Not-so-tough mudder & whirlwind camping.

So I am not great at making decisions and especially when it comes to making decisions between doing two really fun things, my solution is just yes and do both!
Saturday morning was the first event - Foam Fest ! For those of your unfamilar of what that is, it's like a cross between a tame version of Tough Mudder and a bubble bath. There is a series of obstacles that involve climbing and sliding and crawling through the mud. Two years ago we did this in Sun Peaks and this year, we stayed local and one of my friend's daughters was old enough to join the race too.

 The other kiddos weren't old enough to join but had their rainbow flair on and were ready to cheer us on.

 The course took over an hour to make it through, the worst was the army crawl through the mud under the ropes but at least there were no electric shocks. I would not make it in the army, I was like a sad beached whale moaning through the mud. The best part was the giant slip n slide. Hopefully this video works and you can see us all zipping down...

So as soon as we got our medals and gave everyone on our team and the cheerleaders a high 5, I tried to shake off the excess foam and dirt and we drove off to Cultus Lake for part two of our do-it-all weekend. I don't know how but I convinced my husband to pack up the tent, the BBQ, mattresses, sleeping bags, 2 stand up paddle boards and a kayak to go camping for one night.  Everyone else had got there the night before but because of Foam Fest, we couldn't make it out earlier but we made the most of our time there and it was so worth it (although we didn't actually use the SUPs and the kayak)

If you talk to my husband, he can give you quite a few reasons why camping sucks but I can think of at least three reasons why we will be camping is great. One of those reasons is the freedom. Back at home, apparently if someone sees that my kids are playing in the front yard unsupervised I could have Social Services knocking at my door but when we are camping, the kids are free to run to the playground together and run around in the forest together. I love that the 'rules' no longer apply. The kids are free to play by themselves and the adults are free to sit beside the campfire and assume the children will come back at some point when they are hungry. They love it and we love it.

The other reason camping is awesome is that there are no line-ups or crowds and the simplicity of entertainment. The kids played tag, challenged each other to running races, threw rocks in the creek and my kids attempted to catch a football. At no point did anyone ask for episode of Paw Patrol.

 The other wonderful thing about camping in early June is that there was no fire ban so we could make a proper campfire and make s'mores. We even tried roasting Timbits which some people liked and some people just burned their mouths on the hot donut.

 Oh and the stars - I love that you can see the stars at night. Since it's futile to put the kids to bed until its dark, the kids didn't sleep til almost 10:00pm and the adults stayed up talking by the fire til midnight and the sky is just lit up with all the stars. I am so used to the city lights it's easy to forget to look up to see how beautiful the night sky is.

 I love camping with other families - there were 10 kids altogether ...trying to get 10 kids to eat their dinner was a bit of a gong show....the younger kids laughed hysterically while the older kids demonstrated their armpit farting and burping abilities but luckily, you work up quite an appetite from running through the forest so everyone eventually did eat their dinner

So it was a lot of work to pack all that into one weekend (figuratively and literally) but I think we made some lasting memories of hopefully started some traditions that will keep happening every year!

Papa Bear was still sleeping in the den so alas could not be in this photo.

Let's bike 14 km she said...it would be fun she said...

I have no regrets but I may have slightly overestimated our kid's biking abilities. Little Bro recently ditched the training wheels on his bike and we have never done a family bike ride farther from the parking lot of Central Park to the playground  (so that's like 0.5 km). Our friend recommended the West Dyke trail and said she did it with her 4-year-old so I thought 'well you never know until you try..." The kids are always have awesome attitudes to take on challenges and we biked a km or so around the park there before starting the trail. So far so good.

We were over 6 km in by the time we had reached Tera Nova park. I thought we could buy lunch along the way but alas, it's not like the Stanley park Sea Wall and alas, there are no food trucks along the way. It was already 12:30pm and I was starting to think about whether what species of flowers are edible but decided to just keep going.

We made it to Terra Nova park and rationed out the apples and smushed and warm cheese string that we had packed. Note to self: don't pack cheese string at the bottom of a back pack on a hot day. The kids had renewed energy once they saw the playground and were like monkeys in their natural habitat.

By the time we started to head back towards the truck it was way past lunch. We had about 6 km left to go and the kids were getting tired and hungry. If you have Small People you know this is an exceptionally terrifying combination.  I resented the fact that I did not pack gummies. Note to self: Stash gummies in every pair of pants and shorts I own when I get home. So alas, without gummies to randomly distribute along the way, we resort to distracting them with games of  'I Spy' and "Fill in the blank to the song". After singing every kid song I could come up and when I exhausted every rhyme I knew to "Down the Bay" we still had 2 more km to go. By now, the kids were stopping every 15 seconds for a water break and by my rough calculation, it would be nightfall before we got back to have lunch.

