It's all about the holidays!

I don't know where to start with this post. We have been so busy and had so many fun things on the go that choosing photos was another near impossible task.

In order of how things happened is a good start I guess.

We decided to take a little long weekend break together as a family and chose a place called Panorama Mountain Resort. Here is their website if anyone is interested. http://www.panoramaresort.com/index.htm So off we went from Friday night and left on Tuesday morning. It was a lovely little get away. The weather was amazing. It was actually too hot on some days, reaching 35 degrees. We spent our time at the pools for the most part. Jared is such a fearless little waterbaby. We also had it confirmed that he is a charmer of note. We were in the pool and some random lady looked at him and said "you are very cute" to which he replied "you are very beautiful". We all nearly fell over laughing.

We saw our first bear on this trip. We never got any pics worth posting unfortunately as it sprinted off into the woods before we could get any decent shots at all. We did however get a good look at a mommy deer with her twin babies. So special.

Panorama is a ski resort and in the summer they open the slopes and ski lifts to the mountain bikers. The speeds at which they come down those hills is hair raising beyond description. Hannes went for a ride up the lift to get some pics. Jared and I stayed on the ground though.

The resort from the ski lift



The pools taken from the ski lift

Mommy deer with her twin Bambi's

The little ones were very curious but skittish



Getting a wash. Look at him peeking at us.

Mommy. Isn't she beautiful!

I just love this flower that Hannes photographed.


So after that nice little holiday it was a matter of days before Sunette arrived for her quick 10 day visit. We spent some time in Calgary which was a must for shopping :o) and we made a trip to Banff and Lake Louise just because Sunette hadn't seen it in summer and it is so close to home it is a nice day trip. And then it was off to Fernie for the last few days before she jetted off back to SA. Here are some pics from her trip. I know you have seen loads of Lake Louise pics, but it is too beautiful not to post again.

I love these pics of Jared in the bath having fun with his dad. Bathtime is still an event in our household.




Oh, we also did a quick drive out to Bragg Creek to the waterfall there. All the rivers and streams etc are quite low now since all the snow has been melted for a while.





These little guys are all over and very tame.



The lake. Oh, the weather was horrible up there compared to off the mountain top. Luckily we all had something warm in the car. It was raining as well. It is really strange how different the weather often is when you get up there.

Sunette and I

My handsome boys. It is so funny when they wear these shirts, you get some many knowing nods and smiles from passers by. There are so many South Africans here.

Jared and Sunette. It was a near impossiblity to get him to sit still for a photo.

All boy!


When we got home we decided to put Jared's pool up and let him play off his last bit of energy before bed. These pics were taken at about 6pm. With it getting dark so late it is still the same temperature as it was in the middle of the day at this time of the night which is really nice. We put the slide going into the pool and he loves it!! He is fearless this child and a total adrenaline junkie.

He could not leave the hose alone while it was filling the pool and had to have a drink. That water is COLD. All the pipes are buried deep underground so they don't freeze in winter so the cold water is really cold here. Lovely to drink!



Wheeee!!!



The ball needs a turn too.

"My turn"

I have no words!

So much fun!!


And then it was off to Fernie.
Taken somewhere on the road between Calgary and Fernie. (It is about a 3 hour drive)




We spent the day at a lake close to Sparwood one Sunday with some friends. Jared had fun swimming and playing with the dogs.

The lake. There are so many of these lakes all over and people swim and boat and ski and jet ski.

Taken en-route to the Lake.


We decided on Brunch up the mountain at one of the beautiful hotels. We had been up there before but hadn't eaten there.

The backend of the lodge where they serve brunch

Having some brunch. Who me? *flutter flutter*



Winking at us.


These are taken at various points on the way down the mountain after brunch.







This lady was out for a stroll and stopped us. She was very excited and asked if we wanted a photo of her 4 leaf clover. It was the first that any of us had ever seen. I wonder if she went off to buy a lottery ticket.


Sunette, Jared and I went off to feed the ducks. They were like dogs on this day. They were all out of the water boxing to get first shot at the bread we had for them. The followed us when we left as well.



This is how the other side live. These are some pics of a couple of the houses up on one of the ski slopes. They are very beautiful.




Shew, and finally just 2 really cute pics of our nunu. (taken at the Fernie house) He really is such a precious little boy. We must have done something really right to deserve him.

At the top of the stairs

Pushing his car on the deck.


Till next time xxxx

Our summer home in the Hamptons

Ok, not quite but we are in a summer home in the mountains :o) Hannes's project is nearing the first go-live and has to spend all his time close to the mines now until all is running smoothly. The company very kindly agreed to put us all up in a house for the duration that he needs to be here. It was a win win situation. They save on hotel bills and we don't have to be apart. We are in a little town called Fernie which is right up in the mountains. It is a ski town so in winter that is all people come here to do. The house we are staying in has 6 bedrooms (3 on each level) and is rented out in winter to families who come here for ski holidays. We have been lucky enough to rent the whole house for the whole summer. Hannes is working in Sparwood which is 31 kms from here so it isn't far for him to travel at all. I cannot describe to you how beautiful it is here. The contrast between winter and summer is breathtaking. Everything is so green and lush. The animal life is exquisite and completely untouched. There is so much to see and so many little roads to drive on that take you up mountains and into the bush. We are loving the exploring.

The view from our back deck. People do not have back or front fences here for the most part.

Taken from the back sliding door onto the deck


On Sunday we decided to go for a drive (Luckily we took the 4x4). We ended up in a reserve with a gorgeous little hotel in it and loads of camping sites. Then we decided to just take a drive and see where we ended up. Well, I am sure we ended up on top of the world! We climbed up and up and up a mountain. We were so high up that there was still snow lying on the ground in parts and it was quite thick. Considering the warm weather we have been having it really must have been very high up. We didn't have a GPS with us to measure the altitude unfortunately. We will definitely do that route again sometime in the hopes that the snow has melted by then and we will be able to get even higher up.

So close you can almost touch it

This lake is at the hotel in the reserve I mentioned earlier in my post


This river too

Our mountain climb start. That's Hennie in front (yes the poor man is visiting again) and us at the back

That's us going up and up...

And higher still

Hennie getting through the snow behind us after we decided to turn around. It was very deep and slippery

And down we come!

Taken at the start of the 4x4 climb

Right next to the road

On top of the world!

These little squirrels were on the side of the road. So cute!!

As was this little guy. I think he looks like a Dassie but not sure what he is called here.

I don't know if you remember I said we had bought Jared a train table for his birthday and had decided not to give it to him till we got here because it was just too big to move so many times? Well we finally gave it to him the day after we arrived here. He loves it and 2 weeks later I still have to drag him away from it. He plays with it all day.

The photos are a bit dark because I didn't take out the big flash.

And to finish off this long, overdue update, there was a fireworks display in Sparwood last week Friday. Now because it only gets dark here after 10:30pm in summer the display only started at 11pm so Hannes had to go alone. He desperately wanted to take some photos and as you can see he got some gorgeous shots as usual.