Iona Beach

This past Sunday, we visited Iona Beach Regional Park, not your typical park with the children's playground equipment, but a park that includes a four kilometre jetty which is really a giant sewage pipe that transports cleaned poo and pee back into the ocean. You see, the park is situated right beside the Iona Sewage Treatment Plant. Surprisingly the boys weren't too thrilled or impressed with the whole idea of walking on top of such a pipe, but they had fun throwing rocks into the ocean. They also had fun picking blackberries (especially the husband) and exploring the beach. D enjoyed beachcombing while R came up with some imaginary fun with the sand. K just wanted to eat all the blackberries and run into the ocean! We'll definitely come back to this unique park, as it is also a great place to ride your bike, walk, go birding (as it is home to over 300 species of birds) and watch the planes land and take off (as the Vancouver International Airport is situated right next to the park).

Mid Summer 2010

Here's a few pictures of our summer so far...

My Favorite Month

The first day of fall was yesterday, but I've already been celebrating the coming of fall for the past month or so, obsessively working on my Peace Fleece Fall Sweater, anticipating the start of school for the boys and going for acorn hunts whenever and wherever we spot oak trees.

The past two months have been a blur, for K's already seven months old! She's now eating solids-- rice cereal, oatmeal, and fruit and veggie purees. She's soo... on the verge of crawling, having no trouble rolling over from her back to all fours, moving forwards and back, as if to propel herself forward like a canonball! Utterly fascinated by our cats, K doesn't think twice about grabbing a fistful of fur if the cats happen to brush past her. We really have to watch her carefully so that she doesn't proceed to stuff her hands into her mouth! She's a "taster", something new to us, as D and R did not do this at her age. We'll have to be more vigilant about picking the Lego pieces off the floor. Above is a pic of K at six months. Last month, we had gone daytripping to Gibsons to check out the Fibre Festival and the surrounding area for possible future (camping?) visits.

And another milestone has passed, as our sweet R entered Kindergarten about two weeks ago! R's K class is all day, so it's been quite an adjustment, but he seems to be enjoying his teachers, the class, the new routine, the hot-lunch program, and even his homework!

Finally, as for D, he's happy to be back socializing at school after a summer of drawing increasingly detailed pictures and of reading Captain Underpants and the Magic Treehouse series.

Summer 2009 So Far...

The past two weeks have been exciting and busy with a big visit from family overseas. My brothers, sister-in-law, and 14-month old twins, A and Z arrived just as the second (or is it the third?) heat wave hit Vancouver, so there were lots of outings that involved playing with water to cool down. We became tourists within our own city, visiting Stanley Park on more than one occasion--once to the water park and another to Second Beach Pool--one of the best places for family-friendly fun! Our local haunts, Trout Lake and Robson Park, were also well visited.

Stanley Park Water Park
cooling down in Trout Lake
cousins at play
nothing like sand to spark imagination
some r & r at Robson Park Pool

However, that's not to say that playing with fiber was forgotten.... I was actually forced to dig out and dust off the Ashford Traditional to be able to spin my July fiber, Summer Twilight from sweetgeorgia. My bobbin-lead Louet S10 kept breaking my spun singles with its overly aggressive "takeup" onto the bobbin, so I had to switch wheels. It was getting frustrating trying to spin thin on the Louet, and there was no way I was going to waste any more of my new yummy panda fiber (a blend of superwash merino, bamboo, and nylon) that I was aiming to spin in fingering weight.

So after a visit to Birkeland Brothers to purchase some extra bobbins, I'm now enjoying spinning on a wheel with Scotch tension, one with a lot gentler "takeup". I can spin a lot thinner and easier without the stress of breaking the single when joining fiber. Sometimes I wonder why I waited so long to use this wheel. It's a great wheel for a fairly new spinner, like me! Some photos will be posted as soon as I fill up a bobbin or two....

K is now 5 months!

In other exciting news, K is now well into her fifth month in this world! See how our sweet-natured, easy-going baby girl has grown! She's almost rolling over on her own and has the most deadly strong grip! K's exercising her legs as well, and goes into the Jolly Jumper at least once a day. It's never too early to start training when there are two competitive brothers to keep up with!

Picked Up Banana Pancakes

In between party planning for D's 7th birthday last week, I managed to go pick up my June fibre from sweetgeorgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find some primarily bright, happy yellow superwash merino in the bag, aptly named Banana Pancakes. I'm not normally drawn to yellows since I don't usually wear this hard-to-wear colour for asians, but I'm curious to find out how this spins up colour-wise. I've spun merino before and just love it! It's super soft and easy to spin. I'll aim to spin it in a 2-ply worsted weight..... if I ever get to it, that is......Presently, I'm recovering from D's successful 7th birthday party which took place at a U-pick strawberry field and at a busy spray park with a group of little people and moms. A good time was had by all. It's hard to believe my first, whom we used to call "our little man" as a baby, has now been a part of our family for seven years! A gigantic happy birthday to our handsome, fun-loving D!

