42 Month Update

The weather has been beautiful here in sunny Trail, or as Owen calls it, "Trail, BC Canada". We have been taking full advantage of the nice weather. We went camping with a few friends and their kids up to Champion Lakes campground which is a great place only 30 minutes away. Owen got to play with his friends, 4 other boys and go on some "A-ventures" right behind our campsite. There was a huge forest with fallen trees, small creeks and lots of places to explore! I also took Owen for two days to Christina Lake with my friend Steph and her daughter Karis. We spent the two days in the water absorbing up the summer sun and using up a bottle or two of sunscreen. Owen got really good at jumping off the dock and swimming to the ladder. I think he even surprised himself! Darren, Owen and I just got back from a short stay in Kewlona, which is the next "big city" close to us. We stayed in a hotel and it felt like we were royalty when comparing it to two nights of camping and peeing outside with no toilet paper! We spent the days at the great beaches, played in the city parks, swam in the hotel pool (check out the video below), ate a really nice dinner and enjoyed a quick melting ice cream cone down by the water.

We have spent the majority of the summer in some form of water and this did not stop when it came to this weekend. Darren and I just celebrated our 5 year Anniversary kayaking in Slocan Lake. We had such an awesome day in the water, and laying out on the rocks in the warm sunshine. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Owen is growing up quickly and has been such a sweet and loving boy to be around. He is super cuddly and loves his mom and dad. Every once in awhile, he will just look at me and say, "I love you mom" and my heart just melts. Let's hope that this loving feeling lasts a lifetime and he always thinks I am such a cool and lovable mom! I don't see why this should change, do you?

We are looking forward to the visit from my mom and dad, they get here in a few days! We have been counting down the number of sleeps until they arrive.

Pool shark

Look at me...I am a fish

41 Month Update

The summer is moving along way to quickly for my liking, but as always we are making the most out of our days and weekends. While enjoying an ice cream cone on the first warm summer evening up at the Kool Treat in Christina Lake, Owen decided to show us how many swear words he has saved for a rainy day in his "swear bank". This is how it went down. As a McCarthy, ones daily conversation usually contains a few swear words to really get your point across. Darren without even realizing looks at his ice cream cone, feels the warm summer air around him and said, "Wow, this is f'n good." Owen similar to that of an excited parrot just learning how to talk repeated back in a rather loud voice, "This is f'n good". He got so excited by our reaction of hysterically laughing that he decided he had to stand on the chair and repeat it louder two more times so other people around us could hear how f'n good the ice cream and the first warm summer evening was up at Christina Lake. If that wasn't enough, Owen must of felt that it was open swear season, since he was able to say the one swear word without getting reprimanded he better take the opportunity to tell us what else he knew. Owen again in a rather loud voice, muffled by our laughter then said, "I will kick your ass dad". The swears and the laughter ended quickly after that, but the smile did not leave our face for a few days.

I asked Owen to clean up his toys so we could get going to a birthday party. He started to clean them up then came up to me and said , "Mom, I don't think I can finish cleaning up my toys. My cheeks are going to get red and then I am going to have to rest." Hmmmm, I hope the kid takes after his dad and not his mom when it comes to exercise!

But speaking of exercise, I redeemed my lack of sweaty workouts in my past with a crazy 7.5 hour hike up a very, very tall mountain while Aimee, Dayne and Chad were visiting. We hiked up Old Glory which is the highest peak in the Rossland Ranges. The intense hike that has left me nearly crippled the next morning was a total of 17km, 1000m gain and took us 7.5 hours to complete. 4 hours up, sometimes straight up to probably one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in my life. It felt like you were on top of the world. After we shared some victory high fives and a packed lunch we headed back down the steep path which took us 3.5 hour. Going up is really, really tough but going down really, really hurts. Needless to say we were all pretty sore the next morning! But we did it, and can check it off our bucket list.

We had a great time with Mi-Mi, Dayne and Chad and Owen already missed them like crazy. We packed a lot of fun things into the 10 days when they were here which included camping, hiking, berry picking, hot springs, beach day, swimming in the freezing cold Columbia River, and some nice meals! Owen went to bed at night saying how he missed his Mi-Mi, Dayne and Chad, and I couldn't agree more....so hurry back!

Swimming at Ainsworth