A Walk in The Woods

I think I may be in love with the park near our house. It's huge; with a river running through it, large forrests, open meadows and fields.  It's a photo loving momma's dream!  Anyways, David was working (Again) and I needed to get out of the house with the kids, so we went on a little adventure through the forrest.  Lauren was happy in our baby back pack and the other two enjoyed walking through the trails and over bridges.  Calvin loved collecting leaves.

 

 

 

Moss is so....easy to photography!  Kids are not easy at all!

 

At the end of our walk we discovered this out house toliet. Before I had a chance to protest, Calvin had his pants down and was going to the bathroom.  Of course I had to snap a photo!

Photo Walk at Tynehead

October 8
We came across this great little archway over a path at Tynehead park on one of our photo adventures.  I loved the way the light was shining through the trees, so magical!

I've been trying to get in more photos with the kids these days. Since David's been working  A LOT, I've been getting creative on how to do this. I actually handed the camera off and Calvin took the above shot. Even though our heads are cut, I still like this shot.

We took the walking bridge over the freeway to get to the park. The kids LOVED this!  Must do it again sometime soon.

Fishing Derby

On Wed-Sunday our family went to Loon lake to go camping.  Every year South Abbotsford Church has a 2 day fishing derby at Loon Lake.  We had been before and had a great time so we were excited to bring our little gang this year.  We went up 2 days early to make it more worthwhile.  We had a great time as a family and look forward to doing a lot more camping in the summers to come!

The kids learned how to roast weiners and marshmallows, pretty exciting!

Laurn enjoyed being outside in her pack and play or in the hiking back pack.

So much of camping is about eating.  The kids were all about this. 

David and the kids spent a lot of time on the docks.  For the first couple of mornings, David would take Sarah and Calvin fishing on the dock from 7-8am while I rested with Lauren.  How sweet to look out the cabin window and see my beloved husband and children fishing on the dock together. I hope I can always keep that image in my memory.

Learning how to skip (or throw) rocks.  Calvin could have thrown rocks into the lake all day.

Even though the water was VERY cold, the kids didn't hesitate to get wet.  At first Calvin stripped down bare naked and got in the water, so I had to go get their bathing suits (good thing I brought them just in case). 

Camping is also about being dirty. Very dirty, if you're Calvin.

The kids loved the cheezies and snacks, no surprise there.

Fishing on the boat

Our great pontoon boat that we rented for the derby on Saturday.  We could get three families on the boat at once, therefore we were able to make great use of it.

Me and my little Lauren! 

Our wonderful group of friends!  We're looking forward to many more years of fishing derbys!

Joshua Tree National Park

Today we went to Joshua Tree National Park, which is about 45 minutes from Palm Springs. The desert was beautiful, in that rustic old west kind of way. The Joshua trees were actually really amazing and the many rock formations were often breath taking. It was a cooler day in Palm Springs but it was even colder and more windy up in the mountains. About a half hour into the National park we experienced a snow storm. Snow in the desert, who knew!?! Just seemed so odd. Since it was pretty cold the kids stayed in the van most of the time. Lots of great photo opportunities though. Another great family experience!

Granville Island

On Sunday we went to Granville Island with Michael and Rebecca. I love the sights, sounds and scents of markets. Sarah loved chasing the pigeons and spending time with her aunt and uncle.

Berries, yes please.

There was another little girl feeding the pigeons. Sarah was thrilled that she shared some of her bird seed with her. Calvin was feeling sick so he spent most of the time in the stroller, poor boy.

Signs of spring were everywhere. It doesn't seem like spring is really near, so I had to get some photos that reminded me that it was indeed coming.

The Vancouver Aquarium

Yesterday we spent the morning at the Vancouver Aquarium with several of my cousins, aunt, uncle, mom, etc, etc. It's my cousin Steven's birthday, so we all went to celebrate his special day. The kids loved looking at all the fish, watching the Dolphin show and spending time with family.

Some of our group checking out the fish.

Sarah and Calvin

Calvin, Sarah, Abby and Nathan

I've always loved the Jelly fish tank. So amazing.

I found it really difficult to capture a small fish with the camera. Low lighting conditions and rapidly moving fish=not easy. I was loving the challenge though.

It's difficult to get good photos of the kids at a place like the aquarium since they always have the back of their heads turned towards you. This tank provided a good opportunity to see what Sarah was seeing and the expression on her face.

Calvin was pretty thrilled with all the bubbles in these windows.

Thanks for the invite out Steve! We all had a wonderful time.