Family Camping

I love spending time with my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. It re-enforces the bonds that were made in my childhood. It's always so good to see them.

Hoto and I were invited along on a camping trip this weekend on Hornby Island. Our party consisted of my mum's sister and her husband, their two adult sons and respective families, and my mum's brother and his wife. They all live in the same small community on Vancouver Island and so this type of outing is quite common for them. They all know each other well and spend a good deal of time together. It shows in how they joke around, in how they care for each other's children, and how they're comfortable being cranky now again with each other.

The weather gods were once again on our side and we enjoyed warm evenings around the camp fire, hot days on the beach, and swimming in the warm waters of Tribune Bay.

Here's Hoto making a mer-man out of my cousin:

And here's a shot of my cousins just enjoying the beach the way that kids do... magical kingdoms made of sand, walking on water, playing in the surf....:


What's not to like about summer?

Summer Holidays

As a kid, I loved summer holidays. I loved the freedom of going barefoot and wearing nothing but but my swim suit for 2 months. Except on the Princeton Racing Days parade day... then I also wore my cowgirl hat.

We have just had a lovely BC summer holiday; a week on Okanagan Lake, a little outside of Naramata. A perfect lakeshore house with good friends and brilliant sunshine. Hoto had some great wake boarding on unbelievably still, early morning waters and I recharged my solar batteries laying on the deck and paddling around the cold lake on my air mattress. We ate too many barbequed burgers and drank too many bellinis. My skin is summer brown and my eyelashes are almost blond. The holiday was really, really lovely.

We drove home via Princeton and as I gazed out the window at the Similkameen River, I was happy all over again that as a child I tubed and swam in a small town river and ran barefoot with my brothers, cousins, and friends. Those experiences make the simple, quiet summer holidays that much more relaxing and somehow, that much more comforting.

And today we went to the beach in our backyard - which was pretty spectacular too.