New Furniture, and Annual Family Vacation at Pinantan Lake with the kids. May 26 - June 11th

Friday, before we left for Kamloops, our long awaited couch and chairs were delivered and installed. We ordered them at the end of January! Solid leather and should last us the rest of our life. :) They're lovely, but will take a little getting used to as they are powered. We also like that they take up less space. We are having an electrician come to install a plug under the table to hide all the wires.

The couch definitely reclines! Great for movie nights.

The pollen lately has been horrible. My allergies kicked in so badly that my upper eyelids were swollen and red for a week. Fortunately it got better before heading to Pinantan Lake. It's never been this bad in the 8 years we've lived here.

We spent the next few days packing and loading the utility trailer for our departure first thing Monday, June 1st to catch the 7:45 am ferry to Tsawwassen. We met up with Jason and Kristi in the lineup.

The trip up to Kamloops was uneventful and we stopped in Merritt for lunch and pick upMary Browns Fried Chicken and with fixin's for dinner at the cabin. The weather is warm and sunny.

There's no cell service at the lake and minimal wifi .... so I'll have to remember our days through pictures lol.

We arrived at the cabin at 3 pm and Jason arrived about 30 minutes later. First dinner after unpacking.

The next morning Jason got everyone ready to take Amelia fishing with her pink tackle box. She also got a new pink fly rod to try. It's cool in the mornings, but warmed up by noon.

When they got back Jason took Amelia and Kristi out fishing.

Swimming and paddling time. Amelia's doing way better at paddling herself this year.

Jason practicing his sword fighting with a pole. He is taking lessons.

Game time!

The weather turned cooler, so we decided to take a run into Kamloops and eat breakfast at the Amsterdam Cafe. They make delicious pannekoeken!

Next up, the BC Wildlife Park.

 

Grizzly Bear Exhibit.

Black bear. You can see how close it is by Amelia's reflection in the glass.

White wolf

And the major attraction for Amelia and Papa Ray .... train ride!

After a couple of hours at the Wildlife Park, it's time to get back to the lake. After the first couple of days it turned pretty cold with wind, clouds and highs of only 14C (57F) and lows of 

4C (39F). It's too cold for the fish as the group didn't catch barely anything, so not much time was spent out on the lake.

 

Amelia had a horseback riding lesson arranged in Kamloops.

Here is a short video of Amelia.

When the kids went into town, I tried my luck at fishing. Nope, nada and then a storm rolled in so we got out of the boat!

Ray trying to stay warm.

With it being so cold out and Ray "screwed his back again" from his little boat, he had some down time in bed with Amellia keeping him company. He didn't fish for 2 days.

Jason, Kristi and Amelia went fishing again on our last day and were quite successful finally. The weather warmed up again, so the fish are biting.

Biggest fish of the vacation

Amelia decided she likes netting the fish better than reeling it in lol

Of course there is  always a trip to the general store for ice cream!

Tuesday is a miserable, cold, rainy day, so we decided to go into Kamloops for some Chinese Food and take a look at the Western Store. Tonight I didn't have to cook as it's left overs for everyone.

Wednesday, the kids went for another riding lesson, this time Kristi too.

Time for a manicure and nail polish. I used tattoo stickers on Amelia and she painted Jason's nails blue, mine, sparkly pink and Kristi's as well.

Last day of fishing before coming home. Ray and Jason went out first.

Kristi and I went out at 1:30 pm and landed 9 fish between the 2 of us! Yay, I'm not skunked. We kept one fish as Amelia had asked me to cook it for her for dinner.

Of course we had an incident .... I got my line around the prop so we had to row to shore for Jason to come with another nut for the propeller ... Kristi lost it in the lake! Kalamity Kyles strike again!

Fishing this year isn't nearly as good as last year where total count was about 120. This year we only got about 25 fish. Note to self go mid-June not the beginning! Kristi had the biggest one at 15".

While Kristi and I fished, Jason and Ray packed up our utility trailer and as much as he could get ready for his truck. Thanks a bunch Jason. By dinner time everything's loaded except items needed for tonight and tomorrow morning. We left camp at 7 am, heading for our favourite restaurant, Amsterdam Cafe for breakfast. They definitely give you a substantial amount!

We all made our way back to Tsawwassen to catch the ferry in time to catch an earlier ferry (12:45) which is great getting us home 2 hours earlier.

We arrived home at 4 pm and only unpacked the car. Jason came the next morning to unload the trailer with the boat for us and take a lazyboy chair home. He also mowed our lawn. Boy did it grow in the 10 days! It took 4 passes. 

It was a great vacation with the kids, but I'm glad to be back in our own bed which is a King instead of squished together in a double which also contributed to Ray's sore back. Of course the weather went from cool to Hot Hot Hot!