Category Archives: Holidays

Weekend Wrap-up, Holidays Edition

Posted in Holidays, Travel, Weekend Update by

We are heading back to reality today as Kyle’s back to work after an amazing two weeks of holiday time! In the past we’ve often failed to take full advantage of his time off from work, so this year we made a huge effort to do as much as we could and I think we were successful. Here’s a recap of everything we got up to:

Kamloops Marathon/Running
We kicked our time together off with the Kamloops Marathon. You can read the whole recap here, but in short it was a great experience and a fun (yet exhausting) way to spend time together! After the race we went over to Kyle’s mom’s for a pool day and barbecue with the family, and the girls were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day.

I signed a friend and I up for a Dirty Feet trail race in September, so about a week after the Kamloops Marathon I started training for that. News flash: I’ve never actually trained outdoors so I took advantage of the warmer weather and Kyle being home to get up early and log some hill running in. It’s so much different than plodding along on the treadmill, but the views on my route are amazing!

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Movie Nights
The day after the race Kyle went to Penticton overnight to visit a friend, so the girls and I hung out around the house and rented Pitch Perfect 3. (It was just okay and not nearly as good as the first or second movies.) We ordered pizza for dinner and after they went to bed I watched Jurassic World and way too many old episodes of Grey’s on Netflix before heading to bed.

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Kyle and I also watched a couple older movies on Netflix, and rented the new Death Wish movie with Bruce Willis, which I would not recommend!

Camping
Isla got to go on a solo camping trip with my mom and stepdad for 6 whole days! She looks forward to camping with them every year and had an amazing time. While it was weird not having her at home, I think Norah really enjoyed the undivided attention she got while her sister was away, haha.

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Photos courtesy of my mom

Green Lake
While Isla was away camping we did get away to the lake ourselves and went back to Green Lake to visit/stay with my aunt and uncle at their cabin on Green Lake! The weather was absolutely amazing and we had an awesome time. We were even able to have a campfire both nights since there was no campfire ban in place (yet), so it was nice to sit around the fire before turning in for the evening.

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Norah, as always, had the most fun ever and didn’t stop the whole time we were there! She got a lot of swimming in and went for a boat “tour” and basically just lived her best life.

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Oh, and we also learned that although he hates the water, Campbell CAN swim if push comes to shove. (In the most literal way possible, too.)

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Waterslides
A couple days after Isla returned from her camping trip we headed all headed out with some friends to the Salmon Arm Waterslides. They’re just over an hour away and the weather was just beautiful! We were there for about four hours and Isla rode the slides pretty much non-stop; I had to stop her and remind her to eat at one point. Norah was a little apprehensive about going down them at first, but after a couple gos and some cheering/encouragement from Kyle she was hooked as well!

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The Salmon Arm Waterslides isn’t the biggest facility around, but it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s pretty family-friendly and I was able to double with Norah down all the slides except one, although there was one other slide that I found too fast to safely take her down on as well. I found the lineups to move fairly fast, and everything was in good, clean shape. My only complaint was that you had to pay for the showers. Overall, it was an awesome day and the kids loved it, so that was all that mattered.

Other Things
We managed to fill in the gaps between the “big things” with various little adventures and chores. The girls both started showing more interest in riding their bikes, so we got a few laps around the block in so they could practice. Kyle got a round of golf in with his uncle, grandpa, and stepdad. We tackled the mess that is our garage and got it a bit more organized. I played my last slo-pitch game of the season and tailgated with the team afterwards. Norah and I went for frozen yogurt to curb her mind off of feeling left out when Isla went camping. We took in a few more pools days at Kyle’s mom’s.

It was really a wonderful two weeks and I’m sad that Kyle’s back to work but alas, all good things must come to an end. We have a fairly busy August ahead of us as well, and before we know it school will be back in session. July went by SO fast, is what I’m saying!

What at you been up to lately?!

