Get Ready for It!

Okay, just to give you the heads up...I've been working on blogging some of the highlights from this past spring and summer. I'll be posting a little more often in the next while so I hope you enjoy. :)

Chehalis River Campground

Our last camping trip of the season was at Chehalis River Campground. We had never been here before, but hopefully we will be going back! They had the perfect group site for the six couples/families that went and the river was right in our back yard. :)

Food? Who needs food?!

Beautiful BC right in our own backyard!

This weekend was HOT... so we plunked our chairs right in the river, in an area that someone had already made into a type of wading pool.

Life doesn't get much better than this!!

Almost time to say good bye to summer...I'll be so sad to see you go...

Larnder-O'Donnell Annual Camping Trip - Birch Bay 2012

Every year, we look forward to our annual Larnder-O'Donnell camping trip. We all like trying new places and this year's location was the Birch Bay State Park. We have been there before and loved it, but it was something new for the Larnders. I do believe they ended up loving there too. So many beautiful trees and nice private sites.

A meeting over the fire :)



This bridge led us to a little piece of heaven....the beach!




The best part of the trip is spending so much time with my BFF!

A bike ride to the "C" shop was in order to get some ice cream.

This year the two oldest kids were busy with work and school so just our babies came. It was so much fun watching the two of them together because they both get along so well together. We discovered they are pretty much two peas in a pod! Here they are doing the teeenager thing.

Many hours were spent looking for little ocean creatures under the rocks.

The men folk having some sort of discussion.

I wouldn't even beging to count the hours we spent playing "Dutch Blitz".

I had played this game as a child, but was reintroduced to it on this trip and ended up going to get my own set to play for the rest of the summer.

Every vacation needs a little road trip for some adventure.

We went in to Bellingham to the mall one day to check things out in the big city.

Here's our chauffeur and his choice of tunes.

It's a little known fact that Kenny Loggins was part of the BeeGees for a small amount of time.

My favourite pic of the whole trip...

Yup, we're a happy bunch when we all get together!

Our families are changing every year with the kids growing up so fast, so each year will be a new adventure, but I hope this is a tradition that we can keep up for years to come!

Seawall

This summer got off to a great start by going to the Seawall with Dana.

I'm not sure I've ever walked around the entire Seawall, but today was the day.

Gorgeous scenery!

At the end of our walk, we hung out at the pool for a few hours and just soaked up some sun, enjoyed the scenery and had a few snacks and beverages.

What a great way to kick off summer!

Playland!

Playland brings back so many great memories from when I was a teenager.

It's not quite the same these days, but it was still lots of fun!

One of my favourite rides...the Helevator.

Ohhh....the anticipation!

I love this pic...although it appears Kenton is a little less enthused :)

Okay...I was wrong...THIS is my absolute favourite ride at Playland!

It makes me laugh every time I go on it!

Had to go for ice cream to end the day off right!

July 4

You haven't experienced fireworks until sitting on the beach on July 4.

We've done this for a few years now and hope we can continue this tradition and make it even bigger!

The usual bunch...my parents and Aunt Judy and Uncle Bill.

Had to get a sunset pic with my mom :)

Sun is setting...the show should begin soon....

Let the show begin...

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy Canada Day!

Working in health care on a rotating schedule means working weekends and holidays.

Fortunately, I work with a great bunch of people, which means we don't let work stop us from having a bit of fun!

Happy Canada Day Y'all!

Summer Kick off at Birch Bay

Chris and I decided to get away for a quick trip to before summer life got busy.

The easiest thing to do was to go to my parents' place in Birch Bay.

It didn't take Chris long to grab a glass of wine and get the fire going :)

Chris couldn't resist playing with some of my dad's power tools...

Chris and I have gotten to really enjoy biking in the last little while...

of course it's always the most fun when your destination is the ice cream shop. :)

Gotta love a beach photo op!

Since this was going to be our only chance to celebrate our anniversary, we went out for dinner one night.

Our choices were limited in Birch Bay, but we were not disappointed with Bob's Burgers n' Brew.

Anywhere I can find a yummy drink is good with me!

Here is Chris trying to figure out the tip on his phone's calculator...

Chris will be Chris...need I say more?

Ummm....how did that get in there? I guess it's not hard to guess who was operating the camera at the time!

It's always great to get away as a couple...already feels like it's time to get away again!

Family and BBQ's

                                              What is summer without a family BBQ?

As soon as the weather turns nice, I love heading outside to eat :)

The men in my life and their grills...

Hmmm...my brother sharing his specialty with his nephew....

Margaritas will make a man of you...

Chris's Surgery Day

Early in the year, Chris found a mole on his leg that just didn't look right to him. He made an appt. with his doctor, who then sent him to a specialist. I was at work one day when he called to tell me that the specialist had cut the mole out and was going to send it to be tested. He pretty much told Chris right then that it was melanoma and further action would be needed. This would require him to see a plastic surgeon to cut more around the mole "just in case" and also to have a few lymph nodes removed to have tested to make sure the cancer had not spread.

Sponge Bob was a great comfort to Chris as he was being prepared to be put under.

This is Chris's leg post-op.

I'm happy to report that Chris's leg has healed just fine and most importantly...no more cancer!

My Little Piece of Paradise

When I can't get away for awhile, or have to work a weekend, I pretend I'm on vacation for a few hours in my own little piece of paradise...my backyard.

My hubby built a beautiful deck a few years back and we haven't had to do much to it over the years but we have made a few small improvements.

Last summer, we took the window out of our master bedroom and added on french doors.

This is the view from my bed. :)

This year, Chris added a few panels of acrylic to the roof area over the hot tub. This will come in handy when our beautiful summer is over.

My one little spot of colour...I mostly have low maintenance greenery in the way of a garden, so this is my little ray of sunshine!

Our newest addition is the fire bowl...the perfect way to make the evenings last a little bit longer!

There is a very good chance this is where you will find me if I don't seem to be anwering my calls....