Summerland

On Saturday we drove to Summerland, which is a town in a fruit growing area on the Okanagan Lake south of Kelowna. We spent a lovely weekend there with Coby and Barry who are friends of Jennifer and David. They are looking after their dogs this year and were both exchange teachers in Ballarat in 2001. Their sons even went to Sebastapol Secondary!! It is a small world.

We enjoyed a walk on Giant's Head (a mountain) and around the foreshore of the lake on Saturday before a very enjoyable evening of good food, local wines and excellent company.

The view from Giant's Head

On Giant's Head




Phoebe enjoys her corn!

 

The train and us!

On Sunday we took a run on the Kettle Valley Steam Railway. This is the only section of track still existing on the line that once transported goods by train to Vancouver. The trestle bridges we visited in June near Kelowna are part of this same railway track, but many kilometres away!




All aboard!



The train in motion



Orchard view from the train









We bade farewell to Coby, Barry, Ayaka (their Japanese student) and Brittney (Jennifer's dog) and headed home via Peachland, where we enjoyed the local market and lunch.



Peachland Harbour

It was lovely to finally meet Coby and Barry and we hope to be able to meet up with them again!

Ayaka, Phoebe and Liam

Barry, Brittney and Coby

Black eyed P

Last Thursday after school Frank was taken fishing by Mike and his brother to Campbell Lake. He returned with two beautiful rainbow trout! They were DELICIOUS!

Liam showing Phoebe Frank's catch!

We started off this past weekend with a staff social evening at one of Frank's colleague's places. It was a great evening with BBQ and good company. Phoebe came away at the end of the evening with a black eye courtesy of Liam "I just wanted to see if I could throw the bocce ball over her head...." Doyle. She is a tough nut and despite a real shiner she recovered well and wanted to keep on playing bocce with him!!

Poor P.
It got worse before it got better!

Staff social

Staff social

I am writing this on Tuesday and the swelling is gone and the bruise is starting to disappear. She is tough!

While the cat's away....

Margaret Falls

With Adam, Ben and Liam in school all day, last Friday Kim, Louise and I (and Phoebe!) headed out for the day! We drove to the Shuswap Lake and took a little hike to the Margaret Falls. They were just beautiful. To get to them we walked along the side of the creek and it was cool, shady and very pretty. We walked along the lake for a little bit and then headed to lunch before getting back to school in time to pick up the boys. I am hoping this is the start of a regular field trip program???

Kim and Louise at the falls

The creek we walked along

Phoebe

The travellers return

On Friday evening Des, Marj and Anne returned from their Rockies jaunt having had a great time. We packed them back into the car and headed for the hockey rink. There was a Blazers v Rockets exhibition match as a pre-season warm up. It was good fun, but the crowd was light and there was no biffo! I was a bit disappointed.

The next day we went to the Farmers' Markets, London Drugs to check out a new camera for Marj and the main street for a bit of shopping and then home, where Des made us a fantastic salsa for lunch!

That night we went to Minos to celebrate all the birthdays of the year. We had a great evening.

At the Kamloops Farmers' Markets

Happy 2011 birthdays!

The following day Marj, Anne and I squeezed in a bit of shopping and Frank and Des looked after Phoebe and Liam.

Des and Liam at our local park

Phoebe

Miss two

On September 8 it was Phoebe's second birthday. I can't believe how quickly it has come around. She had a fun day in her new watermelon dress and in the evening we celebrated with presents and cupcakes. In particular, she was very taken with the tea set Liam gave her. As soon as she opened it she knew what it was and was content playing with it all evening!

Blowing out the candles

Coffee?

Contemplating the coming year?

As for Phoebe's development.....she is a determined little character! She is speaking quite well and has a number of friends whom she seeks out to play, and about whom she talks when they are not in sight! She is very interested in her clothes, usually choosing what she will wear, and loves ponytails. She is learning excellent construction skills from Liam and enjoys building with duplo and lego (when Liam is not around to tell her not to touch it!!) She LOVES books and is happy to be read to all day, given the opportunity. Her favourite at the moment.....Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch and Franklin books. Both Canadian favourites!! She happily recognises and sings Harry Potter and Star Wars themes. 

School's in!