Back from Vacation

what summer is all about
We're back from vacation, and happy to be in our own beds. We can't believe August is amost over, but much has happened since posting a month ago. First, we had an exciting family visit with the twins, A and Z--new cousins to D and R--our first meeting-- and boy, are they adorable! The twins turned four months while they were here in Vancouver, and they've grown so much in the two weeks that they were here! We're so happy and grateful that my brother's family was able to make the long trip back home for this special visit.

new additions to the family
Then, as soon as my brother's family left for HK, it was speed packing for camping in Tofino and Saltspring. All our camping gear and necessities just went flying into bins labeled kitchen, bed and bath, food, clothing, and kids' activities. I let the hubby take care of the rest of the gear, like shelter, lights, cooler, stove, first aid, and the vehicle. I always feel we take too much stuff, but we manage to use most of it on our trips, and we're always able to jam everything into the back of our van. Oh, and I couldn't forget my knitting project for the road-- my Slipped-Stitch Rib Sock that I started back in May of 2007. I'm happy to report that although I did not complete the sock on the trip, I did get a chance to work on it a lot, especially on Saltspring Island where I had free time to work on it in the early mornings and while the boys were out playing by the lake during the day--D in the water with the other kids and R on the tire swing. All I have left to complete is half the foot and the toe shaping for one sock, and then the closing up of the toes for both socks!

finally, time to myself on MacKenzie Beach
We went on vacation as a group of three families this year, and although challenging at times with not all of the kids getting along, it was fun catching up with old friends, making new ones, and working together as one big group to make the trip a smooth, relaxing, and memorable one. Below are some highlights of our trip from Tofino's MacKenzie Beach to Saltspring Island and then up to Whistler back on the mainland:

waiting for s'mores around the campfire
D posing on the beach
building sand castles
the dramatic rescue of a husband without a lifejacket, whose kayak flipped
the beautiful view from the cottage
hanging out at the Saltspring Saturday Market
hamming it up at Whistler while watching the mountain bikers
We can't wait to do this all over again next year!!!

Summer Delights

The garden is such a magical place despite mine being overgrown and full of weeds. This year I've made a bigger effort into growing more veggies that we could use in our family meals. It's been about four or five years since I've grown snowpeas, so it's a real accomplishment that I actually have a small harvest of both round and flat snowpeas.
My strawberry rhubarb has continued to thrive in its present location next to the fig tree. I've already used it in a coffee cake and a rhubarb bar recipe back in June, so instead of making a pie (which I was too tired to make yesterday), I made a simple rhubarb compote using 6 cups of chopped rhubarb, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of grated orange rind, and 1/4 cup of water. I involved the boys by teaching them how to de-string rhubarb stalks, which they had fun doing after a light duel with the rhubarb stalks as though they were swords. The compote turned out great and will be delicious with vanilla ice-cream or even just toast in the morning! I can just see myself making more compote and preserves in the future as my strawberry freezer jam turned out so scrumptious as well this year.

February Lady Sweater Started

I've just been so happy knitting sweaters using circs that I can't seem to stop..... here's my February Lady Sweater (pattern by Pamela Wynne) that I started last week. The weather has been so hot lately that I couldn't bring myself to knit in wool, so I'm using Lion Brand's Cotton-Ease in Taupe. I'll hopefully have more progress to show you of the sweater while trying to fit in the boys' summer programs, shift work, gardening/weeding, and keeping the house from falling apart.

Our first MEC Paddlefest

We had a perfect day to try paddling at Ambleside Park this past Sunday. Mountain Equipment Co-op put on some great water clinics with Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak at Paddlefest for kids and adults. D had a great time trying something new despite being the youngest and most inexperienced. He didn't even complain or get upset when he had trouble manoeuvering the kayak to keep up with his group. The teachers were great and everyone seemed passionate about helping one another learn more about the paddle sports.


After the clinic, D told me he'd like to try kayaking again. This is exciting to know. We're glad D isn't too easily discouraged by being thrown into a completely new experience. He's such a good sport!

This guy, on the other hand, was too young to try kayaking, but was quite content blowing bubbles on the beach and having the comfort of his favourite cookbook (yes, you read right, his fave cupcake cookbook) nearby!