Life Lately.

Life lately has been at it's usual hectic pace. I hit a point a few weeks back where I just didn't know how to put one foot in front of the other. The day-to-dayness of life combined with the fact these days were very long and tiring. The nights seemed to roll on in an endless stream of parenting too. One too many of those days and needless to say, well, it had me feeling a little down.  I'll be the first to admit it's hard here, we have thrown ourselves into a tough situation. Very long work hours and stressful work for J, two small children, no family or friends, new country, very harsh climate; the list could actually go on. I'm a big believer of the adage reap what you sew; I certainly don't expect life to be handed to me on a silver platter. I really think you have to work for things and work at things and it always seems to be the most challenging things in your life that turn out to be the greatest reward. I needed to snap out of this negative mind set. It's very unlike me to see the world, my world, in such a way. I suggested to J one day, we meet down at the Beaver Boardwalk after he finished work (truth be known, I'm a little scared to go here on my own with the kids, as there are cougar and bear in the area and the thought makes me uneasy.). Being there with the kids and J, all of a sudden I felt grateful. Grateful to have these two beautiful, healthy little boys, grateful for J, he's my best friend and gives me strength and support through every life hurdle, grateful for this opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful parts of this world and grateful for the amazing and lucky life I have. I saw my world in a re-newed light and I just felt a hell of alot better. I'm not sure what it was? The scenery, the weather, my family, the fresh air or just all of it put together but I came home with energy and the old spring back in my step.

This place just ten minutes from us is just gorgeous.

The Beaver Boardwalk. 

This picture is not upside down, that's the reflection in the glassy water.

This face.

This gorgeous package also arrived in the mail that same day, what a mood-lifter! My beautiful, thoughtful friend Jo sent over a care package of Aussie things. What do you do when you're feeling homesick? Eat Tim Tams and watch Carl Barron of course! 

Lately we've been playing the see how many noodles you can stuff in your mouth game. Fun. 

I've been watching this little face start to notice his world more. I love watching the learning happen right before your eyes. Babies are magic. 

Another great little gem, close to home is the trout pond. Each Summer it's stocked full of trout which makes it super easy for a novice fisherwoman like me to catch a fish. And their preferred bait of choice, pink marshmallows, I like this sort of fishing. 

 Multi-tasking.

What IS he doing? 

We made another trip to Vancouver. J's work needed him down there again, so we packed up (again) and drove. We mostly drove through the night, we wanted a quicker trip down. SO much easier with 2 sleeping children in the car. There is light in this part of the world until 11pm at the moment, so it's easy to drive the roads after dinner. For the first part of the drive we left home after the kids had dinner and baths and were ready for bed. They fell asleep straight away into this little 6 hour run (7pm-1am) to Kamloops (the halfway point between Hinton and Vancouver.).  

We spotted these beauties on the side of the road in Jasper. Gorgeous male Elk. 

We spent the next (rainy) day in Kamloops and J was rather proud of himself for finding this activity.

3D Pirate Mini-Golf. You just read that correctly. It was one of those times in my life, I wasn't quite sure where I was or what I was doing but it sure did entertain the little 3 year old in my life.  The photos don't do the WEIRDNESS of this place justice.

It was inside a little games arcade. Buddy has never been to one of these before and for $30 we got about a ga-zillion tokens. We had alot of family fun poking around this place for the morning.

The happiest and easiest baby in the world: Little E. 

Followed by lunch at Denny's, a North American institution.

E thought lunch was a bit overrated. 

Down the road a bit in Chilliwack, we spent a gorgeous afternoon in the park.

Our life seems to be an endless string of hotel rooms and suitcases sometimes, we don't want this to have a negative impact on our kids so we try as hard as possible to incorporate fun and laughter into things that can, for kids, sometimes seem a drag.  We're those terrible parents who let our kids jump on hotel room beds.

Parenting McCarthy style.

Travelling with kids is busy and you need to be super organised but to see the world through their eyes is a marvel. We try as hard as possible to keep Buddy's meals healthy while on the road. This kid is growing up daily, his ability to adapt to any situation is impressive.

Our time in Vancouver was spent playing tourists again. 

Having picnics in Stanley Park.

Eating ice-creams

And blankets. 

I always love visiting Vancouver, I feel like I can dress up a little more being back in the city. Feeling a little bit awkward about these photos! 

We visited Science World with our lovely friends Marika and Josh (12 year old Josh is Buddy's new idol). The boys had alot of fun and poor Josh had been worn out by Buddy at the end of the day. 

Someone was quite taken with his own reflection.

I'll just sit and let the other kids work, shall I. 

On the drive home we stopped at a little pub in Avola B.C, claiming to have the "world's best burgers". They were pretty darn awesome and the lovely staff that worked there took Buddy down to the train tracks (next to the pub) to place a coin for the train (the famous Rocky Mountaineer) to run over it and flatten it out. 

Buddy was taken with the pool table.

And the resident cat. Felix.

Waiting for the train.

 Collecting railway spikes.

We stopped again in Blue River to do the Blue River Safari jet boat. This little tourist attraction is well known for good bear spotting. 

All suited up.

All was swell until the boat got going. E decided he was NOT a fan of the Blue River Safari jet boat and it was ABORT MISSION. We kindly asked the driver to head back to base and I disembarked with a happier baby. 

One very stressed out Mummy, trying to calm her very stressed out baby.

 Much happier back on dry land.

 J and Bud had fun and did manage to spot a couple of bears.

Nice shot of J's nog and Buddy's happy little face.

So that's about it of late for the McCarthy and sons. travelling circus. We are continuing to find endearing things about our new home and the weather continues to be never ending-ly like a good Brisbane Winter. 

Just an afterthought for the family. I've included a couple of photos of Buddy at soccer. He's loving it and his ball skills are continuing to get better each week. His listening skills leave a little to be desired though.  Nice to see that this seems to be a typical 3 year old boy trait and not a result of our parenting.

Loving on his little brother. Always stealing kisses.