in the yard, the great green yard

Jake said to Great-grandma Vera, "come outside I have to show you something" but that was a trick.  Once he got her out there, that quickly changed to "Okay, let's play soccer".  And she did.  At eighty-four and legally blind, to Jake's delight, they passed the ball around.

Great grandparents are the greatest. 

Then they walked though the garden together.  The one that used to belong to her.  And Jake proudly showed off the cucumber, tomatoes, squash and the 'soup' he was making in the sandbox.  

  

south

We headed south, across the line into the US for a little grocery shopping in Oroville, Washington.  It's about thirty minutes from my parents house and we were lucky not to have much of a line-up at the border.
  

It was exactly as the sign here says: Oroville; quick stop.

With a population of 1,678 (according to Wikipedia) there isn't a lot of shopping.  There is basically one store - Prince's Foods - and here's what we brought back...  

Zoi greek yogurt in honey and vanilla - yum;  Tillamook pepper jack cheese - my favourtie;  Frosted animal cookies - a big hit!;  Amish Country hand rolled butter - haven't tried this yet but since moving home from Europe I've been on a butter quest and found there is no variety of butter to be found here in Canada;  and Bud Lime-a-rita - hard to find here.

A success.  And a nice little road trip with my dad.

covert farms

While we're nestled in this beautiful Okanagan valley, bursting with lush orchards, the thing to do is go picking.  We went to Covert Organic Farm and pick we did.  We started with blackberries, then moved onto blueberries, then a few strawberries and finished off with some peaches.  Yum and yum. 

We - Jake, Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Egon and myself - filled our big silver pails and taste-tasted as we went.  Plink, plink, plink... into the pail.

Jake was most excited about picking peaches.  He ran through row upon row of peach trees, climbed rickety orchard ladders and took a juicy bite of a perfect peach.  It made for a nice afternoon and we thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of our labour when we returned home.  

And we happily shared with Avery when she woke from her nap and Aunt Kaity who kindly babysat.  Aves quickly devoured a bowl of blackberries and blueberries and had a little purple face to show for it.      

oliver

We're in Oliver, the kids and I, while poor Billy is home working away and studying.  He's catching up a little before his big salmon fishing trip this weekend and we're spending our afternoons in the pool with the grandparents and Kaity, picking fresh fruit and taking advantage of the big yard.   

The funny thing about being at my parents is they don't have wifi.  It's like we've gone back in time here ;) but it has also been a nice vacation from my iphone, upon which I do practically everything.  

bird hike

Last weekend we took a little stroll through the Sibell Maude-Roxby Bird Sanctuary.  It's right on the edge of the lake but it's a completely different world in there.  Lush and nestled under a canopy of trees.  A little raised footpath/bridge winds through the trees and bulrushes and over marshland.

  

It was completely lovely, except... 

we didn't end up seeing a single bird.  Jake kept saying "where's the wildlife guys?"  Ha!  But despite the lack of birds, it made for a nice little nature hike and a great family morning.

how to keep cool

Here is a glimpse into our lives these past few weeks.  Particularly, how we've been keeping cool in all of this sweltering (31, 32, 33+ degree) weather...

1) The Splash Pad 

The earlier the better.  We like to walk down around 9:00 ish and meet friends for morning snacks and some splashing.  Avery likes to camp out by the snacks while Jake cruises around the perimeter and occasionally dashes through the middle.  When he's in a particularly brave (or crazy) mood, he'll run through the green circle, to much clapping and cheering. 

  

 

2) The Pool

Snacks, splashing and singing "Humpty Dumpty" about a hundred times.  We always have so much fun with Aunty Brenda and have watched Jake transform into a giggling-water-loving-maniac-kid.

3) The Beach

Perfect for morning sand castle building, skipping stones and cooling off our toes.  But I have to admit... none of us have even gone in past our knees yet.  I think we've been a little too spoiled with the pool (a fact you won't catch us complaining about.  Ever).  But it couldn't be more beautiful and relaxing so it is definitely on our to-do-more list before the summer is done.