First of all, I’d like to just give a little fist bump for my first official blog post here at my new space!! I had some issues moving my posts from Chatter over, but I’m more or less all there. Most of my trackbacks to other posts are still jumping back to my Chatter blog, but since I don’t plan on deleting it completely, it shouldn’t bother me too much. (I’m just letting the domain expire, and it will then just become chowschatter.wordpress.com.) Maybe one day I’ll get ambitious and change everything.

Anyway – this past week has been a fun-filled and busy one! Kyle has been on holidays and it’s been absolutely amazing spending time together as a family.

First of all – Isla’s birthday was on Sunday! We had originally planned on having her birthday at the splash park but we were unfortunately rained out. Luckily, we were able to get ahold of all her guests ad redirect them to our house. We fired up our barbecue for a little hot dog cookout and Isla had such a fun time with all her family and friends. She was certainly spoiled rotten and I’m so glad that she had so many people in her life who seem to love her as much as we do! Amazingly, she even blew out her birthday candle without spitting all over her cupcake – Go Isla!!

On Monday we made out way out to Little Shuswap Lake to visit one of Kyle’s oldest friends. We try to make it out every summer to see him when he and his wife (and now little girl!) are visiting from Alberta, and almost every year we have been graced with amazing summer weather! We puttered across the lake on his dad’s boat to a beachy area and spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun! Isla had a blast playing in the sand, and while the water was a little chilly it was the perfect refresher when the sun got too hot. Every time we’re at the lake if just makes Kyle and I dream harder about owning a recreational property some day. For now, we just feel so fortunate that we have such great friends who allow us to come out and be at the lake with them for the day!

Then on Tuesday it was Canada Day!! We didn’t have any grand plans for the day since we had spent the previous day at the lake and were a little worn out still. Since Isla had received a few fun outdoor toys for the yard, we decided to hang out at home in the yard. Isla played with her new t-ball set and sprinkler, which she loved.

On Wednesday we had originally planned on going towards Kelowna to visit the kangaroo farm (you can pet kangaroos!!!) but I wasn’t feeling so great so we decided to stick close to home. Instead, we decided to visit the local wildlife park just outside of town and Isla had just as much fun! She loved seeing the grizzly bears and petting the goats.

Thursday consisted of appointments and an afternoon at Kyle’s mom’s pool and today is about the same. We’re winding down our “staycation” and getting ready for Kyle to go back to work on Monday. It’s amazing how fast the week has gone by but it’s been so much fun spending time together. Kyle’s vacation time off of work certainly doesn’t mean that our “fun” time is over though; next weekend friends are coming to stay with us because the Highland Games are taking place, and then the weekend after that I’m off to Vancouver for my friend’s bachelorette party. Whew! Jam-packed indeed :)

How is your summer going? Tell me, tell me! :D (And Happy 4th of July to all my American readers!)