Random photos of my family!

Hello... this post is for the benefit of Jean Michel, Rachel and Roxane! I thought it would be the easiest way to send you photos, rather than email them. I hope you enjoy getting to know our family! Let me know if you would like photos of anything else!

(My Blog is not that interesting but you are most welcome to read it!  I haven't posted for a long time, and you will notice that I enjoy quilting...  :-)

Enjoy,
Bonita

Rodger, Simon and Cameron fishing in Campbell River, BC

Our local beach, 5 minutes walk

Our local beach... enjoying our kayak

Bonita at Butchart Gardens in the Fall

Music in the park (Butchart Gardens) every evening in the Summer

Bonita enjoying her quilting (and wine)

Our soccer players

At Gyro Beach in Victoria

Mothers Day at Butchart Gardens

Camping in BC

Rock collecting at French Beach - 1 1/2 hours from home.  A favourite place to visit

French Beach with friends

Ruby's Tea Party in our yard

Cameron and Simon with our guinea pigs

First day of school for Cameron, Ruby and Simon

Vegas, Baby!

This free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

I just got back from a trip of a lifetime... well, I wouldn't really call it that, but it was a place I had always wanted to see.  And now I have.  Rita and I have been talking about going to Vegas together for the past 3-4 years and finally we decided that this was the year.  So now I can check it off my list.... Been there, done that.  Doing it again?? Probably not, unless somewhere down the road, Rodger wants to go (insert hysterical laughter...) or a bunch of girlfriends want to go and I don't want to miss out?  Anyway, it was fun, interesting, and I'm glad I went!

We went for 4 nights - 3 full days plus an evening.  We stayed in the Treasure Island hotel which was perfect for us.... in a great location, the price was right, it was clean and updated, not too big, and the pool area was nice.  Our hotel is also home to the Cirque du Soleil show "Mystere" which we went to see.... AMAZING!!

Rita and I had the same basic agenda.... no gambling, no shopping.... just wander and see the sights, maybe see a couple of shows, sit by the pool, eat good food, have a few drinks and people-watch.  That's exactly what we did.

Until you've been to Vegas, you can't really fathom how incredibly huge some of the hotels are, and how much walking you will do!!  It's kind of like Disneyland that way - you have to see it to believe it.

Some of my highlights:  The "theme" hotels, especially the Venetian, Paris, New York.... so cool to see!  Most of the time you think you are outside because they have the ceilings painted with blue skies and puffy clouds.  And it was nice to be indoors at times, because it was so hot outside!  (30 degrees every day.)  I loved watching the (slightly cheesy) gondola boats floating by in the canals of Venice, loved the little cobblestone streets of Paris and having a drink in the Eiffel Tower one evening.  We took a break from the heat and drank a cold coffee in New York - I think we were in Brooklyn?  So cool!  You kind of forget where you are sometimes - so much to see and so many people to watch.

Another highlight was seeing the Cirque du Soleil show (seriously, amazing!!) and another show called "Vegas, the Show".  I also really enjoyed going on the "High Roller" ferris wheel.  We went during the day so we could see beyond the strip... and we also had one of those large pods to ourselves because it wasn't as busy as in the evening (when most people want to see all the lights of the strip).

We sat at the pool for most of the day on Monday which was very relaxing.  It was great to take a break from the busyness of the strip and the aimless wandering..... there were palm trees, cool drinks and a great pool... and more people watching of course.

There were other highlights, such as the gorgeous flowers in the Wynn hotel, the fountains and sculpture ceiling in the Bellagio that was made out of glass flowers... I could go on.  Just crazy, over the top stuff.

My friends have been asking me "So, was it everything you thought it would be?"  Yes, it was.  And it was better, actually.  I was expecting very dark, super smoky casinos, crazy people on the strip, shocking behaviour or things I wouldn't be able to "unsee".  But it wasn't that bad.  Sure, there was still alot of smoke in the casinos but they had good ventilation. Yes, the casinos went on and on and on.  Yes, there were people walking the streets at 10:00 am with a yard-size drink in their hand (because they can in Vegas).  There were scantily clad show girls trying to get tips for photos, homeless people with their signs "Not gonna lie, I need weed."  But we weren't out late and didn't see the craziness that I'm sure was all around.... we never felt unsafe and it was basically just people just having a good time.  Enjoying the freedom of Vegas I guess.

