One weekend in May, Jason and Wendy offered their Whistler condo to us for the weekend. So we headed up there with Paul and Jamie and the twins. The twins didn't have such a good night sleeping (making Paul and Jamie not have such a good night either) but we were able to have some fun the next day. The boys went snowboarding and us girls and the babies relaxed in the condo and then went to walk in the village for a bit. Paul and Jamie left that afternoon and then Chris and I stayed one more night, enjoying a walk at creekside in the sun and some perogies and sausage for supper. We finally got the last touches done on our ensuite (after 4 months) and are happy with the final result (except that I still don't have shelves for my linen closet). We won't be going with a contractor again for our other bathroom, hopefully just getting people that are specialized in one area will work a little better for getting the job done quickly. A few weeks ago we gutted that bathroom ourselves so that should save us some money in the end. The long weekend in May we headed down to the states for a night to do some shopping. My cousin, Jan, from Denmark just happened to be on a business trip in Seattle so we were able to work it out and go see him for a few hours. It was kind of surreal walking around Seattle with my cousin who the last time we saw him was 5 years ago in Denmark. It was great catching up, seeing some sights and having a beer with him. We always just continue on from where we left off no matter how long it's been in between visits. We're hoping him and his family will come visit next summer.
In May we started the beginnings of what turned into a full fledge strike. First it was just limiting communication with administrators and then the government decided to lock us out of school before and after and during recess and lunch and also took 10% off our wages. So during every break we had to leave as quickly as we could and go eat outside or in our cars. It was ridiculous and definitely did not help the students who usually would be working to catch up and get help during those times. Then in beginning of June we went on rotating strikes so one day a week different districts in the province would strike. This didn't seem to make any impact so very abruptly and chaotically we were told that it was the last day of school on Thursday, June 12th. Because our rotating strike day was a Friday that week we didn't have a day to think about it, we had to get our classrooms all cleaned and packed up and all the kids stuff sent home that day. It was madness finding out that day was our last and it really felt like something was taken from us not being able to have a proper goodbye to our students. The last two weeks of June were spent striking on 3.5-4 hour shifts each day but with no pay. Some days we made the best of it and played games, one day Chris' staff had their year end breakfast in the parking lot but most days it was quite boring. Especially at my school where no one sees you unless they purposely drive down the road to the school. It seems like most people that drove by were supportive of us but the strike didn't seem to make a difference to the decision makers of it all. Anyways, things are still not settled, summer school has been cancelled and it will most likely go into September. I'm just hoping that losing two pay checks will be worth it in the end and we won't just be dictated what to do by the government but will actually have some say in how education needs to change. Enough about that.
Besides striking we've had some chances to do fun things in between. We've soaked up the great weather and gone for lots of bike rides. We mostly go by the river but I did try some downhill one time and didn't like it very much not knowing what was around the next corner. Chris went for a hike with some guys in the states but ended up in a lot of snow. He also took Cory up the classic Chilliwack hike of Elk mountain for the first time. At the beginning of June we went to Whistler for a night and Chris ran the half marathon the next day. He came in a minute slower than last year but still did pretty good overall. We had some friends up there that were also running it so we were able to hang out after and have some lunch before heading home. Another weekend we were able to go into Vancouver to our friend Jen's house one night for a homemade pizza party. We all crammed in the tiny backyard soaking up the sun, playing with babies and eating delicious food. A few weekends ago we took the canoe out to Hicks Lake and enjoyed some ice cream at Harrison Lake afterwards. Chris has tried out some new activities this month like real rock climbing on the Chief in Squamish and downhill mountain biking at Vedder Mountain. Not like he needs more hobbies. We did a big hike last weekend up to Mt. Slesse. We tried to go where there is a airplane propellor from a crash years ago but there was still a lot of snow so it was probably buried. While we were looking at the mountain we heard a huge CRACK! and saw a piece of ice/snow fall off the ledge of the mountain. At first I thought we should run but then realized how high up the avalanche was. It was pretty cool to see...from a distance.
On Canada Day it was scorching hot and we joined some friends of friends for a baseball game which was probably not the best choice for how hot it was outside. After playing for a few hours the game sort of just fizzled so we went to shower and get changed and then went to a bbq with a bunch of people we didn't know. We knew a few people so we just stuck by them, played some bocce ball, played with the twins, ate some food and went home when not many people we knew were left. This last Monday we went to Chilliwack Lake for a night with Ryan, Cheryl and Rayna. It was very quiet and not as busy as we thought it would be. We got a great site, set up all our stuff and then Chris and I took Molly for a bike ride along the lake while the Rosteks went down to the beach. After relaxing for a bit at our site we went back down to the beach before supper. We roasted some wieners and had some delicious s'mores with reese's peanut butter bars for the chocolate. We played some games and then wrapped the day up with a relaxing time by the fire. Other than having to chase away a raccoon from some snacks that were left in the Rostek's beach bag it was a a good night. The next day we had a full breakfast with blueberry pancakes, bacon and eggs. It was a good little trip, we'll have to do two nights next time. Yesterday we were given a not so nice surprise of our hot water tank leaking. Luckily, we got a plumber in right away and got a new tank within the day. Not an expense we were expecting, hopefully there won't be any more surprises like that in the near future. We've been packing up all our food and gear for our next canoe trip. We leave tomorrow and will be spending 5 nights on Murtle Lake, which is the largest non-motorzied lake in North America. It is supposed to be super hot out so it should be great, looking forward to swimming in the lake and seeing some great views. After that we're home for a week and then we head out to Invermere to meet up with Chris' family and then out to the farm. Let the good times begin!
1 comments:
nice to see an update. You two are always enjoying active things together. Neat to see.
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