Camping at Midge Creek...

We met our friends from Rossland, and we all headed over to Midge Creek to camp for the long weekend.
The wind continued to rise as the day went along, the decision to have take the boat home for the night was made. It turns out that was a great idea, as it was so windy that night we probably would have been out all night trying to keep the boat of the rocks.
The girls slept through the wind in the tent, but I spent quite a while outside holding it up as the wind was pushing the walls inwards so much they were touching the floor of the tent.
The next morning the decision was to pack up camp and just spend the day at the beach.
Scott came back with the boat once the wind calmed down and it was a beautiful afternoon. We didn't want to chance an other night in the wind.
Divana, Issac and their daughters headed further up the lake to visit with their other friends and we headed home. A bit of a bust for camping but great to spend the time with our friends.

3 girls on the SUP

Brynn's Cherry Juice "Beard"

Relaxing on the beach

Hard to tell but there are some rather large waves rolling in this morning!

Elyse and Mika - Good Friends now!

Front Porch

When we bought our home, we knew there was a problem with one of the front porch supports.

I had to move a few rose bushes from in front of the porch, just so we could even get a good look at the problem.

Once exposed, we hired a contractor to come in and fix it up for us.

A couple of the roses that need to go!

Roses are gone, now to get rid of the plastic lattice

Ahhh.... look at that! A quick fix by the previous owner in hopes the support didn't fall over completely

The sono-tube foundation wasn't put low enough in the ground and it has fallen over

Scott and I have placed a new support, our quick fix until we can hire someone to come and put new footings

Both old sono-tube footings are gone, new ones on their way in

Our contractor found an old foundation in this area, which is why the sono-tubes couldn't be placed low enough in the ground the first time. Our contractor had his work cut out for himself. But success, we have new footings!

Waiting for the concrete to cure

A now our front porch won't fall down!

We have discovered that the front porch stairs are in need of replacement. The stringers are built right into the concrete step at the base and are rotting, and they are attached at the top, with vertical pieces of plywood that is now starting to fall apart. The concrete pathway from the driveway to the steps has also sunk down, and we believe it is hollow underneath it. At the edge we can push a stick underneath it and when you walk on it, it sounds hollow.
This fall we will look at getting a new concrete pathway and then re-do the stairs and then re-do the surround at the base of the porch. I hope not to put back the plastic white lattice... stay tuned to see what we end up doing.

Beach Fun

We were very lucky that we chose not to sell our boat while in Edmonton.

We have been enjoying Kootenay Lake to its fullest so far this summer.

The girls love being out on the water and at the beach.

This weekend we spent our days at Midge Creek Provincial Park.

So glad to be back at Kootenay Lake - Miles and Miles of no one!

Snacking on Creston Cherries!

Elyse loves that she can use the SUP Board all by herself!

Fence and Gate: Going... Going... Gone!

We have a very interesting fence on the one side of our property, with a crazy gate at the front.

After double checking with our neighbor, down it came!

Now we can park our boat beside the house.

The fence between us an the neighbor's, the gate already gone from in the front (its leaning up against the garage)

The fence is gone (our neighbor's house is built almost on the property line; I think it is closer than our neighbors in Edmonton)

The Crazy Gate, it was put together with a million different pieces of metal and wood.

The boat fits perfectly in beside the garage

A Visit from Uncle John and Auntie Nur

My Uncle John and Auntie Nur got to be our first official visitors to stay with us at our new home.

They were on their way through and stopped for the night.

Happy Hour on the back Patio!

Brynn's Crash - 3 Stitches and 3 steri-strips later...

Friday afternoon, Brynn missed a step coming down the stairs to the basement (good thing she only had 2 more steps to the bottom of the stairs). She caught her arm on either the bracket that holds the handrail on the wall or the hinge on the door at the bottom of the stairs. A trip to the ER, a request for Scott to come home early and pick Elyse up from the hospital on his way home and Brynn and I were home after just a few hours. Now to cancel her swim lessons and keep the wound dry while out on the boat and at the beach...

The next morning, acting like nothing even happened.

Update - July 21 Almost a week since she fell and time to change the bandage

Update - July 25 The stitches are out and just a couple steri-strips to hold things together now.

Update - July 31 Healing nicely - it's gonna be a good scar!

Update - November 21 All healed up but still a good scar!

Yard Work!

Elyse keeps calling our backyard "Our Little Farm"

Now that we have moved in I have counted what we have:

12 Rose Bushes

1 Plum Tree

1 Peach Tree

1 Apple Tree

1 Mysterious Bush/Tree

1 Extra Large Red Currant Bush

Raspberries

18 Tomato Plants, plus Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Beets, Lettuce, Radishes and a million Grapes!!

Now to harvest all the deliciousness from our garden!

Our first crop of raspberries

I've had to move a few rose bushes from the front yard, they are now in front of the grapes at the back of the garden.

Moving In

Here comes all our stuff!

Our realtor left the girls each a new Lalaloopsy doll.
They loved having a new toy to play with before their things arrived

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes Everywhere!

Peek a boo!

The view from our kitchen sink

Breakfast on our back patio