Blackwell Dairy visit

Some of the dairy buildings

Earlier in June I was the very excited winner of a tour of Blackwell Dairy Farm at the RLC Annual Fair. The dairy is the one we visited in our first week here in Barnhartvale, and Liam has enjoyed having Reid, whose family is one of those running the dairy, as his class mate.

So on Sunday, the Jost-Curry family, Adam and his brother Sean and Louise and Nico, Ben and Kim and the Jost-Doyles met at the farm for a tour. And it was fantastic!

Our group

Cow

Lucie feeding the newborn calf

We started off learning about the cows, their feeding and monitoring. Then we went into the nursery to see the new calves, one of which had been born only the night before! We were able to feed the new calf and play with the others.

Lucie and Pascale with a calf

In the milking room

Then we went to the milking room and Laura explained the process to us.

The corn field

Ryan and our wagon!

After that Ryan took us out on a wagon ride around the farm and we enjoyed spectacular scenery and were able to see the corn field where the cows' food is grown.

Phoebe enjoying her first chocolate milk!

Back at the barn we all enjoyed a Blackwell Dairy Chocolate Milk......soooooo creamy and delicious!

It was a great morning and we really appreciated the time Laura, Ryan and their family put into having us there.

Recovery.....

After the party, Hel and I were encouraged to go down to the pub at the bottom of our hill, Tumbleweeds, for some Poutine, a Quebecois dish of fries, gravy and cheese curds. The menu at Tumbleweeds calls them 'Heart attack fries'. I prefer to think of them as a cultural experience ..........
We washed them down with a couple of beers. It was a good end to the day!

Happy (early!) birthday to Adam and Liam

Hel and Pete and the girls returned after their Canadian Rockies adventures to Chez Todd on Friday, just in time for Liam's birthday party. We were so excited that they could be here for Liam's birthday party. As Summer birthday celebrations can be difficult we decided to celebrate early, and were lucky to be able to join with Liam's friend, Adam, another Summer birthday boy, to have a combined party before the Summer break. And the party - a bowling party! We were very excited to invite the whole class!

The party in full swing

The birthday boys in action!

Cosmic bowling!

And a great party it was! We had a great group of kids (and Mrs Machuck and Leeanne!) who enjoyed their party fare (including Australian fairy bread!!) and got right into their bowling. Adam's sister, Emily, did a fantastic job on the cakes, and Liam was really excited to have Luke Skywalker on his!

We really appreciated the expertise of Adam's parents Louise and Nico in the area of Canadian birthday party etiquette and really enjoyed being able to celebrate the boys' birthdays together.

Comings and goings chez Todd



End of Commencement!


Al returned from her totally amazing adventure to the Rockies and Alaska with great tips for us and excellent stories of what she had seen and experienced. She repacked and Liam, Phoebe and I dropped her at Kamloops airport on Tuesday. It was so great to see her here. Thanks for coming, Al!!

While we farewelled Al, Frank attended the NorKam Graduation Commencement. His role: 'groomer'. He had to check that the boys were all well-presented and with their mortarboard tassels on the correct side!



Phoebe, Adam, Kaden and Liam



Liam and Adam



Liam has been busy with field trips to various places including the Big Little Science Centre and the Wildlife Park as well as enjoying play dates. I must say, keeping up with his social schedule can quite exhausting!!

On Saturday a week ago Helen, Pete, Pascale and Lucie arrived. After a long flight from Manila they drove the 5 hours from Vancouver to Kamloops and parked their very flash Volvo CRV in our driveway!



Yum!

Sun Peaks

On Sunday we took a run out to Paul Lake for a BBQ. We happened to choose a spot next to one of Frank's colleagues and on the other side of them were Susan and Gary, our next-door neighbours! We enjoyed some hot dogs before the rain came and we packed up to head to Sun Peaks for their Farmers' Market. The weather was not great but it was nice for us to see the area without snow, and after a walk around the kids teed off some golf balls up the ski run!



Tee off!





 On Tuesday we visited the First Nations Museum, which has a great indoor museum and outdoor walk where we came up close to some yellow-bellied Western marmots, the subject of one of Lucie's assignments this year. That night we had dinner with Joel and Leslie and family.



In a First Nations pit house



Marmot





Dinner with Joel, Leslie, Cameron and Ally



On Wednesday we all (minus Frank, the worker) went to the Wildlife Park. Liam's class was having a field trip there so it was a good opportunity to visit it together. Liam's class attended a session on bees and then we all enjoyed a train trip around the park before lunch. On Wednesday evening while Frank was out at a retirement dinner (not his own!!) Tom and two of his sons, Eric and Ben, joined us to watch the final NHL final game.....the Canucks were unsuccessful. There was great disappointment in these parts and in Vancouver.



Liam's class on their field trip



Brushing goats at the Wildlife Park

The following day Helen, Pete and the girls headed off to Golden for their teepee experience.



Tostada Grande a la Senor Froggy



Bear jam anyone?

After their night in the teepee, we met Hel, Pete, Pascale and Lucie in Banff. The drive from Kamloops was a bit longer than we expected at almost 6 hours, but the scenery en route was spectacular the entire way. The highway follows the train tracks and passes through three national parks, Revelstoke, Glacier and Yoho. With the sun not setting until nearly 10pm we were able to enjoy the scenery for most of the drive.

From Sulphur Mountain

Liam, Pascale and Lucie

On Saturday we set off for the gondola up Sulphur Mountain. The ride itself was exciting, quite fast and very steep. From the top of the gondola we walked to a viewpoint that afforded fantastic 360 degree views. The beauty of the region is well discussed but what we saw was beyond anything I have ever seen or imagined! The scale of the mountains and the cragginess of their peaks was spectacular. We spent quite a while up there.

