It was suggested by a friend that I do a blog post about my thoughts on the iPhone 4. I haven't compiled my thoughts yet, but I will say this:
After passing by the Apple Store in Pacific Centre today and seeing a long line-up to get the iPhone 4 a month after they were introduced in Canada, I feel pretty damn lucky that my local Telus store called me up when they had a few in stock and I was able to run right down and get one.
And it has put Telus a little further down on my mental list of things I have to change in my life...
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Happy Birthday, Bri!
I squeaked this one in just in the nick of time! Actually, I didn't. I missed it by 7 minutes, so I had to doctor it.
In any case, the point is to wish Brian a Happy Birthday. We had a fun evening with San, the kids and San's parents. Thanks for coming over and celebrating with us!
I won't say how old Brian is (hey, wait a minute...) because it doesn't really matter. He will always be young at heart and that's one of the things I love about him. Happy Birthday, Baby - I love you!
In any case, the point is to wish Brian a Happy Birthday. We had a fun evening with San, the kids and San's parents. Thanks for coming over and celebrating with us!
I won't say how old Brian is (hey, wait a minute...) because it doesn't really matter. He will always be young at heart and that's one of the things I love about him. Happy Birthday, Baby - I love you!
playing the game
How do we know Aves is going to be a handful? At 15 months, she is already playing the game - complete with drama! Check out this sequence of events:
Aves, you're making a mess with your juice!
Now I have to wipe up your face...
Daddy, I didn't like that...
In fact, my life is over because you wiped my face!
Aves, your life is over - I feel your pain!!
Oh Dada, you're such a drama queen!
Aves, you're making a mess with your juice!
Now I have to wipe up your face...
Daddy, I didn't like that...
In fact, my life is over because you wiped my face!
Aves, your life is over - I feel your pain!!
Oh Dada, you're such a drama queen!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
lotsa camping, part 5 of 5!
So, here is a collage of photos from our camping blitz! Unfortunately, we didn't take very many photos, but something is better than nothing!
In case you're wondering, Nikita far prefers camping at the Provincial parks to the RV parks. At the RV parks, the sites are stacked one on top of another so we keep Nikita on-leash all the time. At the Provincial park, the sites are spread out enough that we can let Nikita off-leash and she will generally stay on our site. Also, Cultus Lake was PERFECT for Nikita because they have a designated dog beach.
We haven't yet found an ideal way to travel with Nikita and the trailer. When we put her in her crate in the trailer, we can hear her whining from outside. When she's in the truck with us, she's squished between the kid's car seats. One more logistic to think about as we slowly improve our camping experience...
In case you're wondering, Nikita far prefers camping at the Provincial parks to the RV parks. At the RV parks, the sites are stacked one on top of another so we keep Nikita on-leash all the time. At the Provincial park, the sites are spread out enough that we can let Nikita off-leash and she will generally stay on our site. Also, Cultus Lake was PERFECT for Nikita because they have a designated dog beach.
We haven't yet found an ideal way to travel with Nikita and the trailer. When we put her in her crate in the trailer, we can hear her whining from outside. When she's in the truck with us, she's squished between the kid's car seats. One more logistic to think about as we slowly improve our camping experience...
Thursday, August 12, 2010
lotsa camping, part 4 of 5
The weekend after Harrison was the weekend we tried to book after we went to Cultus Lake in Part 2. Now, I say "tried" because we didn't exactly get a reservation - there were no reservable sites for that weekend when I tried to book online.
We were able to reserve a site for Thursday night only, so our plan was to go on Thursday after work and try to get a first-come, first-served site. We were hoping since it wasn't a long weekend, the campground wouldn't be already full on a Thursday. However, if we didn't get a site for the weekend, then we would just stay the one night we had reserved. The only problem with our plan was that we were prepared to go away for 3 nights. So, when it came down to it, we WANTED to go away for 3 nights!
Unfortunately, when we got to Cultus, all sites at all 4 campgrounds were full. But at the front gate, they told us that there were some sites scheduled to be vacated in the morning (they couldn't give a definitive number). So, if we came to the gate early enough (she recommended 6am), we could potentially get one of the sites. We were torn. What if we stayed, waited in line at 6am and didn't get a site? What if we just took our chances and headed to the interior (probably Kamloops area) at 7:30pm that evening? Driving another 3 hours with already-cranky kids was not our idea of a good time, so we decided to stay the night and try to get a site in the wee hours of the morning. If we didn't get one of the vacated sites, then we would head to the interior.
