Me and Grandpa

Yesterday was the anniversary of the day that I lost my first grandparent four years ago. I remember the day so clearly...and thankfully I also have many memories of the love my "papa" had for me. The harder the whisker rub...the more you were loved. :) Papa always had a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. We bounced on his knees, swung outside on the swing he made and made trips to A&W with him.

In his younger years, Papa made beautiful dresses for my Grandma and they went out dancing every weekend with their friends. My grandparents owned a motel together and worked hard so that they could retire early.

Me and Papa on his motorcycle...

I love you Papa!

Annual Bevy Stories

Please don't get the wrong impression of us...but every year it seems that some of our greatest camping tales revolve around a beverage.

Firstly, my BFF and I are always on the hunt for the perfect Bellini, so it was a given that the best way to kick off our vacation was to enjoy the evening with a treat at Hoodoo's.

Delicious!

Secondly, each trip must involve a slushie drink that requires a blender.

Provincial parks are top of the list for beauty and peacefulness, but unfortunately do not have power to each site. Us being the resourceful people that we are, loaded up the truck with all our drink making gear and headed for the public washroom...Yes, that's right....the public washrooms have electricity!

Chris is checking out the situation...Gary is MIA...something about checking on some meat....hmmmm...

After all of our hard work we meet at the tailgate...oh, so refreshing!

In another bevy story....the first night we were playing cards outside when we started get dive bombed by bugs! Ewww! Sonya's solution was to tighten up her bug helmet and find a cover for her straw.....

I think she may be on to something here....

Can't wait to see what stories we will have to tell in the years to come!

Annual O'Donnell/Larnder Camping Trip

 After missing our annual camping trip last year, this year's trip was very much anticipated. I'd have to say it was one of the best ever, but I'm sure I say that every year. I'm just so thankful for the friendship our two families have and how great everyone gets along!

                                                      Here are the Larnder's packing up!

Our camping trip is filled with traditions...

one being to go for ice cream...

Another...spending time at the beach catching up on gossip magazines...

Playing cards...apparently the adults have more fun than the teenagers!

Chillin' in the shade...

Load 'em up!

Ahhhh....just relaxin'...

By the end of the weekend...even the two oldest promised they would be joining us next year...although we will just have to wait and see where their lives lead them this next year.

I do believe this camping tradition will be something our two families appreciate even more in the future!

Rolley Lake

I grew up camping so it's something that my whole family enjoys...that's why I take any chance at  making a camping tradition. We try to go camping with my brother and his family once every summer. It just so happens that each time it's been at Rolley Lake, out in Mission. I really like it there because it is so quiet, it's close by and there are so many beautiful trees. There is a lake you can swim in if it's hot enough, but this summer got off to a bit of a slow start so we used the lake for fishing. My dad took off from work early one day and drove up to spend the afternoon with us. It was pretty cold and the rain forecast looked iffy so my mom decided to sit this one out. The fish weren't biting that day anyways, but we all got lots of fresh air.

Hopefully next year we can wear shorts instead of parkas!

Birthday Bumps...

Okay, sorry for the bad quality and the sideways pose that I just can't seem to turn around....

but....here is my gift to you, my BFF...hope you enjoy!

BFF NIGHT!

Here's the two BFF's getting ready for the show!

NKOTBSB

Last night, my BFF and I took a trip down memory lane from our teenage years. Twenty five years ago, we lived, breathed and dreamed of NKOTB...literally! All of our love for them came rushing back as soon as the lights went up. :) We were happy to discover that we still remember every word to every song.

Here was my crush...Mr. Jordan Knight!

Awww....little Joey McIntyre!

Yumm! Need I say more?

Awww....what a guys!

Here's a little sneak peek of one of our faves....

You guys still have the right stuff after all these years!!

Convocation 2011

 Our next celebration around here was convocation...it really does feel different having one of your children graduated and finished with school forever! All of a sudden it seems official that I have another grown man in the house...

What a handsome young man!

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Christopher as he continues on his life journey!

New Look!

I wanted a nice and colourful new look for my blog, but just couldn't get any of the backgrounds to work for me...so I'll just insert my own colourful pics for now and have fun with the fonts!

This weekend we finished a project that we've been trying to do for quite some time now...took out our bedroom window and installed french doors. We had bought the doors from craigslist last year and it took until now for it to work out that my dad could help Chris install them. Some moulding still has to go up to cover up the drywall that was ripped off, but for the most part the project is complete, which is a record around here that Chris is extremely proud of!

Grad 2011

This weekend was one of the milestones in every persons life...graduating from high school and seeing your first child graduate from high school. Christopher does not get excited about things too easily, and grad is no exception. He's relieved do be done with high school, and I suspect that participating in a few of the grad activities was for dear old mom's sake. Although school has not been Christopher's thing, we're still very proud of his accomplishment and look forward to seeing what the future holds!

Boohoo!

I was very saddened to discover the other week that someone else had discovered by babies...and enjoyed them in a different way!

This is how I found my shrub...so I'm guessing that either a cat or raccoon got to them. :(

Somewhere in the mess of the top picture (if you look hard,) you can see the nest totally upside down. So, here I am trying to find the babies...sadly, I found two of them bloodied and dead at the bottom of the deck. No pic...and I wasn't about to touch them either, so this is their final resting place. Later that day, Chris said he found one more in the grass and we don't know what happened to the last one. I guess he either made a delicious entree or, more hopefully, he survived...

I have kept the nest as a souvenir because so much hard work went into it and it's a piece of art to me! I think maybe I will purchase a birdhouse so that next spring my babies will be safe and sound. :)

It's a boy! And a girl! And a boy??

I was delighted to discover this sunny morning that the first baby robin had hatched! As I kept checking throughout the day, number 2 arrived around lunch time and number 3 just before dinner...

Here is mama, hard at work to get the next two bambinos to hatch....

Yay! Just one more to go....

Mama and Papa have not been very happy with me intruding...they've been dive bombing me and yelling at me every time I try to take a peek.

I'm going to do my best to keep track of the babies in the next few weeks, but I don't want to push my luck and have mommy and daddy abandon the wee ones...but stay tuned. :)

My new babies

A few nights ago, I went to sit in the hot tub and as I threw the cover back, startled a bird (and it startled me) that went flying out of the bushes planted along the house. I was suspicious, but it was dark out so I didn't think any more about it. Tonight, it was deja vu...me scaring bird, bird scaring me as I flung back the lid. I decided to peek into the shrub and was delighted at what I found!

Here is mama staring me down and making sure I don't upset her babies.

My guess is that they have been there about a week and a half already and upon doing some research the eggs should hatch in about 12 - 16 days.
I'll be peeking in over the next few days and weeks to see what's happening in my own backyard....

Scavenger Hunt

 

I'm not sure how many more Easters the boys will want to search for their treats (Christopher opted out already this year), so I figured I'd make Kenton work a bit for it in a different way than usual. I started by giving him a clue and then each clue led him to another clue.

Easter Sunday actually had a few sunny periods so the grand finale had to be outside...

Who wouldn't have a smile on their face after finding a basket full of chocolate?