10 Hours in Revelstoke

During the 2nd week in July, while my kids were on the Island at camp, I got to go along on a road trip with Steve. He drives truck during the Spring and Summer, and this is the second year he's had this job. I haven't been able to go along before since we have 3 kids and only 1 person can go with him at a time. The kids all got their turn last summer, and again this summer. When one kid is along, I am at home with the other two.

The first thing Steve said to me, as we packed up and left the house on the first day, was, "Don't call your bag 'luggage' because this is not a holiday. It's just a backpack with your stuff in it and we are on a working trip." I had to laugh at that. For me, 4 days on the road, with no kids, is definitely a holiday! I don't care if I have to sleep in the sleeper of a semi truck, or eat fast food. We left our Province - that's a holiday right there!

Our travels took us to Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge. Then, back through Calgary and homeward bound. On our way home, we stopped in Revelstoke, BC. What a beautiful place, right on the river. We had beautiful weather for our short, but sweet, stop. It was only a total of about 10 hours, with approximately 8 of them sleeping, but it was enough for me to feel the town's charm.

Dinner was at Denny's and breakfast the next morning was at McD's. Here is a quick look at this quaint town from my point of view at the edge of the highway.

We parked just West of the town in a large pull-out area. The trucks slowly started pulling in and stopping for the night, but it wasn't even close to being full.

The bridge is over 50 years old and, let me tell you, it SHAKES! After the stories of bridges falling down, in recent months, I was looking for my escape route the whole way over.

Right as we were crossing the bridge, we heard the train. I was able to capture a few pics of the train crossing right in front of us on the tracks parallel to where we were standing. I love the reflection on the water. We had such beautiful weather.

These next pictures almost made me sick to take... looking up while the bridge beneath your feet is swaying is not my idea of fun. But it made for some cool pictures, so I had to go for it!

 The sliver of the moon as we walked back to the truck after dinner. 

 
In the morning, we followed the trail under the bridge and I got some cool shots of the underside of the structure. Being below, you can really see the bridge moving when large trucks go over it. It is quite loud down there, as well.

The next picture happened right in front of us while we were having breakfast. I put a little news report on Facebook, so I will just copy and paste that...

This is Sarah, reporting LIVE, on the road, for the Kenworth news: Everyone who was anyone, in Revelstoke, was at the local McDonald's this morning and witnessed the chase and arrest of 2 guys. Handcuffs and everything. 2 police vehicles - the first officer called for backup. What could it be? Stolen car? DUI? Drugs? (they kept pulling more stuff out of the car) The old men of the town even took turns doing a walkabout and coming back with more information of what they heard and saw up close! Pretty funny (I guess not for the 2 guys arrested, but from a passer through's point of view, I appreciated the collaborative efforts of the locals to get the story woven together!)

The story of "Woodenhead"! What a fun piece of history right here! The write-up is in the 2nd picture.

 

This was the sweetest picnic table I think I've ever seen. Heart cutouts in each end.

Finally, while other parts of our trip were sponsored by Tim Horton's, this sunny day, in Revelstoke, was definitely sponsored by McDonald's. They really do have great coffee - no joke, it's our favourite. At the end of the trip, Steve told me that it felt more like a holiday than his other trucking trips. He said that he felt less rushed (he rarely has a sit-down dinner like we did). We knew the kids were safe at my parents' and he had me along... he actually wanted this trip to last longer (his words, honest!).

Next time I am in the Revelstoke area, I would like to explore inside the town, not just the sights at the edge of the highway!

Demolition Derby

This past Monday was BC Day. Every year on the the first weekend of August it is a long weekend, but it is also the local fair - Agrifair. We usually go at least one out of the 4 days each year. It's not too big of a fair, and there is always lots to see.

As we stood in line to pay our admission fee, a lady came up to us and asked if all our kids were under 11. I said yes, but I didn't know why she was asking. She told me that kids 10 and under are free. Bonus, I didn't know that!! But, then the real kicker was when she handed Steve and I each a ticket. She said, "This will get you in free, as well." Wow! Talk about a serendipity! It would have cost us $24.00 to get in.

The Demolition Derby was our main goal to see at the fair, but of course, there were other things that we really enjoyed as well.

Last week, our kids went to a VBS (Vacation Bible School) at a local church. It was all about Creation and dinosaurs, and they absolutely LOVED it!! The same people (Creation Truth Ministries) that put on the VBS were at the fair with all their dinosaurs! 

