Really LONG overdue!

So sorry about the very long pause between updates! My life has been crazy busy! I just got home last week from a 2 1/2 holiday in Devon, and as you can imagine, I came home with plenty of photos! I got there just in time for Kennedy's 1st birthday, on June 28. She sure loved her cake!

And Grammama brought her a tiara to go with her cake! She kept it on for quite sometime!

Grammama poses with her 3 great grandchildren! 4 generations!We spent tonnes of time out at Tammy and Dallas' farm south west of Calmar. We ALWAYS come back with funny stories and photos! Here, Nicole tackled one of Dallas' prized grain bins. That's as high as she would go!
Poor Riley did a face plant into a mud puddle! And being the caring and concerned Auntie that I am, I turned and ran for my camera first, Riley second! Playing in the canola fields...Riley too!One of my favorite photos of Kennedy. So precious! Kennedy and I posing in front of the field..she was more interested in the dog!My hottie sister! I swear, Nicole should be a model! She's disgustingly photogenic! Forget this nurse business! Go pose for photos for a living!
This photo just HAD to be included! Nice timing, hey? I was taking a nice shot of Nicole, and just as I clicked, our stinker nephew Ben whipped a koosh ball at her head..it was so perfect! Again..my hottie sister!July 9 would have been James' 7 birthday, so I went out to the cemetery for a quick visit. Jen, Stephen and kids went out later and brought James a cupcake and sang happy birthday, a yearly tradition.I had to get a shot of this..since our beloved Patti is buried just behind James..she's watching over him for us!
Of course, Menna and I get together and cameras are constantly going!I wish we had a stick with a bag tied on the end..cuz I coulda taken a great shot of Menna looking like a hobo!Looking over the city. Always have to have a night shot!One of my favorite pics! Ben does the splits on the trampoline!Our cutie pie Riley! The kids and I.Nic and the kidletsNic and the boys (since Kennedy got tired of posing!) My mommy and daddy!

Sturgeon Fishing!

I got the opportunity to try my hand at sturgeon fishing on Saturday..and what a rush! I went with my friend Carrie and her friend Rob (who's a pro! That helps!)

Here's Carrie starting the day off with a good breakfast!

Shortly after we dropped our lines, we got our first bite! Carrie was the first to try and wrestle it in!
It was heavy! Rob gave it a try too!I kept busy making faces!My turn! Yes, it really was that heavy!Measuring the sturgeon! 5 foot 7 inches! WOAH!
Carrie trying to keep the tail from spanking her! Yep, she's squealing too!Much better! My turn! It took a little bit of convincing by Rob to stick my hand in it's mouth!2 thumbs up!Sturgeon number 2!This one was smaller..looks about 3 feet or so! It was hot! 33 C! So, how does one cool off? Hits the nearest watering hole! In our case, it was the muddy Fraser River!And what stayed dry with the head dip, got wet when using a bowl!My turn! Shorter hair and more of a chicken meant that the head dip wasn't as successful!
Put your legs into it!
I gave up and went straight to the bowl method!
It was a great day! Can't wait to do it again!

Weekend in Victoria

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit a friend from Edmonton who was in Victoria for the week. I went out for the weekend and had a blast, despite the weekend starting off like a bad 3 Stooges film! After I worked a night shift, I drove to the ferry terminal, and waited for the 9am ferry. As the cars started to go, I went to start my car and was met with a terrible sound..er er er..Ahh! My battery was dead! (Lesson learned: do not sit and listen to your radio with out your car running..being kind to the environment gets you punished!) So, I pound on my steering wheel a few times, try again, hear the same sound, start running to cars around me asking for cables and came up short. I had to sit there and direct cars around my car and think about what to do. So, I sprint to the ticket booth in the pouring rain(which was not close, by the way) and have them call someone to boost me. I get the jump, and make it on the ferry with 5 min. to spare. But, with driving so little of a distance to get on the ferry, I was confident I would run into the same problem. And you guessed it, it happened! So, I had to direct the cars around me again (how humiliating!) and wait to get jumped again! Finally, I had a running car, and was on my way to meet up Ximena at the hotel! I tell you, the weekend vastly improved from there!

We drove up to Duncan on the Sat. to meet my grandparents for lunch and Menna became an instant member of the family!

Menna also made a friend with our friendly neighbourhood violinist!
We had lunch at a cute little pub!

