Hi Ho Hi Ho its off to the mountains we go....

I should be packing. We've been hopping from one place to another every single weekend, and while it's great to get away as a family I am so sick of packing! This weekend we are heading out to the mountains to camp/hunt. Bow hunting season starts up there tomorrow and while I probably won't get a chance to hunt, what there being little kids to take care of and such, at least Travis can get out for a few hours early morning and evening and still get to spend the majority of the day with us.

That's one of the things we really hate about living in the city. No matter which way you go it's at least an hour and half drive to get to somewhere we can hunt. That means that Travis has to leave the night before, sleep in the van, then spend all the mid day useless hunting hours sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing. He usually gets home late at night and just like that the weekend is practically over. It's worth it of course because he loves it, but it sucks for him to have to go so far and it really sucks that I can't go along with him. This year my inlaws are coming up for a weekend to watch the boys so that Trav and I can go for a couple days together, so I'm looking forward to that since it's been about 8 years since I've actually gotten to hunt something other than a gopher.

So anyway, I should be packing, but the littlest dude won't nap, I'm tired and getting over a nasty cold, and like I said before I'm just sick of packing! (we won't even start with how I feel about unpacking right now)

I shouldn't complain though... summer is nearly over and then I'll be dreaming about getting out of the city for a weekend. Seriously though, can you believe it? Summer is almost over? Sigh...

just some mending

Ever since we got home from vacation I haven't had even a tingle of desire to do anything creative. That's the problem with taking a long break I think. Anyway in order to try and get myself back into the sewing mode I thought I would tackle some patching and mending I needed to do.

I hemmed up one of the curtains from our tent trailer, then I got out all the pairs of shorts that Brayer has managed to scoot through. Now Brayer doesn't crawl, or walk, he scoots everywhere on his bum. It's amazing where he can get like that and how fast he can get there. We continually try to coax him to crawl or walk, but he's stubborn. He likes his mode of transportation and nothing will convince him otherwise. The biggest problem with this bum scooting is that he can rip through a pair of shorts or pants in one day. Jeans or other thicker materials will sometimes last a few days, and if we only stay inside then they last for weeks, but who wants to be inside in the summer? Not me. So rather than buying him new shorts every week, I took all the old ones and patched them with double thick denim from an old pair of Travis' jeans. They don't exactly look pretty but hopefully it will do the trick for a while.

totally caught up

So the last couple days I've spent every spare minute reading Black Heels to Tractor Wheels on The Pioneer Woman. It's amazing. Go read it.

one tough kid

Kaed spent hours each time we went to the beach hauling bucket after bucket of water to pour into a hole he dug, where Brayer would sit and play.

home and unpacked.... sorta

little fingers grabbing freshly picked strawberries from my moms garden

We are home from holidays! We got in on Saturday evening and I've done a whole lot of nothing since. The house is still a disaster, 2 of the bags are still unpacked, and laundry is only about half done. A combination of very little sleep for 2.5 weeks and way too much sun has forced me to realize that I just need to rest for a couple of days! The boys are feeling the same way, not a whole lot of energy and lot's of whining. I'm pretty sure they are having a hard time adjusting to having to entertain themselves again too.

some of the scenery on the drive from Calgary AB to Smithers BC

Our holidays consisted of 2 weeks in my home town camping in my parents 5th wheel trailer in their yard. A week into that trip, my friend Brandi and her husband and two little girls parked their trailer beside us. It was great! We had many trips to the beach (directly across the lake from where my parents live), a fantastic girls night out with a few other friends from highschool, swimming off the docks just down the street from my parents place, and a couple days Salmon fishing a couple hours away. Last wednesday we packed up with my parents and drove half way to Salmon Arm, BC where my grandparents and a couple of Aunts and Uncles live. The next morning we drove the rest of the way and proceeded to spend the next couple of nights in the same trailer, parked in the driveway of my grandparents/aunt and uncles drive way. (My aunt and uncle live in the upstairs of a house, my grandparents the basement). This little visit was great too. My Aunt is 20 years younger than my dad and happens to have a little guy the same age as Kaed. They had so much fun together, and played much better than Kaed does with pretty much any other kid. We spent one day at the beach on the Shushwap while we there and the rest of the time just relaxing and hanging out with everybody. It was a great visit. From there we came home, all extremely sick of driving and very ready to be home!