Next, we went to the car races and demolition derby. The first race was featuring the kids. They were great! This little cutie is only 5 years old and he won his race.

The Demolition derby events were broken down into different categories, according to the size of the cars. This Batman car was Elise's pick to win in this event.

My favourite was the Transformer, but neither one of our picks won. The winner of the small cars event was #61.

Oops!! This little pile up started the first fire of the day. A quick little spray with the fire extinguisher and the action was back on.

Here's the fire that stopped the event. Men came rushing out with fire extinguishers and had to work on it for quite awhile before they were satisfied that the fire was out. They even called in the loader to lift one car up so they could aim the fire extinguisher right at the fire underneath. Exciting stuff!! Eventually, the last 3 cars, that were still active, were allowed to continue to determine the winner.

The very last hit of the day, between these 2 orange beauties, decided the winner... #9, on the right took home bragging rights as winner of the derby. He also took home a very broken car!

We met up with our friends at the fair. Thanks for hanging out, J & K!

E got herself into a little bit of trouble...

I pulled out my camera and asked Scott to stop for a minute. He automatically smiled for the picture and then was a bit sad that I just wanted his shadow! haha!

Fun times at the fair... can't wait to go back next year for some more excitement. I feel like going for just half a day didn't give us enough time to take it all in. We might consider buying a weekend pass next year.

Summer Fun

We have had a "close-to-home" kind of summer. One year, I am sure we will do Disneyland, and maybe Europe in a few years, but this year, I was quite happy to have a peaceful time, close to home.

Towards the end of July, we spent an evening at a nearby lake. The water was perfect - so warm. As we drove to the lake (about 45 minutes away from us) we saw the masses of people heading home from the lake after spending the entire day there. That suits me just fine! I loved that we had a long section of beach all to ourselves because we arrived at about 6:00pm. The kids all had turns in our blow up boat, and I was reluctant to get out of the water when it was time for the gates to close. We hope to go back a few more times before school starts up again.

Sunbeam Music - A Storybook Project

One of the dreams I've had for awhile is to write a children's story. This dream is coming to pass, thanks to the help of a Canadian publishing company - Word Alive Press. One day, soon, I will write a post about the whole process, but for now, I will share just a bit.

Here is the cover of my soon-to-be-released children's book. Today, I approved the cover art and design, and that takes the project one step closer to publication. A few weeks back, I approved the final storyboard and layout for the whole book. I just love it, and I get excited about being able to see it in print very soon.

This sweet girl on the front of the book is named Veronica. She is one of the main characters in the story. All the beautiful illustrations in the book are thanks to the talented artists at Word Alive Press. They took the characters that I wrote about on paper, and brought them to life in pictures. It has been a wonderful process and Word Alive is a fantastic company to work with. If you have a dream of writing a book (any genre, not just children's stories) then I highly recommend contacting Word Alive.

I have created a Facebook page so I can make regular updates. If you are on Facebook, I invite you to hop over there and "like" my page. It's called Read With Me - Sarah Froese. I purposely didn't call it by the title of my story, because I am hoping that this is the first of many stories to be created :)

The publication date has not been announced, but when it is, my Read With Me Facebook page friends will be the first to know!!

Crayons From Crayons

This is not a new craft, but it is the first time we have done it. So, therefore, it is new to us!

Over the last couple years I have noticed crafty moms making fun shaped crayons for Valentine's gifts for their kids' classmates. I have only 2 of my 3 kids home this week, so I thought I would try something different. Pinterest is a great starting place for inspiration. Yesterday, I made a Pinterest cookie recipe. Today, I tackled a craft. So, at one completed pin a day, it will take me just under 10 years to make all my current pins. This doesn't include pins I may add tomorrow! Hey, one is better than none!

This pin - Crayon Hearts - is the cool crayon pin that inspired me to make crayons with my kids tonight.

Here are the steps...
1. Preheat the oven to 250 or so
2. Start with some crayons (the good kind... Crayola!)
3. Peel the paper off
4. chop them into bits
5. drop the colours randomly into the mold. (The instructions I read said to fill it only 1/3 full, but next time we are going to try filling it to the top to get fatter crayons).
6. Put the silicon mold on a cookie sheet and put the whole thing in the oven for about 15 minutes. It went faster for my oven.
7. Remove tray carefully so the colours don't slosh together while they are still in liquid form.
8. Let the crayons harden for about 30 minutes in the mold. Keep your kids back, these babies are hot and it looks so inviting to touch... 

