Victoria & Goodbye Summer

School starts in 4 days. I'm ready! The kids are ready, too! Elise can't wait to get started in Kindergarten, and the boys are eager to see their friends again.

So... we had one last hurrah before heading back to routine. We took a trip over to Victoria. Time with friends, a little touristy stuff, a visit with my Granny in the care home.... it was a great week! Plus, my parents have acreage, so there was always lots for the kids to do to keep busy!

Here are a few of the highlights from the week.

Family Time...

My kids with their Great Granny.


Some fun with different features on my camera... black and white and some blur.






Building Time...

The kids and Steve and I (mostly Steve and the kids :) have been working on a play fort in the back forty of my parents' place. I was on cougar and bear alert because there have been sightings of both in the area this summer.



Friend Time...

We got together with Tricia and the boys at a park in Sidney for a couple hours to play. Later in the weekend, we also hooked up with Todd's old school buddy that has moved over to the Island. That was a lot of fun, too. I don't have pics to share from that. (yes, of course I TOOK pictures, but I am not going to post them :)



Game Time...

So many games of Chinese Checkers and Battleship took place over the week that I lost count! The kids really loved playing these games, so I am going to have to add them to a shopping list at some point! We have lots of games, but these 2 games are not ones we own.



Scott took this black and white. I just love how he took it from a different perspective.


Fun Time...

After visiting Granny, we went to the Beacon Hill Drive-In for ice cream. Yikes! These bowls were HUGE... way too much for one kid. They didn't need to eat lunch that day :)


Farm Time...

I posted a few weeks ago about my dad's chickens. The kids had fun feeding them, and watching them... it was also an excuse to not finish their dinner, "But mommm, Papa said the chickens would really like to have some of my dinner!" Ok, whatever Papa says!



This was so cute. We were walking up the driveway with my dad and he was showing me his plum tree. Just as he was saying, "It didn't even give me one lousy plum..." We both spotted it! A beautiful, ripe, delicious yellow plum! Further searching yielded 2 more plums from this tree, and one from another tree. Enough plums for each of the kids and Papa!!


E is such a poser. This was take 5 of her standing beside this sunflower. I just wanted to show the height of the flower, and she had to show off a bit! Dad's sunflowers were a bit short this year because they were all volunteers. I love sunflowers.



Tractor driving lessons with Papa. Out of all the kids, Elise was the only one that wanted to steer the tractor. The boys just wanted to go along for the ride. After her turn was done, she said, "I am such a good driver, I didn't even hit any of the cars in the driveway." Well, I hope not!


On Sunday afternoon, we went to the Beacon Hill Petting Farm after church for a little bit. Elise has been there before, but it was the first time for the boys. They instantly fell in love with all the little pygmy goats!







Bed Time...

The sunsets in Victoria were just glorious. Night after night of beautiful skies. I couldn't believe how there was so much colour every night, but each night was different. Here are pics from 2 different nights.

Vivid pinks and purples one night...


And bright orange on another night that bounced off the water of the Bay and made a beautiful backdrop for the silhouettes.

Preikestolen, Norway

Here are a few more pictures from my adventures in Norway. I went hiking with some of my cousins to a very popular spot - Preikestolen. It is a 604m high mountain above the Lysefjord. I am still in awe that I actually went out on its surface at the top. I don't like heights.


We stopped for a picture before we started our trek because I knew that in a few minutes I would be sweating like crazy. Don't we all still look so happy here?!


There were endless rocks to climb up... and then down on the way back!


Then 3 or 4 times on the trail, there were these wooden walkways over the marsh. This is my cousin, Roald.


Almost there... the view was already breathtaking and I wasn't even at the top yet!



With my cousin, Siren... thumbs up that we made it to the top!


This was so hard to do. I know I have a big smile on my face, but I could hardly look over the edge. Such a long way down....


No matter which way we looked when we were up there, we found incredible views.



About a week before this, I broke my toe (well, how can you really know a toe is broken.. it went all shades of purple and hurt like crazy to put pressure on. Even putting these shoes on hurt. One the way up this hike, I curled the toes of my right foot so my pinky didn't have any pressure on it. If it wasn't broken, I'd be surprised!) so I was happy to get these feet to the top. But I knew that I wouldn't have this kind of opportunity again (at least not for a long time... 3 weeks in Europe without kids? I couldn't believe this trip happened in the first place! My husband is so great!) and that's why I didn't want to say no just for a baby toe!

Left - Andreas... Right - me :)


It blows me away that every year more than 120,000 people hike this trail to the top, and nobody has fallen off. (Except for base jumping, which more often happens down the fjord a ways, but has taken place at Preikestolen, too). I have seen much lesser trails roped off in Canada because they think it's too dangerous.

This doesn't look too bad, eh? Well, I couldn't look down sitting like this. We were on the edge, that you can see in the following picture.


For the picture above, Siren stood here (see below) and zoomed across to the pulpit where we were sitting. That was scarier than looking over the edge for me.




Again, this is my cousin, Roald. I tried to talk him out of this, but he wouldn't listen ;) Someone said I sounded like a mother! Hahaha... well, I am a mother, and if I ever see my kids doing something like this, I won't be too happy! But I did feel slightly better with Terje close by him.


I highly recommend this hike... if you live in the area, or not, it is worth it!

Open House - Wednesday

Just a reminder that my Open House is this Wednesday evening from 7 - 9:30.

Come on out and browse the new catalogue*

Last chance to get Summer mini catalogue products

*(catalogues will be available for $10,
or free with purchase of $25 or more.
1 catalogue per person).

Free make and takes

Retired products for sale

Coffee and snacks

Bring a friend!

Email me if you need directions to my house

Hope to see you then!

My Great-Aunt is a scrapbooker...

While we were in Norway, I was delighted to discover that my great-aunt (my Morfar's sister) is a scrapbooker. She proudly showed the books that she has put together, some with photos and journaling, and some with saved goodies like newspaper clippings and other special memories. It was so fun to go through these and see her creativity, and the things that have meant enough to her to save over the years, and share with others.






Then, we went for a walk, and I took this picture of my great-aunt, my mom and my aunt... and, do you know my first thought? "I can't wait to scrapbook this photo!"

Some crafty ladies (and guys :) in Norway...

One of the things my aunt mentioned before we headed off to Norway was that she wanted to get into cardmaking. And, that others there are into scrapbooking. So... I made sure to save some room in my suitcase for some stamps and ink to take along for gifts. We had an evening of creating cards with all the girls, and the boys thought it looked like so much fun that they even jumped into make some!





Look how many got made!!