Hot days at the lake and getting ready for our next adventure. August 18 - 25

Another hot day at 34C on Thursday.  There's a bit of a breeze though, so after jumping in and out of the lake several times I'm able to stay cool. Ray went to an appointment in Nanaimo and spent a good part of the day up there shopping at Costco and other stores to get some clothes for our winter trip. By the time we get to the USA, they will only have winter stuff in the stores not summer things. :) Ray returned by 2:45 pm. He jumped in the water too as he's quite warm.

Friday, a bunch of thunder showers with lightning in the morning. Hot and humid outside so we didn't go out except for lunch to Jake's. By 4 pm it cooled enough to sit on the deck with the fan going. Crazy weather day.

Saturday we finally got out for an e-bike ride. We planned a few weeks ago, but due to one thing or another did not manage to get out. Today's the day to explore the Holt Creek Trestle on the Trans Canada Trail. Our starting point is at the Glenora Trailhead. Turned out to be only 1/2  kilometer from the Trestle, so we crossed over and kept going in one direction and then turned around and went some distance in the other. A total of 9 km. 

There's a nice washroom, picnic tables and a great kids playground here. A very well-kept park.

The Holt Creek Trestle was was a railway bridge between 1922 and 1991 but it got a new life shortly thereafter as a pedestrian bridge along the Trans Canada Trail linking Shawnigan Lake to Lake Cowichan.

More than 25 years into its second life, the wear is starting to show and as such crews with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure are closing it down in 2017 for inspection and repairs.

Located near Glenora Trails Head Park, the trestle is one of the highlights of the trail system linking Cowichan River Provincial Park, the central portion of the Cowichan Valley Trail, the Cowichan River Footpath and Glenora Riverside Park.

 A long way down to the creek.

We finished shortly after noon. Good thing, as the parking lot is being filled with lots of other people unloading their bikes. With sore butts because we had not ridden for awhile, we decided to stop at Alderlea Farm and Cafe for a wood fired pizza, yum. A lovely little gem out in the country. They have seating outside on their patio as well as inside for those cloudy cool days.

The wood fired pizza shed.

Our delicious Margarita Pizza.

Sunday we were invited to dinner at Pat and Darryl's with the neighbours. Darryl and Pat cooked up a spread of salmon and ling cod. Delicious. A great evening visiting with everyone, our last get together this summer.

June, Ray, Pat, Mike, Debra and Roy (L to R) + Daryl's feet

(R to L)
Pat's daughter-in-law, Reagan and her husband James with her son-in-law Kris, James, Ron

Mike and Debra

Daryl, Roy and June

June

Donna and I

Meagon

Roy and Ron

A fabulous spread.

The great fisherman and cook Daryl :)

Monday is a muggy day. Ray puttered with some stuff for the Motorhome and I emptied out the hot tub in preparation for the winter, blowing out all the water lines etc. That took several hours, so I'm happy it is another thing off my list for our winter trip.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday pretty much same things, getting ready for our fall trip and then sitting down at the dock for the afternoons. We are having another mini heat wave with temperatures mid 30's for several days.

Kristi, Jason and Amelia come to the lake. Aug 13 - 17

Kristi, Jason and Amelia arrived at around 10:30, with Zeus in tow, for the weekend to begin. Amelia a little crabby since she fell asleep only for 1/2 an hour in the car. Not the warmest day, but we managed to spend a little time on the sundeck. She loves to smell all my flowers. Poor Kristi packed her around mostly as when she is tired all she wants is mommy.

At Roy and June's next door.

Kristi and I took Amelia to the library to pick out some books, but she's more interested in the place itself and the red chairs. :) I did pick out some books for her, but she is really not interested in the new ones, just the old ones at the house already (which Ray must read to her twice a day). We will take her there every time she stays overnight and she will be more used to it.

As requested, I barbecued a nice prime rib and made Yorkshire puddings for dinner. Delicious. Enough for leftover for tomorrow night which ended up being beef dip and french fries (for Miss Amelia, her favourite).

Sunday morning, a spectacular day. Once everyone ate breakfast, blueberry pancakes, it's time to take Amelia to our new kiddies park at the "Duck Pond". What an awesome place for the "littles". It just opened yesterday. Lots of kids enjoying it, especially Amelia. It's nice to get out before it got too hot today.

Good catch Grandpa!

Then it's off to Tim Horton's for coffee and donuts. This is Amelia's first donut.

Boston Cream, the cake part got destroyed trying to eat all the cream part!

Back home, it's time for Amelia's lunch and then she went down for her nap. Later in the afternoon it's time for a boat ride and then a little swimming in the lake. Kristi and Jason are trying to get her used to wearing the life jacket. She is much more comfortable this time in the boat compared to 2 weeks ago and she loves the splashing .

