Visit to the Okanagan

On March 28, we piled into the van to drive up to visit all the grandparents and great-grandparents in the Okanagan. It was one of our best drives up yet - only 5.5 hours! Sure, it takes most people about 4 hours but, considering we've been doing it in about 7 hours, that's a huge improvement!

We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Rowe's at about 5:30pm (the boys hadn't slept at all on the way up) and had dinner and nice evening. Everyone was pretty worn out but the boys still managed to be wide awake by 6am the next morning! Sunday morning was cold and windy - a perfect kite-flying day. Grandma had bought the boys a Spiderman kite so we took it out to Summerland Middle School to try it out on the field. The boys loved it! They were chasing the kite around and trying to fly it themselves. I think the big boys (Daddy and Grandpa) loved it, too! Mommy and Grandma were too busy trying to stay warm and shield themselves from the wind! After that, the boys tried out the playground and swings, which were a little big (being meant for middle schoolers) but still lots of fun.

That evening we had yet another birthday party for James! It was a big turnout, too - Great-Grandma and Grandpa Campbell, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Rowe, (Great) Uncle Peter and Auntie Kim, (Great) Uncle Steve and Auntie Judy and Judy's grandson Rylen, who became Daniel's new best friend. The Easter Bunny decided to make a surprise early visit for the boys and they had an Easter egg hunt in the front yard. They had so much fun. The older boys (Daniel and Rylen) loved searching for the eggs. Adam just loved the basket! He wouldn't let that thing go! Of course, they all loved the chocolate at the end. :)

On Monday, we took a drive into Penticton to go to a fun playground down by Skaha Lake. It was an amazing playground for toddlers and will be even more fun in the summer because there is a really cool waterpark. Unfortunately, it was WAY TOO COLD for that! The boys found some friends as soon as we got there. Daniel, as usual, found an older girl to play with. Adam found a buddy in her younger brother, who was 15 months, but taller than Adam - and with much bigger feet! The two younger boys attempted to play catch but one year olds don't share very well!

On Tuesday, both Grandma and Grandpa had to go to work. So we went over to Great-Grandma and Grandpa Campbell's for lunch. We were going to go to the playground again but it was too cold and was raining on and off. So we just walked around their mobile home complex and played with Daniel's new-found favourite toy, a remote control car Grandma C. got at the thrift store. We had a nice pasta lunch with the Campbells, played with more toys and headed out before the two tired boys could get too grouchy.




Tuesday evening we decided to go to the Summerland Bowling Alley. What a happening place that is! We were the only people there and the manager (and the two women with him) were quite the rednecks! It was certainly an experience! But we had a good time. (And, since I haven't said anything on the blog yet...here's proof that baby #3 is on his/her way. Leah's got a little bit of a belly.) The boys loved bowling. Well, Adam got bored of bowling pretty quick but he liked walking around, spinning on the floor and playing with the arcade games. And he LOVED his bowling shoes. They weren't actually bowling shoes - they were just a pair of velcro runners that were 4 sizes too big for him. And they were pink. But he wore them proudly and had a bit of a temper tantrum when we had to take them off before going home!

Wednesday was our day to head home. We said our goodbyes around noon. Not long after, on the Okanagan Connector, we ran into a bit of a snowstorm. It was some pretty trecherous driving for a while, especially since we ran out of windshield washer fluid! James had some pretty white knuckles for a while but we made it out in one piece! This time, the boys slept very well in the van and we were home in 5.5 hours again.

We had a great time. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for hosting us and feeding us. We hope you're enjoying the peace and quiet now that the boys are gone!