Camping at Harrison

We were feeling very adventurous a few weeks ago so our friends Cal, Darla and their two little girls decided to take us camping for the weekend! We were complete beginners at this and had no equipment or idea at how to survive with children in a campground. We were slightly horrified to learn that camping sites here are not like the ones we have experienced in England as the only facilities were a tap and a long-drop! Thankfully our wonderful friends provided everything we needed and cooked the most amazing food for us and even got hold of a air-bed as Paul informed them that's the only way he would go! The weather was beautiful and Gracie loved being outside all day long. We spent our time by the lake, going for walks and roasting marsh mellows and other delights on the fire. Thank you to the Boese's for this unique experience!

piggy back rides for tired little girls!

Gracie and Phoebe chill in the hammock

One of the beautiful Lakes

Phoebe finds a comfy chair!

Darla cooks up a storm!

The girls enjoy dinner

Glamourous girls ready to camp!

weather forecast!

Just to make our readers who are enjoying the English summer very envious!!!!

Our holiday in Shuswap Lake

Last week we headed north east with our good friends Jaben & Sarah to Sarah's family cabin on the shore of Shuswap lake... For Tom's comedy account of the week click here. We had a wonderful relaxing time including some fishing, swimming, golfing, BBQ's, fires, hand built beach sauna, and our first experience of Smores (a canadian fireside institution). We had the most amazing time with our friends and discovered a new favorite place! Thankyou Jaben and Sarah and the Meraw family for showing us such a good time.

Beach fires!

A walk in the woods!

Gracie out in the Canoe

Night sky over the Shuswap

Dinner overlooking the lake - stunning views

Jaben & Tom fishing off the pontoon

Tom's catch...

Fishing from the boat

Speed boat trip...

Fun at Cultus Waterslides...

Summer is well and truly here and we've been doing all manner of things to keep cool; A couple of weeks ago we took uncle Tom to Cultus Waterslides which is about an hour east of Langley - Gracie had an absolute blast on the waterslides, and us grown-ups had a little bit of fun too!

A weekend in Whistler

While my parents were here we took the opportunity to go and visit Whistler which is one of North America's most popular ski resorts (and we could see why). Although it was the summer season, there was lots of stuff to do including a ride on the Peak 2 Peak gondola which spans the summits of the 2 resort mountains; It opened this year and is very very impressive indeed! On our trip we saw 4 bears, the olympic bobsleigh track and the ski jump site for the 2010 Olympics! What a fun weekend! We had such a fun time with my parents and we were sad to say goodbye to them at the airport afterwards.

The very impressive Shannon Falls

Mum & Dad heading up Whistler Mountain

Gracie infront of the Olympic Emblem on top of Whistler Mountain

Our first bear sighting

On top of Blackcomb Mountain

Ice cream in the village

Night swim in the hotel pool

A panorama from the top of Blackcomb

A musical interlude

Laura thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the arrival of Tom (her brother) with a trip to watch Coldplay playing in Vancouver; Tom & I and a few good friends from church had a great night out singing along with some Coldplay classics... Good times!

Wes, Katie, Tom, Janice & Jaben & I on our way

Tom Waiting for Coldplay

Fueling the engine...

Having a good sing-along!

Coldplay... Fantastic!

Busy, busy busy!

We're sorry that our blog has been a bit quiet recently but we have been busy enjoying the start of a lovely summer: beautiful weather, visits from Paul's parents and my brother, Tom. We've been having lots of fun discovering a few of the delights of British Columbia. We will post about some of the fun things we've been up too over the next few days...but firstly a little update on our gorgeous girls:

Today Phoebe is six months old- we can't believe that she is already half way to one! She is doing amazingly and we really don't think of her as a preemie any more. She is incredibly healthy and is a delight to have around; smiling lots and making cute little noises. She is catching up with her actual age (six months) in size and is plodding along nicely in development at her corrected age (12 weeks). She is very relaxed and reminds us more of Paul's personality where as Gracie is far more like me.

Gracie is loving life and is so much fun to be around. She makes us laugh a lot! Her current interests are photography and singing (nothing new there!), however, to Paul's delight she is currently into Coldplay and sings 'viva la vida' and 'fix you' at least once a day! Gracie is growing up so fast and in September she will start pre-school. I'm slightly freaked out about all the things I have to get organised for this huge event in our lives....snack box, bag, labels etc. But more worryingly I will need to get myself and Gracie up and dressed (Phoebe can get away with p.j.'s!), all fed and out the door by 8:45am two mornings a week! I know most people do this every day but we are often in our p.j.'s until 10am...oh the start of our schooling career! Anyway, enough of my ramblings, here our some photos!

Two pictures from Gracie's photo-shoot this afternoon...(there we A LOT more photos, but sofas, the floor and the toilet might not interest you so much!)

(funny faces are a must!)

And Phoebe at six months old...