Quick Park Visit

Yesterday after Melissa's dance class we had a few minutes (and decent weather) to hit the park. The kids had a great time :)

Chilliwack Lake Holiday

The second week in July we enjoyed a family holiday - camping in the beautiful Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park, in a rented camper. When we arrived, we were greeted by this sign which we thought was funny, but later found to be quite true! 

This was our set-up - a 28' Keystone trailer...

 

The kids settled in quickly and were eager to sit around a campfire (we just had to find a Park Ranger first to buy firewood, which proved to be a challenge!)

Eventually we tracked the ranger down and Melissa got to roasting marshmallows!

Brody this first night had the hardest time adjusting to the new sleep situation... he goofed off for hours and hours :P

Day 2

Started with a breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup! 

Melissa & Daddy did some metal-detecting while Brody napped. Amazing how many bottle caps they could find around the camp site!

Brody after a long morning-afternoon nap, all rested up to go to the beach. (Just above where Brody is sleeping is Melissa's bunk bed - which she was very excited about sleeping in!)

We found a beautiful spot on the lake with a little bit of beach front with an amazing view of the mountains... the pictures don't do the scenery justice!

Brody was a little unsure of the water at first...

but took to digging in the sand...

Building a sandcastle...

Back at "home" hanging out while dinner is prepared...

Dinner-time!

Day 3

Playing the card game "War" while Brody had his morning nap...

Back at the beach, helping Dad metal detect...

Meticulous sand sifting produced an old turnbuckle fastener :)

Melissa horsing around in the water... she put on quite the show for me and the camera!

A night bike ride...

The path we took led us to this bridge...

Day 4

A favorite campsite pass-time for the kids, gathering forest floor treasures...

A playground the kids enjoyed playing at in the campsite...

Nana & Pop came out for an evening visit!

Pop took some family pics of us:

Behind us: "Paleface Mountain"

Day 5

Cool dude in his sister's "swa-kiss"

One of the many "chippies" that were scurrying around the site...

Our last visit to the beach, it was a bit of a cooler day and most of us were under-the-weather :(
The treasure hunt was on again!

Unearthed a beer can this time!

Us girls huddling under the towels to keep warm on the beach. 

A final picture of a good portion of the treasures that were found on this holiday... minus the few coins (I forget the final $ total, but it wasn't too significant - we still have a long ways to go to pay off the metal detector!)

Agrifair Train Ride

Living so close to the Agrifair is quite convenient... Melissa went 3 days this year! One day she went with Papa, another day we all went as a family, and the last day she went with Daddy and got all-day ride passes. 

Melissa took Brody on his first fair ride, a train ride... 

Waiting for the ride to begin... holding good and tight to the seat!

 

Didn't take long and he was loving it! A very simple and safe train ride in a loop :)

And then sadly the ride was over :'(

First Day of Grade 3 - Melissa

A very fun summer came to a close yesterday

as Melissa headed back to school for Grade 3!