33 and 34 / 52 weeks

 

 

33 weeks

 

kai: inseparable, these two cousins.  kai declared, upon our arrival home from toronto, "when i'm older i'm going to move to aurora."  he wants to live in suburbia to be near his cousin, of course.

 

34 weeks

kai: we discovered jellybeans, an art installation, in one of our neighbourhood parks.  and they were playful when kai reached out to them.  he easily whiled away a good half hour running about them, jumping on them, sliding down them, and finally, exhausted, laying next to them.

dr. sun yat-sen and jericho beach, harm and marion

kai and i are in toronto visiting with my family.  it's been difficult to blog while vacationing these last few weeks but i will be back to regular programming upon my return in september.  hope to see you back here; i will have some exciting news to share.  in the meantime, have a lovely august.

stefan's parent's have been gone for a couple of weeks already.  during their last couple of days, after we returned from parksville, we took it easy. 

we meandered through a lovely chinese garden, dr. sun yat-sen, in downtown vancouver.  it's a small oasis designed and built by chinese artisans using traditional techniques from the ming dynasty architecture.  actually, all of the material used was brought in from china!  there were very old bonsai trees, gingko wood beams, koi in the pond and tranquility.  try your hand at calligraphy too.  if you visit, and you should, take the tour in order to appreciate the garden fully.  be warned, the entry fee isn't cheap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i thought my in-laws would enjoy the quiet jericho beach offers (as compared to the more popular kitsilano beach) on their last day in vancouver.  relaxing on the beach and soaking up the sun rays.  the beach is large, the concession stand carries haagen daaz, and the views of the north shore and city skyline spectacular. it was a really lovely afternoon and nice to carve out a bit of time with them. 

 

 



 later in the day...



 

we'll see harm and marion again next summer, in holland, when they celebrate 50 years of marriage!  

peachland, paradise in the okanagan

our annual trip to the okanagan was spent in peachland, okanagan's little oasis.  along with friends, we rented a lovely home down the street from the lake. it came with a climbing tree in the front and a pool in the back. the kids loved it.  it was a lovely place to call home for the week.



it was easy to slow down and relax.  we practically lived at the lake (it was so hot).  rope swinging and zip lining (while simultaneously yelling, just me) into the lake.  swimming.  there was also some paddle boarding fun too.  perfecting the running front flip (not me!).  learning to skip stones. each day came with an ice cream for the kids and some of us adults too.  our home cooked dinners, eaten outdoors, were divine - salmon cooked on a cedar plank, beer can chicken, salads with local strawberries, gorgeous garlicky green beans, a lemony beet salad and the most delicious cherry pie to name a few.  bliss bakery was just down the road.

of course, there was wine too.  tasting our way through summerland and naramata, buying bottles, drinking.  we dined at quails gate and talked about our meal for days.  they have a grassy area for lounging, taking in the view and watching the sun set.  if you buy a bottle of wine at some of the wineries you can use their patio for a picnic, which we happily did on a couple of occasions (order the gewürztraminer at thornhaven). 

travelling with our friends was the best part by far.  they made it super easy to relax and enjoy.  ximena and i first bumped into one another at granville island with our littles, she was curious about kai's dutch tee.  we then went our separate ways.  i remember telling stefan about my encounter with her and how i wish i had asked for her number.  not long after, we ran into her, petter and livia at the sumac ridge winery in the okanagan.  this time i asked for her number and we've been friends ever since.  although they haven't lived in vancouver for almost six years, we picked up exactly where we left off, including kai and livia.  it was easy and comfortable and a lot of fun.  the are the sweetest family.

the house







 
the lake

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

  

 

 

 



 

 

the rope swing, the zip line, and the diving board

 

 

 

 



 

 



 

 

 

 

wineries







taking shade among the vines



 

 

 

 

 

sometimes the kiddos didn't want to go to winery to winery



 



 

 

 



the kettle valley steam railway train



 

 

 

 



i love that we british columbians just need to look under our own nose to find the perfect summer getaway.

if you like, take a peek at some of our other okanagan trips 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.