A little play at….and maybe in, the creek

After a picnic meet up with some other moms at the park, we wondered over to the creek. Liam had so much fun racing leaves and sticks, hauling big sticks around, finding treasure for his collections (rocks), and painting.

Painting a rock with a stick that he dipped in the creek

This last picture I took right before he fell in the creek. He was very upset and his ego was extremely hurt. He however learned a very important lesson, crocs are slippery on mud. Good thing we were making our way back to the car at this point.

A year break and so many changes

Opps, so I have not posted in a year. I keep thinking of topics to write about and pictures to share. We have had a few changes in our lives. We now have a new member of the cachehownd clan. Mr N. was born December 3, 2014.

I have blogs to write, I will find time, somewhere 🙂

A chilly walk on March 3rd

Brr it was chilly this afternoon when we went for a neighborhood walk with our neighbor. BUT the important thing was the boys had a good time. We stopped twice and looked at the horses, walked past orchards, saw a birds nest full of snow, and a Blue Heron in a field. 

Still winter

After having 3 really busy days I decided that today we would just go have a play at the park, letting Liam burn off some energy, and giving me a chance to play with my camera. The sun was shining, but it was very cool down by the lake. Liam learned that his rain boots are very slippery on the ice, he had many falls, laughing each on off thankfully.

Liam the penguin

I love my little mans imagination. He was taking rocks to the top of the big slide. He had them in a pile, then we could take a few out of the pile, get them ready then race them down. Some times they were cars, and other times they were Henry Huggle Monster. .

 

From Beasley Park we could see these guys out racing on the frozen lake. To get a closer look,we took a little drive. They were fun to watch racing around on a go cart like bike, and holding sails. We were having fun watching them, and Liam was goofing around on the ice. He was stomping on some ice at shore next to a big rock, and next thing I knew his right leg is knee deep in water. That was the end of our outing. Thankfully I always have a blanket in my car.

REVIEW: Nature Kids documentary (& Giveaway!)

REVIEW: Nature Kids documentary (& Giveaway!).

I would love to win the Nature Kids Documentary. The trailer is wonderful 🙂

With the new section of highway 97 done, a few new WALC (walking around Lake Country) trails have emerged. And what does any good geocacher do…..going hiking to place new caches of course 🙂

The trail was a pretty easy 3km hike. Liams favorite part……going through the tunnel under the highway. We walked on a variety of nice man made trails, dirt bike/quad trails, and some deer trails. Looking at the map I thought this hike was going to be pretty long, but we managed, and Liam did awesome! However with placing 11 caches along the trail it did take use just over two and a half hours. The end of the hike was getting a little hurried as it was getting dusk very quickly. We made it back to the car close to 4:30….just in time, any longer and we would have had to break out the flashlights.

A much needed hot drink was needed after this hike. With dusk, came very cool temperatures, plus I had a leaky hydration pack, resulting in a wet back 😦 A trip to Tim Hortons warmed us up, Liam was very excited for a hot chocolate to finish off our family hike.

Hopefully the snow holds off for a little longer so we can hike…..and of course hide more caches on some more of the trails above the Raptor trail.

A big Thanks to all the volunteers, at WALC, that make these great possible!!! We are truly lucky to live in an area with so many trails at our doorstep.
Spion Kop Trails

My boy, all set to hike

it’s a snake, no it’s a dragon, no it’s a sea serpent

Any fallen tree is an opportunity for a balance beam

“Mom take my picture up here!”

Snow!

Snuggles enjoying the hike

Liam and Snuggles

Jason blends right in, in his green hoodie

We were looking for walking sticks in the piles of wood. Liam found a keeper, lol!

view of Oyama, Wood Lake and Kal Lake

Another view shot

“I’m hiding!!!” yells Liam

“Look, it’s not a diamond any more” Silly boy, yet smart
(The trail marker signs were diamonds, Liam used is walking stick to change the diamond to a square)

Me and Liam

View of Lake Country, or as the locals call it Winfield

My GPS

Off on another adventure! Part Deux (pictures included)

After day one we continued on our way to the wedding. We stopped at Jackman Flats Provincial Park to get a cache and show Liam the sand dunes. Did you know that there were sand dunes near Valemount? I did, only because I have been to the park before.

That way!!

Playing in the sand

After Jackman Flats we come to the mighty Fraser River. Liam thought it was great that he got to see the Fraser River on this trip, usually we only see the Fraser River on our travels to Vancouver.

We continued traveling through the rain and clouds. Much to our disappointment with the very low cloud cover we could not see Mount Robson, or any mountains for that matter. Guess it was better that way, as we had to hurry our way to a wedding. Another trip will be needed to go explore Mount Robson area with Liam.

