LUKINGS 10th

It is usually difficult to get us off the island in the summer.  Unless there is a forecast of rain lasting more than 3 days, a wedding, a cousin's birthday party...we usually stay put.

Last week, it was our friend's 10th wedding anniversary, and to help celebrate, they invited a handful of friends to drink champagne with them and have a scrumptious dinner together.  I left the island for this.  I love these kind of evenings.  And to top it off, my sis had all 3 kids over for a sleepover!

Happy 10th Anniversary Stef and Heidi.  

Thank you for letting us share this milestone with you, and may you continue to live happily ever after!

MORE ISLAND HOPPING

Last week I was very spontaneous (for me) and left Pasley to visit Tash, Piper and the kids at their beloved cabin.  Although it was a 4 hour one way trip and I could only stay for a night, it was so worth it.  I finally got to see and experience their beautiful cabin and spot on the water, never mind that upon my arrival at their beach, I was greeted with a glass of white and some delicious goat cheese, basil, balsamic concoction, and Max very hospitably loaded up his gator with my luggage and drove it to their cabin for me.  

Thanks guys for a sharing a night with us.  And thanks for all the delicious food.  I've been thinking about those crepes and roast beet salad and homemade pizzas and that yummy orzo sundried tomato thingy...

piper picking us up at the parking lot

clara and stella have an early evening swing with their babies

a post hot tub rinse

an afternoon spent at the Kenna Bay on Ruxton Island

saying goodbye

our trip back to the parking lot

7 DAYS AGO (ICE CREAM AT THE GENERAL STORE)

We made a trip to the Barnabas General Store on Keats Island for an ice cream cone.  I have not had ice cream since mid-June, so I was really excited about my scoop of espresso flake in a homemade waffle cone. 

And the setting and the views at Barnabas are so spectacular and so photogenic.  Needless to say, I took a lot of photos.

a rare photo of all the george and chalmers' kids

asher is denied a cone

8 DAYS AGO (OVERNIGHT AT PLUMPERS)

We did some island hopping last week, and boated over to Plumpers to stay with the George Gong (plus some), for the night.

We brought our tent since my husband suffers from extreme sensitivity to odors and did not want to sleep in the musty sleeping wing.  I'm actually starting to wonder if he might have hyperosmia (an abnormally acute sense of smell).  More on that another time.

My husband also brought a queen foam mattress, which was very heavy, and which we carried from our cabin, into the boat and then into our tent for the night.  I'm not sure what this condition is called, but he is definitely very particular about his bed and bedding.

jake carrying the queen mattress down the ramp

truman with his work gloves on

watching sean's rc boat

sand cakes

will pointing at the rc boat, while making "his sound"

the boys playing at the beach...with some gas cans

cand and lui

10 DAYS AGO (VISIT WITH MEIGHENS)

It is a quiet night on Pasley.  Daddy went home with Auntie and Rocco, the kids are finally all asleep and we have no visitors staying with us currently.

Normally our evenings are spent trying to convince the kids it is bedtime even though the sun is still out, and then hanging out with our guests outside on the adirondack chairs, often sipping on wine and eating M&M's.  Tonight I have a bit of time to post some photos without feeling rude and antisocial.

Which brings me back 10 days ago to when our good friends from San Francisco came for their 9th Annual Summer visit.  I'm still waiting for them to move back to Vancouver and have not quite accepted the fact that moving is not in their immediate future, at least not to Canada.

the Meighens

look what we made them bring up with them on the ferry!

asher just wakes up

danger rowboat

breakfast chaos

having some breaky with asher

See you guys in October! And I'm not talking BIG smack.

DATE AT SMITTYS

My idea of a perfect night out would be dressing up, driving to a restaurant by boat and having a delicious dinner with great friends outside on a patio.

Somehow, we managed to pull this off last week.  Thanks to Jake's mom and aunt and uncle, we left our 7 kids on Pasley, and boated off to meet 2 other friends for a dinner out.  It was so fun, I thought it deserved a post all on its own.

driving to dinner

fresh oysters

an unexpected visit with a brother

friends who live too far away

yummy beers (before I dumped my entire pint onto Candiss)

the spilled beer aftermath

the boys side of the table

The second best part of the night...coming home to 7 sleeping children all warm and cozy in their beds.

SUMMER PROJECT: PAINTING SIGNS

In true form, I have a lot of summer projects planned this year.  Probably too many projects. Things like, build a fairy house, create some beach treasure art, paint the wicker chairs white, paint some Pasley landscapes, put up a bird house, try some new recipes for left over crab, plant a herb and vegetable garden, beautify the loft bedroom...

In between friends coming and going, the kids and I have managed to accomplish one of my summer projects: painting some signs onto driftwood and finally, after 6 years, painting our name on our cart.

This is Clara's "welcome" sign.  She is really into hummingbirds right now...

Here is my little painting on our cart:

And this is Sam's sign.  He painted the background and dictated what he wanted written on it:

Will just painted the grass and his right leg.