It is good to be home.  Back to my normal, boring, crazy life.  :-)

P.S.  Mom.... you'll be happy to know I didn't gamble... not a cent.  Even Grandpa can't say that!! :-)  I thought of them alot while I was there because they were the first people I ever knew to go to "Sin City" and I was always surprised by that.... and a little intrigued.  I would've gambled if I could've used pennies and had a plastic cup to catch all my winnings... but it's all automated now. Boring.

The Mystery Unfolds....

January - all those triangles!!

I gotta tell you, this Mystery Quilt has tested me....   It's been tedious and difficult at times.  For someone who avoided all quilt patterns involving triangles like the plague, this project has forced me outside my box... outside my perfect little squares into squares made from teeny, tiny triangles that needed to be individually "squared off" one by one.  Millions of triangles that rarely line up.... ARGH!!

March... looking more like something!

I wanted to give up.  That's my nature.  I was starting to get overwhelmed and wondered if I really knew anything about quilting at all.... I am trying to be precise when I sew, so why isn't it lining up??  I've had to call Shirl for moral support a couple of times, and even called Michelle at the Quilt shop in Oliver for a pep talk!!

April - finally coming together!!  12X12 square

But all of a sudden, the little triangles started to look like something.  It finally became fun again.  WHEW!   We are nearing the final 2 installments so now it's really going to start to come together in the next couple of months.  I can't wait to see what it will look like!

Shirl's quilt is greens, greys and browns

Shirl sent me a photo of her pinwheel square, and it looks completely different.  How fun!!

 

Braces!

Happy "last day without braces" Simon!  Eat up!

Simon has always had the type of smile that lights up the room.... and those big dimples!!!  But we knew this day was coming for awhile.... braces! His pearly whites will be covered up for years.  Augh.

This braces thing, it's a big deal!  At least for me it is... For one thing, for my family growing up, there was only one kid (out of seven) who who was fortunate (?) enough to have braces.  The rest of us went to the dentist when we had to.... mostly when we had a toothache or needed a tooth pulled. Because of this, I have an extreme fear of the Dentist.  It's horrible, and I hate my teeth... with a passion.... several teeth are missing for whatever reason, I have tons of cavities, I even have a partial denture because of adult teeth than never came in.... a genetic thing.  I still have a baby tooth!  My mouth is basically a mess.  So anyway, I'm getting off topic a bit!! 



I was so nervous and anxious about Simon getting braces.  But I am also super excited to see how the shape of his mouth has already changed in such a short time.  It'll be so nice when he can chew his food properly, and maybe even breath better!  He was such a trooper and took it all in stride.  His mouth was so sore that he couldn't even bite into a banana for at least 5 days afterwards.  But it got better very quickly and he doesn't think about them too much.  He's looking forward to having the expander removed soon... that's the worst part!  He's had that in his mouth since January.

First day with his braces!

 When Ruby saw Simon with his braces she exclaimed, "WHOA!!  You look like a teenager!"  That's for sure.  A super handsome teenager.

Spring Break 2015

I can't believe how fast 2 weeks can go by!!  We had another great Spring Break this year.  It started off with Rodger and I heading to Vancouver and Whistler for a few days, as a combined birthday gift from his parents.  We had a great weekend!  We stayed 1 night on Robson Street in Vancouver, with the sole purpose of having noodles from   I know it seems silly but we love that place.... authentic, Japanese ramen noodles.  (This is the restaurant that Art's company opened 5 years ago, before Art and Michi moved to Japan.)  And we're not the only ones who love it.  Out of all the restaurants that line the streets of downtown (and there are hundreds!), this one always has a huge line-up.  And they are all Japanese customers.  Except us. The only ones who have trouble with their chopsticks, and we're always seated right in the front of the restaurant where everyone in the lineup can watch me struggle with slippery noodles.  Awesome!!  Love it here.  :-)

We then headed to Whistler for 2 nights.  The weather was fantastic!!  Super warm and sunny the whole time.  There were still alot of people skiing but Rodger decided to do some mountain biking instead, and save his Whistler skiing adventure for another time... in the Winter, where there is more snow and better conditions.  (He came home from Whistler and bought skis though... so he's ready!)

Anyway, we went on the gondola "Peak to Peak" ride and it was amazing.  The scenery, the blue sky, it was such a great experience.  We stayed right in Whistler Village which was great because I could wander the shops, drink coffee and people watch while Rodger was biking.  We could walk everywhere.  But it was super, crazy LOUD at night!!  People partying and wandering the streets, yelling... and it echoed throughout the whole village.  Annoying!  Next time I will still stay in the village, but I will definitely bring some good earplugs.

