Ladies Night

Several weeks ago it was decided a night out was in order for me without the kids. So over to Adi's house I went. She had prepared a lovely dinner and had poured what turned out to be our new favorite drink, a Chocolate Martini. After dinner and an introduction to our tasty friend "Martin" we sat down to watch some smut TV. Now, I don't mean a little smut, I mean the type of trash that shouldn't be allowed to be shown. We watched The Bachelorette. Now that is over and we are hooked on Bachelor Pad, and inevitably the train wreck of Dating in the Dark that has to be seen too. Since our "dates" have begun we have missed most of what has been said on our shows as we are too busy talking. It's almost like our weekly therapy session where we take turns being the one on the couch and the one with all the wisdom. We laugh, we cry, we criticize, we judge, and we have so much fun doing it. This is what a good friendship is for! No matter how long, stressful, or crazy the week is, or if we have to sway from Monday nights because life has gotten in the way, I know that our next night together will be just as fun and entertaining as the last. I always look forward to the trash we are going to watch, the Martin we are going to meet and the company we keep. Thanks for being such a great friend Adriana!

The Cottage

Grandpa promised Averi there were snails at the cottage so she took him to find them in the apple tree. No luck but they had fun looking. Why not go for a swing on the tire instead?! I used to get pushes on the tire swing as a child and am glad it's still there for my kids. Connor came down to the beach for the day and played with the kids. Averi was more than happy to take her tot he beach to show her all the cool things there. We even had Grandma and Grandpa sitting in the water it was so HOT there.



Brad, Averi and Suzy spent many hours in the shade on the grass trying to get out of the sun.
Averi wasn't too fond of the rocks and seaweed in the water but she could have spent all day playing with the rocks on the beach.
We spent the morning one day watching the ferry boats come and go from Vancouver and the Salt Spring islands. Averi would get really excited with the waves washing up on shore. Suzy spent her time exploring all the new scents.

Of course we had to spend a day in Bellingham doing some shopping. We got some great deals and the kids have some new clothes to show for it.


The beach on the other side of Point Roberts from us is littered with Starfish. They are just lying on the sand, and there are so many of them clinging to the rocks. Some are Purple, some are Orange, all are incredible.

Shannon paid us a visit down at the cottage. After 23 years she finally got to see where we went to spend our summers. It was so awesome to visit all my friends and to spend some time with my parents down at the cottage again. I just wish there were more days in the summer. We will do our best to spend the rest of the summer camping and enjoying whatever sunshine is left.

Another long car ride

We picked my dad up at the airport at 12:15pm and were on the road. We coasted around the city on the new ring road and quickly made a stop for gas and Averi's 1st trip to the restroom. Then we were on our way. We made it to Golden with relative ease until Averi decided she had to pee. Stop 2. We were sitting in traffic while construction was being done so dad just pulled over and I got out the potty. With only 500 of our closest friends watching as Averi bared all on the side of the Trans Canada, it started to rain. "Quick Averi, pull up your pants. AVERI, pull up your pants. AVERI! NOW!...argh, come here and I'll do it" I get her buckled into her carseat but still have to dump the pot, put it away and get back in the car. Note to self: wear raincoat when travelling to BC. On the road again we have to stop in Revelstoke because, you guessed it, Averi has to pee. Stop 3. This time we go into the gas station so mom can go too but there is a line. With no choice but to wait, we head to the back. "Hey, you're the potty lady!" comes from the lady who gets in behind us. Great, now we are known :) She recognized us from the last pit stop in the construction zone and apparently had a good laugh with her friends. She can't wait to see us at the next one now. We head back on the road only to have to stop in Three Valley Gap, Sicamous, Salmon Arm, Some town I don't know the name of, Kamloops, and Hope. Those are stops 4 through 9. Wow, this 12 hour ride just keeps getting longer. We made it the rest of the way only having to stop for major construction just west of Abbotsford and to drop dad at the airport to get his car. By 2am we had made it to the border only to find out that Brad's Nexus card had not been activated. Thank god there is no lineup in the middle of the night. We got to the cottage where Averi was more than happy to get Grandma out of bed for a visit.

Thank god the drive home wasn't as long. I hate that drive!

Camping August long weekend

We decided to go camping as a family for the August long weekend just south of Strathmore, AB at the Eagle Lake Campground. Friday was a wonderful day and we took full advantage of the weather. After feeding the animals in the petting zoo we headed into town only to find out the Heritage Day festivities were over already. Back to the campsite we went. The Riders were playing football that afternoon so of course we couldn't stray far from the campsite. Chad got out the chairs and we played with the kids while listening to the game.

Sunday came and we did much of the same. We enjoyed some relaxing time together and vowed to get to the beach the following day. One problem! Over night on Sunday it started to rain and continued into the early afternoon on Monday. It took no time at all to discover our rain gear was in a bucket outside being filled up and that we would have to find ways to enjoy ourselves inside the trailer. I tried to teach Averi how to play Go Fish but she is too young for that still. She would rather play her own version of 52 Pick Up. Chad and I got some much needed RnR and we had a wonderful time as a family. Can't wait to do it all again this weekend with the Nielson Family.