A beautiful, busy, fun weekend part 1

Last weekend we had a wonderful weekend with family. We went to my favorite place in the world where we lazed on the beach and ate junk food :) But, we also went on a wonderful hike to the top of a 5000 ft mountain peak and did some boating activities as well. Here we all are near the peak,

The picture above was actually taken on the way down, the picture below was taken on the way up and you can see the top of the peak we hiked to on the right, there is a building up there that you can barely see.

There is the lake we were boating on and swimming in, waaaaaaaayyyyyy down below :)

And the little village we were staying at,

Pat, contemplating life at the top :)

We did the hike with my dad and brother and Pat's dad and step-mom. Here's Gabe with the grandparents at the top

Hiking down, the kids all did so well, I'm so grateful to have kids who love hiking and doing things outdoors. When we were at the top, there were a group of people we were chatting with and they offered our kids a small piece of wrapped hard candy. When we were hiking down I asked Nyla and Cady what their favorite part was and they said the candy! oh and the amazing view :) kids are so funny aren't they?

There were tons of beautiful alpine wildflowers all along the way

My husband and brother decided to bike down from the parking lot and apparently they had a blast :)

Well this has been part one of our Saturday, stay tuned tomorrow for part 2 and more pictures. Have you been on any nice hikes lately? Do you enjoy hiking or hate it? Are you a mountain biker like my hubby or not so much like me?

One more week!

    We had such fun weekend! But, this morning I realized there is just one week until school starts and I have exactly three school supplies ready for the girls! So, today I will be going through last years stuff for Nyla and writing my list of things they need. Nothing like waiting till the last minute :) and this week we'll be finishing up some of the things we still haven't done on our summer to-do list.
     Stay tuned for some pictures of our fun weekend (hint: they include a spectacular hike and some boating and a baseball game and family )

How about you? Are you ready for this school year to begin? Are you dreading it or looking forward to it? Are you spending your last week having fun or are you buckling down and getting to work?
Have a good day!
Sam

One Summer Day

Last Monday we had a wonderful time at one of our local beaches (I love living so close to a lake!)

I have to say that it was quite the hike to get down there, but it was sure breathtaking once we got there! It was so lovely and we were so lucky to be the only ones there, that is the five of us and my brother.

Sorry about the date stamp on these pics, I think Cady accidentally turned it on when she was taking a few pics the other day :)  Uncle Matt taught them the perfect way to enter a freezing cold lake (although it's nice and refreshing once you're in there)

Just run in and take the plunge!

We also did some fishing. This little guy is getting so good at casting! But, don't worry, there's no hook attached there's just a bobber and a little bit of weight :) He sure loves practicing his casting though.

 And Cady did some fishing of her own, while Stella watches patiently :)

Daddy even caught one! (actually he and my brother caught a few before the kids and I got there) and since the hook was so deeply embedded and the fish was just big enough, we kept it and roasted over an open fire, so yummy!

Nyla was being her typical self and thought the whole ordeal of gutting it etc was disgusting. She wouldn't even go near it, but miss Cady was so interested in it and carried the meat like it was her pet :) She was so excited when she finally let go of it and saw that the fish left some "sparkles" on her hands :)

  So we had some hot dogs and some fresh fish and some regular potato chips and some cucumbers for our supper, delicious!

I think these goof balls had a wonderful day!

Oh, and these goof balls as well :)

I'm looking forward to this weekend as we're planning to go to one of my favorite places to hopefully do some boating and some hiking and some more beach fun. Hope your summer is going as wonderfully as ours has. Have you caught any fish lately and eaten them fresh? How about jumping into an icy cold lake?

My baby sister is married!

We've been super busy around here lately because my sister and her fiance got married on August 13th. And since our house is one of the closest to the park where it all happened, and I was her matron of honour, our house became similar to grand central station :) Hopefully soon I will be back to my regular blogposting as housework and laundry calm down and life goes back to "normal"  Here's a couple of pictures of my sis and her new hubby on wedding day :)

Aren't they a gorgeous couple? So happy for them both!

A Birthday Bash

Since it is this little girls first birthday tomorrow and her sisters yesterday, I decided to share some pics from the joint birthday party we had for them during their visit a couple weekends ago. Both girls are my nieces and they are two of the sweetest girls in the world ( as well as my own two of course :)

Soooooooooooo Cuuuuuuttttteeeee!!!!!!!!!

Her first taste of cupcake :)

And the big birthday girl who's 12 now :)

The yummalicious cupcakes that the cupcake queen, Auntie Cookie made for all of us

Gabe loved the cupcakes!

The bbq masters :)

Baby A and her mom

Baby A and her dad, who she kind of looks like :)

                                             Birthday girl and her great auntie :)

And with the cupcake queen herself :)

Some of the party animals!

We all had a lovely day and a  wonderful visit. How about you? Are you having company over lots this summer? Or are you the company that's visiting others?

I am a Triathlete!

Yesterday, July 31st, I completed a triathlon! And it feels fantastic to be able to say that!

500 metre swim, 22 km bike and 5 km run in 2 hrs 8 min. Not bad eh?

We were blessed with a gorgeous perfect day, sunny clear blue sky, no wind, nice and warm it was lovely.

My sister completed it as well, in 1 hr and 43 min, she's a speedy gal!

This was the first part of the race, the swim, and it was cold even with a wet suit!

My kids and hubby and mom came and watched us :)

Me and my sister after the race. Yay!!