...she's 7!

Mackendra has turned 7. Why do babies always grow up so fast?

So, we had Mackendra's very first birthday party with friends. Because her birthday is in August she has never had a party with her classmates. This year we decided to fix that.

We went to the local park and the kids played in the wading pool and in the playground.

We had pizza and watermelon and fresh veggies and dip. We also had a very yummy chocolate cake. The kids had a blast and Mackendra was one happy little 7 year old. That's her with the big blue face in the middle.

The next day was even better...we are having a mini heat wave here in Coquitlam and we decided to beat the heat by heading to the waterslides near Bridal Falls. We invited two of our friends and spent the day slipping and sliding. We haven't done that in awhile.

Gotta love Summer!

...hiking is for masochists!

Okay, I know some people love all that hard core hiking/camping stuff. I thought I would love it too. And when I think back about 3 years ago, when Frank's idea of roughing it was not getting extra towels at the Holiday Inn. The idea of us hiking 20 odd kilometers to a campsite was very exciting.

We made some fundamental errors when calculating our first hiking/camping trip.

1. We way over packed. Note to self: when you go hiking, you will wear the same clothes the entire 3.5 days. All you need is extra underwear and a pair of clean socks to wear when you hike out. You do not need to bring 4 t-shirts, 2 pair of shorts, an extra pair of pants, a jacket, and your swim suit. Also, don't bring enough food for 6 days when you are only planning to be gone for half that amount of time. Also...KD is heavy! Also, maybe invest in a little tent and mattresses. We didn't weigh our packs, but we figure mine was about 60 lbs and Frank's was close to 90 lbs. I couldn't barely lift Frank's. Yah, we could have gone for about half that weight.

2. Maybe don't go for the 20 km hike the first time out. Try the 6-8 km distance first. After a certain distance, I think it was km 15, I almost starting crying. I put on a brave face though. At the 13th km, my hip flexors were hurting so much that I had to try a different gait. Every flat area, I started to jog. Without me knowing it, Frank recorded this for posterity.

Also, wearing running shoes is good for not getting blisters, but they are not so good for giving support in the soles. My feet felt bruised from walking on tree roots and sharp rocks. I saw some pretty nasty blisters on other people's feet and they were hobbling around with moleskin and bandages and dreading the walk out.

3. Don't take BC Ferries, anywhere! I already talked about that in a previous post. It just makes you angry after hiking 20 km out of the bush and then driving 4 hours down the island to catch the last ferry back to the mainland and then having to fork over $73. No matter how much you love the person you are hiking with, you will find them extremely annoying and not want to talk to them the whole ferry trip back.

The campsite was gorgeous, the only thing was that we only got to see it the first afternoon we got there. We arrived at the campsite at about 4pm, proceeded to fall into a coma for 2 hours. Woke up to sunshine and whales breaching in the bay and a glorious view. Around 8pm, while I was cooking 3 dinners (I wasn't going to carry all that food out!), the fog started to roll in and we didn't see a clear sky for the rest of our trip. The fog hid everything!

Oh yeah, and just for the record, those dehydrated hiking food packs you can buy? They're not bad. And they are light. You just add boiling water, seal the package back up for about 15 mins and then you can eat your Turkey Tetrazzini or Beef Stroganoff right out of the bag! Pretty sweet! Oh! And powdered eggs...not bad. We didn't get the apple crumble or the brownies or the ice cream sandwiches...but I bet they wouldn't be all that bad either.

The second day, we had the option to hike out to the very tip of the island and go see the lighthouse. Thinking about the hike out, we didn't take that option. We literally did as little moving as possible.

Oh! I forgot, Tuck came with us and had a great time. He even had his own little back pack. He loved it! He was so excited everytime we put it on him. We would literally be wiggling with eagerness. And everyone who saw him loved it as well. He was so well behaved the entire trip. I love that dog!

So, to wrap it up...it was fun, but physically exhausting and the next time we go these are the conditions that I will insist on:

1. Shorter hike, much shorter. Mayber 5-6 km.

2. Lighter packs. I want mine to be about 30 lbs.

3. Better scenery.

4. Bring the kids to run errands.

5. No ferries.

6. More desserts! Need chocolate.

7. And alcohol!

...this is how we chop the wood, chop the wood, chop the wood...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. The following is a short description on how one would go about chopping firewood for the campfire:

Step 1: Safety is the most important consideration when chopping firewood. To provide the highest level of safety in undertaking this project there are several things you should always do.

Wear quality eye protection.

Wear long sleeved shirts and long pants made of durable material.

First check your equipment for damage.

