Berry Picking and First Day of School

The weekend before school started brought perfect weather here in BC, so we decided to get outside and go blueberry picking.  Allison found Krause Berry Farm about 30 minutes from our house and they had a large variety of u-pick fruit.  What a beautiful place!   They have a small playground for the kids, and a pastry cafe where they make some seriously evil selections along with fresh donuts...

Molly getting ready to fill her bucket.

mmmmmmhhmmm  Blueberries..

 Owen working away....  He was so excited to help and pick his own. 

The fruit was amazing.  Almost every bush looked like this. 

 The crew thinking about making blueberry muffins! 

So this is some of that terribly good stuff they serve up at the cafe.  It's fresh blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries in a custard and thick preserve jam served up in a flaky crust.  

I can't believe our guy is heading into 1st grade.  I am so proud of him for his sense of adventure and interest to experience something new.  We were so concerned moving up here that he would struggle with a new school, but it has been quite the opposite.  Owen is continuing in the French immersion program and in a few short weeks will be having lessons only in French!  Almost every day he comes home and says he had a great day, and he is always excited to walk to school in the morning.  Here he is ready for his first day of school!

                       

Seymour Mountain

The weekend before school started we had the most beautiful weather... warm and clear blue skies.  We all wanted to be outside, so we decided to go exploring at the Seymour Mountain Provincial park in North Vancouver.  Seymour Park   It was a great long twisty drive up with beautiful views to arrive at the upper mountian trail head.

We started the afternoon with picnic lunch... Molly wouldn't tell us what happened, but I think Minnie mouse had a wee bit too much to drink and passed out on the table.

View from the top of the chair lift at the parking lot.

Looking at the map we decided to explore the Dog Mountain trail, which was a few kilometers out through the woods, ending at a viewpoint of the city.  Here I am with my little hikers at the beginning of the trail.

 The trail was mostly groomed, but had long segments covered in tree roots that were quite beautiful and Owen loved climbing over and around them.  At this point, we put Molly in the backpack and she became my hiking partner for the duration.  Here's Owen & Allison on the trail.

Unique tree along the way.  Appeared that something fell on it decades ago, causing it to grow around before reaching skyward again.

There are many rock faces along the trail. 

Owen was suprised and quite excited to find a patch of snow on the back side of the mountain.  This was early September!

This is First Lake, about half-way point along the trail.  You can see a small cabin on the hill which has a  history through the 20th century.  It's now used as a base for a search and rescue teams.

Allison and Owen on the trail between First Lake and Dog Mountain.

Me and my backpack buddy.

The trail culminates at a stunning view of the lower mainland.  You can see clear the entire region, all the way into Washington State.  Here we are on the lookout.

In this shot, the city center is in the middle of the picture.  You can just make out the sail roof on Canada Place.  In the distance are the mountains of Vancouver Island.

The hike to the lookout is a one way trail, so we backtracked to First Lake, where we were able to head off and continue the loop around the mountain back to the trail head.  Owen skipped out to this rock and climbed on for this picture.

My partner fell asleep on the return hike.

Stitched together shots of the view.

This was such a memorable afternoon! As far as hikes go, it's only 5K and a reasonably easy trail for the kids.

Pinecones, summer picnic & beach

We have more than 15 very large coniferous trees that surround the house.  They are majestic and beautiful, but two by products are kindof annoying.  First is pine needles....  everywhere.....  As they die, they fall all over everything.  It's like it's raining pine needles at times.  Second is the periodic plauge of pine-cones!   This cart full is the result of the kids picking them out of the front lawn for a few minutes.   

One of the nice weekends we had recently we put the kids on the bikes and rode around the inlet at Port Moody.  It's fun to ride along and see the various homes along the water... some haven't changed in 50 years and others have been knocked down and replaced with new glamourous properties.  There is a small park with a beach where we stopped for a picnic lunch.  Here's a view down the bay. 

Molly & Owen playing in the sand 

Late in August, we had a summer picnic with work at Lorcarno Beach Park in Vancouver.  We had a great afternoon with tasty picnic food and visiting with families of co-workers.  After the festivities wound down, we played on the beach with the kids for a while.  Owen really wanted to dig a big hole....

Playing with the kids... 

