I have been twisting my brain into a pretzel trying to figure out what to blog about for the last little while because I have barely been around a computer and can't seem to find a thread of commonality amongst what I have running about my noggin. It just now occurs to me (my lovely friend just pointed out on the phone) that perhaps it would just be best to put a few things out there and 'empty the folder' so to speak. If this is a lifestyle blog, then perhaps a peek into how life is lived around these parts would be appropriate.
This is my summer so far.
So to begin with, my parents bought a beautiful piece of property way back in spring that backs right onto the river and although that means a healthy dose of mosquitos, it also means spending many many weekends coming out to sit about barefoot eating watermelon. Life could definitely be worse.
This is the boys' new playhouse...
The backyard
Early in June my sister and I made the nine plus hour treck to Vancouver, which is where we both grew up. She bought a new car and phoned one day to say that she wanted to drive it so she was taking my boys and I down to play tourist. If there were a way for me to describe how much of a stretch it is to imagine my sister stuck in a vehicle with a two and a six year old for over nine hours... well, let's just say I am impressed that we ALL made it home together. Eventually.
... looking for creatures
We took Rowan to the Vancouver Aquarium as we happened to be there on his sixth birthday (and it just so happened that that day is now the birthday of a certain beluga whale who was birthed while we were in attendance). We did the Stanley Park thing and snapped this pic from across the water of Vancouver's new LEED convention center with it's green living roof. In fact, we noticed that Vancouver is showing a much greener side these days, even moreso than when we lived there a decade ago. Even the info booth at the park is sporting a wildflower roof. Perhaps a bit of a facelift for the coming Olympics?
This year we made it to the Strawberry Festival at the Ashram. This amazing property is only open to the public for this one day of the year and I have always wanted to go. The building itself is built entirely for acoustics and it really is the most amazing experience to be inside. Every single whisper or footstep becomes a statement and being that it is meant to be a place of silence most of the time, it is very profound to be inside. Profound is not the word I would use to describe entering the Ashram with a two and a six year old... "enlightening" may be in there someplace however. We spent the day walking the grounds and heard people saying "even the rocks on the beach are beautiful!... do you think they were imported?" So funny.
The Factory had the Grand Opening of their new store and celebrated their second annual Day to Night Fashion Show and I did take my camera to take photos of the behind the scenes hooplah, but was too busy to actually shoot anything. These photos are random shots from others who attended...
... and in true Nelson fashion (no pun intended) there were many painted bodies in attendence...
A few more bits and pieces here and there...
and then some more relaxation in the great outdoors. It's been rough folks...
The End.