Step 2: Pick the right type of log to split. Avoid a piece with a lot of knots or twists. Splitting dry wood is easier than wet wood. Choose a piece that is flat on the bottom so you can hit it squarely. You should also use another sturdy piece as a chopping block for ease.

Step 3: Place the log and space your legs apart. When using an axe, swing forcefully and aim for the middle of the piece. Always follow through, without hesitating as any hesitation might cause the blade to become wedged.

Step 4: When you have channeled your energy and you are ready to go....Swing away!

Step 5: Then pose like a lumberjack!

Any questions?

...I did it! I tired him out!

Quick, silly post...

I finally succeeded in tiring my dog, Tuck out. I took him to the park just now and threw the ball for 30 mins without stopping and he...well....he tuckered out. He couldn't even walk straight.

We're home now, and he fell into his water dish and now he has passed out on the kitchen floor.

I never thought I would see the day!

...Screw you, BC Ferries!

I am planning a post about our epic hiking/camping trip to the tip of Vancouver Island a little later, but for now, I just want to get this off my chest.

Screw you, BC Ferries!

We left our home at 1:50pm on Thursday afternoon, hoping (wildly, we knew) to catch the special long weekend 2:30 sailing from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay in Nanaimo. The line up was incredible! We arrived at 2:10 and knew that there was no way to get that boat. Its okay, we thought, we'll get the next 3:10 ship. But that time came and went and we hadn't moved. Hmmmm....oh well, the next sailing was 4:40. But lo and behold, we didn't even get to the ticket kiosk by that time. Finally things started to move at around 5pm. We arrived at the kiosk and the guy asked us for $48.50!!! Grrrrrr!!! Then we waited some more. Good thing Frank had his laptop with him. We watched a whole movie and a downloaded tv episode and still I had time to read a bit before we started to load. At 5:30 we were on the ferry. If you're keeping track, like I was, that's over three hours of waiting. On the ferry, other customers were saying that they had heard that the previous 2 sailing had been cancelled (mechanical? medical? reasons) and that was why we had to wait so long and why we were now behind schedule. Of course, noone at BC Ferries said anything to the thousands of paying customers. No explanation.

On another note, did you know that for an extra small, non-refundable fee of only $17.50 you can reserve your spot on a ferry? Double screw you, BC Ferries! I already pay taxes to maintain the highways, and you keep telling me that the ferries are an extension of the highways, now your telling me that I have to pay extra or I will have to wait to use my transportation route? Wait! Does that mean, if I pay a small, non-refundable fee that I can also skip the rush hour traffic on Hwy 1? That's what I call a cash grab. Oh yeah, to all those guys who did pay that small non-refundable fee, if something happened to the ferry that you planned to get on, you don't get a refund, that's the non-refundable part. You are supposed to get on the next available ferry, but tough nuts if you had an appointment or schedule or anything. The BC Ferry Executives must have a really hard job running a monopoly, subsidized organization. I think they just recently gave themselves a raise because it was so hard to count the money they gouged out of people. Riding the ferry now is a rich person's pleasure. Oh...get this. Apparently, the BC Ferry Corp. loses money on each ferry trip. It's not because of fuel prices or low ridership...nope...its because they have too many middle-managers. Great!

Anyways, we made it across to Vancouver Island, did our hiking/camping trip (more on that in a later post) and hurried back to Nanaimo to catch the last ferry crossing for the night. We didn't want to have to get a hotel in Nanaimo....I like my bed! Especially after roughing it for 3 nights. I pulled up to the ticket kiosk and begrudging handed over a crisp red $50 bill.

The lady said, " Ummm....that will be $73.50 please," holding her hand out for more money. "Huh?!?" we said.
"I will need $23.50 more, please."
"Wha??? There's only two of us. It was only $48.50 on Thursday!"
"Oh...that was a special promotion, its over now," she trilled, all happy-like.
"Are you kidding? $73.50? For two people?"
"I'm sorry, that's the price."
"Hmmmmpppfffttt! That's crazy, that's the last time we will ever come here. What would happen if we didn't have the money?" we asked.
"You'd have to leave the terminal."

We paid...we didn't have a choice. Either $73.50 now or $73.50 tomorrow plus that cost of a hotel room and dinner and breakfast.

But we didn't like it!

I tried to get Tuck to take a crap on their little prissy lawn. I thought, "they can darn well pay someone to come and clean up my dog's crap for $73.50." Tuck didn't oblige. I briefly thought of taking one myself instead. I didn't.

$73.50! That definitely will be the last trip to Vancouver Island for the Konig family.

"Screw you, BC Ferries!"