No we haven't been hiding. Well I haven't been hiding anyway. Life just gets busy and between the food blog and trying to put together a website to link to it and trying to keep my training and exercise up and trying to get the kids where they need to go when they need to get there and spend some time with family and friends it seems that I have gotten a wee behind in my blog.
And if that seemed like a run on sentence good it was supposed to be that is what life is like J running on and on. But to be sure, I am not complaining things are pretty good around this neck of the woods. Well really good actually – while Tammy is still busy with work she is not as busy. We have had a little more time with family and friends which is also great. The kids activities are winding down for the summer so the evenings are a bit more ours these days.
The weather this spring in Calgary has been......well....shitty. Simple as that, really it has been. After 12 years I am well aware that spring has its ups and downs with regard to the weather but this spring has been unseasonal cool. We had a few winter storms (which is normal) but no hot days after to melt the snow and warm our spirits. In fact even now it is rainy and cool (although we did have a warm weekend). For a while the weather was really doing a number on people's spirits, it's amazing what a lack of warmth and sun will do to people.
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If you follow Tammy's blog (and you should) you will by now know that we recently had a bunch of (ok well three) recitals out here; the boys had their Piano recital and Piper had her first ballet recital.
With the boys I have to say I am completely impressed, gone are the days when piano practice was relentless plinking grinding out from the loft...........now when they practice it is music and often times it is amazing music.....I love piano music and it is amazingly cool that both my boys can make it. (If I sound jealous I am just a little – I would love to play – but one or two obsessions at a time are my limit). It is the end of another year and with that comes their big year end recital. It was awesome.......funny how I dread going to them yet when it comes time to sit and listen to them play in front of 50 or so people that I sit straighter and taller and listen with great passion. Those are my boys up there and I couldn't be more proud of them, they play with great pride and poise.
Last year Alex was recognized for being the most improved overall student in the studio. This year it was Drew's turn. He put together a composition (meaning he wrote a piece of music then laid down the various tracks to compose it) it was called "Rainforest" and it was actually a very cool well thought out composition, I was very very impressed. Apparently so was his teacher as Drew one the award for overall achievement and best composition, it is hard to tell he was proud of himself.............but I have to admit I was pretty damn proud myself.
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Then there is Piper, it was her yearend Ballet Recital. After enduring countless hours of her daily home practice, no really I mean countless hours almost every day she will set up the music player and whirl around the main floor to various pieces of music from Sleeping Beauty to Swan Lake from Chopin to Mozart, Disney Ballet, Nutcracker, Aladdin, Cinderella for endless hours. Don't get me wrong what I am trying to convey is my amazement to her commitment, trust me I would much rather here the music than listen to the TV and hear another episode of Johnny Test. Ok back to the point at hand, Tammy has been taking Piper to ballet every Saturday for a year now and this was the culmination of all that. Now I didn't know what to expect.......but what I got was a hall filled with oh say 700 people and a very professional dance recital was put on. Piper was second to last of a 3 hour (maybe a little less) show so we had to endure many dances before that, the boys and I sat respectfully through them all (Tammy was backstage) which is more than I can say for a lot of the kids and some of the adults, I wonder were respect and common decency has gone (I actually had to ask one couple to stop talking during the performances). All was forgotten when my Princess took the stage though.......even as I type this I am getting a little choked up.....this whole daughter thing never ceases to amaze me. She was breathtaking, she was in her element, and even an accidental bump from one of her classmates couldn't distract her from the task at hand. It was a pretty cool moment. The top for me was being able to take her hand as she came down the stage stairs and present her with a dozen roses for her performance – she was beaming ahhhhhhhh if only all the moments in their lives will be like these. I hope to keep moments like these etched in my memory........my Princess.
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My favourite place on earth (so far)
I might not be that well travelled but I do know what I like and for me my little slice of Heaven is Shuswap Lake Provincial Park in BC. It is a large (250 plus sites) campground that is chalk full of families and other like minded weekend warriors. The set up is such that each site is somewhat private (large trees separate each site from view) yet the road ways in the park are paved and well maintained (perfect for the kids to bike, scooter, rollerblade – whatever) the weather is somewhat predictable and the amenities are just right.......not too much to take away from that camping feel but not really roughing it. Add to that 3 hammocks, 5 bikes, one 35 ft rolling cottage, 4 pairs of rollerblades, 3 scooters, one overly possessive dog, 3 great kids, one beautiful wife and you have a recipe for the perfect get away.
I love taking out the trailer, set up and tear down is never work to me, it's part of the journey. Picking the spot for the hammocks, clothes line, woodpile, where to put the bikes, tucking the trailer in as best spot as it can go, setting the chairs around the fire pit all of it tell me of great relaxing days ahead with the people I love to spend my time with. That is pretty much the case wherever we go but Shuswap has that extra special part. Part of it is that it reminds me of the place I grew up camping (Grundy Lake Provincial Park) the sites have the same feel to me, just private enough to be enjoyable but not really roughing it and a place that is conducive to families, the kind of place where your kids can venture out on their own for a couple of hours and you don't immediately start an all out search for them. Now wrap that in a lake that is nestled in-between 3 mountains in the interior of BC, that seems to have great weather, a wonderful stretch of beach that the kids can fully enjoy, an ice-cream stand within a 15 minute walk (or 5 minute bike ride), plenty of trails to ride, walk, rollerblade or whatever on. We have been going to Shuswap for 12 years almost every year lately we have been going twice a year (ok well lately as in this year and last year). This trip some friends of ours joined us for part of the trip and it was great to have them. Louis, Alice and Cole joined us for the weekend and we had a great weekend of biking, smores, fireside chats, games etc. Here are a couple of images of the weekend.