So after a 9 week break, it was time for school to go back. There is some industrial action going on and the 'work to rule' is in force, but school went back as normal on September 6. Frank was right back into it, but Liam started with a 90 minute day. Classes at his school are not finalised until they see who is returning and who is new, so it took until Friday of the first week to know who his teacher is.

Liam's first day of Grade 1.

He is in a combined Grade 1/2 class with Mr Benesh. Mr Benesh is a long-serving teacher at RLC and he has a great reputation. Liam is excited to be in his class, and very excited that school is full day and that he gets to have his lunch there!!

So we are getting back into routine with school, swimming lessons and from the end of the month Liam will be attending Beavers, which is scouts for 5 to 7 year olds. He is really looking forward to that.

The Newcastle gang arrive!

We were very excited to have Des, Marj and Anne arrive! We enjoyed some jalapeno and cheddar smokies for tea, and the next morning we headed for......Costco! Some great shopping was done but Marl almost lost her jacket there! (Ask Marj about that one!)

In the afternoon we headed to Armstrong, which is about an hour's drive from here. The BC Interior Provincial Fair and Rodeo was on and we were there for the finals. It was a fun afternoon and exciting evening.

Some horsemanship on display

Getting our tickets

The best corn ever

Night scene

At the rodeo

Monday was the last day of the Summer break, the Labour Day holiday, and we had a slow start. In the afternoon Frank supervised a play date and Des, Marj, Anne and I hit downtown Kamloops.

My wine!

In BC there are shops where you can make your own wine. You choose a kit, put the yeast in and they store it for you until it is ready. I needed to bottle my Shiraz / Zinfandel blend when we got back from Nakusp, so I fronted up wondering how I was going to do this. It could not have been easier, and I came away with 30 bottles of wine! It tastes good!

My bottles being washed!
(not the most exciting photo, I know....)

Home sweet home...for the moment

So after such a busy time we thought it would be good to stay home for the remaining three weeks of the holidays. We had a restful time at home, dinners out, movies, play dates and just enjoying being.

But after 10 days we thought we should get away again, so we headed for the Kootenay region in south east BC. This is a region that has been recommended to us by a number of people. And it was spectacular!!

We started off our trip with a visit to Cynthia and Bruce's family's cottage on the Shuswap Lake. It is a lovely house right on the beach and we enjoyed swimming, soaking in the sun and good company.

Bruce and Liam on the Sea-doo

Safety Phoebe

The view from the house

We then continued on to Revelstoke and then took a ferry across Arrow Lake. We stayed at the Nakusp Hot Springs, which are just outside Nakusp, in an A-frame cedar chalet that had a mural and a loft. It was very cute.

Liam and Phoebe's 'Harry Potter' suite!!

Our chalet from the loft

We spent the next morning soaking in the hot spring which is a circular shaped pool with two sections, one warm and one warmer. In the afternoon we explored the main street of Nakusp and enjoyed a great meal bought from a young couple starting up a food van with a focus on real, fresh food. While we ate we watched a very industrious squirrel move pine cones around making big piles of them! The beach at Nakusp was lovely, with white sand and a fantastic view over the lake to mountains. It really is a idyllic spot.

Squirrel squirrelling!

We got back in the car the next day and did a little loop around the area. We visited New Denver and the Japanese Internment camp from WWII, the ghost town of Sandon, Kaslo and the SS Moyie and then finished up having a great dinner in Nelson before heading back to Nakusp.

Frank at Bow Lake

Japanese internment camp, New Denver

Sandon Museum

Kootenay Lake

SS Moyie

It just so happens that I was reading a book about the experience of Japanese Canadians during WWII, and the internment camp really brought it all to life for me. A lot of Japanese Canadian and Canadians of Japanese descent were sent to that area during the war and it was sobering to be there and see it.

The following day we spent soaking in the springs until supper time! We celebrated the end of our great summer travels at an Italian restaurant on the lake in Nakusp. The food and wine were great and the view superb.

Lake view at Nakusp

What a view!

Nakusp Hot Srings after dark

After a dip in the nearby Halcyon Hot Springs, we took a different route home via Vernon and arrived just in time for supper with Joel and Leslie. Their big news....Joel has a job at Port Hardy on the top of Vancouver Island and they are moving!! How exciting for them, but sad for us!

Halcyon Hot Springs

Phoebe and Ally