Phoebe was determined to walk!

Hel on Banff Ave

After lunch Hel and I hit Banff Ave. There are so many souvenir shops! The street is very nice and the backdrop amazing! On returning to the hotel we all went for a soak in the hotel's heated outdoor pool and hot tub with another fantastic view of the Rockies.

Phoebe, Lucie, Pascale and Liam

Sunday was Fathers' Day so after a bit of driving we settled on a buffet breakfast/lunch to celebrate. It was good! We bade farewell to Hel and co (who headed to Jasper) and went to procure Frank's Fathers' Day present - a pair of hiking sandals.

The beginning of a bear jam!

The weather had cleared a bit so we thought we should stop in at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake on our way home. As we drove down the highway there were a number of cars stopped. We joined the crowd and there were two bears eating near the road. I have been reading up on my bear awareness and know that the place to stay was in the car. Frank, however, ordered me out to take photos. Granted, there was a fence between me and the bears. When I came back to the car the was a sizable crowd and people were stopping on the other side of the 4 lane highway and running across with cameras! This was the beginning of a potential bear jam! Apparently in Summer the roads come to a standstill while tourists stop to look at bears!

BEARS!

At Lake Louise

Phoebe exploring at Moraine Lake

Lake Louise was stunning. As we stood appreciating its beauty and the blueness of the water Frank noticed an avalanche on the mountain at the far end. Moments later we heard it - a big BOOOOOM.

The peaks at Moraine Lake were mostly visible and we enjoyed walking along the shoreline. It was spectacular.

We were enjoying ourselves so much we had a late getaway and were not home until midnight. What a sensational place. We are looking forward to spending more time there over the Summer.

Some gorgeous woman I saw in Banff

The RLC Fair

Mr Cakewalk



Last Thursday evening was the annual RLC Fair. We had a great time there!!!

In preparation, I made a cake for the Cake Walk. There was a small cultural misunderstanding!! I made Mum's good chocolate cake recipe and was happy to walk it up to school. I decided to leave it uniced, as I like to have it with cream. Liam carried it into the gym proudly and we both stopped in our tracks......all the other cakes were party cakes! There were cars, fairies, sport-themed cakes....and we had a chocolate cake baked in a loaf tin!!! I had a laugh about it.

That was, I laughed until Liam WON a round of the cakewalk and chose this cake.......



This was the cake we came home with.

I hope the person who ended up with mine wasn't too disappointed!



Licorice Roll



There were lots of stalls and games at the fair. Liam's class was on the Licorice Roll. They had a big dice and whatever number came up was the number of pieces of licorice you won! I was on the stall for a while and it was good fun. Licorice here is red and not aniseed flavoured. Soft black licorice is called "Aussie-style" licorice, and then there is dutch licorice.

 Liam had his face painted and he and Phoebe enjoyed the bouncing castles, food and candy that was available.

I was excited to win the silent auction for a tour of the local dairy, the one we visited just after we arrived. I hope to take Pascale and Lucie when they are here.

 

Showing Mrs Machuk



Phoebe and Spiderman





Football of the American kind

A view of training.
Number 43 is in white in the middle.

The BC Lions (the BC American Football team) is holding their training camp in Kamloops this month. Liam, Phoebe and I went along to see training last week after we had been for a swim. I liked the orange trousers!!!! Louise and Nico's son plays for the Kamloops team and was selected to train with the team, with a view to trying out for them. He is number 43.


Sean and Phoebe



my my my My Kelowna

We are back from a fantastic weekend in Kelowna. The sun was out and we enjoyed great company and hospitality the whole weekend.

Frank's colleague, Tina, and her husband, Steve, organized a great weekend. Tina's sister, Debbie, and her husband, Rod, live in Kelowna we enjoyed a number of activities together.

We met them on Saturday morning after the Farmers' Markets and we visited two wineries, Quail's Gate and Mission Hill. We toured each winery and enjoyed tastings as part of the tours and afterwards, too! Steve and Debbie were the designated drivers and looked after Liam while Tina, Frank, Phoebe and I enjoyed the good life!!

Inside one to the cellars at Mission Hill

The wineries we visited were near to each other but totally different in atmosphere. Quail's Gate is a smaller, family-owned winery with beautiful views over the lake. Mission Hill is a more extravagant affair with European influence in design. It, too, had stunning views of the lake, but was a much larger enterprise than Quail's Gate.

Mission Hill Winery

After a very pleasant morning we went to Debbie and Rod's beautiful house which is on the cliff overlooking the lake and with its own waterfront and jetty. To get from house to jetty.....a glass elevator! It is a most spectacular setting. We enjoyed the afternoon out on the lake in a very comfortable pontoon boat with canopy. Rod and Liam shared the driving and it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Debbie and Rod's place

On the water, Captain Liam at the helm!

The finals of the NHL are on at the moment. The best of seven games will win the Stanley Cup. The two teams playing for it are the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks. Five o'clock saw the start of the second game. We enjoyed a delicious BBQ of steak and bison while keeping an eye on the score. Vancouver up two games and spirits were high!

A view along the walk

The following day we did some shopping then met Tina, Steve and Debbie to head out to Kettle Valley for some hiking. There is a very long, now disused, railway through the area, and with the rails up it makes a great walking and cycling path. There are many trestle bridges still in place and the walk was spectacular! The trestles themselves are new after forest fires in 2003 destroyed them. I really hope we can return to this area for some cycling or walking again while we are here.

Steve entices a chipmonk, watched by Tina

Some of us midway along a trestle bridge

Thank you Tina, Steve, Debbie and Rod for a fantastic weekend!!