another fam trip or two

So once again, the Selkirk / Gatehouse family braves the wilds of travel writer fam trips and goes on two trips to the Okanogan. First trip was by plane; 2nd by RV. I prefer flying actually
- Evan

Maia at the Lavender Farm

Just another wee tiny snack to tide us over until the main lunch course arrives. This was a surprise as we thought the snack was lunch....

At Quail's Gate Winery, waiting (again darn it) for the appetizers to arrive

Cycling over the wooden trestle bridges of the Kettle Valley Railroad. If you don't know what the KVR is, look it up. It's a cool story. http://www.kettlevalleyrailway.ca/

World's Largest Dandelion (tm)

At another desert winery. Do you think they were expecting us?

This was fresh wine in the barrels. It smelled sooo good

Maia riding her unicycle

Maia and her unicycle

Maia's 7th Birthday!

Maia had a great 7th birthday at her grandparents pool. Several of her friends and their families joined us for fun in the sun and a bbq - it was a lovely, relaxing day. Maia even got her longed for unicycle!

Maia's First Day of Grade Two

The grade two class is housed in the old one-room school house - which seems oddly appropriate for Maia...

Summer Fun

Bonbon the kitten looks lovely in mauve...

Maia continues to channel Laura Ingalls.

Hiking the Howe Sound Crest Trail

Hanging out with friends

Cody and Bilbo the day before Bilbo was adopted.

Cousins in Victoria

Maia Rhiannon and I visited the Empress for tea and a wonderful stay.

The girls had a great time exploring Victoria together!

We even visted Ross Bay cemetery and and searched for Charlie #1 (Maia's great, great, great, great grandpa) He's buried toe to toe with Emily Carr, so we said hi to her, too.

Sailing with the cousins

Sailing Camp

Maia went to her first sailing camp this summer. Happily she loved it and has asked to go for another week. One neat thing with the camp is she is sailing the same sort of boat and is in the same age group that I first taught when I was in high school. The other cool thing is the owner of her school is Ross McDonald - a Canadian Olympic sailor and one of my first crushes. I even had his poster in my locker:)

While Maia is having fun sailing she isn't showing signs of being a prodigy. Apparently the boats just steer themselves into each other on occasion and at one point she said the leaders wanted them to play, "follow the leader, in BOATS! How ridiculous is that?" she asked, "It's not like a boat knows where its going." She was the one on the tiller btw:)

Shane, Maia and Spencer performing

A day at the races

Cirkids was invited to the Track as part of their community days - the idea is to introduce kids to gambling young I guess:) Maia ended up betting on a horse called Light Up The Lane - she won $5...

Cheryl, Ramsay and Shane came to meet the kittens and we discovered Belle should be Beau and Beau should be Belle...

How they grow...

Blue-bell - fluffy and shy

Bijou - adventurous clown

Bonita - sweet and cute

Cody and Bilbo - so alike.

The kittens are five weeks old now and running around everywhere. They are cheery little creatures and Mama cat is as sweet as they come...

Saying Goodbye to Sparks

Maia and her friends crossed over the Rainbow to Brownies last week.

The Childrun at BC's children's Hospital

Maia and her friend Coral