Raspberries for my birthday

I celebrated another year this weekend. I can't actually even remember how old I am....my brain is too hot to do the math.
So, all I wanted to do was to pick raspberries this year and of course I wanted to head to The Reef for dinner.
We went to Emma Lea's Farm and I will definitely be heading back next year. The raspberries were absolutely massive and so yummy. At one point in our hunt for the good stuff I felt as if I had just jumped into a giant raspberry jam jar. The smell was overpowering, not that I was complaining. Raspberries are my favourite berry closely followed by blueberries. The kids also had a great time. We have bushes in our backyard so even my little one knows which one are ready. My husband and I worked the higher branches while the girls uncovered the lower treasures. These raspberries were so big and easy to grab. I meant to ask the variety because I would love to plant them.
I am quite in love with Westham Island. We have very seasonal destinations there, although not a summer one. Now we will visit more often. In the fall we go to the Herb Farm for our pumpkin, and in spring and winter we go to watch the birds at the Sanctuary.

Lantern Festival

I look forward to the lantern festival all year. It is one of a few opportunities to indulge the inner faerie and get all dressed up with my girls.
This year we were at a friend's about two blocks away and simply waited and waited for the storm to break. If we had been prepared for the rain we could have gone down despite the rain, but not with little ones in only their faerie gear.
Desperately watching the rain and waiting for it to stop.

Our world class host.

A ship waiting to sail into the dark night.

My little faerie kitty.

We finally ventured out only to return shortly afterwards completely soaked. Eldest daughter and my husband went around the lake a little bit as she was just so excited to finally be outside. We will just have to be more prepared next year for all scenarios.

A family weekend south of the border.

My husband is an aficionado of beer. ( He is quite the brewmaster himself) He prefers craft beers over anything else and after we visited the Washington Beer Festival for father's day he learned of the Boundary Bay Brewing Co. located just over the border in Bellingham. Now we have become quite fond of Bellingham in the last few years as their old town is very cool and full of unique stores, organic restaurants and great markets in both summer and winter. Now we have a new destination.

Waiting for lunch to arrive. My kids walk into any restaurant and act like they own the joint. I think we take them out to eat too much.

The husband is finally captured on the blog. I think this look is because my lunch time beverage is starting to affect me.

The Boundary Bay Brewing Co. had a fantastic menu with healthy options for the all us which I find hard sometimes when looking for healthy kid choices. I had a great tofu sandwich on beer bread and hmmm I can't actually remember what anyone else had. The above beverage is probably why I can't remember what anyone else had. My husband has fully educated me on beer and I think I have quite refined taste when it comes to enjoying the stuff. I had an Imperial Oatmeal Stout and I didn't realise it would pack quite the punch. It was very yummy and it was a good thing I was not driving.

We saw the Decemberists that night in Marymoor Park, but alas, I did not bring my camera although I could have which made me very sad. The concert was exceedingly cool.

Ballard was our next destination and again we wandered the old part of town which is always so much more vibrant than the newer areas...in my opinion.

This was a very cool parking lot of all places and I could have easily set up shop here. A skylight let in the most amazing light and the whole space was simply full of character.

The oldest made me take a picture of the horse. She is actually directing quite a few images lately. I have given her my old holga so she can start snapping away. I had a fisher price digital for her, but I found it unreliable. I will soon post her images as I love her outlook.

A very hot dog on a very hot day.

Night out on the Drive

I do not get out very much and to combine photography with a night of entertainment is rare and welcomed. Tonight I watched Simmer, a band comprised of Richard Brown on drums, Matt Reid on guitar and Sharon Minemoto on keyboard. They played at Falconetti's on the Drive. The restaurant is very narrow and the band was playing at the back almost completely darkened and it was also very hot, but I did manage to capture a few pics.

I will be working on promotional band pictures with Simmer in the very near future so it was finally great to meet the band and hear them up close. All the members of the band come from very diverse backgrounds and I believe this adds to the eclectic jazz sounds that they create.
I recommend checking them out. Richard Brown has a website, but as the band is new they do not yet have their own. To find out more info on Richard check out his myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/rbdrums

Salmon bbq and potlatch of generosity.

I spent the most lovely evening photographing a beautiful First Nations event. The evening was perfect and so full of wonder. I was made to feel so at home and chatted with many of the guests. I hung out with Ray a lot of the evening as he manned the salmon prep and helped with the bbq. Let me just say that the salmon absolutely melted in my mouth. He was constantly playing with the wasps as he cut each salmon. He was only stung twice.

This is Hattie from Hazelton. I quite enjoyed chatting with her. She came all the way down on her own. She looks after two little girls back home. I told her that she must be pretty amazing to have the stamina. She laughed and agreed that yes, the girls did have a lot of excess energy.

The night was steeped in tradition and I felt honoured to be a witness.

The bannock was unbelievable and I forced myself to only have two pieces.

Love in your own backyard.

I am organizing a green wedding fair in January 2010 at the Heritage Hall. It is quite the endeavor I am undertaking, but I am passionate about green choices and about supporting local artisans and business owners. I just confirmed the domain name and now I must get to work on the website. I am placing an article in the Green Zebra Guide, http://www.greenzebraguide.ca/, that will come out in September.

I have very grand plans for this wedding fair and I will just state for the record that this is not a high-end event. This will be about supporting community and the environment. It will be filled with homemade, handmade, and creative artists who can help bring more meaning to weddings. It will also showcase environmental business as well as associations. I am so excited!!!

I will update with any major changes, but this is the first post about this event and it feels great to have something to show for it. The above logo is a beautiful piece of artwork designed by April Lacheur who I met at a craft fair in the fall. To see more of her work check out her website at: http://www.yapespaints.com/.

Who is laughing now?

I have connected with so many parents after chatting about the incident with my youngest yesterday. My story pales in comparison to what experiences other parents have gone through. I have actually found the whole situation somewhat amusing as every parent really does have a story. I felt today as if I was a witness to some kind of contest as parent after parent relived the most horrific and horrendous events involving their children and they always ended with humour in their eyes. Yes, they can laugh about it now. I am not there yet.

I felt reassured that yes, crazy things can happen with our kids and they do survive. New health and safety procedures are in place and we shall move forward.

My child strolled into busy traffic this morning just as a exceedingly large semi-trailer was driving past. I was 5 feet away and a little clueless as I was handing off the children to grandma who is watching them today. A voice called out in warning and I ran to the other side of the car and grabbed my little darling.
She was clueless as well. She had no idea of the danger she was in. Luckily the trailer was just coming from a red light and had not picked up speed.
I keep going over all the little things that didn't happen.
I didn't want the kids to see how I was barely keeping it together. I put them in grandma's car and then had to hide out in mine while I lost it. This was such a close call that I need to believe that some kind of spirit/energy force is out there looking out for me because how did this not end in disaster???

I am a mother first above all in this busy life and I let the craziness of the morning distract me from my baby. This is a wake up call for me to be more present in the lives of my children. It is not easy to balance being a business owner with ensuring that my husband and my children receive the attention from me they need.
My stomach is still turning and my eyes still raw from reliving the morning's event.

Sweet baby love

I spent this past weekend in Victoria with a very old friend. The best part of the trip was simply watching our children interact. It makes me sad that we do not have the same connection in Vancouver with other kids.
Our two littlest ones were joined at the hip. While the big kids were off galavanting they wandered the house and yard, always with great purpose, and always together. It is hard being away from my friend and it is hard for my kids too. The oldest sobbed as we headed home. We do have lots more visits planned for the summer.
I have way too many photos from our adventures last week so perhaps I can post a couple a day until I get it out of my system.