Smooth operator....

Here's Silas enjoying his first ever smoothie! It was a delicious blackberry cinnamon smoothie I whipped up with thick greek yogurt and boy did he enjoy smothering it all over his face, hands, neck, highchair, floor, rug, table etc, etc, you get the picture. He liked it so much that when he was done.....he tried to eat the bowl!

Neil's SUP Adventure.......

Neil, Seb and I had first tried Stand up paddle boarding in Whistler and all loved it and were keen to do more. The same day that we took the kids canoeing Neil decided to take a more exciting route home from Banff so he rented himself a SUP for the day. He's done the route before by canoe from below Bow Falls to Canmore. He pumped up his board while I snapped a few photos around the falls and then I watched him paddle off into the wild!  It takes us about 15 minutes by car to get home along the highway but it took him nearly 4 hours to SUP  along the river through Canmore to the bridge just below our house. He told me he ran aground once or twice after taking the the wrong fork in the river and got some good go pro footage of a nice backwards flop into the cold water :)  He didn't see any wildlife and passed just one lone fisherman along the entire route. He arrived home a little chaffed and sore from paddling but happy to have completed his mini river voyage. 

The last day of Summer....

Last Sunday we popped into Banff to enjoy possibly our last warm and sunny weekend of the Summer.  Neil and the big kids rented a canoe and had a paddle on the 

Bow River while Silas and I enjoyed a riverside stroll. As it turned out the next day, September 8th, we had an unseasonably early mega dump of snow which I still cant quite get over by the way. Autumn isn't even supposed to be here yet let alone winter! The kids had a great time, its certainly something we'll do again and at least we really made the most of that last summer day! 

Look who's noshing now!

Apparently we first fed Seb rice cereal a whole month earlier at just under 4 months old. Its fun to look back and see that Seb at 4 months was the same size as Silas at 5 months! Click here for a look back at baby Sebby's first nosh :) 

Chunky Monkey....

Silas is quite a chunk these day's! He's already well over the 15 lb mark and by the look of these photos will be rivalling Bel in the weight department any day now :)

First Day of School...

Last week Seb and Bel both started school. They're both at a new school together which is great! Seb started grade 2 and Bel started kindergarten. I cannot get over how grown up Seb looks in these photos! What the heck! Where's my wee little boy gone! 

I am beyond happy that so far they both seem to love their new school. I've been working myself into quite a state about whether or not we are making the right choice in moving Seb from the school he's been at for the past two years. In my heart I feel that the new school will fit him better and hopefully  encourage him to enjoy the experience of learning rather than being stressed and worried as he so often seemed to be before. On his first day I asked him what his favourite part of his day had been and he answered "everything!" You can't get much better than that can you! 

His first day also meant his first proper trip on the school bus, Neil rode with him on the way there and he made the trip home all by himself. Since then he's been riding the bus everyday and has been happy as a sand boy :) ( Getting to the bus on time in the morning is proving to be quite the challenge for me though!)

Miss Bel's first day at Kindergarten couldn't have gone any smoother. She's with many friends from her Shooting Stars Pre-school group and the rhythm of their days are very similar too so she felt at home right away. So much so that she barely looked back at me when I dropped her off! She will be riding the bus with Seb every morning starting later this week and I'll be collecting her from the school as she finishes a little earlier than he does. 

I was so nervous about everything changing and how they'd both react, I can't tell you how much of a relief it is for things to have started off so well for both of them! 

Cheeky!

Silas, on his special quilt, poking his tongue out at Mama..... reminds me so much of this photo of Bel, on her special quilt, poking her tongue out at Mama! 

Bowen Island

On our way to Whistler we took a route through BC that brought us through Lillooet and Pemberton and into Whistler from the north, different to our usual route through Vancouver. The scenery was fantastic and it's always nice to see places you've never seen before but of course this meant that we didn't get as far as the ocean. We decided that we couldn't go all that way and not see the sea so on our way home we took the road south out of Whistler and, before hitting Vancouver, took a little detour via ferry to Bowen Island.  

I miss the sea. I've said it a million times here before I know but I miss it so much. I was so excited to get on that ferry! And walking on that beach was really like a healing balm to my poor landlocked heart! 

Bowen Island is lovely. Just lovely. It's only a 20 minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay which makes it totally commutable to Vancouver. If we ever get to Vancouver... I'm living on Bowen! 

The sea water was so warm (by comparrison to Tofino and our mountain lakes in Canmore). It wasn't the warmest of days but I could easily have taken a quick dip if we'd had more time. 

This is Cates Bay Beach one of several nice beaches on the wee island. Just look at that house in the photo below, for me it's perfection.  With it's silvered cedar shingles, metal roof and smoke wafting from the chimney it's almost like someone plucked it right from my pinterest board :) 

Silas had a good'ol nap in the sea air from his perch on the drift wood. 

His first dip in the ocean!

Bowen is very hilly and covered in forest. Lots of beautiful cedars and ferns. There are a couple of lakes, a few little cafe's and eateries, a handful of cute shops, a few farms and lots of beautiful houses tucked away amongst the trees.  The beaches are covered in driftwood and mussel shells and the tide pools are full of sea treasures. I really love it! There is something about it that reminds me of Tofino and something that reminds me of England, we foraged for blackberries and even found a Horse Chestnut tree and collected a few conker's to take home!

We had a lovely time and left with our souls refreshed, our lungs filled with fresh, salty air and a

feeling inside that tells me we will be back in the not too distant future.