When we got home, I unpacked and repacked for our 3rd annual trip to Parksville with Stacey and the kids.  We booked 2 nights at Ocean Sands again, which was great!  We also decided to stay one more night so moved to Beach Acres for a 3rd night. I didn't like that as much and I don't think I would do that again... the checking out, waiting for new check-in thing.... but now we know what Beach Acres is like and we got an extra day holiday.  We all had a great time as always.

All in all, an awesome Spring Break! Back to school... yawn!

Quiltin' Sistas Retreat

 
I just got back from an amazing 5 days in the Okanagan, for our First Annual Quilting Retreat in Oliver!  Shirley and I had dreamed of doing this for awhile so we finally made it happen.  The two of us signed up to do our first Mystery Quilt, so the plan was to go to the local quilting shop to choose our fabrics together and then start working on it all weekend.    

 A gorgeous Fall day in Summerland

I drove out to West Kelowna bright and early on Friday morning and made it to Peachland for lunch.  I had a few hours to kill before Shirl got home from work so I went to the Blind Angler for a burger, then walked along the lake for awhile.  It was gorgeous Fall day!  Warm, bright... so beautiful.  Once Shirl got home, we packed up and were out the door by 4:30.  We stopped for dinner at the Falls Restaurant, in OK Falls.  Fabulous Chinese food and the place was packed... it's also pretty much the only place in town to eat besides the pub across the road.

A crisp evening - on the patio enjoying a glass of wine

The sun's coming up in Oliver

We made it to our B&B by 7 pm, and the owner was there to greet us.  It was located in the hills overlooking the vineyards in Oliver and it was perfect.... honestly, amazing place!  We totally lucked out on this place and will definitely be going back each year!  I loved that it was outside of town so it was super quiet and peaceful with a gorgeous view.  The first night we cozied up in our blankies and sat outside on the patio with our glass of wine.  (We even had a fire one evening.)


Saturday we were up bright and early and got to the quilting store before 10:00 so we could choose our fabrics for our Border Creek Mystery Quilt.  We were GIDDY!! Michelle, the owner of the store, was expecting us and luckily there were no other customers in the store.  We had her all to ourselves and she was super helpful in choosing our fabrics.  Shirl had hers chosen in about 20 minutes!  We were surprised - we thought it would be more difficult.  But the nice thing about Michelle is that she totally knows what she has and can zone in on what works immediately.  And it's not a huge store so it wasn't overwhelming.   My quilt choice was equally easy because I decided that I liked the recommended mystery quilt colours so I only had to coordinate a few fabrics to complete my stash.   We're both pretty excited to start working on our quilts, and it'll be fun to see how the mystery begins to reveal itself.  Hopefully we don't hate our quilts!  I doubt it.... :-)

We were finished at the quilting store so quickly that we were back in our jammies by 11:15 am!  Let the quilting begin!!

2 days of work... hard to believe!

Ironing and enjoying the view

 

So this is pretty much what we did for the rest of the weekend.... got up early, quilted, drank coffee, ate gourmet (frozen) pizza, Mr. Noodles and Cheetos.... and drank wine of course.  (Oh, and I 'may' have had a minor quilting meltdown/tantrum... all part of the experience.  Sorry Betty!  So much for trying to recruit her to the quilting world)  Oh yeah, so Shirl's BFF, Betty, came to join us for a night which was alot of fun.  I just love her for putting up with us, what can I say??  Being with sisters is not for the faint of heart... haha.  It was such a perfect weekend.  It was really the first time Shirl and I have ever spent time together, without our families, so it was a long overdue vacation. 

Eventually we had to go home.  :-( 

After we left the B&B we headed to a few wineries in Oliver (my favourite winery (EVER!) was CLOSED that particular day... total fluke bad luck... wah) and then went with Mike to another winery in West Kelowna later that afternoon.   It was great to hang out with Mike for awhile that evening, and then I was off bright and early on Tuesday to head home.  So sad to leave.  By the time I hit IKEA, all the "zen" had left my body as I battled traffic, getting lost and being in a building with a million other shoppers.  (Have you ever noticed that, no matter which direction you go in that store, you're always going against traffic??)  I made it back to the ferry and was home by 8 pm.


An awesome weekend.  Love you, my Quiltin' Sista!  We are soooo doing this next year!!

California Road Trip!!

This is for you, Shirl!!  No journalling, just alot of photos for you to check out!  Enjoy.

A free slideshow by Smilebox