Gran and Grampa had some work to do for their landscape design business, so we yoinked Uncle Shane out of bed and took him geocaching at Shannon Lake with us. It was an odd weather day for Kelowna, it rained. But the rain would only last a couple minutes, 10 at the most it seemed, and then it would stop and everything would dry up again. So we got sprinkled on three or four times, but it was no biggie.
Lily and her Tatus rehiding the cache we found - we traded one of our magnets for a cute pin with a picture of Sherlock standing in the middle of water, and the words "No ship, Sherlock". Tom thought it would be right up Gran's alley (they have very similar and very corny senses of humour). He was right. :)
Lukasz and I climbing back out of the brush after checking out the cache:
The dandelions were in abundance so Lukasz lost no time in blowing fuzz all over all of us.
I managed to get a few nice shots of the dandelions, too.
Uncle Shane got Lukasz laughing so at long last we have some photos of a giggly Lukasz.
After finding that first cache, we had quite a walk to the second one. Lukasz was much more interested in finding dandelions than walking; here, Lily and I are waiting for the boys to catch up, and Tom is waiting for Lukasz who is blissfully ignoring our calls as he hunts down more dandelions. Tom found the second cache, and the rain really started to come down, so we piggy-backed the kids back to the car (that was a workout!) and headed back to Gran & Grampa's.
While Lukasz and Tom napped (lucky boys), Lily and I made Gran a birthday cake. Uncle Shane picked out the mix (I'm not adventurous to make a cake from scratch yet), white with rainbow sprinkles.
The cake turned out perfectly! Woo hoo!!
Gran gave me instructions for making delicious homemade icing - 16 ounces of whipping cream beat on high and slowly at 1/4 cup of icing suger. Delicious!
Fresh strawberries to decorate the top of the cake and to go between the cake layers!
Decorating a cake is very serious business....
The finished cake! Gran is 29 forevermore, as am I starting this August! (Okay, really I'm turning 30... shhh)
Here we are singing and wishing Gran a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I had the big fat idea to put sparklers on the cake and they took a while to light, as you'll see.
Enjoying the fruits of all her hard work. :)
I wanted to get a shot of Tom and Lukasz chowing down on the delicious cake, I didn't notice that poor Uncle Shane hadn't received his piece yet. But he let everyone know without having to say a word. :)
After dinner a rainbow made an appearance!! It was nice to see Kelowna so lush and green!
Sunday morning we took the kids to a nearby playground to burn off some energy. Lukasz was busy testing his limits on everything as usual. It's interesting to see how he has no fear at all of climbing up high, but he can't stand swinging on a swing or getting bounced high on a teeter-totter. Just like me in the latter respect.
Then we headed off to a little park to do a bit more geocaching. Unsuccessful this time, but it was such a beautiful little spot, great view with a weeping willow and running water nearby.
Then it was time to go in the backyard for some "beesball" as Lukasz calls it.
tWe all know now that Lukasz is fascinated by skateboarding. He idolizes his Uncle Shane, and cannot get enough of watching him skate. Shane had an old mini-skateboard from years ago, and he passed it on to Lukasz. But not before he took the trucks and wheels off, sanded off the old graphics on the bottom of the deck, primed and painted on it, and worked out a new design for it which he then hand drew and filled in.
Proud Lukasz with his new "sakeboard". The design is drawn, but has yet to be filled in.
Ready to do some "sakeboarding":
Working on his newest moves, rocking side to side with his feet on either end of the board, so the board lifts up on one edge. He keeps his balance perfectly. His other trick he tries to do is to spin the board under him as he jumps, and to put the board on one edge, then jump and land on the board as it lands back on the floor. And of course, his 180 jump.
Here he is working on all his moves. I love that he tells me he's going to be careful. :)
This is one of my favourite times of day. How they love their stories... Tatus did the honours this night, and I have to admit, I feel a little left out when I'm not reading the book. But then I tend to hog my kids. :)
Shane, Tom and I stayed up way to late hanging out and catching up, and in between turns playing Tripoly, Shane worked on Lukasz's board with an extra-fine Sharpie.
I think Lily is pretty much the spitting image of my mom in this photo:
Lukasz is thrilled with his finished board! Thank you SO MUCH Uncle Shane!!!!
The proud (and a little goofy) artist showing off his work:
Blue skies meant a trip to City Park: Lukasz was absolutely still as he watched Uncle Shane in the skate park. Later, he even got a ride on Shane's skateboard.
Uncle Shane getting some air mid-trick:
Having a rest:
These are, as Lukasz calls them, his "cool shoes". Thanks Monika! :)
Someone is having the time of their life...
Mom, Lukasz and I enjoying the sun and the view at City Park.
Time for a rest and a snack. Someone was parasailing over the lake, so we had some entertainment while we munched.
Checking out the fountain:
Getting a lift back to the car:
On Monday Shane and I tried to take my mom out for her birthday but nothing went quite as planned. We decided to delay a trip to a nursery garden because it looked like it was going to rain (and of course there were blue skies after that). Then we couldn't find a place that was open for lunch but eventually we ended up at a pub, and I ate so much I wasn't hungry for over a day after that.
Later in the afternoon we whipped out to a nursery:
And then it was time to drive back to Vancouver. :( Fortunately we'll be back again in a week and a half now for Uncle Shane's 21st birthday.
The clouds and sun were stunning over the connector...
If you look hard enough, there is beauty wherever you are.
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