But Really, Who's Counting?

So, I think we are on day 6 of our 11 day drive, but honestly, I can't say for sure!  It's been fantastic and insane all rolled into one and as we arrive in San Francisco Sunday Night I was about to have a "Becki" sized hissy fit in the girly truck.  Tired, wanting my own bed, sick of the people I love dearly, and craaaaaaaaaanky!

On the way to San Francisco from Crescent City, I decided that waiting for the sun was senseless and that the kids MUST get in the ocean (they'd been itching to anyway) and with strict instructions to go in up to their knees, they gladly went!

In their defence, they were in up to their knees when the waves hit.  They were soaked, but had a blast!

Kids had to get changed right on the road, they were mortified.  

Paul Bunyan was creepy.  and big-ish.

The Redwoods were AMAZING.  and also big-ish.

Turns out Brenda's salsa is like crack to the hubs...caught him sneaking it more than once.  Salsa intervention? Dear, we love you, but you gots to stop the salsa.

San Francisco Zoo!  The kids had not yet been to a zoo due to the turkey farm for bio security reasons and were thrilled with the experience!

They were particularly happy with the Tarantula Exhibit.

This is a photo of us with San Fran in the background.  Wait...

ALCATRAZ

Solitary Confinement,  pitch black, door closed on us, the boy already heading for the door.

By far the best tour I have experienced.

Cool plane flew by mid tour.  

So that is it. or is it.  Yes it is.  I will save the story of using public transportation on street car F on the way back to our hotel for a day when I have a much stronger stomach.

  I will say this...No, I won't.

Long and Winding Road: Where Adele and Linkin Park Collide.

It’s been a couple of days since my last post and much has happened…and I didn’t have the energy to take it all in AND blog about it;)

The boy had a significant hair cut, while the girl had a blue extension and feathers put in her hair:)

 The hubs graduated from the National Executive Leadership Institute he attended this past week.  Very proud of him! 

Then we packed up and tottled off to Victoria and the Black Ball Ferry only to realize that we did not reserve and therefore missed the first one to Port Angeles.  This was beyond frustrating as only 18 miles of water stood between me and my friends. 

Ducks outside the Empress in Victoria, the kids enjoyed seeing them and then playing in the yard of the BC legislature building.

Almost 7 hours later I showed up the their door step in Port Angeles, family and luggage in tow. 

 Brenda sent us along with her FAMOUS homemade salsa:)

At Lake Crescent with Dawn and Brenda

 Doesn't matter to the girls that it's glacier water...brrrrrrr!  The boy stayed on the dock.

 We have not had the best weather on our trip so far, but hanging with friends makes it much better.

Too cute!  The girls hit it off instantly...it's so great, Dawn and I were in grade 8 when we met, and now our daughters have become fast friends.  Dawn and Rob have three lovely daughters, and one awesome Auntie Brenda in their lives.

We enjoyed out brief stay in Port Angeles, but now it was time to move on.  We drove 10 hours and arrived in NewPort last night.  We know there are mountains and lovely scenery out there, but we can't see a lot of it for fog and rain.  Also, it's a WINDY road...ugh...so carsick....I even got the hubs carsick while driving today!  We offset it with great Adele and Linkin Park tunes....both albums play like a long and delightful story...much like the road we were driving!

Today we have arrived in Crescent City...the beginnings of the Redwood Trees  and I am watching the kids burn energy in the pool, my ankle swell up and Stu nap through it all:)  

iPhone Diaries: Spelunking

Well today's photos will be a little different...all were taken with my Camera+ App on my iPhone, so the quality won't be great.  We had a full day.  The kids and I trekked over to Coombs to see Goats on the Roof.  Would have been AWESOME if we had actually seen said goats.  On a Roof.  We didn't.  Saw two in a field though and that my friends, was STELLAR.  Here is a link that will show you actual goats on a roof.  http://www.oldcountrymarket.com/

From there we proceeded to head to Horne Lake Caves.  I was under the impression that we were signed up for a family friendly 1.5 hr, 1 cave spelunking experience only to discover  upon arrival that the Hubs had different ideas, we have 3hr, 3 caves to go.  AHHHHHHHH.  I have NEVER wanted to spelunk. I do however like to expose the kids to a variety of activities, so off we go!

This is me, blissfully unaware of what the future holds...or maybe that's a nervous grin...

Yep and this is how we entered the cave, right onto a ladder.  I don't know how I got through this, but I puked a little just looking at this photo!  Maybe it was the 6yr old in our group that motivated me.

The boy taking it all in stride.

No touching this stuff please.  What's it called?  Who remembers? I was just trying to remember to breath in, breath out.

The Girl.  Touching that stuff we aren't supposed to touch, but they had a sample, so we touched it.

The Family posing in front of the cave I passed on.  Apparently they climbed beside a waterfall in that cave.  Sounds spectacular, doesn't it?  Yet, I have nary a regret.  Also: saw nary a goat here either I should add.  I did say I'd rather face any bears that wandered by over entering another cave.  The second cave had many tight spots in it, and once in the farthest reaches of the cave, after splashing in it's cold waters to let it know I arrived (ya, I know) I thought me and my helmet would be trapped forever.  I felt like crying, puking and screaming all at once.  I collected myself and focused on just getting out, and once out, NEVER to return.  The end.  

p.s. the kids loved it.  I hate that.
http://www.hornelake.com/caving_programs.htm

I Don't Even Like Photos of Flowers.

