Ladner Farmer's Market

We have had such an incredible run of sunny, dry weather for the past couple of weeks.  I am enjoying the return of all the things that make Vancouver such a wonderful place to be in the summer.

One of our favourite summer traditions is to head out to the local farmer's markets and see what great things we can find so this morning we drove out to Ladner for their very first Farmer's Market of the season.

It was great to see some of our old favourite vendors there along with some new ones this year.

We had fun looking at all of the flowers, produce, yummy baked goods and handmade jewellery and clothing.  Sydney insisted upon bringing her baby and pushing her in the stroller.  She even rubbed sunscreen all over the baby's face before we left the house!  What a good Momma!

I came away with a heaping basket filled with lovely fresh produce to feed us for the week.

Also picked up some delectable handmade goat's cheese, the market special today was drizzled in honey and topped with lavender.  Such a lovely, delicate flavour and super creamy consistency, I loved it!

I was inspired to make a little appetizer platter with all of our finds for dinner tonight!

This past week brought some special celebrations.  Sydney had two days off for Shavuot so we took advantage of the days off and hosted a very special high tea party for a few of her closest friends from school, Addi, Julia, Noa and Emmy.

All of the girls showed up dressed in sweet dresses and carrying purses, it was adorable!

The highlight of the party was that the girl's teacher, Jen and her daughter Emmy, came to the party too!  It was so wonderful to have one last hurrah before the year is over.

We also had a very special dinner on Friday evening with Zach and Danielle and Zach's Mom and Trevor to celebrate birthdays, Father's Day and Bon Voyage to Zach and Danielle who have headed to Mexico for a week's vacation.

We had dinner on the back deck at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, it was absolutely beautiful, overlooking the boats and ocean and a gorgeous sunny evening to boot.

Sydney hijacked my camera and took a whole load of pictures of the flowers in the garden there, some of them turned out amazing!  Love how you can see her little hand holding the blossom so that she can get just the right shot!

And speaking of flowers, I have been so enjoying the amazing bouquet of peonies that my friend Gretchen gave me last week at the tea party.  They have opened into full, amazing blooms and I absolutely adore them!

We can't get enough of the gardens around town lately.  We stopped to take a few shots of this amazing space on the way to Granville Island the other day.

Then we went to visit Bubbie this afternoon and there was another amazing bouquet of dark pink peonies from Auntie Elaine's garden in her living room.  Love them!

It has been a wonderful few days enjoying the great weather and summer's arrival!