The Adventure Continues: Stein Valley

When we got to the Stein Valley Trail Head, we saw a large picnic table and stopped for lunch.

It was so big, that Joel's head barely came over the top of the table. We let Micah sit on the table. After lunch, we set off to go explore our surroundings.

A view just mere meters from where we ate lunch.

Beautiful sky. Beautiful trees.

We even got a photo of our family.

The land belongs to the First Nations community. They consider this area to be very sacred.

It is a place where they find food and shelter. It is on this land where special rituals take place and where some had lost their lives. They asked that we treated it with great honor and respect. We were honored to be in God's creation. It is places like these, that we feel relaxed and refreshed. We could breathe in pure mountain air. We could hear the sounds of nature. This trip was exactly what we needed.

Joel was playing with rocks (again) and happened to get some dust in his eyes. And on his face. Let's face it. It was everywhere!

Exploring the beauty of God's creation

The Stein Valley is a part of BC parks.

The raging river....and us!

Two of my boys in front of the sign

Our picnic area

Loading our dirt infused boys into the van.
Neither Dan nor I wanted to leave, but alas, we could not stay. So we drove off to continue our Circle Route.

Amanda and Dan go on an Adventure

Labour Day Weekend 2013
Dan and I decided to drive a Circle Route starting in Abbotsford, taking the Fraser Canyon through Boston Bar, Lytton, Lillooet, Pemberton, Whister and home again. Oh, and did I mention we did it in one day? With two kids? And we had FUN! We didn't have high hopes when we started. The goal of the day was to make it to Boston Bar so that Joel could see the tunnels. Its a slight obsession of his. But we made it much further!

Our first stop of the day was the Confluence. This is where the Thompson and Fraser River meet. We taught Joel all about the confluence and how the Fraser is the dirty river and the Thompson is the clean river. And what happens when they converge? They become one big dirty river. It is so cute to hear him say confluence and know what that means!

After a little education, the boys take a few moments to play with rocks. (a semi theme of their day).

A view from a top of the hill.

A few kilometers from the confluence, there is a little two car ferry that goes across the river. I saw it advertised online before we left, and knew that if we could find it, we HAD to go across.

We thought that we would just walk on, go across the ferry, and come back.

But the ferry drivers, waved us on with the van. So we went across the river.

We kind of felt a bit stupid driving across, turning around and going back. So we decided to drive down the road for a few minutes and then go back.

But before we did, we saw signs advertising the Stein Valley.

So we drove twenty minutes down the road to the Stein Valley trail head.

Blue Moose: An Adventure before the Adventure

Before our adventure, we stopped in Hope at the Blue Moose Coffee House. Katrina's dad owns the place and we got to meet up with him for a few minutes while we were there.

Our kids LOVE the Blue Moose. So much so, that Micah threw a fit until Joel shared the mango smoothie. Then, Joel threw a fit until Micah handed it back. That went on until the ENTIRE smoothie was gone. And then, they both threw a fit because it was empty. We couldn't win!

Stanley Park Bike Trip

About a month ago, we went to Stanley Park to bike the seawall.

It was an easy bike trip, slowed by many inexperienced bikers and random people who stop at the most inopportune times (blind corners!)

Action shot!

Mom came with us. And yes, I choose the BEST photo of you!

The boys did well and had a great time together in the bike trailer.

We stopped at the Laughing Statues (who were all wearing life jackets to promote drowning prevention).

Joel was PETRIFIED of them (big surprise). Micah crawled all over them and even climbed on them thanks to his crazy parents!

Fireman in training

Stopping for a snack in the parking lot

Dan pulling the trailer. What a man!

Sandbox

One of the big projects we wanted to accomplish once we moved into the McBarkman's was to deal with the sand. It was constantly all over the place. The kids kept dumping it all over the lawn and we needed something to remedy that. Enter the sandbox.

The before

We are not DIYers by any stretch of the imagination. We drew up some plans and went to the Home Depot. (oh, how I love them!) They cut up some wood for us and helped us tweak our plans. When we got home, we set up and went straight to work.

It didn't take long to realize that another trip to Home Depot was in order. Our dream of effortlessly screwing the pieces of wood together were dashed when I realized that the screws were not even remotely long enough (even though on paper it would work and Mr. Home Depot recommended the screws to us). Back to Home Depot for 6 inch nails that we (ahem...I) had to drive in by hand.

The boys tried to help. Dan was kicked off the job when he bent the first nail. (A blessing in disguise as we met our neighbours in an effort to borrow a crowbar). Plus, he had some hawthorn plants he wanted to dig out.

The littles didn't really have the brute strength to drive the nails into the wood. (It took A LOT of energy to complete).

But Joel loved handed me the screws so I could build the lid. Which involved a third trip to the hardware store.

By this time, my dream of building a sandbox in a couple hours was definitely over. I was tired of building this dang thing. (I drove in over 12, six inch long nails) all while trying to keep the littles at bay.

My weapon of choice! Screwdriver for making the lid. By far, the quickest part of my build.

That is until, I broke the drill bit.

But I built my first big project that actually worked out well. (We no longer talk about my wobbly side table that I built in high school.)

Completed project. A sandbox for the boys, complete with a bottom and a lid with handles for easy removal!
The boys LOVE their sandbox. Almost every day they are in there playing together, baptizing one another with sand, and dumping sand all over the yard. So much for the point of the box! Oh well, they love it in there. And one day, we'll have them trained to keep the sand within the four walls of the box.

I can't work like this

Joel was helping me unload the dishwasher one morning. He is standing on a stool putting away the cutlery. I had to put the cutlery tray up on the counter since Micah kept running away with knives. Unfortunately, Joel had a hard time reaching the cutlery tray with the drawer open. He says to me in exasperation, "I no WORK like this!!!" (yes, with completely accurate inflection).

......and they say TV is a bad influence. He picked up that line from a book.