Piper and Cole enjoying some hammock time.
Lou and Alice by the fire (oh and Marley enjoying some attention)
The entrance to the beach area (enticing isn't it?)
Piper and Drew Enjoying the Sun and Sand (its May by the way)
Oh and Alex Enjoying? (the water was frigid) a Swim
We had a pretty big (or at least loud) Thunderstorm one night........guess who is afraid of them.
Enjoying the park
What camping trip would be complete without Hot Dogs on the Fire
Fire at night
Can't wait for June 30th when we get to go for 12 nights.
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A Few More Miles
With the Ride to Conquer Cancer coming up I am trying to squeeze in as many rides as I can but between the Camping Trip and the crappy weather here in Calgary it has been tough but I did manage to get in 3 half decent rides this past 2 weeks.
Out at Shuswap I brought my road bike hoping for an opportunity to get out for a couple of hours. That opportunity presented itself and off I went. I took a right turn and headed down the lake to see if I could find the end of the road. It was quite a bit more hilly than I expected given that it was a lakeside road.......I guess given that the lake is surrounded by mountains I should not have been that surprised. The weather was perfect (around 20 degrees) and the view was even better, the lake was on my right hand side and mountains and mountain meadows on my right. I passed through small villas (not even really towns) Celista and Anglemont. A lot of the lakeshore has summer homes on it but there are still good stretches of just nice lakefront too. I pushed it hard on the ride both not wanting to be gone from the family too long and also wanting to get as much out of the ride as possible.
Ride Facts
- Total Distance 68.7km
- Avg speed 30.5 kph
- Top speed 65.3 kph
- Energy burned 2,350 kcal
- Total ride time 2hr 50min
- Avg heart rate 138 bpm
- Max heart rate 165 bpm
This was a pretty good ride, mind you I had lots of down time before and my eating was different so my energy load was very high. I think the elevation is significantly lower than Calgary (1,100ft vs 4,000ft) as well which would increase oxygen levels.
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Quick 50 on July 12
We were having friends over so I didn't want to be gone too long but I also wanted to get in a ride so I jumped on the bike and hit the road. Somewhat different route in an area I have covered lots of. I did the jaunt out to Bearpaw rd and took it out to 567 and then back up Lochend. So similar to the Big Hill Springs route that I do but I cut about 30km off of it. This was completely a purpose ride so just blasting down the highway and working the hills (this route is pretty much all hills) it was a nice quick ride that did its job and got my legs and heart working.
Ride Facts
- Total distance 51.8km
- Total ride time 1 hr 50 minutes
- Top speed 77.3 kph
- Avg speed 26.2 kph
- Total energy consumed 2,049 kcal
- Avg heart rate 143 BPM (man I was working hard)
- Max heart rate 162 BPM
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Dead Legs and 70km
So my intent on this day was to hit 100km............so much for intent. I knew I was in trouble before I hit the 30km point. My legs were dead and I didn't have any energy. Couldn't figure it out.......I did however spend the entire next day down with some sort of stomach virus.........seems I figured it out. I did however muscle my way through 70km and after doing the 50 the day before I figured all in all that wasn't horrible. The route was similar to the Big Hill Springs Cochrane hill climb other than I chickened out on the Cochrane hill and added some BearsPaw road estates areas. I stopped at my normal stopping point which is a little road side turnout that is semi private from the road, had a drink and a power bar. Well I think that the smell of the power bar attracted the cows as a bunch of them moseyed on over to the fence and were watching me intently. When I went over to take the picture they kind of spooked and took off.
When I finished my bar and turned back to get on the road they were all standing by the fence again looking at me, it was kind of funny (guess you had to be there) anyway I said good by to the BBQ and headed back on the road.
This ride was all will I had little energy and I was not having fun. The weather was gorgeous 27 and sunny (pretty good wind but oh well I am getting used to it) but I had a hard time, the stomach virus explains a lot.
Anyway here is the 70km I did and it was good to do 2 days back to back......that added an interesting dynamic. I still think I am ready to go, in fact I am doing a 120km pleasure ride the Tuesday before the 210km ride for cancer so I guess I am good to go. The 120 is Banff to Lake Louise on the old Bow Valley Pkwy, I will bring Alex's camera and try to get lots of pictures. Daz will be joining me for the ride, should be a blast.
Ride Facts
- Total distance 70.3km
- Ride time 2:50
- Avg speed 23.8 kph
- Max speed 68.9 kph
- Avg heartrate 135 BPM
- Max heartrate 161 BPM
- Total Energy consumed 2,531 Kcal
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What else is going on.
Well we had some friends over for a great BBQ on the 12th check the CookShack blog for an update on that feast..........it was a little insane (Just the way I like it)
Went to a great Scotch tasting even at Kensington Wine Market and adjourned for some camaraderie and a cigar at Lou's place (more affectionately known as Casa Chewy) it was part in celebration of Daz's (Darren) 40th Bday seeing as I was out of town for his party. Here is Daz enjoying a cigar, sorry about the dark, no flash on the Iphone.
Other than that it is business as usual, that should get me caught up for now, hope you enjoyed.
Take care.