On the Malahat highway..we decided to be tourists and make a bad left turn into the pullout..Good thing Menna's blind..she missed out on seeing any imminent danger..hehe
Menna has an album in progress, and as she writes her songs, she gets inspiration for photos! And, as her personal photographer, I followed direction! Here, she played her newly purchased kazoo on the street and held out her hat. We were just pretending, of course!
I asked this nice woman if she would pretend to drop money in her hat for a photo.
Go figure, she put in a REAL toonie! hehe

Menna then joined this fellow for an impromptu concert.

I love this photo of Menna..so natural! She's always laughing!

Having fun with the "statue" ladyCherry blossoms, me, Menna, and our paper stick figure Deb! She couldn't really be there for the weekend, so we pretended she was!Leg grounds at night.

The fountain in front of the Leg. buildingBuds!

Shenanigan's are my specialty!

I do like April Fool's! It's the day I look forward to the most all year! I usually plan for it for about 6 months prior to the actual event, but this year I was a bit more spontaneous! And as a result, I was able to pranks at least 40 of my friends! hehe I'm SO excited! Here are a list of my pranks, along with the results:

• I emailed my entire dragon boat team and told them that I was quitting the team to move to Alberta for a great job opportunity. I started getting replies almost immediately! I almost felt guilty for doing it, since they were writing me such wonderful things about how much they would miss me, but I remembered how fun it was so the guilt passed. Until poor Alanna..she had received the message at 8:30am, and I was asleep until 3:30pm, so she spent all day texting, calling, emailing..she was so upset! When I broke the news to her, she was actually crying with relief! Okay..so maybe I felt a bit guilty after that..but not enough to stop me from laughing!
• I changed my relationship status on facebook to "in a relationship" and received at least 30 messages from friends wanting the "scoop"!
• At work, I left a fake poop on a plate in the cupboard, taped the fridge shut, left a note for the manager telling him that the stove caught fire the night before, and rigged the shower to spray the face of the staff who went to turn it on..hehe And I got a call at 7:45am by that staff member telling me that she was NOT impressed that she was now soaking wet! hahah Still not feeling too guilty..
• I called a friend to tell her that I had given my 2 weeks notice at work because I accepted a position elsewhere. She was SO excited for me! Until I told her it was in Ft.St. John..and then she got all quiet and kept saying "I'm TRYING to be happy for you" And then I told her that it was a joke and boy was she ticked! hahahaha (Oh, Karen..you are SO fun to tease!)

Yes, today is the day when lying is acceptable, and admitting to it is even funnier!

Like the good ol' days..

My brother in law came out for a couple of days for work, so we made the most of it and did some of the things we both love! Fish and Chips at Pajo's in Steveston, walking on the beach, people watching, checking out little shops, frozen yogurt, candy shops..it was a great way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon!

This little guy was one of the many that we kept fed..

One of the swans that we saw down on the pier..it was HUGE!
Stephen taking photos of one of the swans

The pair.

One of the shrimp boats set up to sell us fresh shell fish..mmm

Lots of kites out at Gary's Point! There were 2 really big ones! And this guy hopped up on his sled on wheels and rode the wind all the way across the field and back again!Down on the beachThis photo really catches my eye for some reason..
Smashing rocks!

My apologies..

I know it's been awhile since I've updated my blog, but I've been really busy lately! And when I'm not busy, I'm too busy being lazy to do it! It's been a few weeks of trying to get back into dragon boating, on top of the normal busy-ness. Today was our 2nd Sat. on the water and my first time paddling, since I was steering last week. And I have to admit, the muscles in my back are a teensy bit sore! As are my legs and abs! But, it's a good hurt. It's really great to be back out on the water. The quiet of the lake, combined with the methodical plunk and dripping of 20 paddles in unison, is therapeutic! And it's also very addictive! Today, it was really hard to concentrate on my lead paddlers, as overhead, flew at least a dozen bald eagles. 1 sat perched on the usual spot, watching us as we paddled past. It sure was nice to be out again, with the lake, the trees, the mountains, the eagles, the quiet and serenity. Almost makes me feel sorry for poor Karen..who's decided to join a team out at False Creek. She gets to deal with traffic jams, pay parking, red tide, polluted water, noise and having to avoid hitting the aqua-taxi! I think I got it pretty good! Paddles up, Karen!!! (But, uh, don't let the water drip on your skin..direct contact isn't healthy...) ;-)