O Canada!

We just got back from our three week trip to Canada. We had a lot of fun, so here is a quick overview:

The Drive

Sixteen plus hours in a car with a 6-year-old, 4-year-old, and 1-year-old--wasn't as bad as you would think. We bought a DVD system for the Jeep, stocked up on treats and dollar-store toys, and just drove, drove, and then drove some more. The kids were great--real troupers. It was definately better than attempting the whole airplane/airport by myself. I was glad to have Mike with me on the ride home. (The picture is the kids at Burger King, about 1 hour before we got to Canada).

Meeting Janae

One of the hardest things about living so far away from my sisters is that I don't get to meet all my neices and nephews when they are first born. This trip was the first time we got to meet Lisa's newest--luckily she was only 4 months old. Janae is such a sweetie!

Strawberry Picking

Sheri , Dad, and I took the kids to a great strawberry patch! We had fun picking (and eating) a few buckets of delicious berries. The kids did more talking, playing, and smushing berries (and in Tyson's case complaining) than picking, but we had a lot of fun.

Birchwood Dairy

At Birchwood dairy (which is just about 15 min away from my parents house), the kids got to pet a horse, donkey, and goats, sit on a tractor, and eat their very own ice cream. They also got to see all the dairy cows--the baby ones were so cute. We went with Grandpa and the Lambs.

Cultus Lake

The day we went to Cultus Lake was one of the hottest days ever! The water was cool, but it felt great. Tina and Ted brought a cooler of delicious food and we hung out there most of the day. The kids all had a great time swimming, playing in the sand (more like rocks), eating, and running around. We had so much fun that I hardly remember the horrific walk to and from the car in the scorching heat with our 100lbs of stuff and the increadibly painful and swollen bee sting I got on my leg.

The Camp

From the time I was born, until I was seven I lived in White Rock at a little place we called "The Camp". My parents were caretakers of "Camp Kwomais" which was owned by the united church. We decided to go back to our childhood home and look around. It was one of the most nestalgic times in my life. There were many momets when I was seriously choked up. I can't imagine how I would have such strong feelings about a place that I left when I was only 7-years-old. What an amazing childhood I had!

White Rock Beach

Whenever we go home, we HAVE to go to White Rock Beach. The day we went started out a little cool and cloudy, but it didn't take long before it was nice and warm (which caused many of us to get sunburns). The older girls played mostly in the water--swimming as much as possible. Kya, Jill, Holly, and Tyson played mostly in the sand (if you can call it sand--it's more like mud to us Californians). Holly and Tyson were so cute together. Because they are so close to the same age, they like doing most of the same things. They were talking to each other (in some baby language the rest of us couldn't understand, although we saw them both shaking their heads "no" a couple times), filling each other's buckets with rocks, digging sand together--just adorable.

Daddy Joins Us

Two days before it was time to leave Canada, Daddy flew up to join us. He had just been to China on a bussiness trip and brought us all "Chinese Presents". We sure did miss Daddy. We also wished we had more days to spend with him--and that is wasn't raining the whole time he was with us.

Hope you enjoyed just a few highlights from our trip--we did a lot of other fun stuff too, but I can't write about everything. We really had a great time--as we always do. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us stay with you. It is good to be home, but I of course already miss everyone back home (I mean my "childhood" home--Mike gets upset when I call Abbotsford "home"). Maybe one day we'll live closer...I can dream can't I?