Back at home time for the water since her life jacket on so no fighting. lol

After about 15 minutes she had enough of that. lol We moved up to the lawn and got out a tub for her instead. A very happy baby now in the shade.

A very busy day for Miss Amelia. She was out like a light at 7:30pm.

Monday morning Kristi and Jason were out of the house by 7:45 am to start their two day romantic holiday without baby. Ray and I were babysitting.

Another jaunt to the park is in order. As soon as we asked her if she wanted to go to the park she went to the front door sitting down waiting for her shoes to be put on lol She certainly kept us busy. There were also 3 pre-school groups there this morning so very busy.

We only used the small slide as the tall one we need a spotter in the middle.

Sharing a swing with a new friend.

She loves the steering wheel in the train.

Back home it's time for lunch. Amelia is non-stop eating since arriving. She stands at the pantry door and squawks until we come and then signs "cookie" as she knows that's where Grandpa's arrowroot cookies are. lol

Back onto the deck to play until nap time.

After a bit, she went inside and brought out a book for Grandpa to read to her. I'm not allowed. lol

Shortly after this, she climbed into my lap and cuddled. I asked her if it was time for her nap and off she went to the stairs to go to bed. Amazing. This gave me 90 minutes to get the rest of dinner ready and get the pork belly bites on the Traeger as we invited Roy, June and their two grandchildren over for dinner. I also made a batch of macaroni and cheese (as kids are involved). Salad and apple pie (bought from Country Grocer. lol) is on the menu. I'm too busy to make everything from scratch with the baby. :)

Heidi and Noah are 9 and 11 and are used to playing with all their other cousins, some of them Amelia's age. Amelia is quite fascinated with Heidi.

Amelia can now get into this chair by herself.

Dinner turned out great and everyone ate well, including Amelia. They came at 4:30 and left at 6:30. I got Amelia into her bath and we had another little playtime before bottle, teeth brushing and bedtime. Of course Grandpa must read her the goodnight books. She went out like a light after that.

She loves the train Pat gave us from her grandchildren.

Tired baby.

She slept all through the night, other than two squawks while she was dreaming and of course that woke me up with the baby monitor. Up at 6am and we were off to the races again. :)

Another day with going to the park after breakfast before it got too hot. Back at home on the deck for snack time. Yummy watermelon Grandma.

After her nap today, we spent the afternoon on the deck as it's really warm so we had a pillow fort. :)

After spending lots of time running in and out of the house, smelling the flowers, helping Grandma deadhead the flowers, it was time for a rest. I put on one of her children's shows and she collapsed on the floor lol

Zeus is so good with her. He rarely moves when she falls on him. It's so cute that Amelia gets his food dish when it's time to feed him, fills it with his kibble and carries it back to where it goes next to his water dish. She also feeds him his treats. Such a good little helper.

She had another great overnight sleep, nice for Grandma to have a better sleep too. :) Happy baby up at 6 am again.

Wednesday morning Amelia wanted to go up our stairs to the loft but I told her I had to put her clothes on first with her non-slip socks so she would not slide off the stairs. She refused and kept asking on and off for 30 minutes. Finally she came to me to get changed. Stubborn little monkey. She knows exactly what you are asking. As soon as she was changed, she went back to the stairs so Grandpa took her up to the loft holding her hand. :) 

While Ray occupied her, I packed up the car with all of her stuff and it's a lot! We had to leave the house by 8:30 am to meet up with Jason and Kristi at the Highway 18 Junction to give them their baby and dog back. They had a great 2 days away in Victoria.

We stopped and picked up his new glasses in Duncan and were back at the lake by 9:30 to start our day. Took us half an hour and all signs of the baby were put away until next time. 2 baby gates, foam and pillows around the fireplace hearth, 1 high chair and 1 learning tower not to mention toys everywhere. :) Loved every minute of her visit.

We spent the afternoon down on the dock, boy is it hot today at 34C feeling like 39C. Only place cool is in the water and in the house. Glad the baby went home as it's too hot outside for her even in the shade on the lawn. We can't have her on the dock yet as she is still unstable on her feet and don't want her to get slivers. Also she does not like the life jacket which is necessary.

That was our busy 5 days. It will be quiet here for the next bit with no company, but time to get ready for our train trip on the Rocky Mountaineer and our winter trip to the USA. We leave for Vancouver on the 27th and returning home on September 3 after our train trip. After that, only 2 1/2 weeks until we start our winter trip down to the USA. Lots of things to put "to bed" for the winter.