The kids & went to my parents' house for a week to help them prepare for the whole family being there in a few weeks. On the way down we went through Whidby Island to visit some friends.
We went to the beach with them to hunt for sea glass, & the kids found some cool driftwood!
Then we took some time to wander around Coupeville & had a delicious lunch as well.
Once we got to my parents house we were set to work picking raspberries, making jam & cookies, & mulching flowerbeds
In our enthusiasm we even managed to splatter raspberry juice on the ceiling!
It wasn't all work though, we stopped at a few thrift stores, & the kids found this tiny piano & insisted on posing as Lucy & Schroeder from Peanuts!
And of course we visited "The Oak" in the neighbourhood.
I spent a lot of time here with the neighbourhood kids growing up, & Asher & Chancery have a lot of fun playing here too!
______________________________________
We also met up with my friend Theresa & her kids. We became friends in grade 7, & hadn't seen each other in 17 years!
The kids had a blast playing together, & we decided to try to see each other more often (which shouldn't be THAT hard, right?)
__________________________________________________
Next was a quest to find some climbing trees in the woods by my parents' house. Unfortunately most the trees I used to climb are now dead (I'm not THAT old!), so we didn't have any luck...
We also had to make our way through quite a bit of salal since the trails are not kept up anymore. The kids decided they are ready to apply to be on "
Alone" since they didn't find it too difficult.
Last but not least, I showed them "The Best Ditch in The Neighbourhood". It has the perfect slope, & I read many a book in it while waiting for my friends' school bus to bring them home.