North Barriere Lake with the Grims - August 28 to September 3

And of course the Raaps...I've been told in cheerful and pleasant tones by the nephews and nieces that I am not a Grim anymore.  But as my husband likes to remind me, I will always be a Grim.  Which, of course, I presume is a compliment.

We had a wonderful time.  It will be hard to pick my favorite pictures, so this may be a long post....

Ready to Go!

Can you tell how low the van is?

The view from our cabin.  Tania threw together a party for our 6th anniversary the first evening we were there - hot dogs and cake.  Ok, just kidding, it was for Brandon's second birthday.

I tried for a pic of all the girls...notice in the background, apparently Bryan and Peyton just cannot bear to be left out :)

On the way up we stopped at the Superstore in Kamloops.  Inching across the sidewalk by the front entrance was a horned tomato worm.  Seth quickly insisted that we had to capture it in his bug catcher, which was conveniently packed in an accessible location.  We had never seen anything like it before.

It was VERY COLD the first two days, so we used the stove in the cabin.  The campground provided firewood, which was an awesome bonus of the place.  We also had very few mosquitoes, so I guess we could thank the cold for that as well.  The Raaps were not prepared for the cold temperatures, so we wore the same clothes all week.  For some reason by the end of the week no one wanted to sit by us.

The morning view of our patio...yummy bacon!

The dock just below.  The actual swimming area was a two minute walk away, but we did not use it much on account of the cold.

Fortunately all the kids had their bikes, which kept them occupied many hours!

Carsen caught the first fish of the week!

Everyone's here...let's get a family picture.  Chaos ensues.

Come on everyone, listen to directions, sit here, sit there, smile...good everyone is looking!  An impossible feat.  We may have to do some photoshopping.

My animal-and-nature-loving son and his magnifying glass/binocular/monocle/compass while we wait for the picture to be set up.

Now he's practicing his whistling.

The best ones on my camera

I didn't get one of A&T on my camera because I was taking their picture on their camera.

Isn't my mom beautiful?!

My dad thought so too.

"Art STOP it!  I'm so embarassed."

Unfortunately I didn't get a normal one...oh wait, this is normal.

My good-looking younger bro Jay-Dog

I don't know how no one fell in all week!

The kids spent hours on the swing set as well.  Poor Uncle Shaun was elected as "Best Underducker" and therefore the girls insisted on his pushes.

They're both for her :)  Way to stay hydrated Lee!

The second night the campfire ban was lifted...the kids promptly filled up on sugar.  Oh well, that's camping, right?

The last day we were there it was finally warm enough to sun tan and swim.

Bryan and Shaun - where the party is at

On the way there and back - miles and miles of burnt forest from a devastating forest fire six years ago.

FINALLY CLEAN!