April

Here's a few stray pictures that didn't make it into the Skaha blog post. The first is at Tickleberry's, a legendary ice cream shop in Okanagan Falls. The remainder are from Easter morning at Casey and Brenda's house. Elise got a set of blueprints that showed where each egg was hidden. The bunny has gone high tech!

This is the letter that Elise wrote to the Easter Bunny. I believe it says, "Dear Easter Bunny, I'm here visiting. I hope you will find me. PS - Please leave me a basket". Click on the image to enlarge it...

Last weekend was Elise's final day of ski school. She had a great time and ate LOTS of treats. Her instructor, Josh, gave her chocolate, there was a cake party in the afternoon and I bought her a treat at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Whistler for a good year of skiing. I carpooled with our friend Jen Wild and her son Erik - the kids had a great time together. We'll probably try to squeeze in a couple more days of skiing before the season ends. Whistler Blackcomb has extended closing to the end of May, so there's over a month left.

Finally, say hello to our new (used) baby. It's a 2006 Toyota Tacoma access cab 4X4. We've been looking for a truck for a couple of months and finally found a used one at the local Toyota dealer. I researched makes and models and this one bubbled to the top in terms of reliability, performance and safety. I'm working on a hiking guide to the Squamish corridor and this vehicle will get us where we need to go. It should be a good summer of new hiking and camping adventures!

Spring Break

After toying with the idea of flying to West Virginia for Spring Break, we settled on Penticton (Skaha) when some friends offered us a house exchange. Free, comfortable accommodation was hard to turn down, and the five-hour drive seemed much more palatable than a full day of flying. March is an early time to go climbing in the BC interior, but we figured we'd survive if we could come home to a warm house each evening. The first week's weather tested our resolve, but the second week was gloriously sunny - the cold days were quickly forgotten.

 

We enjoyed a variety of activities and social outings with friends. We explored the local restaurants and made use of the incredible Penticton aquatic centre. Elise did quite a bit of climbing on this trip, which is a real benefit to the area. There are plenty of moderate routes so everyone can all find a challenge to suit their personal goals.

We enjoyed spending time with our friends Casey and Brenda, and Elise had great fun walking their dog, Chamelle. Casey and Brenda generously offered us a free ticket to Apex Alpine, so we had a great ski day for a very reasonable price. Without a doubt, the highlight was watching the "slush cup", a local competition that involved skiers and boarders skimming across a pond of ice water. We witnessed some spectacular crashes!

I utilized the storm days to do some research for a potential future guidebook, but when the sun came out we climbed! Elise made it up a 5.10- on the Fortress with only a little help from the rope and climbed a 5.6 on the lead, her first in this style at Skaha. We went out to dinner to celebrate and she ordered Calamari, her favourite restaurant treat.

On our final weekend, we toured the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory. The local guide allowed Elise to look through his telescope at the sun and we spotted a number of solar flares. Afterward, we went for a great hike in the hills. It was very relaxing and scenic.

The trip ended with some glorious weather over the busy Easter holiday. We climbed, hung out with friends and spotted bighorn sheep. The only downside to the warm weather was it brought out the wood ticks. We all found them crawling on our clothes but I was the only one who got one stuck to me. Luckily, we removed it without much of a problem.

We drove home without incident and are now embedded in Squamish until school lets out for the summer. We have some interesting ideas for a summer trip, but aren't making any commitments at this point. Elise has only a single ski lesson left - it feels like spring is on the way!

Elise's Wonders of the Universe

Last night we spent some time watching an episode of Wonders of the Universe, a compelling BBC series we've enjoyed before. Most of it is over Elise's head, but we do our best to explain it to her and she seems to pick up bits and pieces. After the episode ended she immediately wanted to draw a picture, but I said, "shower first, drawing later". Once the shower was finished, she immediately rushed into the living room naked, wet and with a towel slung over one shoulder so she could get to work. This is the finished product, but please click on the image to see it in full size so you can appreciate the fine detail. (Once in full size mode simply click outside the image to return to the blog).

Things to note:

-We had absolutely nothing to do with any of this. No suggestions, no input, no help, no ideas.

-She signed her name last and didn't leave room for "Marie", her middle name. She started to print it out but ran out of room. She commented that she was going to leave it out, but I encouraged her to make it work so she employed a hyphen, small as it may be.

-The objects she's drawn and labelled (all on her own) from top to bottom are: A Red Dwarf, A Black Hole, Milky Way, Sun, Earth, Moon, The Death of a Star and The First Star That Was Born.

-The face she's made on the sun has been done with solar flares (storms), same as the curls she's drawn around the outside of the sun.

-The face she's made on the moon has been done with moon craters. She thinks the moon looks a tad angry.

-She's drawn the Hawaiian Islands on Earth.

-She's used stars to make the face on the Milky Way.

How many seven-year-olds know what a red dwarf is or would think to draw "the death of a star"? Not many, I think.

Birthday Week

Our hectic birthday week has come and gone, and now that the dust has settled I've had time to sort through some pictures. Things got off to a start with my 44th birthday on Groundhog Day. We drove up to Whistler early in the morning for a day of skiing and while Elise was in ski school Pam and I joined forces with a few good friends from Squamish and toured out to Oboe on Whistler's Musical Bumps. The weather was fantastic and we enjoyed warm winter sun, birthday cake on the summit and decent powder conditions. Later, we enjoyed a nice evening dinner with neighbourhood friends and all came home tired from a big day.

Next was Elise's much-anticipated party. Our week was so full of afternoon and evening commitments that we had no choice but to hold the party on Monday after school. It was a tad premature, but the kids certainly didn't mind and all went well. Pam organized a great series of crafty activities (mask decorating, necklace making) before we had cake and opened presents. Elise had a wonderful time.

A movie of the birthday cake...

Thursday was Elise's real birthday and she was just as excited as on Monday. We heard her lying in the dark in her bedroom singing "Happy Birthday to Me" at 6:45 am before getting up and rushing out to open her presents, bleary-eyed from the night's sleep. This was followed with her favourite breakfast, French toast, and then a fun day at school with her friends. She went to art lessons after school and then we met Josie and her family at White Spot for a birthday dinner. It was another special day - I can' believe she's seven already!!!

 

Friday, the day after Elise's birthday, was a professional development day so Pam had to work but Elise had the day off school. After a slow morning, she and I drove up to Whistler for a nice half day of skiing in the sun. I enjoyed watching her practice her new ski-school techniques before she beat me fair and square at Connect 4 in the ski lodge. It was a nice way to wind down her special week.

This movies shows Elise skiing part of the upper Peak to Creek ski run on Whistler Mountain. Her skiing has come a long way from this time last year.