I have moved....

If you read here often, you know I started a new blog a while ago.  I thought I would be able to maintain both, but let's face it - that is just not happening.

So, if you have my in your blog roll - can you please update it to my other blog - Minivan Stiletto.

I will no longer be posting here.

Hope to see you over that - and don't be shy - leave me a comment to say hi.

Summer Holidays - Big Green Dump Truck

Sparwood, BC - the big green dump truck!

We stop every year on our way out for our holidays.

2009

2010

2011

Summer Holidays - Lundbreck Falls

Summer holidays! 

Adam and I were so anticipating our holidays.  As usual we headed out to our trailer for 2 weeks.

Since we are normally only going for weekends we do not stop on the drive out more than once for the required pee and Tim Horton's break.

But on holidays, we stop a few more times and enjoy the drive.

This year we stopped at Lundbreck Falls (Highway 22 and Highway 3)

Much to Anderson's delight there was a train coming through just as we pulled up!

Garden Harvest

This was our harvest from the garden yesterday.

We have had lots of cherry tomatoes, and lots of peas while we were on holidays were harvested by our garden waterer, but this is our biggest pea crop so far.

So, while dinner was cooking we sat down and had a little snack!

It was really fun to see the kids so interested in fresh vegetables, and really, who could not like fresh peas from the garden?

Welcome Back!

I know I have been M.I.A. for a while, but I have an excuse, I was on holidays and there is virtually no internet access! (I have mixed feeling about that, but it is probably for the best that I am not blogging, facebooking and tweeting while I am suppose to be hanging my the kids, sharing a drink with my hubby and chatting around the campfire with friends.)


But because I was so busy getting us all packed and ready for 2 weeks at our trailer, I missed doing a few posts I wanted to before I left, so I will post them over the next few days and then follow with some posts about our holidays.

Our Trailer and Campsite

I had someone mention to me not too long ago that I have not posted any pictures of our campsite.

It got me thinking – I am pretty sure I have not posted anything but people since we bought our site almost 4 years ago.

This is what it looked like when we bought the place – follow the link for more pictures.

Here is what it looks like now:

 Huge change!!

Right after Anderson was born we realised that there was no way we could stay sane with 2 kids in our little 23 foot, no slide, no air-conditioning, crawl into bed trailer.


So upgrade we did.

We love our site – some people question the grass – quoting “do you really want to come on vacation, go camping for the weekend and have to mow the lawn?”
The answer is yes.

Grass meant that when we had crawling and barely walking kids, they did not get hurt as much.
Grass means bare feet in the sun!
Grass is just plain and simple much more kid and dog friendly than rocks and dirt or decks are.

And there is not that much – it does not take long to mow – and then we are drinking....

So here is a tour of our trailer:

We love the u-shaped dinette - it allows for more room and more people at the table - we eat all our breakfasts inside and any time it is cold or raining we eat inside too.

TV!  I know some people say you can't camp with a TV - but those people do not have kids that wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 am - EVERY SINGLE TIME!  And when camping in early May - it is still pretty darn cold at that time in the morning to be going outside right away.

Kids room - lots of space for them to play and the beds are normal sized twins.

Thanks for taking a peek - we love having friends come and visit - if you have a trailer - the campground does allow for a second trailer to be parked for a few days on our site.  Just let me know when you are coming!

Look at him hiding under the table!

On My Nightstand - Last Night at Chateau Marmont

Last Night at Chateau Marmont - By Laren Weisberger

On the back cover:
Brooke was drawn to the soulful, enigmatic Julian Alter the very first time she heard him perform “Hallelujah” at a dark East Village dive bar.

Now five years married, Brooke balances two jobs – as a nutritionist at NYU Hospital and as a consultant to an Upper East Side girl’s school, where privilege gone wrong and disordered eating run rampant – in order to help support her husband’s dream of making it in the music world.

Things are looking up when after years of playing Manhattan clubs and toiling as an A&R intern, Julian finally gets signed by Sony. Although no one’s promising that the album will ever hit the airwaves, Julian is still dedicated to logging in long hours as the recording studio. All that changes after Julian is asked to perform on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno – and is catapulted to stardom, literally overnight. Amazing opportunities begin popping up almost daily – a new designer wardrobe, a tour with Maroon 5, even a Grammy performance.

At first the newfound fame is fun – who wouldn’t want to stay at the Chateau Marmont or visit the set of one of television’s hottest shows? Yet it seems that Brooke’s sweet husband – the man who can’t handle hot showers and wears socks to bed – is increasingly absent, even on those are nights they’re home together. When rumours about Brooke and Julian swirl in the tabloid magazines, she begins to question the truth of her marriage and is forced to finally come to terms with what she things she wants – and what she actually needs.

My thoughts:
I liked this book. It has been a while since I read a “chick-lit” book. I like to read these every now and again to help break up some of the deeper / heavier reading I also do.

As much as I did like the book, I have to be honest, the main character, Brooke, bugged me. I did not understand why she did not communicate with her husband as to how she was feeling too.

I am a huge believer in an equal partnership, that means working together to get the accomplishments, but also helping each other achieve their personal goals. Maybe it is just me, but I would be telling my hubby exactly what I thought and felt along the way.