So, Brian got up at 5am and was THIRD in line at the front gate at 5:30am! The gate opened just before 8am. There were 8 sites available. Phew! So, we have now learned that we will NEVER go to a provincial campground without reservations. It was NOT worth the stress and early line-up to just try to "wing it".
But we had another fabulous weekend at Cultus Lake. It was actually a perfect camping weekend - warm enough to spend time at the lake during the day, but cool enough to have a reason to have a campfire at night! AND, as it turned out, it was the last weekend before the campfire ban went into effect for the summer. So, no more roasting marshmallows (which Josh has been liking more and more) for the rest of our camping trips this summer.
We spent quite a bit of time at the beach and Josh decided he wanted to ride his bike to the beach, so he got a bit of pedal time in too. We had wonderfully relaxing family time and it was a nice way to end a long stretch of camping. We have a couple more camping weekends planned for the summer, but for now, we are going to enjoy summer activity close to home. And I think it will be nice to take a break from packing up the trailer on Thursday night and unpacking on Sunday night!
We were able to reserve a site for Thursday night only, so our plan was to go on Thursday after work and try to get a first-come, first-served site. We were hoping since it wasn't a long weekend, the campground wouldn't be already full on a Thursday. However, if we didn't get a site for the weekend, then we would just stay the one night we had reserved. The only problem with our plan was that we were prepared to go away for 3 nights. So, when it came down to it, we WANTED to go away for 3 nights!
Unfortunately, when we got to Cultus, all sites at all 4 campgrounds were full. But at the front gate, they told us that there were some sites scheduled to be vacated in the morning (they couldn't give a definitive number). So, if we came to the gate early enough (she recommended 6am), we could potentially get one of the sites. We were torn. What if we stayed, waited in line at 6am and didn't get a site? What if we just took our chances and headed to the interior (probably Kamloops area) at 7:30pm that evening? Driving another 3 hours with already-cranky kids was not our idea of a good time, so we decided to stay the night and try to get a site in the wee hours of the morning. If we didn't get one of the vacated sites, then we would head to the interior.
So, Brian got up at 5am and was THIRD in line at the front gate at 5:30am! The gate opened just before 8am. There were 8 sites available. Phew! So, we have now learned that we will NEVER go to a provincial campground without reservations. It was NOT worth the stress and early line-up to just try to "wing it".
But we had another fabulous weekend at Cultus Lake. It was actually a perfect camping weekend - warm enough to spend time at the lake during the day, but cool enough to have a reason to have a campfire at night! AND, as it turned out, it was the last weekend before the campfire ban went into effect for the summer. So, no more roasting marshmallows (which Josh has been liking more and more) for the rest of our camping trips this summer.
We spent quite a bit of time at the beach and Josh decided he wanted to ride his bike to the beach, so he got a bit of pedal time in too. We had wonderfully relaxing family time and it was a nice way to end a long stretch of camping. We have a couple more camping weekends planned for the summer, but for now, we are going to enjoy summer activity close to home. And I think it will be nice to take a break from packing up the trailer on Thursday night and unpacking on Sunday night!
lotsa camping, part 3 of 5
We took a break from camping for the long weekend and we stayed in Vancouver for Canada Day. It's ironic, since most people go away on the long weekends! Well, we decided we would make our own long weekends to go away in the summer because the established long weekends are WAY too busy and too stressful to be travelling.
So, the following weekend in July, we were invited up to the "cabin" of our friends, Robbin and Dal, at Harrison Hot Springs. I say "cabin" because it's easier to describe that way, but actually, they bought a plot in an RV Park near Harrison Hot Springs. It came complete with a trailer and all the amenities (full hook-ups!) all set up. All they had to do was move in!
This was the start of the hot weather in the Lower Mainland and this particular weekend was the first hot weekend of the summer. It took forever for summer to come, but when it did, it came with a vengeance!
Robbin warned us ahead of time that visitors camping at the RV Park didn't have hook-ups. The visitors area is just an open area beside the playground. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal with no hook-ups because we already did Cultus Lake. But this was a little different.
When I pictured us setting up our trailer beside the playground, I hadn't exactly envisioned us IN the playground. When we walked out of our trailer, we were literally 10 steps from the playground! It worked out well because we could keep an eye on Josh and Aves pre-occupied in the playground while we did stuff like setting up and preparing meals. But I definitely felt like we shouldn't really be parked there!
