life down under

I have so much to post about, but will start at the beginning! After 15 hours on an airplane, we were so happy to arrive in Sydney. My aunt and uncle picked us up at the airport and took us downtown to the Opera House. It was a gorgeous sunny morning and a wonderful way to start our trip. I love the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. They are such amazing landmarks of this great city.

The next day we went to Koala Park - a wildlife sanctuary - near my aunt and uncle's place. I have so many memories of visiting this place as a kid. It was so fun to take my own kids there and see it through their eyes. We saw wombats, dingos, lots of beautiful birds, kangaroos and koalas.

Everything was going well.... we were feeding the kangaroos crackers and just hanging out with them. There was a group of Chinese tourists in with us and one guy squatted down beside a kangaroo to have his photo taken. All of a sudden another roo came up and leaned back on his tail, and kicked the guy with both feet and knocked him into the fence. The poor guy jumped up, brushed the kangaroo poo off his designer pants and the whole group out them were out of the kangaroo pen in 2 seconds flat. We giggled about that for awhile. Then.... out of the corner of my eye, I saw that feisty little roo stand up and put his front paws on Bella's shoulders. Next thing I knew, he leaned back on his tail and started kicking her in the stomach! I lunged over, gave the roo a huge shove and picked up Bella. She was freaked out and crying. I immediately lifted up her shirt to check for damage and thankfully, they wasn't even a scratch. Those roos have HUGE front claws and have been known to use them to rip open a dog or an animal they are fighting with. It could have been really bad, but thankfully, it wasn't! Just a bit scary! I have to admit that after that happened, we got out of that roo enclosure pretty quickly too!!

The rest of our first week in Sydney was spent getting ready for my cousins wedding, and hanging out with other cousins that had arrived for the wedding. We spent a fun morning at Collaroy Beach in North Sydney, collecting shells, jumping in the dunes and enjoying the sunshine!

We are all having a great time so far!!

summer so far

I thought I'd share some photos of what our summer has looked like so far!

Many fun filled hours spent at the beach

Playing in the little wading pool and with water on the back deck

Swimming in the middle of the lake off of Grandpa's boat

Incredible sunsets off the back deck

Playing dress up

More beach time

Enjoying the hammock

Hangin' out, enjoying the lazy, dog days of summer! I hope you're having a great summer too!

a week of fun

We just enjoyed a fun week away visiting friends and family, camping and exploring. The trip started with a visit to the Enchanted Forest near Revelstoke.

There is now a great new park there called Skytrek Adventures. Zara loved the ropes course!

 Drivng through the Rockies was amazing! It's been years since I did that drive and was just in awe of the beauty all around! This is Emerald Lake near Field, B.C.

After a wonderful (but too quick) visit with Katherine and her family, we headed south to my cousin's ranch. It was a little piece of paradise!

We spent a morning enjoying the scenery and our family while riding in a beautiful wagon pulled by a team of gorgeous white horses.

Zara fell in love with a horse named Jed, who she rode all the way out and back.

We stopped for a snack and a break and Zara just couldn't stay away from Jed!

From there we headed back across the Rockies to Wasa Lake and Fort Steele. Of course we had to stop at the world's biggest dump truck!

This was our first trip to Fort Steele but it definitely won't be our last! We all loved it!

Helping make ice cream! It was good!

Our last stop was Osoyoos - a place so close to home but one that we haven't explored. This was at Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre. I LOVE the rammed earth building!

A fun time was had by all!

hooping fun

Oh my, it's been so long since my last post! I'm just going to jump right back in here with a bunch of pictures from this weekend.

We have been having lots of fun hooping these days. Zara caught on so quickly and is hooping up a storm, doing all sorts of cool moves! We bought a couple of hoops from a local vendor, but then discovered that it's very easy to make our own hoops. This website has a great tutorial on making hoops and there are also lots of "how-to" vidoes on You Tube. Sara, over at The Happy Hoop, has been a huge inspiration to us - not only in her hooping, but also with her family's adventures as "full time RVers".

The first few hoops I made were wrapped in colored electrical tape, but that just didn't cut it! So I ordered some hoop tape and started wrapping.... we're hooked!

Zara is hooping every chance she gets!

And Bella is our aspiring hooper! She LOVES her pretty hoop and spins it around her and has lots of fun with it.

And while the girls hoop, Thor finds other things to do! Sometimes he gets in on the action as well, but other times he's happier playing cars.

I finally made this picnic blanket from Soule Mama's latest book. I've been collecting old vintage sheets for awhile now and am so happy with how it turned out. This one is actually a quilt rather than a blanket, and so it's a bit heavier, but I do love it! I used a full sheet on the back and cotton quilt batting between the two layers.   

This afternoon we came upon an estate sale and I found a few little treasures:

I love the colors and just love this little covered glass dish. I've put it on the window sill by my kitchen sink to put rings in. It makes me happy each time I see it!

I hope you had a lovely weekend too!

sea shells

We've got 3 little sickies in the house today, so we're laying low, taking it easy. I found these shells in the cupboard and we spent a long time looking at them, sorting them into groups, comparing them, etc. A good way to pass some time! I just love sea shells. They are definitely one of my favorite things. They hold the energy of the ocean and take me back to the beauty of the sea.

Big shells are beautiful and impressive, but it's the tiny ones that I love. When I used to guide sea kayaking trips, I would spend any free time sorting through the sand and shells, collecting the smallest, most perfect ones I could find.

The spiral is my favorite symbol, and I particularly love finding it in nature. Sea shells are so often a spiral shape.

These shells all hold beautiful memories of time spent at the ocean!

adding to my ever growing collection

On a recent trip to the Wet West Coast, I stopped at almost every thrift store I came across! I found, as always, some great clothes for the kids and even some for myself. But my favorite finds were these gorgeous vintage sheets and pillowcases.

When I find vintage linens like this, I just can't seem to leave them in the store! I'm planning to make the beach blanket from Soule Mama's latest book. I've been on the lookout for something to use as the backing...something a bit heavier, like vintage drapes or a chenille blanket. But now I'm thinking this green flowered vintage sheet will do the trick. It won't be quite as heavy as it's "supposed" to be, but I will love both sides of the blanket/quilt!

I'm not usually drawn to the color yellow, but I just love this yellow sheet. I love the butterflies and flowers. This sheet is in amazing shape, and I'm thinking it would make some gorgeous skirts or dresses.

The two pink pillowcases may end up as matching dresses for Zara and Bella.

The little wool felted slippers are brand-new with the tag still on it. I got them for a fraction of the price that they are in stores.  I LOVE finds like that. I'm going to give them to a friend who recently had a little girl. My kids have all worn slippers like this and loved them.

I love thrift stores. While I was in Vancouver I was thinking I needed a bumper sticker on my car that says "WARNING - this car makes sudden stops for thrift stores".

a little bit of sewing

Here are a few things I've made lately:

A diaper pouch for a friend

I love this fabric combination!

A little zip pouch for Zara's DS

With a zippered pocket inside for her games

A bag for Jhovy

I love the owl ribbon on the pocket!

A cozy baby blanket

Zara needle felted the butterfly on a thrifted cloth napkin, then I made it into a bag for her Gram.

Fun, fun!