 

 

 

Weekend Update

Posted in Halloween, Holidays, Weekend Update by

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope the time change isn’t messing with you too badly and you’ve adjusted OK! Here’s what we got up to this weekend:

Friday
Daphne had a vet appointment in the afternoon for her regular senior dog checkup. She’s been having some bladder issues, so the vet ran a few tests to see what was up, including blood work to check on her thyroid and see if her meds for that needed to be adjusted at all. Her thyroid was just fine, but she apparently has a bit of a UTI, so she was prescribed antibiotics. Other than that, she has a clean bill of health! Not bad for this old gal!

She was SO excited to be going on a car ride until I turned onto the street that the vet clinic is on.

She was SO excited to be going on a car ride until I turned onto the street that the vet clinic is on.

Saturday
It was a busy one with it being Halloween and all! Isla got to dress up for dance class, and then after that we went home so she could eat lunch and I could nurse Norah, before we all headed down to the mall for some trick or treating! Isla’s costume was a huge hit, she got a whole bunch of candy, and she had an awesome time!

The Princess Zombie and Caterpillar!

After the mall we went home to have some supper before the trick or treaters started arriving at our door. They didn’t really show up until around 6pm, but Isla had a lot of fun answering the door! We hadn’t planned on taking her door to door as we thought she was a little too young still, but our neighbour (who is beyond awesome) showed up with his daughter (who’s about 9 years old), and asked Isla if she wanted to go to a few houses with them. Isla practically ran out the door without her shoes on, so she ended up going for about 20 minutes. Overall, it was a fun Halloween and we’re already plotting our costumes for next year!

Sunday
Daylight Savings Time threw Kyle and I for a loop; we both woke up at 6 a.m., but the girls slept like nothing had changed! I headed out with Norah and my mom to a huge craft fair, while Isla and Kyle hung out at home and did some yard work. I did a bit of Christmas shopping, and bought Norah a cute little owl toque to match Isla’s for the winter.

Norah's touque

After the fair, it was time to head home and get back into the pre-workweek routine. It was a crazy busy weekend, but great memories were made!

How was your Halloween??

 

Grateful

Posted in Emotions, Holidays, Kara and Kyle, Life, Thoughts by

Grateful

On Friday Kyle and I went and voted at an advanced polling station for our federal election. The line up was long and therefore, so was the wait, but we did our civil duty. A couple folks in line were muttering cuss words, one guy realized he was in line for the wrong polling station and wasn’t happy to find out his error, etc.

That evening, after we can come home, we were talking about how long the line up was and how some people were complaining about the wait, but we stopped and realized that while our wait took a while (about 45mins), at least it was peaceful. We’re lucky to live in a country where we don’t have to fight for the right to vote, where we can stand in line and not risk being attacked physically if we vote for a certain party. There are far grater (and graver) things going on in our world today where a wait to peacefully vote for the future leader of our country seems minuscule and petty.

That being said, today in Canada is Thanksgiving. (Bet you didn’t see that segway coming, did yah? ;) ) Perhaps it’s the post-pregnancy hormones raging through me, but this year its seems like I’m especially touchy-feely and emotional. That conversation with Kyle got me thinking about all the wonderful things I have going on in my life, and how my “problems” really are first-world ones. Oh boo-hoo, my big house isn’t big enough. Oh darn, my nice, reliable car isn’t big enough. Ugh, my happy, healthy kids are wanting my attention. You get my point?

Like I said, I don’t know if it’s my hormones because I normally don’t get all worked up at Thanksgiving and reflect like this, but I am so unbelievably grateful for everything in my life. I have an amazing husband who works his butt off so I can stay home and raise our two amazing little girls, we have a roof over our heads and never have to worry about staying warm or going hungry, and we can go about our daily lives without the fear of being attacked for voting one way or another. Despite the ridiculous spats that Kyle and I get into, the acting out Isla does, or the repair bills that may pop up unexpectedly, things could be so much worse.

So this year (or next, for my American readers), while you’re standing in line at the polling stations, perhaps grumbling under your breath about waiting in a long line, be thankful for how good we have it here in North America, and be grateful for the things that matter most.