Super Dad even tries to bike while holding Little Bro's bike in one hand and precariously holding Little Bro on his back. Little Bro clinging on and deciding between the benefit of scoring a free ride and the fear of falling off Daddy's back on a moving bike so after less than a km, both gave up on the idea. Good effort though Super Dad. Instead, with 12 km completed of the 14 km trek, we decided to call it quits and Super Dad just rode the rest of the way back himself, got the truck and came back to rescue the famished family.

So we were a couple km from finishing the 14 km trek but I guess that's not a bad for little 4-year old and 6-year old legs. My motto is always is that it's better to shoot for the stars and miss than to not aim for the stars at all and I think we at least made it close to the Milky Way...

Sea to Summit : how to get your little ones to hike for 4+ hours without complaining.

I am so proud of these guys, in four hours 4-year-old Little Bro and 6-year-old Big Sis hike from the bottom of the Sea to Sky trail to the very top..with no whining the whole way! How did this happen?

Step 1: Start them early. Some kids watch cartoons Saturday mornings, we don't. Saturdays are for adventures and they know it. They know that weekends are for playing, skiing, paddle boarding, biking, running, hiking or exploring. We had been talking about this hike all week. They were counting down the days until today and went to bed wearing their hiking clothes.

Step 2: Gear them up. After hiking the Grouse Grind, we learned that when you are pint-sized you hike mostly on all fours and biking gloves work perfect. Also we have them carry their own water and let them raid the pantry and fill up their packs with whatever snacks they want to carry themselves. Also Quiksilver and Hurley hats give you 10 extra cool points and make you go faster.

Step 3: Hike with other ninja's-in-training. Hiking with friends is more fun for adults and for little ones. We had such a fun crew today with another 4-year-old (as well as another super couple with a baby in a hiking pack and a super dad with a baby just on his shoulders). The kids lead the way and kept each other going pretending to be ninjas or scampering squirrels. The terrain on the Sea to Sky is also really fun and interesting, they got to practice their hardcore parkour skills on the big rocks and pretend to be rock climbers on the steep sections with chains and hike past raging waterfalls. Gone are the days of hiking holding their hands and sometimes dragging them along. Now they are always out in front telling us what was up ahead!

Step 4: Pack gummies and other treats and distribute them at a variable ratio schedule.  We even brought yesterday's supper in a thermos and enjoyed chicken souvlaki with tzatziki. No need for just trail mix.

 Step 5: Reward at the top. It felt so good to make it to the top and know you 'earned' that view! And until the kids can truly enjoy the view it's OK to pair the accomplishment with ice cream. After hiking for 4 hours and 3 minutes, I think an overly priced ice cream is fine by me! There's also a neat suspension bridge and a playground at the top. And no, the kids were not too tired to play at the playground at the summit. Another great perk of this hike is the much earned gondola ride back down!

Both kids declared today the 'best day ever' and we could not be more proud. So how many mountains can we conquer now as a family? What should we do next? The Chief? Black Tusk? Adventure awaits...

Blood, sweat and tears.

To my sweet little girl -
I was so proud of you, it was your first 2.5 km race and you rocked it. It was so fun to run hand in hand together. I love that when you said your heart was beating too fast, you never gave up and you kept on going. You worked hard for that medal!

And today was my turn, I was up several times during the night because I was afraid I would sleep through my six different alarm clocks. But all was well and I made it to the starting line by 6:15am. All was going well until around 7 km in, it was getting a bit crowded so I tried to pass somebody and I tripped (maybe over my own feet) and crashed on the pavement. I could feel my knee and my hands stinging, I knew my knee was probably bleeding but I didn't want to stop to look at it so I got up and just kept running - although much slower now.  The rest of the race was going in between 'wow, this city is so gorgeous" to "why did I pay to do this? my knee hurts so bad"

My time to beat was 1 hr 51 minutes and I knew I wouldn't make it but I always tell you that when things are hard, you need to just keep going. I always tell you that you can do hard things. I always tell you that you never give up. So I kept on thinking that I need to just finish this and I was so happy to see you and Noah and Daddy and Auntie Rainbee at the finish line. It was just what I needed to get to the end.

 Thanks for being the best cheerleader I could ask for, I was still able to finish in 2:02 which is not the time I was aiming for but sometimes you just got to keep putting one foot in front of the other and make it to the end. I hope you and Noah will do more races with me as you get older. I am already planning for next year and next time I am going to work on not tripping over my own feet.
I love you to the moon and back!
Love Mom