Cultus Lake Provincial Park - Maple Bay June 30 - July 5, 2009

Off we went for our 3rd trip of the season...this time to Cultus Lake Provincial. It was a bit of a special trip for me...I got to take my niece, Alina along! She came all the way from Ontario to spend some time with us...well, and the the Sikkema's too, especially Kristin and to go work in the kitchen at Stepping Stones too...so we weren't the only reason but that's okay. When we arrived at the park we were expecting a double site with Rob and Marnie but found out that we had different camping arrangements. We took some sites for the first night and then the next morning, thanks to Rob and Tineke our early birds, we managed to get 4 new sites right beside each other and closer to the beach yet too! Thanks guys, sorry we didn't hear your knock on the trailer door but you did great! We moved into our double site with R&M and UNLOADED! The trip was super-de-duperly fun! The guys were going to be dropping us off, staying for a night, heading off to work for the rest of the week and then coming back to join us for the weekend. Rob, Rod and Don did but I was spoiled and had Dave there the whole time. He worked from the campsite in the Chilliwack and Abbotsford areas but was there for dinner and the night! Spoiled...yup! I know so! Alina and Kristin had their dressing room tent and their sleeping tent all set up and they pretty much kept the kids all occupied, hair done for Nicole, an extra 2 pairs of eyes at the beach, got lots of reading done (I think), were very entertained at the campfires...who wouldn't be with some Goldschlager nearby...and they even did the dishes most of the time. Thanks guys! You were really a lot of fun to have around and I hope you had fun too.

Our campsite. We are on the R of the picture and R&M are on the L with Kristin & Alina in tent city in the middle in behind the dining tent.

The beach.

The campfire that we could have for 3 the nights but not for the last 2 as there was a fire ban! A bit lousy not to have a fire but a fire ban can only mean good weather and good weather we did have! Sunny the entire time!

Bed time reading by Nicole!


Fun times on the boat...thanks Rod & Linda!


Alina!

Linda took her for a wild ride on the tube! She said not too crazy but we had to get her wet! Wet she got as she flew off the tube!

Kristin came too!



Her ride was a bit wild too! But she survived!

Jake was very busy, we hardly saw him. He was off on adventures with Jordyn. Those 2 are peas in a pod when it comes to exploring in the forest and creeks! He only resurfaced when he was hungry...okay, so fairly often as he is non-stop eat these days. The 2 of them found a creek, that they remembered from last years Sept long weekend, and sat for hours crouched over looking for little fish. They found some pretty cool creatures...even some sort of 'rock bug.' Gotta hunt that one up on line one of these days. It looked like a rock with legs...really neat.

If he wasn't finding cool bugs and fish with Jordyn he was on his bike looking for jumps with the boys or off tubing behind the boat!



This is our Jake, fun and serious all in one!

Nicole was VERY happy to have Alina and Kristin along. She got plenty of their attention whether it was reading with them, getting her cuddles or having her hair done! She's always ready for some girly-girl time. She spent HOURS, literally hours, on the tube with one of the girls but most of the time she was chatting it up with Jordyn out in the 'middle' of the lake! I really wish I could have heard what they were talking about, I guess I can only speculate! but it looked like fun. Amazing she didn't get fried out there on the water in the hot sun...thanks to inheriting that Spoor skin!

Nicole our pretty little girly-girl.

Getting her hair done by Alina is so much quieter than when I do it. Alina, thanks to you she got her hair done every day...that wouldn't have happened if you weren't there!

Matthew is our little softie...he often doesn't know what to do because he isn't quite as adventurous as Jake is but he seems to be just fine in his own little world too. He was eager to show me his jumps with his bike...too bad I didn't get a good picture of his 'air'.

Matthew gets along fabulously with Alexis. They are so very cute together...a future match? Time will tell...

Softie but a silly goose all in one! He too enjoyed Alina's attention and would often be found sitting on her lap just cuddling or getting a story or 2 in!

Tubing...we all had a riot on the tube. We even managed to tip Dave over a time or 2!

I was also tipped over. 5 times...the kids gladly announced to everyone on the beach when we got back! Hey, I had Linda towing me and she has a thing for speed...especially if I am at the receiving end of it! Thanks for the fun ride Linda. I also managed to get up on the skis...on the second try! It's getting easier every year. So much fun. This year I braved going over the wake but it was a bit hard getting back....can't wait for Herald Park in August!

Jake has a thing for speed too...he LOVES it and was even trying to get technical by trying to maneuver the tube with his body...always trying to figure things out. We sure need to get him up on skis this summer!

Nicole didn't want to go quite as fast as Jake but she did just great! She bopped along in the water.

Matthew didn't enjoy it as much...he really didn't want to go fast and slow wasn't slow enough. Maybe by the end of the summer he will be a bit more adventurous.

Now for some random pics that I just had to include....Brooklyn wearing Daddy's hat, Dylan all covered in mud and yes, you've got it the only flower I managed to find the entire weekend!