My rating: 3 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Still Missing

Still Missing – by Chevy Stevens (342 pages)

On the back cover:
On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two-year-old Realtor, had three goals: Sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.

Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin – which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist – is a second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over.

The truth doesn’t always set you free.

Still Missing is a shocking, visceral, brutal, and beautifully crafted debut novel about surviving the unsurvivable – and living to bear witness.

My review:
Funny that this book would come out the same year Room by Emma Donaghue came out. They are both based on a woman being kidnapped and held against her will. There are a few other parallels but I don’t want to mention anything because it will give away too much.

I really liked this book; I think I liked it better than Room since it was written so differently.

Being told through therapy sessions and nothing else, we get to hear about Annie’s year in captivity and also about everything happening in current time as she is dealing with her new but shattered life.

I could not put this book down and it kept you wanting to read right up to the very last page.

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Adam!

A few days before his birthday Jackie asked me how old he was turning.
I told her he Daddy was turning 38.
She responds by saying "oh, I thought he was 7,  you are 25 still right Mom?"
That's right Jackie - I am only 25!!

Papa-Ment Truck

Grandpa drives a cement truck - wait - I stand corrected - a concrete truck.

But really - we all call it a cement truck.

So a few years ago, we started calling these - Papa (Grandpa) cement trucks.

Jackie had a hard time saying cement - so it was shorted to 'ment'

This is a Papa Ment Truck - and a few days ago, the kids go to see Grandpa's truck and sit in it - too bad there was no way to install car seats.

Anderson is currently a typical 2 year old boy - anything big and truck like - he LOVES!!

They both loved seeing Grandpa's truck.

July Long Weekend Camping

July Long Weekend is always a blast for the kids and us out at our camp ground. 

There are lots of different activities to partiipate in and now that the kids are getting a little bit older we are getting to do more and more.

Every year there is a hike that take you from our campground to the town of Moyie, about 2 km.

You can hike the path anytime you want, but on the long weekend, there have people with quads come along, so if you need a rest (ride) they can help you out and als there are pontoon boats at Moyie to take you back to the camp ground.

Jackie has been going on this hike with Adam since she was 2.

We thought this would be Anderson's first year, but you see he does not like to ride on our shoulders - and I can't carry him the whole time, nor can Jackie walk the whole time - she takes a ride or two on Adam's shoulders.

So Anderson and I stayed behind and Jackie and Daddy went again on the hike.

On the boat ride back.



This year with a new pontoon boat, they gave lake tour rides.  The kids enjoyed it more than we did - we were always making sure they did not fall and hurt themselves since there were not too many places to sit.

 

Fire Truck Rides

Anderson is a typical 2 year old boy.

Trucks, trains, you name it, he loves them all.

Long weekends in the summer mean fire truck rides for the kids.

Anderson could hardly wait (Jackie too for that matter).

Welcome Summer BBQ

This past weekend we decided to host a back yard BBQ party.


You see, 4 years ago when we were building our deck, we paid a lot of attention to the size of the deck. Our house came with a deck plate that only spanned about half the back of the house, I insisted to Adam that we needed the deck to go across the whole width of the house.

Also when he gave me an option of a deck 2 feet longer, I took the longer option.

You see I had a vision.

My vision was of friends and family hanging out on our deck, summer nights, drinks in hand and lots of laughs.

I knew I wanted a deck where a table and chairs could fit comfortably with other things on the deck.

So Adam built a very large deck (24 X 20 I think – he knows the dimensions – I guess that is a man thing).

We have a table & chairs, our black and blue bins, potted tomatoes and a few other potted plants, a play house for the kids, a kid’s picnic table and the BBQ – and there is still room to move around and hang out.

So this past weekend we decided to host a back yard party to celebrate summer. For no other reason than that – we have a great back yard, a wonderful deck and fantastic friends – what other reason do we need.

We moved the kids play house off the deck and onto the grass , bought some beer, wine and coolers, cooked up potato salad, burgers and dogs, and invited friends and family.

We had a blast! So much fun in fact that we managed to completely forget how to operate the camera. (Actually we did not get drunk – I was too busy chatting with everyone forgetting where I left my wine to get drunk).

If you were not invited, leave me a comment and I will make sure I add you to the list for next year!

For those of you that came – we were so happy you did. It was great to see you and catch up a bit – we definitely need to do it more often –but for sure next year!!

Camping Fun

Father's day weekend we always head out to the trailer.

We had a good time playing, doing a bit of work (building a wood shed), and eating many a marshmellow.

We were joined by Grandma and Grandpa, Jackie could not understand why they had to sleep in the bunk house - it is hard to explain to a child - "because you wake up too early in the morning - and Grandma & Grandpa want to have a good sleep..."

Look at this cutie pie!

I love how I was able to get a little bit of flame in this picture.



Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful father's out there (my Dad included).

But this post is dedicated to one very special Dad.

Adam.

You are an amazing Father.
I have loved seeing you develop into this role.

I love that you know how to put in pony tails in a pinch.

I love that you are Jackie's 'Hansom Prince'.

Love you tons!

Look at where we are now:

Look at where we've come from:

(Jacqueline)

(Anderson)