Finally Made it to Sicamous!!

Sicamous

We checked the road report, packed everything we could possibly need (and some extras) and loaded in the car to try to go see Paul's brother, Jason and his partner, Jen in Sicamous.  We had great road and awesome weather, but when we hit Golden we were super surprised to find the highway to Revelstoke closed  - again.  It had been closed down since 2:30 that afternoon, so thankfully we had left late and only ended up waiting for about two and half hours before they reopened it at 8:30.  I found it a bit nerve racking to be driving at night with heavy truck traffic on the road, but at least the roads were mostly dry with only a few wet spots.  Definitely made a long trip feel even longer though!

 Cam and Jen

It was really good to spend some time with Jason and Jen since we had not seen each other since early this past  December.  The trip was also a really need break and a chance just to have some quality down time.

 

We made sure to bring our Cross Country skis with us, and decided to check out the Larch Hills Nordic Center which is just 30 or so minutes south of Sicamous.  The first day we did a awesome 7 km loop with an exciting downhill section at the end. We were stoked by the area's good vibes; lots of big Larch and Ceder trees, neat single track ungroomed trails winding all over the place and beautiful scenery.  It reminded us a lot of skiing at Mt. Washington and that brought back many good feelings. 

 Paul (rocking wild hair) out skiing

 Cam enjoying the outdoors - he is so great out skiing; he typically just falls asleep. This time though he was alert and happy, gurgling and cooing to himself for all but the last bit of trip when he finally did nod off.

 The next day we went back for more skiing adventures, but this time we brought Jen with us. 

 We did a bit of a longer loop (10km?) which snaked about the area and though some amazing boggy spots where the forest opened up and took a single track short cut that felt like we were following tracks into the backcountry.

 A boggy clearing in the forest

 It was Jen's first time cross country skiing in a long time and it was really fun having her along!

 

 Cam exploring in the log cabin that is the ski area's "Nordic center".  A really awesome little building with the same community center feel that the Dawn Mountain Nordic Center had.

  Baby!

Driving!!

This was actually taken on the way home when, once again, we found the highway closed because of an accident.   At first they told us that it would be at least and hour and a half and because we were in a high avalanche area we couldn't leave the car.  Thankfully, we were not stopped for long - after about 20 min they managed to pull the four wrecked vehicles off to one side and let the traffic sitting in high risk spots thru.  The rest of the drive went flawlessly and Paul got me to work with 20 min to spare!

Daddy looking concerned 

 Naked!

XC skiing, Riding and Kitten photos

Since the last post we have been pretty busy (as always)...

We made a good attempt to make it out to see Paul's brother and his partner in Sicamous, however we were turned around in Golden as the highway was closed due to avalanche control.  We made the best of it though! We spent a good part of the afternoon in Golden cross country skiing up at the Dawn Mountain Lodge - a cute club member owned establishment that had that everyone-knows-each-other, small town feel.  It was raining softly and it brought back good memories of skiing on the Island.  Then after some debate as to whether or not we should stick around in the Golden area, we decided that the forecast for more snow meant we should get out of there while we still could.  We came back as far as Canmore and spent the night at our good friend Mary's apartment.  It was a great excuse for a visit and then we were able to head up to the Nordic Centre the next day for another cross country skiing adventure.  It snowed heavy overnight and big fat flaked continued to come down on us all afternoon while we skied.  It was a ton of work to pull Cam in the sled behind us!

It didn't take Cam long to figure out climbing - he can mantle his way out of the bath, attempts to climb his way over the baby gate at the stairs, makes his way on and off the bed, pulls himself up on the kitchen shelving and uses whatever he can to reach things normally out of his reach...

Trouble I say.

.. and he hasn't even started to walk yet...

 

 This is Cam's new "I'm unhappy" face.

Teething tears.

Cam wont let us look into his mouth or feel his gums to see if there is anything teeth actually pushing through the gums yet, but he certainly seems to be working on it!

Sink Bath!!

Who needs a dishwasher when you have kids... right??

Powder Day at Norquay!!!

 Neither Paul or I had ever rode at Norquay before, but we sure picked an awesome day to try the hill out; They had been closed the day before because of avalanche danger and had 55cm of fresh snow over the last 24hrs... We couldn't of been luckier.

 We were also fortunate to repeatedly find ourselves finding and being one of the first down just opened runs all morning.  Perfect timing every chair lift we took!    

 Now, I would love to show you some shots of us riding the thigh deep pow however, we were too busying riding it to take the time to stop, dig out the camera and capture the moment.  So, instead here are some of us riding what was left of the snow by the end of the day. 

 Not too pounded out considering all of Banff was at the hill was us that day!

 Still finding pockets of freshies!

We got worked, but had an awesome day.

One of the best days of riding in a long time for both of us!

Finally - A new post!!!

Alright, I know its been quite a long time... but I am hoping I can make up for it by posting as many photos as I can find (not too many, but a few!). Enjoy!!

 

 Cam at 7 months, pushing around a milk crate in the living room!

We'll start with some older ones....

A lot of these are going to go back a ways, but 

 

Cam with his Grammy!

 

I can't believe that he looks so young in this shot... 

the date on it says Nov 26th - they really do grow up fast!

 This is such a great photo of Cam and his Uncle Brandon!!

 Cam and I with Grandpa T

 Swimming on his own under water!!

 ... but not terribly excited about his aquatic adventures

 

 Cam and Tommy seem to really enjoy each others company!

This is from Christmas time...
more xmas photos to come once I figure out how to unlock the USB key...

Aunty Jen and Cam

Swimming with Aina

 

Every Wednesday afternoon Cam and I get together with Aina and her mom Naoko at the Killarney swimming pool.  Both babies really seem to love the water and have a great time playing together.   Cam is actually quite attached to Aina and gets upset when its time for her to go home.   Aina is 2 weeks older  (Born May 29th) then Cam and is such a sweet little girl; we always look forward to our swimming day with her and her mommy!

Fun times in the hot tub!

 Nom Nom Nom - starfish

Cam is working hard at floating all by himself - he has done it for short period of time now, but he really like to fold his little hand behind his head while on his back which make floating a bit more challenging. 

8 Months Old

Its hard to believe (I know) that Cam is already 8 months old.  He has crawling perfected and is working on walking.   There are many moments when he will simply let go and stand on his own.  On of his favorite games now is to walk and push laundry baskets or boxes around - its truly not going to be long till he is taking those first steps on his own!

 We have started to do some signing with Cam and he is picking it up fast!  He is definately showing that he recognize and understands the meaning behind several signs like potty, food, more, daddy, mommy, puppy, uncle and bye.  He is also making many of these signs himself, though not always in context yet!

 

 Big bum baby! (takes after his mom)

Cam and Daddy!

Mountains!!!

 

This is a photo from a back country ski trip that  Paul took with his work to the Elk Lake Hut.  Amazing beautiful, I am sure once he has a chance to got through them there will be more photos of this to come!
We are very lucky that we are getting lots of days out in the mountains snowboarding at Sunshine (thanks to free passes through Paul's work) which has been amazing.  I really feel like my riding has improved a lot already this season!  Paul and I have also been doing lots of Yoga, Biking, Running/Walking!