Upon our return to China several of us have commented on the difference in our cultures when it comes to safety. China is at the end of the spectrum where very little attention is paid to safety and Darwinism is allowed to run its course. Canada is at the other end of the spectrum where our safety requirements and regulations almost hamper the society. In either event I am sure that neither country warns against putting small mechanical motor cars on your head however if you do this might happen to you . . .
Nathan's hair was inextricably wound around the rear axle of the car and no amount of twisting and turning would free it. In the end we had to cut it free. He found no where near as funny as we did.
Just to be safe we are going to put a helmet on him 24/7
We probably don't say it often enough but we love you. The whole fam damily wants to thank you both for putting us up and putting up with us for the whole summer. We always wish we could stay longer and there seems there is never enough time but we appreciate the time we do get to spend together.
We are sorry for invading your room and your privacy but you were a great host kid! Your cousins love you and miss you and I certainly miss swordfighting on the Wii. Look out though we are probably going to get one for Christmas and I am going to practice a lot! Alice looks forward to playing 31 for loonies next year!
For the 6th time Simon Fraser University's Pipe Band has won the World Pipe Band Championships in Scotland. Take that ya redhaired, haggis eating bahstarrrrd sods!
As Leonard Cohen might say First we take curling Then we taking Piping
Marshall was a great cousin and babysat Nathan while we were at the pool so that I could enjoy some relaxing time in the hot tub. His reward? $$$$? Well .. not exactly. A trip to the Candy Store just up the road where he purchased candy with reckless abandon. A nice couple with a 4 year old boy run this CandyStore (affectionately called CandyLand in our household) on their private property.
They have all flavours of candy both new and throwbacks to the 19th century. I felt like the Olsen kids on Little House on the Prairie just stuffing my hands in the jars and gobbing mouthfuls of candy.
They have put up a few displays on the property that you can pose beside. Here are the posers.
The store has been open for years but then closed down as the original propietors sold the property. The new owners had no intention of running a business and were merely looking for a place to call home. They underestimated the popularity of the joint and the first weekend they moved in they had 25 cars stop in looking for candy. Thus it has now become their life. And we were glad for that tonight.
Carter was tired, cranky and beyond consoling prior to this picture being taken. What changed the mood? An ice cream cone and sitting in the La-Z-Boy with his Grampa.
Sleep followed not longer after . . . . . ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
My 9 year old niece Natasha has a passion for riding horses (it's part of the bigger picture of her love for animals) so like last summer we watched her perform at Gymkhana. She did 2 events: 'slalom' through poles and barrel racing. While it would be cruel to call the horse she rides "GlueStick" it wouldn't be far from the truth. She does a great job of controlling him and getting what she can out of the horse.
Marshall, Carter and Nathan had a great time riding as my brother walked the horse around. Nathan is pretty pumped about owning a horse now. Great! Some pics and vids.
This past weekend the Ma-Brown clan travelled to Prince George to visit some longtime friends who used to live in Dalian as well as a family that is still there. Carter and Nathan loved making new acquaintances and revitalizing old ones. We loved just hanging out listening to great tunes, drinking great coffee, sipping good wine and enjoying some good conversation. Totally relaxing and worth every minute.
The great thing about this pic is that all 4 of them are hunkered around a 7" portable DVD player while half a room away there was the coolest BENQ projector system with full wall screen. We tried to sell the big screen but they clearly liked the intimacy of the small one.
I mentioned listening to great tunes but neglected to mention that we listened only to stacks of vinyl on a retro Toshiba system with funky turntable. It was so great to hear music with the rich full tones that only a turntable can provide. The first album up was this one Reading the album covers was almost as much fun as listening to the music. I loved the fact that this was dug out of storage and so had a great musty smell as well as the requisite unidentifiable stains. High Fidelity at its finest. The selection of music was varied and wonderful as we ended our visit with a great Sunday morning breakfast while listening to the sounds of Marty Robbins. Coffee, bacon and eggs taste a great deal better with "Devil Woman" playing in the background.
For $200,000 give or take you too can buy a beautiful lot on Canim Lake. I don't want to be misleading .. we didn't buy a lot but after this long weekend it sure was tempting.
My cousin Darlene and her husband Scott (and son Jordy) invited us out to their cabin on Canim lake. We left on Saturday and were unfortunately delayed several hours by a horrific accident (not ours) just south of 150 Mile House which closed Highway 97 for 7 hours. During this long wait and long drive my wife remarked .. "this better be worth it when we get there." She was not disappointed.
Scott had all the toys you could want for a lake (powerboat, Seadoo, water skis, tubes, kayaks etc). We did a tour of the lake, some kneeboarding (well with my gimpy leg I didn't but it sure looked like fun), slalom water skiing (again not me) and tons of fun eating, drinking, and swimming. Carter absolutely LOVED the water and we couldn't keep him out of it. The lake dropped off pretty quickly so he was clad in a life jacket for safety. Nathan was a tad more reserved about swimming but had tons of fun chasing dogs, throwing rocks and continually opening the doors to let ALL the mosquitoes in the Cariboo inside.
Scott and Dar are talking about going for a week next summer and I for one would not argue .. a truly great great weekend. Once I get the vids edited and posted I will show you some of the LIVE action!
