2025 (or at least part of it)

Well, it's for the annual-ish rundown of the goings-on chez nous. Less for you, the lone reader; more for me, to serve as a memory bank. But whatever the motivation, here we are again.

It's nice and warm on the deck in April.

Princess. Or something.

Library visit.

Walking the neighbourhood. Lots of good paths.

Our resident artist, with one of her less impressive works.

Screen time.

Winter was probably pretty long. It's kind of a long time ago, so whatever bitter memories one might have sort of fade away.

New trampoline pretty much fills up the yard.

When Easter came around, we headed to Canmore to meet up with Carrie's parents who came from the other direction. It was a four-hour drive for us, a little longer for them (from Vernon).

Canmore

Canmore is a happening little town even in April. Banff is not too far away, and it's an even busier town. We walked the streets of both. It was a good reminder to steer clear of Banff for most of the year.

We did a drive and a hike out of town too and were rewarded with some views.

Nice obstructed view

A picturesque lake

Local wildlife sharing the road

Then May rolled around and it was suddenly time for camping! We dusted off the trailer and drove four hours for a long weekend with a bunch of other families... including Rich & Fen; now that I live close to my brother I'm pretty sure I'm obligated to spend some around him.

Northern lights

Charlotte loves cornhole!

People.

The ol' Suburban was never the nimblest sports car on the road, but this particular tow trip was pretty bad. I had absolutely no power, so we took a long time and burned a lot of gas. This would lead to some testing and troubleshooting throughout the summer. On the bright side, I'd upgraded my transmission cooler so now I get temps of 75 degrees (Celsius) instead of 110 when I'm towing.

My troubleshooting led me to believe my catalytic converters were clogged, so I took a chance and replaced them. Well, I suddenly have a bit of power again! The beast can go from 0-60mph in 12 seconds instead of 20!

Also in May, Lily's grade 7 class had a several-day trip to Jarvis Lake, a few hours away. This school camping trip has been a thing for many decades, so that people who went in the early years now get to go as chaperones with their own grade 7 kids. Carrie went as a chaperone, and they had a grand time. On the drive home one of her passengers had a persistent nose bleed so they spend some unplanned time in a small-town hospital. The Jarvis trip is definitely a memorable event for the kids.

Salvaged an old chair from the wilderness.

The older girls have been in gymnastics most of time.

Once summer came we also put them in swimming lessons and bike lessons. Lily wasn't thrilled about the latter, but she survived (mainly because she got one-on-one training rather than being with a pile of eight-year-olds). Nora thoroughly enjoyed herself, despite some falls and generally getting beat up.

Happy cyclist...

...despite the bruises (from the pedals).

This kid loves biking!

The older girls spend much of their time chatting about, playing, and dressing up as characters from their Zelda video game. It's great to see them bond over something.

Toward the end of July, we headed to BC for vacation. We first drove to a town in BC called Clearwater and spent the weekend there. Clearwater is the access point to Wells Gray Provincial Park (which I'd never heard of). There's not much to the town, but the park is big and has lots of waterfalls to check out.

Mt Robson was on the way.

Some meat for dinner.

Many treks to waterfalls. Mostly while wearing Crocs.

Carrie and Nora took the very wet path going behind Moul Falls.

Helmcken Falls

Spahats Falls

After a couple of days there, we proceeded to Vernon. As always, Carrie's siblings made the trek from the Fraser Valley. Between that, boating, beach time, a kid museum and the kangaroo zoo, the kids had plenty to keep them busy.

Juice on the beach!

Friendly porcupine (not in the wild).

Friendly kangaroos too.

Cherry season!

Museum. And Charlotte inspecting a rock collection.

We drove home in one day, very shortly after which Lily was off to teen camp. The kids seemed to have a great time here as well.

Stopped by Emerald Lake on the way home

Emerald Lake

We drive past the Edmonton Corn Maze often enough, and there weren't any murders there this year so I took the kids one fine afternoon. It wasn't very busy, and there were plenty of games and potato guns to keep them happy. Oh, and a pretty good maze too; the kids had a surprisingly good time doing it.

For the Labour Day long weekend, we headed to the Miette campground near Jasper for some camping. Randomly, a family pulled into the site beside us, and Lily said "hey, those are kids from our school!" So we met some new friends and the girls got to hang out with familiar faces.

We did visit the Miette hot springs once. We also drove to Jasper a couple of times. The effects of last year's forest fire were very much evident, but it was good to see so much of the town up and running despite the fire.

Jasper

Black forest

We went to Lake Annette, a local lake near town, to check it out. Parking there was insanity. Once we managed to snag a parking spot we walked around the lake and then settled down on the beach for a picnic. At one point Carrie was at the water with the two younger kids and Lily was in the woods making scary movies with my phone. I noticed people stopping and looking in my direction. I wondered what made me particularly watchable this fine day when Carrie called out to look behind me. And there stood a very nice elk, waiting to be photographed. I grabbed Carrie's phone to take a couple of shots, then sidled past the elk to find Lily in the forest beyond him, so her video wouldn't include being surprised and trampled by the beast.

Carrie's parents just rolled into town. Tomorrow Carrie and I take off for an adventure, and her parents bravely agreed to keep the kids alive for two weeks. Good luck!