Allison kindly reminded me that we had a warm day, a beach and beautiful scenery, but I failed on providing warm water...  A caption here was supposed to be along the theme of toes turning blue or something like that.  :) 

Molly relaxing with Mommy 

 

visitors

Our first visitors in Canada arrived on August 6th to spend a week in Vancouver!  Allison's cousin Amy, her wife Shannon and their daughter Vivienne brought along some beautiful weather for the entire visit.  So sad not to deliver some pacific northwest clouds and rain... :)  but it did make for a great week of activities and outings with the kids.

Sunday after our visitors arrived we all went to Rocky Point, our favorite park in Port Moody.  There was an outdoor concert with a Bob Marley cover band later in the evening, so we spent the afternoon hiking and playing.   Here's Molly and I doing some "lift-ups" as she affectionately calls them.

The princess...

All the kids love to swing (a lot)... so we killed at least a half hour on the swings with them all.  Here's Vivienne, Molly & Owen in action.

We had a nice picnic dinner in the park from Pajo's fish and chips and then walked out on the pier to see the boats.  Here's Molly pondering some deep thoughts.

After the pier, you can walk along the bay on the water.  The kids were looking for crabs and looking for rocks to skip.

Molly and Vivienne....

After this, we went for a walk around the inlet.  Molly fell asleep, so I took her in the stroller on the outer path while the rest of the crew went on the trail by the water...  Here's Owen walking along the path.

On Monday, Sea to Sky highway was the destination....  It is a beautiful drive with many parks along the way.  Here's the kids at the park at Shannon Falls.

Shannon Falls on a beautiful summer day.

The views along the highway are quite spectacular

Whistler was the furthest desination of the day.  Here's a view of the rail line leading out of town.

Brandywine falls is part of another Provincial park close by to Whistler.  The water tumbles from 70 meters into a beautiful pool.

And you can't miss the Olympic Villiage in Whistler.  If you look closely you can see Owen in the rings.

There is still some snow on the peaks in the middle of summer, but the trails are clear.

Tuesday was spent in downtown Vancouver at the Aquarium and Stanley park.

The exciting point of the day was seeing Matt Damon and his family.  Vancouver is known as the "Hollywood of the North" and there are always film crews around the city and surrounding region.  There are huge warehouses close by my office as well for studio production work.

Wednesday, the gang went to Chilliwack to try and see the toad migration which happens annually at this time.  Unfortunately they move the most often in the overnight hours, so they didn't see too many.  Here's Molly, Owen and Vivienne inspecting one of the toads on his journey across the road.

The toads are very small!  Here's a little guy next to a penny.

After seeing the toads, they explored Bridal Veil Falls park which has another beautiful water fall and is also known for the moss that grows over all the trees.

Bridal Veil Falls are known for how they pour over the rocks and appear as..... a veil.

Thursday was spent in downtown Vancouver and back to Stanley park to see some additional sights.  Canada Place has a gigantic raindrop in the square...  Here's Owen posing with it.

Here's the kids at the lookout view of the Lion's Gate Bridge that connects Stanley Park Island with North Vancouver.

Aboriginal history in this region is displayed in many of the parks.  Here are some of the totem poles created and on display in Stanley Park.

Friday morning was spent visiting Campilano Bridge and the newly opened Cliff Walk.

After the bridge, they visited MapleWood farms which is a local petting zoo.  The going opinion was that we never need to go back there again, but there were a few fun moments... here's the girls petting a goat.

Burnaby Mountain was the last stop of the day to see the views.  Here's the entire adventuring group!

Friday night I watched all the kids while Allison, Amy and Shannon went for a moonlight kayak tour from Rocky Point.  Here's Allison on the water.

Out at the Boathouse Restaurant post paddle....

Some moments captured during the week...   Molly and Vivienne walking through the soccer field at Owen's school.

Out for a walk Friday night with the wagon.  The kids were taking turns pulling the wagon with the other two riding.  Molly was working especially hard here to tug along Owen and Vivienne!

Tubby time with the girls.  So many laughs coming from these two.  They were too funny in their goggles..

It was a great week where we all had so much fun.  Busy days and quiet evenings catching up and enjoying company of family.  It was wonderful!  Who is coming next?