 9. After they had been allowed to cool for about 30 minutes, I carefully took the crayons out of the mold and laid them out to completely cool.

In the morning, we will try them out on paper. If nothing else, we have created some cool puzzle pieces. The silicon mold is designed for ice cubes, but now we will just use it for crayons and crafts. The crayons really stained it. I found they are too big for ice cubes, anyway.

This was such a simple little project, but the kids were giddy with excitement to see the transformation of their crayon bits into one big crayon. And, you don't have to get a whole bunch of supplies to make it. Most people with kids in the house have crayon bits in drawers and craft cupboards. The mold I used is from IKEA, years ago, but you can get similar things from the dollar store, I believe. Make sure it is a heat resistant mold!! Otherwise, you will have more than just crayon art happening in your oven!

Authentic Jazz Music

During the Spring and Summer, my husband drives a semi truck on runs between BC and Alberta. At the beginning of the summer, I got to go on a trip with him while our kids were at my parents'. Last week, he took our daughter (she celebrated her 7th birthday on the road with daddy. Last year, she was on the road for her birthday, too... this is becoming a tradition!) and this week, he has our middle son along (he's 9). Next week, Steve will take our oldest son on his trip, and then he will get to drive the rest of the summer in peace and quiet! He really enjoys having the kids along, but he sure likes the break after they've all had a turn, too!

While it was just the boys and me at home, last week, we did some pretty fun things together. One such thing was attending a concert in the park. Apparently, these Summer "Jam in Jubilee" concerts have been going on for the last 9 years, but I must have been living under a rock, because this was the first year I have ever heard of them! Some friends of mine make up the group, "Courteney Rodda and the Other Guys". It's a Jazz ensemble, and they make beautiful music together. 

You will feel like you've stepped back in time as this group performs. They are authentic, not only in their sound, but in their appearance, as well. Some of the kids in the audience just couldn't help themselves, and they began to dance along to the sounds of Jazz. The band plays classics as well as original pieces that Courteney has written.

I gave the camera to my boys for a few of these pictures, and I think they did a fun job of capturing the evening. Since the musical focus of the group is the 1940s - 1960s, I added some vintage filters to a few of the pics. If you want to know more about this group, or hear some of their jazz music, click on the link above. You can also find them on Facebook.
 

 

Beautiful Things

Blessed are those who see beautiful things

in humble places where others would

see nothing.

~ Camille Pissarro

One of the reasons I am very excited about teaching Kindergarten, this Fall, is that I will be able to discover things, again, for the first time. Children have a unique sense of wonder that we often lose by the time we are adults. None of my own children are kindergarteners, anymore, but they are still in the "child" phase of life. 

Last week, while doing some local exploring, my 9-year-old picked up this pine cone and said, "Mom, look how cool this is! Can you please take a picture?" I had to agree that it was a very cool find, indeed. And, like a true discoverer of wonder, I took out my camera and captured the moment for him. What a beautiful creation a pine cone is. Do you stop to enjoy pine cones? I once made a nut and pine cone wreath to hang on my front door at Christmastime. The only problem with that was that the local squirrels thought I was providing them a scrumptious buffet, and I had to take my creation down early. Christmas cheer!

This flower is fascinating. I will have to look up what it is called, but they were growing like weeds where we walked the other day. As I walked passed, the splash of orange caught my eye and I crouched down for a better look, and of course, for a picture (or 3!)

I love reflections. I took about 15 shots of this guy because he kept turning his head. I was more concerned about the perfect reflection than what the actual elk looked like!

Shadows are another fascinating concept. Anytime I see a shadow of a child, the song "Me And My Shadow" runs through my head!

We were driving home from the lake, the other night, and the moon was incredible! I made my husband pull over TWICE for pictures. I pushed for a third time, when the moon was so perfectly sitting atop the snow covered Mt. Baker, but there wasn't a safe place to pull over, so I didn't get that shot. I will just have to keep that image tucked away in my mind.

Big things, small things, everything in between - when you take the time to look, you will see beauty in everyday things. The petals on a flower, the intricacy of the flower's centre, the face of the Man in the Moon - all of these give testimony to the great God we serve.

 For since the creation of the world 

God’s invisible qualities

—his eternal power and divine nature—

have been clearly seen, 

being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

~Romans 1:20