A Trip to Burns Lake

Sydney and I spent the end of last week on a little trip away to Burns Lake, the town in Northern BC where I grew up.  It was the first time that I had taken Sydney to my home town and it was so neat to be able to show her the house where I grew up, where I went to Kindergarten and all of my old stomping grounds!

Syd loved the plane ride up.  She really is becoming quite a great traveller!

When we arrived my Mom showed Sydney her room that was all made up for her including a very special basket filled with toys, games and crafts for Syd to enjoy during her visit.

We took Sydney out for a stroll to the park the first night we arrived and walked past my Grandma's house along the way.  I have a million beautiful memories within the walls of this home that now belongs to someone else.

Syd loved finding the most giant dandelions along the way.

And thouroughly enjoyed the playground too.

We spent some time at the beach and play area there the following day and in the days to come.  Spirit Square at Radley Beach fast became one of her favourite places in all of Burns Lake.

One of the very special things that we got to do while we were home was to visit my best friend Brandie at her new property that she has converted into a farm and kennel.

I was so proud of her seeing what an amazing business she has built and what an incredible homestead she has created.

Sydney had the best time jumping on the tramp with Brandie's step daughter Payntonne.

Before we went on the grand tour of the farm and met all the animals one by one.

Brandie has always dreamed of having her own horses and it was incredible to see that dream finally come true for her, complete with her very own tack room!!

We also had the chance to visit with my Uncle Bill and my cousins who, coincidentally, were up in Burns Lake visiting from Squamish at the same time as Sydney and I.

We had a delicious steak barbecue together and I took some time to go for a walk around his property and garden after dinner admiring what a beautiful home and surrounding he has.

We flew home just in time to enjoy a gorgeous Sunday with Daddy.

Menchie's time!

Kits Farmers Market

Beach BBQ with the Dunbar families


What a nice time away it was!

A Sun Filled Week

Sydney and I have been sucking the marrow out of the bones of summer these days, merrily enjoying one fun activity after another.  What a great week it's been!

Sydney finished up her week long British Soccer Camp today.  I was so proud of how well she did at soccer camp this year, eagerly participating and working on skills and having fun all the while.  The best part of all was, of course, being able to spend some time with her beloved preschool buddies.

Today while they were playing a match Sydney decided that she wanted to try being the goalie.  Then her friends Julia and Cathy decided they would help her and they stood, three abreast, holding hands in goal.  It was too cute!

To wrap the camp up today her Coach Tom presented each of the children with a certificate with a personalized message for each child.

Sydney's read:


Sydney's fun and energetic approach to camp has made her a real pleasure to coach throughout the week!  She has made massive improvements in her dribbling, now even plays backwards soccer!  All the best for the future!  Coach Tom

Syd made up a little backwards soccer game this week while on the field and Coach Tom thought it was so cute that he had the entire class play a wee game of Sydney's newly developed game!

At the end of the session all of the kids got to soak the coach with water guns, Sydney was right in there with her water gun, shot him right in the face!  She talked about it all the way home!  What a great sport their coach was and a wonderful week at soccer together.

We got together with the preschool families for a picnic and play time after soccer one afternoon this week, it was so lovely to have some time to visit together and for the kids to play as we all basked in the amazing sunny weather.

Sydney and I, along with her buddy Julia, took some time to head to the school garden this week as well.  The girls loved hanging out with Lesley and picked some potatoes, carrots, blueberries, tomatoes and salad greens together along with the ever popular edible flowers!

The girls loved having some garden time and also enjoyed meeting a new friend, one of Sydney's new classmates, Lily.

We had a wonderful time at Locarno Beach this week too with Christina and Jack.  Sydney and Jack enjoyed combing the beach searching for treasures as the tide was super far out and Christina and I caught up and sun tanned.  Felt like we were on vacation!

This afternoon our friends Sarah and Emma came over for lunch and a visit.  We so enjoyed another backyard lunch while the girls jumped in the sprinkler, dug in the sand table and bounced in the castle.

Late this afternoon we headed to our friend Tracy's house for a late playdate and early dinner along with our friends Saskia and Myrtle and Andrea, Aaro and Hattan.  We basked in her back yard while the kids enjoyed her new inflatable pool and then dined on an awesome Malaysian dinner that she ordered in from Banana Leaf restaurant.

The kids were ecstatic to have a make-your-own-sundae bar for dessert along with an amazing blueberry tart that Tracy lovingly made.

What a fun way to end our week with a great visit with friends soaking up the last of the sun for what the weather man says will be a few days...apparently the rain is on it's way.  No complaints though, we spent day after glorious day outdoors this week and loved every minute of it!

Soccer Time

This week Sydney is doing a soccer camp with a bunch of her buddies from preschool.  It has been such joy being reunited with several of the families that we have grown to love so much and the kids seem genuinely excited to be together again.

Sydney did this same British Soccer Camp last year with a few of her buddies.  The camp is five days long and last year she sat on the edge of the field for four straight days with me and decided on the fifth day to get up and play for all of about ten minutes or so.

What a difference a year makes!  This year she merrily bounced onto the field on the very first day with her new soccer ball in hand and kicked it around with glee all the while chatting away with her buddies.  And Mommy smiled, she's growing up!

We came home from soccer camp yesterday to meet up with my cousin Sharlene, her daughter Kaylee and my Aunt Trish for lunch.  It was so nice to have them here for a visit, we dined in the backyard and enjoyed basking in the beautiful summer sun.

I was so excited to pull out my new outdoor summer dishes for the first time too!  Am hoping to get lots of use out of them this summer as we dine al fresco!

After Sharlene and company left we headed to our friend Saskia and Myrtle's house for a beautiful play time and visit in her garden with both them and Tracy, Alexis and Avery.

Saskia blew up an inflatable pool for the girls to splash around in, they had the time of their lives in there together!

We enjoyed a beautiful spread of food and an early dinner together with sushi and pizza and cheese and Prosecco, it will go down in history as one of my favourite summer memories of this year!

This afternoon I met up with my friend Mandy for tea at a very cool new tea bar in Kits called Rare Tea Bar.  On a blistering hot summer day we were the only ones in the entire restaurant which was great, we had a super chat and tried some unusual tea and delicious food together in this very funky space.

Mandy never forgets Sydney and brought her a package of Hello Kitty cards and a pen today!  Syd was pretty tickled to get a gift when I got home!

I began the first of what I hope to be many sessions at Body and Soul fitness tonight.  Had a great workout with trainer Steve.  It felt good to be back at the gym and working out my lately tired and achy body!

I was just thinking today about how wonderful summer is in Vancouver when the weather is hot and beautiful.  Everyone around is so happy and cheerful and keen to get together and do fun activities.  It's made for some great fun over the past week or so!  Long live sunny Vancouver summer days!