A well spent weekend

We had a great weekend.  In spite of cold weather and somewhat grey skies we did a lot of fun things to keep ourselves busy and active.  I think we helped end the Christmas break for the kids on a high note.

On Friday afternoon, I had a dermatologist appointment in Vernon.  To make it a bit of a treat for the kids, we went for dinner after I was finished and then headed over to the bookstore in the mall to browse.  I picked up the new Jennifer Egan book.

On Saturday, Vic and I had an Olympic Weightlifting coaching session with Guy Greavette. We have been working with guy since late last summer. This was our fourth time seeing him, and each time we go, we always both feel like we have found his sessions invaluable in correcting our form.

Saturday night, we went to a movie with my work friend Julie and her husband.  We saw Ladybird.  Great movie!

Today we headed up to Silver Star for our 3rd ski day of the season.  It's great to have seasons passes and not have to worry about purchasing lift tickets.

Sophie and Erika

Sophie's friend Erika came over yesterday and had a sleep-over.  I took a few photos of the girls when they were hanging out around the house.

I vaguely remember age 11 and not feeling particularly

good about my appearance.  These two are beauties.

JCI Gala - A Night In Paris

We were fortunate to attend the JCI fundraising gala - benefiting the VJH Foundation’s $2.5 Million Tower of Care Campaign to equip and furnish the 6th and 7th floors of Polson Tower at VJH.  Fynn was born at VJH.

It was a great opportunity to get all dressed up and visit with my friend Veronica who invited us as her guests.

I love having an opportunity to go out and do something special.

Stuart McLean

On Tuesday evening, we went with our friends Bryan and Patti to the Stuart McLean Vinyl Cafe Christmas show.  It was a great show and we really enjoyed the mix of new stories about Dave and Marley and music from Chic Gamine.

Vic got a CD from one of Stuart's piano guy John Sheard.  He's a talented pianist and his Christmas music is beautiful.  Nice start to the season.

Downton Abbey Season 3 Premiere

We had fellow Downton devotees Bryan and Patti over tonight for wine and scones to watch the Season 3 Premiere. It did not disappoint. What a show!

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We also took the kids to Silver Star and did Tube Town with them this afternoon. They loved it and we all burned off some steam.

Ready for another week and back to regular routines.

Tube Town

Our season's passes at Silver Star also include admission onto Tube Town. Fynn was a little apprehensive at first, but he got into the fun pretty quickly and enjoyed zipping down the hill on a tube with the rest of us.

We met up with our friend Kim and her son Jack, which was nice and added some social time to the day.

The Weekend Lens

This weekend, the kids stayed with my parents and Vic and I took a weekend trip to Vancouver with our friends, Bryan and Patti.

On Friday night (after we settled into our hotel and had dinner at Cardero's) we headed down to Chinatown and visited the Night Market. It was not as big as I thought it might be, but it was very authentic feeling and a really neat experience.

The next morning we walked up to the Vancouver Art Gallery and took in the Matisse Exhibit. It was fascinating to learn more about the Cone Sisters and their great exhibit.

Later that afternoon we went over to the Van Dusen Gardens which are beautiful. That evening we had dinner at Darby's Pub in Kitsilano. Great roof top deck and yummy nachos. After dinner we went and saw The Taming of the Shrew at Bard on the Beach. The artistic director gave a short 20 minute talk before the performance to give you some background on the play which was very helpful since my Shakespeare is very rusty.

A great weekend all the way around.

The Weekend Lens

I wish I had some photos to post of this past weekend, but my camera is acting up. My D70 has been a workhorse! I have had it for about 7 years and it has taken thousands of pictures. It might be time to upgrade.

On Thursday and Friday, the leadership team at my work went to Sky Trek where we did some challenging rope course activities. Lots of fun and the double black diamond course was probably one of the hardest things I have done physically. We then headed down for 1 night at Sparkling Hills Resort. It is a must see/do if you are visiting this neck of the woods (Vernon, BC). This photo is of me and our VP Finance, Jen.

On Saturday Fynn had soccer and then we went down to Kreative Kaos in Vernon - basically a big arts and crafts show. We then had an invite to a dinner party at my co-worker Julie's house. The kids were great and really enjoyed playing for hours with Julie and Doug's little dog.

Today we took the kids for an hour long bike ride along our water front. They were completely pooped by the end of it.

A full weekend!

Lobsterfest

My work had a couple of tables at the annual Rotary Lobsterfest Dinner and Auction.

Here is a photo of my co-worker Julie and her husband Doug.

Julie's daughter babysat Sophie and Fynn. A late evening, but lots of fun.

All is quiet on New Year's Day

One of my favourite songs ever. It is from U2's War album. Love the haunting lyrics:

All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
On New Year's Day

We had a wonderful dinner last night with Bryan and Patti. I have found over the years that it is more important to enjoy yourself, doing what makes you happy then following the crowds on NYE (or any other time for that matter). For us that means a first class dinner with good friends.

Today was equally lovely. We took the kids for a walk and then later in the afternoon Vic's cousin Neville, his wife and their two kids came over for a visit. Perfect -- it also ties back to one of my priorities for 2012: community.

Right now the kids are watching this movie and then we are having pancakes.

happy saturday

Our old roomate Jim came by for a visit last night. Here was in town for the Blue Grass Festival. He is a gifted photographer and helped me with a few questions I had.

We had some nice family time in the pool this afternoon.

31 degrees celcius here today so we are just hanging low and staying cool.

best neighbourhood friends

Maggie's dad knocked on our door about 5 minutes after I got home from work today (Vic is in Vancouver for work). He needed to help a friend with some work and asked if Maggie could stay with us for a couple of hours.

I love having Maggie over. Her and Sophie play well together -- it borders on mischevious fun but nothing that I worry too much about.

They decided they wanted to do faux piercings tonight with some stickers.

Haney Classic Car Show

Had fun today looking at the old cars at the Haney Classic Car Show. Bryan, Patti and their little godson Lincoln came along too.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

a very good playdate

Yesterday I emailed Mikayla's mom and asked her if Mikayla could come over today for a swim and an afternoon playdate. She was happy to come and Sophie was excited.

They happily played in the pool (a lovely 85+ degrees so I was in there for quite awhile too) and when it came time for Kari to pick her up, I could see how she really didn't want to go home yet. I suggested Mikayla spend the night. The right playmate makes all the difference. Her and Sophie happily played, we had dinner and now all 3 kids are watching Ramona and Beezus. Everyone is happy and no one is complaining to me about being bored. I am looking forward to when Fynn can start having real playdates with his little buddies.

The day was lovely here. Beautiful weather and happy times.

Fynn's Baptism

We had a big crowd over at our house today following Fynn's baptism at the United Church. We had meant to baptize Fynn when he was a baby but for one reason or another it slipped away on us. It kept niggling me, so we finally made some plans and arranged for it to happen this Sunday.

Here are a few photos of the lunch we had over at our place afterward.