Osoyoos 2008

Osoyoos was fabulous - as always. We stayed in the same house that once belonged to my parents and now belongs to family friends. Their house is just a 5 minute or less walk to town and to the beach.




Our main goal while we were up there was to relax and enjoy family time with my mum and Aunt and Uncle who joined us. We had a great time with all of them. We played lots of cards including Up and Down the River (affectionately known as Screw Your Neighbour) and we also played lots of Crib and Canasta.

On the drive up we stopped in Manning Park to see the gophers and stretch. Elijah was very taken by the little critters. They certainly are tame and brave.

Elijah had a great little set-up in the back of Nana's van. Her van came with a built-in DVD player, so he watched Thomas the Train and Baby Einstein on the way up. He loved shouting "tain, tain!" and "baby, baby!" whenever he saw a train or baby on the screen.

Elijah did so well on the trip up with little complaining. He did however get sick... surprisingly he didn't hurl until Keremos. I would have thought if he was going to get sick that it would have happened during the windy Hope-Princeton. Strange. Thankfully, there was a fruit stand we could stop at to change him and clean him and the van up.

Our little "nakasheeta" (nudie in German).

Anyone want a strawberry milkshake?? He had eaten lots of fresh strawberries and some milk a few hours earlier. Mmm, yummy.

We got up to Osoyoos just after 1pm on Monday. That evening we walked across the bridge to the other side of town (the more touristy end) and went for ice-cream at the windmill.







Every morning was pretty relaxed. We enjoyed coffee together and then usually puttered around for a while. We then would make brunch and then go to the beach. Gerdi and my mum also played some tennis, which was especially enjoyable for my mum who beat Gerdi every time. Now to be fair, she does play in a league and he only plays very casually. He also did win his share of sets, but mum always managed to win the games.




Elijah loved the water this year and loved spending time with "Uncle Gusth" and "Auntie Loli". He was spoiled between 5 adoring adults all week. We just had so much fun with him and his antics. He's becoming such a little character. He definitely was the entertainment for the week. It was also most enjoyable for me to have so many willing extra hands so that I could have a bit more quiet time / relaxing time. I also really enjoyed having my hubby's undivided attention as there were little distractions up there. Generally, at home I have to share him with the farm, which can distract him well into the evening. The only business we had to take care of while we were there were e-mails. It was actually no problem as I just got a laptop!! It is really cool and I am totally thrilled about it. The outside is black with silver vertical stripes down one side. I'm using it right now to blog while sitting in front of the TV. So nice.

He loved picking apricots from the tree.

Swimming time.

Nana and Elijah

Relaxing and chatting.

The happy family.

Elijah discovered a neat way to recline. Apparently my bum makes a great cushion :-)


On Thursday Gerdi, Elijah and I drove up to Grand Forks to visit our good friends, Brad and Alisa, who moved up there about 2 years ago. They bought 10 acres and have quite the hobby farm going on. They have 3 little girls who Elijah loved! Their girls are quite shy (especially the twins), so Elijah's affection wasn't always welcome. I don't think he won them over at all during our visit... much to his surprise. I guess he will have to learn that his charm and good looks won't always be enough to get the ladies :-)

We also visited Alisa's brother's organic dairy farm. We got a tour of the cheese process which was very interesting.
Jessica, Amy and Megan. The twins are 3 and Amy is 6.

Grand Forks was terribly windy while we were there (actually all of the Okanagon was stormy). When we returned from DQ, we discovered the wind had blown their budgie cage right off their porch. The three little babies were gone too!! Amy was so sad and we thought they were goners as they have cats and dogs who would love a little budgie snack given the chance. While we were all looking, I took a moment to pray that we would miraculously find just one alive. Amazingly, we found all three babies huddled under the deck!! It truly was a miracle as it's hard to think how they ended up together and in a safe place. Thank you Lord! Amy was so relieved.

We left on Friday and were back in the Lower Mainland by 7pm. I wish we could have stayed longer, but alas all good things must come to an end.