Sun Mountain Lodge Adventures

 

One of the goals that Chris and I have for our family this year is to do 12 weekend or overnight trips to places that we wouldn't normally go. Above, Chris and Jamisen had their first overnight camp out on the deck at the lake. It's something that will be a regular thing so those fun overnights don't count towards our goal of doing something out of the ordinary once a month with the kids. 

Driving five hours over the mountain certainly does though! We went to Sun Mountain Lodge, a special place for Chris and I because it's where we spent our engagement weekend.

We went on hikes while we were there, had delicious ice cream and stopped by the side of the road when the kids saw a patch of snow beneath a giant mountain of gravel.

There was even enough snow to do a small snowball fight!

In the lobby of Sun Mountain Lodge, they have a giant stuffed bison - the kids were pretty interested in it and were especially fascinated by how large it was. 

We were lucky the weather held the entire weekend because it allowed for lots of outdoor time and tons of exploring. It did NOT tucker the children out though. We were in one hotel room (not a suite) and the kids slept on the floor and they were up sooooo late despite our best efforts to get them to go to sleep in a timely manner! =) 

Lily loves her new bike from Grandma and Grandpa but isn't quite big enough to use it every time she rides so we're still transitioning between the tricycle and the bike. We hauled both of their bikes over the mountain pass.

We stopped at play grounds along the way there and back to make the long car ride more bearable but overall the kids were really good about the long car ride. They didn't sleep either. Not once. Neither of our kids is a big sleeper unfortunately. 

The kids are planting seeds for a 'butterfly garden' in the above photo. So far, the seeds haven't sprouted so we're not sure if we did something wrong or if they were drowned in the water deluge we got in subsequent weeks. It is Washington state after all!

Lily got caught in the act of going for the sugar cubes. Do note that she is fully standing precariously and not safely on the top of her little standy thing. And man, she knows she is busted! It sure is hard to discipline her when she's so cute and makes us laugh so much =)

Lily's Birthday with horses & unicorns

Our little Lily is THREE years old. Wow! Did that go fast or what? She is a happy, happy child with a vocabulary of an 7 year old. This is probably because she loves to read so much. Her attention span is unparalleled when she is being read to.

Lucky girl got to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Faiola when I was at my 3 day lecture/lab for my Nutritional Therapy degree. The university is in Lacey Washington (a big selling point when I was considering the certificate degree). So, while I'm in a classroom all day, Lily gets to hang out with Grandpa. And since it was her birthday, they treated her to quite an adventure! 

Lucky Lily got a new bike (!!!) complete with streamers and a backpack, a crown, ice cream and balloons. Grandma and Grandpa Faiola did that birthday up right! =)

Funny story about Lily: the other evening after getting the kids down for bed, I was reading on the couch to de-stress after the day when I heard quite a little pitter patter of sneaky feet. I said, "That had better not be a kid, because they need to be in their rooms." And, I look over, and Lily is literally creeping by, with her hands covering her eyes, to steal a left-behind saltine cracker off the living room floor. Because she thought that the hands covering her eyes wouldn't allow me to see her. Because if she can't see me, clearly I can't see her. I was laughing so hard that I let her sneak in and out with no comment.

Lucky Lily got TWO birthday parties - one with Grandma and Grandpa Faiola and one at Perch 'n' Play with her friends. Unfortunately, the setting for the giant DSLR camera was set incorrectly and the only photos we have are iPhone photos. I could weep with sadness but thankfully, there will be other photos to share in the future, shot on any number of high quality cameras. 

Lots of her little friends came and she loved every minute of it!

One of her gifts was a horse stable, complete with a horse and two knock-off American Girl type dolls. She did not play with it as intended ...

Precious Lily is three years old and we are so glad that she is a part of our family. She brings laughter, joy and singing to everything she does. Happy Birthday Lily!

Salt Spring Island Adventure

We recently took a trip with our friends, Liam and Sam, to Salt Spring Island. Salt Spring Island is a small funky little island off the coast of Vancouver Island. It is either a 90 minute straight ferry shot or a multi ferry, multi stop situation that takes over 3 hours. We took the 3 hour ferry. It was a long time to be on a boat with four small people.

  

Our kiddos were fascinated by the entire thing and loved watching the islands go by. Do note that Jamisen brought his safety cones with him and set them up everywhere he went. 

 

We stayed at Liam and Sam's grandparent's home. It is a lovely home, within walking distance to the water. The kids loved exploring the seashore. Salt Spring Island is a former (current?) hippie commune so there were farm stands along the side of the road everywhere and an incredible Farmer's Market on the island with kombucha and kefir on tap, sauerkraut makers and kale chip artisans. Yum!

Jamisen found many bones and proudly declared himself a paleontologist. He also brought the bones home (over the border, in his backpack, unbeknownst to us; no deceit on his part. He just didn't know about border rules) and brought them to school for show'n'tell. He had elaborate stories about his dinosaur bones and even tried to tell us what animals they came from. Adorable.

 

Our friends Heather and James watched the kids one night after they all fell asleep and Chris and I were able to take a short walk. It was lovely though surprising to find ourselves having uninterrupted time to talk. With little kiddos at home, that is certainly a luxury.

    

 

 Sweet little Lily is learning to potty train and was so inspired by friend Sam on our Salt Spring Island trip. When she uses the little potty, we say things like "Great job, Lily! We are so proud of you!" The other day, she sweetly looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I'm proud of you and Daddy too!" and when I asked, "Why is that Sweetie?" she said, "Because you wipe your butts every day!"

We did lots of fun stuff on our weekend excursion, like visit a goat farm, a lavender farm and multiple parks. It was a fun experience but certainly not anything relaxing when there are that many kids! =)  I'm thankful for the weather, for friends and for the time to spend with family.