Liam looking so impressed. It was cold and rainy, but we stopped for a quick picture.

On our way back home we stopped at the sand dunes in Jasper national Park, and had a play.

Playing in the sand near Jasper

Jason and I have driven Hwy 16 through Jasper National Park many many times, never stopping at any of the points of interest. BUT now thanks to geocaching we stopped and the cold sulpher spring. A very stinky stop, however very interesting at the same time.

Spahats Falls

Mommy! I want to play in the rain!

The sky’s were dark this evening when I went to the garden to grab some tomatoes, so I was not surprised when the rain suddenly came down. And boy did it come down, followed very quickly by thunder.
Liam was eating his dinner when the sky open and dumped rain. He jumped out of his seat and very excitedly announced “Mommy, I want to go outside and play in the rain!” I am not going to lie, a part of me wanted to say no, sit down and finish your supper. But he was so excited, he said to me, “I love the rain” He had his rubber boots and coat on in record time, and ran out the door.
I figured what an opportune time to try out my rubber boors that I got a couple months ago. So off I went to find my rain coat and umbrella (yes an umbrella,  I wanted to take pictures, and needed to protect my tablet) (Mom, my feet stayed dry, thanks for the boots)

 

Our fun outside didn’t last overly long, but Liam had a blast.  His pants and coat were so wet that I could squeeze water out of them. He is now having a nice warm shower, and I am watching the rain come down…..still

Off on another adventure!

Today has taken us part way on our trip to a wedding. As I was driving I was thinking about how much of the province that Liam has already seen in the last couple years. He has travaled a good chunk of British Columbia,  he has seen almost as much of the province as I have. Today was his first trip up highway 5. We made a stop at North Thompson River Provincial Park. We got to see where two rivers met and how the river looked 2 colors. We also had to stop for 3 caches in the park. 
Next stop was a first for all 3 of us…… Wells Grey Provincial Park. 10 kilometers off the highway is one of the many waterfalls that the park has to offer. We only made the one stop in Wells Grey at Spahat Falls and it was truely amazing. Mother nature is very powerful. To see how water can carve throught rock always amazes me.
We also stopped at Little Hells Gate Regional Park, a first for all 3 of us. Jason and I have drven by little hells gate a few time, always saying “one day we will stop”. So today we stopped, not going lie, with a cache being in the park, that helped the decision to stop.

Little Hells Gate

Liam doesn't miss the chance for a nature balance beam

More pictures to come, once we are home and I am back on my computer.

Making family camping memories

I remember as a young child going on camping trips to Shuswap Lake. My mom and dad would load every thing up in the boat. I think the only thing we left at home was the kitchen sink with taps. I am not kidding. Packed in the boat would be our tent (a nice yellowish colored canvas tent), coolers, a box with dishes/utensils, sleeping bags, clothes, BBQ, lantern,water ski’s, and a picnic table…..yes a picnic table, it was a folding picnic table. Plus the dogs would come too. The boat would be so full. Then off we would drive off to Sicamous to launch the boat to get to Four Mile Creek, a site only accessible by boat.

Now that I am a parent I want to make camping memories for Liam. This summer we have been on two camping trips. The first trip, was also the first time in our new to us tent trailer, to Ellison Provincial Park. Lucky for us Jason headed there first thing in the morning and was able to get us a site, since 75% of the site are reserve-able, and the reservations were all full.  Liam loves the sleeping trailer and was beyond excited to be able to sleep in it while camping. 

Our site all set up

Liam riding his balance bike

just might be a geocache here 😉

Liam found a balance beam

Playing in Okanagan Lake

Pretending to fish

Being silly

Our second trip took us to a private campground, ShyLynn Ranch. WOW, a beautiful area, it was so quiet and peaceful. The campground is run by a absolutely wonderful family. 

Liam once again was very excited to sleep in the sleeping trailer. Since we were close to Salmon Arm we geocached our drive into town, then went to Herald Provincial Park so we could see Margaret Falls. WOW a beautiful walk into the fall. Unfortunately pictures to no do this area justice. 

We had a fun time swimming in Shuswap lake after our walk to the waterfall.

We loved that at ShyLynn Ranch they put so much thought into making your camping experience a great one. Liam really enjoyed playing in the giant tire sandbox. We went for a couple walks to see the horses. I think one of the best features was the children’s potty seats in the outhouses, you can tell the owners are parents 🙂 The best part of camping was the three of us sitting around the fire, roasting marshmallows to make smores.

So beautiful!

Playing in the dirt

Playing in the tire sandbox

Helping chop fire wood