `Uh, what do we do?'.
1. On Friday, May 17th, Koen asked Jesus into his heart. So sweet. Our little Koen. In the picture below, he asked for meat for lunch because his T-rex is a carnivore. Koen is currently interested in Pokemon (oh my goodness, I do not like Pokemon. It makes Star Wars look way more awesomer), and dinosaurs. His great, GREAT love for Cars is waning. Koen is the one who tells me that he loves me and wants a snuggle daily. This kid needs physical touch. Love my Kokies.
2. My auntie Nellie passed away on our anniversary. She was diagnosed with cancer in the fall :( Here is a picture of her from about 35 years ago. She was always smiling and laughing and had such a soft heart, especially for animals :) I'm very sad for my uncle and her two kids as I know how much this time really, really sucks. My sisters and I will be going together to her funeral on the island.
3. The picture below won't rotate but here is a middle of the night feed/cuddle with Nya. My favourite cuddle. She is delicious.
4. Friday was not my favourite day. I got a phone call that Kai had vomited in a van on the way to his field trip. He was in Richmond, what did they want me to do? What?! Give him a bucket? I don't know, I'm not there. I assumed it was car sickness (it was) and didn't know the extent of it. I was worried about him for the next 3 hours. I couldn't pick him up though because I was on my way to do photos and then while there, I got a flat tire. Like, all the air gushed out. I had to call Gary who was subbing a class and he saved the day. It was very overwhelming with all this going on at once (Kai, photos, van). Then we had to get the van to Costco to get a new tire (and we just got 4 new tires, who doesn't love spending $500 all of a sudden?).
{She makes me want to have 7 more babies. }
5. I have been working 40 hours a week all month. This is without child care. I am going nuts. Working in every spare minute in the day and then weekends and evenings until 11 pm. It's my own fault. June is much friendlier. I am hoping to finish all my work in 3 weeks so that I can have one week to pack and prep for our trip! It is nice having the option to work as much as I want though, so I will not complain. Soon I will have ONE MONTH OFF!!!! I think I just felt pressure to make up for missing sessions for all of July. Also, the trip is kinda pricey, you know...about $10,000, so there is this desire to get our savings back up again!
6. Gary and I went to the Washington Avenue Grill for our anniversary. We liked it! We are going to go out for dinner now once a month. Hopefully we can swap babysitting with Maria and Kris to save money too! I gave it an 8/10, Gary a 7.5/10. We had braised short rib poutine (sounds fun eh? Not as good as the tempura bacon at the Onyx), and then I had lobster ravioli and Gary had the seafood hot pot. Totally affordable with the coupon book. Oh ya, I had a martini too. Had to, it was half price. Gary can pretty much make anything as good as many restaurants (in my opinion) so we are very reluctant to say that some food was `amazing'. I would say that two places we have eaten that have been amazing are Vij's and the Pearl. The service at the WAG was very good.
{The poutine...didn't love the horseradish aoli as I don't love horseradish. Should've asked for a different kind because I love aoli.}
After dinner, Gary pulled out a ring box! Totally unexpected. Gary does not surprise me. Ever. I sort of wanted him to fake a proposal right there in front of everyone. Inside the box was a pretty blingy ring! When we got married, I wanted a very simple ring because I'm not very girly. I also anticipated that I would be hiking every weekend or something like that. Ya, what was I thinking?! So, my engagement ring is very me and I love it but it's fun to have something kinda womanly or blingy or princessy. There's like 40 small diamonds and one big jewel (not sure what it is) in the middle. Good job, Gary!
{Don't mind my sausage fingers. Inherited my dad's fat fingers.}
7. I had sessions 3 sessions this week AND a wedding today so I'm exhausted. Gary won't be home until about 11 pm (he does receptions on his own). I'm just uploading pictures hence time to update this.
All right, uploading done. Must go. Have a wonderful weekend.
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