Friday’s Fun Finds – Home Edition

Now that the kids are back in school, I have a bit more time to myself.  So, with this time, I have hit a few of the local and not so local stores.  Here’s what I have found on my travels:

What does the fox say? He says, “buy me!” This adorable print was at Winners Homesense and I thought it would be so great in a cabin.

A squirrel with antlers ? Again, another cute print at Winners Homesense and if I had a cabin, I would have bought it.

These mostly nautical hooks were in a cute little home store in Whistler. They would be fun in a boy’s room, in a cabin by the lake or in your mudroom.

I should have bought these sticky notes that I found while getting groceries at Superstore.

Fishes, fishes everywhere! Love the colours in this tea towel. Great gift for the fisherman in the family! Should have bought it for my Dad.

Lastly, I saw this magainze at the grocery store checkout and thought it was my last gasp at Summer. Something nice to look at when the weather is cold, wet and grey.

Have a great weekend and maybe you will discover some fun finds yourself!

linking up with: The Jenny Evolution, Curly Crafty Mom

Summer Fun

This week, The Monday Listicles wants to know what we will remember from this summer.   So many memories, so hard to narrow it down to just 10.

In no particular order, they are:

1. The great, great weather – Vancouver had a great summer – ask anyone!
2. My 3 weekends in Whistler – we are lucky to live so close and there is so much to do there.
3. Spending time with friends we don’t get to see often – the lack of schedules in summer is usually the only way to make this happen.
4. My sister getting engaged – happy times for her and her family.
5. My daughter learning to ride her bike without training wheels –  she’s a big girl now (sort of).
6. Our puppy swimming for the first time – it is so much fun to have a water dog!
7. Finally running over 10 km – there were too many runs where I ended at 9.8km, glad I hit the 10 km!
8. Sauvignon Blanc and fresh caught salmon – the two together are such a great combination.
9. My son’s enthusiasm when biking, swimming, tubing and climbing – I want to bottle this and take some for myself.
10. The great, great weather – it would be hard not to put this on the list twice 🙂

With the exception of the past couple weeks, the summer did fly by.  I can’t believe school starts tomorrow.

But I can’t lie, I am looking forward to a new routine, a new schedule and a little time to myself 🙂

Long Weekend Musings

We are very lucky to live fairly close to Whistler and usually go there every summer.

Having just returned home from our weekend away in Whistler, I thought I would share a few of my pre-trip thoughts:

1. I hate packing to go away (mainly for me, I find it easy to pack for the kids and dog).
2. I like being somewhere else, but I don’t always enjoy the journey to get there (will save this topic for another post, but I try too hard to pack right, leave on time, etc..).
3. I hate forgetting things (anything).

But while I am away, I have much better thoughts:

1. Why worry about what to pack in Whistler, because it is pretty casual and anything goes. Seriously anything goes.  I saw high heels at the top of the mountain.  I didn’t need to stress, because I brought the right clothes.
2. For a short car trip to Whistler, it doesn’t matter what time we leave. It really doesn’t matter.
3. It is ok to forget things, because there is a store for pretty much everything you need right in the Village, or fairly close by.  This applies to toothbrushes, hoodies, bathing suits, hats, sunglasses, books, etc.

All that aside, going away is usually a great time and there are so many fun things to do in Whistler.  It is hard to squeeze everything into a weekend, so here are a few of our family favourite activities:

1. Going biking – so many trails, so little time.  The trails are for everyone, even our newest little cyclist.
2. Going to the lake – pick one; Alta Lake, Alpha Lake, Lost Lake – all are just a few minutes away.  We usually bring a butterfly net to catch tadpoles and little fish.  The kids can spend hours doing this!
3. Wandering the village to see what is going on. This weekend was filled with Canada Day celebrations.
4. Hit the hotel or condo pool.  Even in the winter, the outdoor pools are heated!
5. Our newest adventure was a ride to the top of the mountain for lunch and then taking the Peak 2 Peak gondola to Blackcomb. Amazing views from what felt like the top of the world.

This weekend away was a great start to our summer.   I am already hoping we will go again next month, and I already know what to pack 🙂

Never say never…

I just agreed to go camping.

No, I am not a princess. I am also not a camping neophyte.  I grew up in British Columbia and I grew up camping.  Real camping.  From an early age.  At the lake and in the woods and yes, there were probably bears.

I did a small amount of camping partying in my 20s in Penticton, BC at the lake.  Basically, we slept in a tent, ate in restaurants and hit the clubs.  Does that count ?

In my early 30s, I think I camped twice.  Both times were fun, but it just wasn’t fun enough to keep me interested.

But now, I have kids.  Kids who think it would be fun to sleep in a tent.   And I have agreed to camp at some point this summer. My husband is keen.  So keen in fact, that he just went to the garage to check out our camping box. I am surprised he even remembered we had a camping box as details are just not his thing.

I don’t like bears, so I have agreed to camp where there won’t be any.  I know bears are a part of life here in Southwestern BC.  I also know they don’t really bother people.  We go to Whistler and stay in a hotel every summer and I am always on the look out for bears.  I know they are there.  Watching us from the trees as we cycle the amazing bike paths.

That said, I just don’t want to camp with them right now.  I don’t want to worry about putting the garbage, food scraps, coolers, etc in the car every night.

So for now, I have agreed to camp on the Gulf Islands.  The Gulf Islands are beautiful!  I think it will be fun.  I really do!