Also, being our first hot weather weekend of camping, the kids had a bit of trouble at bedtime and naptime. The trailer has A/C, but when there are no electrical hook-ups, you can't power the A/C. We tried to use our portable generator to start it up, but it wasn't powerful enough. So, at bedtime, we managed to cool down the trailer enough with opened windows, but at naptime, we headed to Dal and Robbin's A/C'ed trailer!
Other than that, it was a good weekend visiting with friends! The Garin's, Elijah and Charlotte came up on Saturday and spent the day. After Elijah puked in their car on the way up that morning, we thought we might be in for a rough day. But, he seemed to get it all out of his system (and onto the car!) with that one incident and he was feeling much better pretty soon after arriving.
Dal and Robbin have a nice set-up and we spent most of the time hanging out at their trailer. The RV Park had a pool too, so the kids went for a dip to cool off before dinner. We had a great time catching up with friends! Thanks to Robbin and Dal for inviting us all up and sharing your A/C!!
Before heading home on Sunday, we decided that since we drove out to Harrision, we should at least go to the lake once. We spent an hour or so at Harrison Lake, in the shallow, enclosed part. Josh loves to play at the beach. As it is for most kids, sand and water can entertain Josh for hours.
Aves doesn't really know what to make of the beach yet. She kind of liked the water, but she never ventured far, likely because of the cool temperature. She kind of liked the beach, but it was a little unstable for her newly walking legs, so she got frustrated easily.
All in all, though, I think the kids enjoyed the trip despite the heat. And you know that it all works out in the end when your kids sleep the entire ride home, even through the sani-dump process!
So, the following weekend in July, we were invited up to the "cabin" of our friends, Robbin and Dal, at Harrison Hot Springs. I say "cabin" because it's easier to describe that way, but actually, they bought a plot in an RV Park near Harrison Hot Springs. It came complete with a trailer and all the amenities (full hook-ups!) all set up. All they had to do was move in!
This was the start of the hot weather in the Lower Mainland and this particular weekend was the first hot weekend of the summer. It took forever for summer to come, but when it did, it came with a vengeance!
Robbin warned us ahead of time that visitors camping at the RV Park didn't have hook-ups. The visitors area is just an open area beside the playground. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal with no hook-ups because we already did Cultus Lake. But this was a little different.
When I pictured us setting up our trailer beside the playground, I hadn't exactly envisioned us IN the playground. When we walked out of our trailer, we were literally 10 steps from the playground! It worked out well because we could keep an eye on Josh and Aves pre-occupied in the playground while we did stuff like setting up and preparing meals. But I definitely felt like we shouldn't really be parked there!
Also, being our first hot weather weekend of camping, the kids had a bit of trouble at bedtime and naptime. The trailer has A/C, but when there are no electrical hook-ups, you can't power the A/C. We tried to use our portable generator to start it up, but it wasn't powerful enough. So, at bedtime, we managed to cool down the trailer enough with opened windows, but at naptime, we headed to Dal and Robbin's A/C'ed trailer!
Other than that, it was a good weekend visiting with friends! The Garin's, Elijah and Charlotte came up on Saturday and spent the day. After Elijah puked in their car on the way up that morning, we thought we might be in for a rough day. But, he seemed to get it all out of his system (and onto the car!) with that one incident and he was feeling much better pretty soon after arriving.
Dal and Robbin have a nice set-up and we spent most of the time hanging out at their trailer. The RV Park had a pool too, so the kids went for a dip to cool off before dinner. We had a great time catching up with friends! Thanks to Robbin and Dal for inviting us all up and sharing your A/C!!
Before heading home on Sunday, we decided that since we drove out to Harrision, we should at least go to the lake once. We spent an hour or so at Harrison Lake, in the shallow, enclosed part. Josh loves to play at the beach. As it is for most kids, sand and water can entertain Josh for hours.
Aves doesn't really know what to make of the beach yet. She kind of liked the water, but she never ventured far, likely because of the cool temperature. She kind of liked the beach, but it was a little unstable for her newly walking legs, so she got frustrated easily.
All in all, though, I think the kids enjoyed the trip despite the heat. And you know that it all works out in the end when your kids sleep the entire ride home, even through the sani-dump process!
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