Waterslide fun

Last week we met Gracie and Griffin & Aunt Nancy in Birch Bay for a day of sliding. Now, for the most part, we have had a lot of hot, sunny weather... but for some reason the day we planned to cross the border, it was cool and cloudy.

Despite the cold (Nancy & I felt the cold the most), the kids had a ball playing on the river rafts, sliding on the big slides and playing in the kiddie slide area. We only spent 5 minutes in the hot tub - it had the longest line all day!

We will definitely head there again... but perhaps on a bit warmer day!

Summer Camping trips

Us Caldwell's have become campers in the last few years. This summer we've done two trips:

the first pictures are from our time at Gallagher Lake, in Oliver, B.C. (the wine capital of Canada). We camped with 8 other families, and as you can see had a ton of fun!

Lucy and I sculpted a sand puppy (note the stick in it's mouth), while Mark & Josh swam across the lake (it was a small lake, about 20 minutes for them to swim).

Josh had 5 buddies close in age to play with, pictured here with adorable 2 year old Katie.
Lucy was delighted to invite the girls over to our campsite for crackers, playing in the tent and the van!

We also did a weekend of camping at Manning Park. We took Millie on a hike with us through Alpine Meadows, and finished our hike just as a huge thunderstorm came rolling through.

The Kids also enjoyed playing in Lightning Lake to cool off.

Guess who's celebrating their birthday...

On Saturday we had the much anticipated "Pink Poodle in Paris" birthday party for the newest 6 year old!


We greeted each guest with a "Bienvenue, ma cherie!" and adorned her with a feather boa. We read "Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy" and decorated our own jeweled crowns. (Even Uncle Stephen wore a crown!) After dining on mini croissants, cheese, fruit and vegetables, we sang happy birthday and enjoyed the "Pink Poodle Cupcakes"! Quelle belle celebration!

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Happy Canada Day!

We had the pleasure of spending an evening BBQ and viewing the fireworks with part of our dinner club. Lucy was excited to see one of her best buddies at the fireworks - so we let them sit together.

Our city's fireworks display is fantastic! We all bring our lawn chairs and blankets and sit at Castle Park to watch the display with a view of the Fraser River below. We can see the largest Canadian Flag across the river, at a car dealership (!) in Surrey. We always see many of my students, the kids' classmates and friends at the park.

This year we had a good laugh, as we walked back home, at the man who sang "O Canada" as loud as he could, at least a dozen times, much to the embarassment of his teenage daughter.

summer excitement - end of June

Lots to blog about...
As we are the family that cycles, we took our bikes down to Stanley Park, Vancouver's most popular attraction, and rode the seawall last Saturday. It was great fun. We stopped at Third Beach for ice cream and some beach combing... well Mark and the kids beachcombed. I sat quietly near the bikes and enjoyed the view and people-watched. I love days like this!

Last Tuesday we went to Joshua's first piano recital. My dad was very impressed: 13 piano students played 2 songs each, and it was all done within 35 minutes! Josh has never played so fast as he did on stage!

Earlier that day, the kids and I stopped at the library and saw Terry Fox's van out front! It was a piece of history, checking out the vehicle in which Terry and his friend Doug rode/slept/ate in on his Marathon of Hope. Our city library is named the Terry Fox library, has a statue of him out front, and a lot of memoribilia on display inside, include his prosthetic leg, lucky sock, shorts and famous adidas sneakers.

After our trip to the library, we stopped at the bakery. Sarah, a former basketball player of mine, was there, shaking with excitement as she told me that Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns, NBA MVP, and Victoria raised athlete) had just been in. "Cool!" I thought. The kids and I made our purchase, hopped in the van and left. As we drove down the street - there he was! And he was about to cross the street we were turning onto. I parked a short distance away, and the kids and I hopped out and asked for his autograph and photo. He was a very nice guy!
He is in town working on a documentary about Terry Fox, his hero, for ESPN. Very cool!