after saying some goodbye's on saturday, our brother-in-law wanted to take us up kelowna mountain to show us what an eccentric man has been up to on his own. supposidely he has been building suspension bridges all on his own in what was explained to us as his backyard - the undeveloped "mountain" space. what we happened upon was not that. since the time my brother-in-law was last there and now, he has gotten a little help and the place has been transformed. we got to tour the space which includes a grand welcome hall, unbelievable sitting area with a spectacular view of the lake and city and 5 suspension bridges. they are planning for a ski hill, skating rink AND winery.
very ambitious but pretty cool to tour. the kids loved it.
and of course we then retired to the pool.....{this has solidified for us that the next house we are moving into HAS to have an inground pool}
sunday brought along more goodbyes and one more excuse to jump on the boat and tour the lake.
the morning was gorgeous and then the weather turned and was not exactly on our side but not too terrible. we muscled through it, sped across the lake, admired the gorgeous homes on the waterfront and finally found blue sky. we stopped to picnic and have a dip.
i am so proud of this little boy we like to call cooper. not only has he come in strides to conquering his fear of water - he dunked his head under the water! he trusted in a floation device! - he now decided it was quite alright to join his sister and uncle in a deep water lake dip. unbelievable.
monday we were lucky enough to have friends, that we were not able to see in vancouver as they were vacationing in hawaii - poor them! ha!, come up for the day for a visit. once again, the kids got on as famously as they once did and it's sad that they are not a presence in our day to day life. we took to the lake and found an area with a flying fox on both land and into the water. as we sat there watching the acrobatics - once again coop shocking us with his courage and us in awe of his strides, and seeing the sun bounce off the water i thought to myself - this is pretty close to paradise. a little slice we really got to enjoy and i am thankful.
tuesday cooper and me played hooky for the morning and took off for peachland. located on the otherside of the lake it was not too far of a drive. this is where my grandfather is buried. i haven't been back for 10 years and i was beginning to wonder if i would ever get back, so for me this was an important visit. i was very happy coop came with me.
the rest of the day was a pool day. the kids got to have a day with their gg & aunt tracy pretty much to themselves and it was an awesome thing to witness. they all played in the pool together. they broke out the underwater camera and put it to good use with photo's and video - i had no idea it took video! it was an impulse buy before we left after i was asked for their own iphone. i probed as to why they want their own phone it came to the fact that they want to take their own photo's. i decided a camera was a better solution and found this one - waterproof. shockproof. perfect.
{i couldn't figure out how to load the video...another post for another day!}
wedenesday was our last day in the valley and this was our vernon day. that's where most of my extended family lives. it's also the town where my grandmother is buried. she was very important to me growing up {as was my grandfather - yes they are not buried together...long story but they were married for 55 years and loved each other very much.} and aydan actually has her name {aydan georgia betty - my grandma's name was betty.} we had a few hours in vernon and were able to visit with my cousin heather and her kids. my aunt stacey dropped by but i was not able to hook up with anyone else - bummer - but that's only another reason to get us back there!! {i put the slurpee picture in there as this is the kids first slurpee ever - there is a lack of 7-11's out here in quebec and they have had imitation slurpee's but there is nothing like the real thing! my husband would disagree though...}
we had one last great sunset in kelowna then it was off to vancouver!
thursday we got to see my dad for one last visit consisting of a hamburger eating contest at fat burger - classic greg - and a tour of the city ending up back at granville island.
we were married there 8 years ago so it was fitting that we went to that exact spot and snapped some photo's.
also it was a time for my dad to play with the kids - he sure is spry for a 66 year old! {tony was certain that at one point we were going to have to call the paramedics! ha!}
it was one of those rare nights where you could walk along the water without a sweater. it was so enjoyable and one of those nights that tugs on your heartstrings. i'm not sure if we are ever going to be back and it was hard to say goodbye.
friday we left. simple as that. and of course it was a gorgeous day and of course we wanted to plant our feet, pout and stomp till we were told we could stay.
but it didn't happen.
bummer.
this was such a great vacation for us. it was a time to re-connect as a family and to re-connect with family and friends. i have to admit that it has been hard to be away these three years but certainly not as hard as it would have been had spaces like this or facebook not existed. the boom of social media has allowed us to keep connected on some level and for that i am thankful.
this coming year for us is bringing on lots of new challenges and changes and for that i am excited! summer you were good to us and i am now excited to see what is to come!!!
thanks westcoast for the awesome memories!!!
remember you can always keep connected with us by following on instagram @jengronick and facebook: experience the wonderful
ciao baby!!
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