There I said it.  They don't interest me all that much, but I was at Milner Gardens http://www.viu.ca/MilnerGardens/ today with Stu and the other participants of the conference, so here are a few photos I took...oh and Stu did encourage me to switch lenses, but I did not. Thus you will have to check out the website to get a better WIDER view:)

This is not a flower.  Just a tree growing an offshoot...or something.  BARK.

ALSO:  not a flower.  He is cute and smells good though, can I take him home?  Yes I can.

I think this is a Lily.  Pretty sure that orange stuff in the middle will have me sneezing all night.

First In Spite of Me Blog Contest:  Guess this flower and I will send you a milk bucket in MooLand.  

So ya, a tad boring, will have better stuff tomorrow...off an a little adventure, haven't even told the kids about it so I certainly won't tell you...lol.

"We're in BobbiLand?"

Yes we are. And it's NOT a democratic country.

Do they even have to ask??  Although I never did have a name for it prior to that inquiry.
The kids are starting a coalition party to run me off, but they will have to do some SERIOUS fundraising.
It's been that kind of day...great overall,  yet the kids were staging a coup.  Unsuccessfully I might add.

Started the day on the beach, only to discover the tide was out a mile!  Hope these creatures made it until the tide returned.  Also the kids wanted to know how Sand Dollars and Clams reproduce. Yep, and since I didn't have the information at the top of my head we checked it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_dollar and http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_clams_reproduce

ok, am I allowed to be excited about this photo, if I was the photographer???  Of course I take 'em all, but this one is coooool!  That crab jumps out of the girl's hand shortly...she was entertained for hours.

Christmas in July?  Holly beside the restaurant where we are staying, very vibrant!

Our flowers should be this tall and that pretty in another month or two in Alberta?

Craig Bay Heritage Museum.  My kids LOVE history and any old implement they can set their eyes upon.  Or lean on.  It was great to way to spend the afternoon.

Thankful for the sunshine and free time....relaxing, perhaps not, but life is good.

ROAD TRIP!

So I didn't post yesterday.  I love a good rant, but whining, not so much, and yesterday I was whiney!
We drove from Strathcona County, AB to Vancouver, BC, a long haul with our kids.  For reasons we don't understand, they were both carsick!  We have driven to Whitehorse and back and not one time did they get sick, not so lucky this time.  We are very thankful for the safe journey, no car troubles, etc.

Today we ventured onto the BC Ferries and headed for Nanaimo.  It was a beautiful experience, one that was new to the kids.  Well, unless you count the Bleriot Ferry (which they were equally excited about, lol!).   http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType34/Production/bleriot_ferry.pdf

                                                             The Men in my life

 I used my 70-200mm today, so I had to be back half of the ferry to get these photos...got 'em on the sly!

                            The girl took this, I love what I've done with my hair.

                                                Saw this plane land just as we docked.

           I am a prairie girl...will take the mountains over the ocean, but I like them both together!

                                           The view from our room, not half bad;)

QUOTE from the boy:  "This trip gave me a whole different outlook on this area and the City of Vancouver."

I am NOT sad to leave the cold and rain behind, here is my favourite tweet of the day (hahaha!):

Wildsau Dream Crusher Here's a list of things I love about my furnace firing up on July 9th:

No Math Like the Old Math: A School House Rant.

Last week the kids had their last day of school and with that, their report cards.  I was generally impressed with them, both kids are a solidly “proficient” with a side of “excellents”.  What does that mean you ask?  Not fully sure, but this is the grading system here in the Elk Island School Division.  A’s and B’s?  Nope…here you are “Limited”, “Acceptable” (which is below average) “Proficient” and “Excellent”.  As you can see it’s all set out to make any student feel good about them selves…no hunny, you aren’t failing, your knowledge is merely limited.  Try explaining to your child that their acceptable work is very much UNacceptable.  My favorite quote on this matter comes from Disney, “It's psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity…” Robert Parr, The Incredibles.

This takes me to the “New Math”.  My kids were told that their parents would not understand the “new math” (gets me off the hook for helping the kids with math homework now, doesn’t it?) and according to last month’s preliminary Provincial Achievement Test results, neither do the kids.  Apparently the old school method of memorizing the Times Tables is no longer a relevant way of learning.  Also, getting the right answer is gravy, the real grades are in the process of getting any answer at all.  Back in grade two, my son went from being in the 90^th percentile for Math, to the 70^th.  His brain is wired for “Old School” Math….

I have the highest regard for educators, I don’t envy them their task.  The Hubs has an education degree, we get the level of commitment required to teach.  There are many great ones out there.  The school administrator at our school however should move on.  I would have made a stink about this person, however I care a lot about the future of the little country school and did not want to shed a negative light on it.  As more cutbacks happen to the education system, this person teaches more subjects.  One subject they have taught all along is ART.  I support the arts as much as anybody, but their idea of Art is having the kids do a perfect replica of this person’s example project.  They treat it like a core subject, and has been known to rip up a student’s project when it fails to meet their standards.  In one aspect of Art, my 11 yr old boy was given a limited. LIMITED. In art. For reals.  Makes my blood boil.  Hard to imagine this could be possible unless he grabbed the green crayon and colored in the whole project.  This is not a case of a lack of talent, it was a clear case of a lack of respect.  I had a hard time convincing the boy to show any when this person is so clearly undeserving.  Can’t inspire kids in art class?  BUH BYE.  I bet said person couldn’t draw a picture of Ken Dryden making a save or Henry Burris making a pass.