Forum Lake

Another post about hiking! We here at the Bear house sure like our hiking, and this one was my current favorite. The trail head for Forum Lake is just north of Cameron Lake, this trail has several branches that can be hiked. One can be done over the course of 3 days, doesn't that sound like fun! The entire trail is called the Akamina Pass, and it goes a long way.

This trail was quick rocky, compared to others we have been on. It gets steep pretty quickly, and is a steady uphill walk for about a kilometer, then it is kind of an uphill/downhill for a while. One of Little Bear's favorite things about this hike was hiking all the way to B.C.! 

That's right! You cross the Provincial boundary on this hike. Not long after passing this sign, the trail forks, we took the main trail. The trail we were on on also leads to Wall Lake and continues the Akamina Pass. Further along there is a second fork, this time we took the smaller trail and boy did it get tricky after that. 

These 2 are so funny!

Once you branch off on the Forum Lake trail things get super steep, for a long time. I would like to do this hike again with a GPS of some kind to measure how much elevation you gain. You are in the trees from here until you nearly get to the lake. One thing I liked about this trail is, there's a ranger station! Which means a bathroom! Which means, an outhouse, but that sure beats a tree in my books. Just past the ranger station there is a little trail that forks off and takes you to Forum Falls. It is only a few dozen meters, and well worth the few minutes,

We took our time on this hike, partly because there was so many pretty flowers and other vegetation to look at and mostly because it was really steep! Little Bear was a champion on this hike, it was taxing for her, but she pushed to the end. When you get to the end you can see this

It was another successful hike, and we had a lovely picnic on the shores of this little lake. It was cloudy when we were up there, and I wish I could have gotten a picture of the lake when the sun came out for a few seconds. The lake turned this incredible shade of turquoise, It was breathtaking. If you ever feel like taking a hike that will challenge you, this is a good one. It is about 4km each way, and should take you 3-4 hours depending on how fast you can scale those inclines.

Looking down from above the falls

On the way back down we decided to hike the cut line along the AB/B.C. border just to see what we could see. Papa Bear always the surveyor noticed this. It is the official marker of the border, or something like that, ask him, he knows all the real words. 

True to our luck, we saw a Mama Bear & 2 cubs while driving out of the park. Un-lucky was that I was not camera ready! But that brings our bear count to 10 this summer! 

Halloween

Well, Halloween was more than a month ago, but I am trying to catch up on these missed posts. So here is goes.

Baby Bear wanted very much to dress up this year, for her class party, I reluctantly agreed to let her, but with some strict guidelines regarding her costume. This is what I came up with, using only items we already had

On the day of the class party, I was running errands and planned on meeting Baby Bear at the school after lunch to help her into her costume, which I had with me. I was on my way to the school, when I got a phone call from Baby Bear's teacher, telling me the costume parade was about to start and Baby Bear was without her costume. Well, I didn't know there was a parade, I didn't make it to the school in time for her to put on her costume. I was upset at the lack of communication, and Baby Bear was fit to be tied that she was the only child who didn't have a costume for the parade.

I was able to calm down the angry little bear, and get her into her costume so she could participate in the little party. Lesson learned though, next year the costume will be going to school with Baby Bear, not to the Grocery store with me.

Thanksgiving

I am Canadian, but I am posting about Thanksgiving today, on U.S. Thanksgiving. Why the 2 different dates? Weird. Anyway our Thanksgiving was done in 2 parts this year, and I am sad to say I didn't take a single photo of either event!

We went to my families home on Thanksgiving day, and had a blast! We had fun all day with rock band, and a bit of shopping. The meal was cooked by my older brother, who made the most delicious food ever! I really had no idea that he could even cook! The stuffing was my favorite part.

The following weekend we spent with Papa Bears family, their get togethers are far quieter than with my family, but just as fun. The food was pretty good, (but I won't lie, the 1st meal was better) and the company was great too. We had lots of fun playing with the babies, and playing the crazy confusing games that Papa Bears brother always brings.

We hope that your Thanksgiving was or is just as much fun as ours.

Wedding Fun

My little brother got married last Friday. It was such a fun day, being with family and celebrating with the happy couple. My job for the wedding was sewing (of course!), and I really enjoyed working on the dresses for the 3 bridesmaids and 2 flower girls. I also made a vest for the groom & ring bearer, 2 bow ties and my first ever long tie. I do not have permission from the entire wedding party, so I won't post pictures of everything today. If I do get permission, I will post more pictures of the day. For now, I will leave you with one I snapped of Baby Bear at the lake in her fancy dress.

Climb Every Mountain

It was a beautiful day here in Bear country, so nice I thought for a moment it was July, not the middle of September! I was struck by a stroke of genius today, as I was thinking about the nice weather and how little we have explored our new home. We didn't get a summer vacation this year, because of the move. Weekend trips are out due to heavy class loads at school and very little money. So I came up with a plan that would keep us close to home and be fairly inexpensive.

Papa Bear doesn't have school of Friday, and Baby Bear gets out early, we decided to get Baby Bear right from school and go to the very near by National Park. It is a breathtaking 40 minute drive away, and it is a great place to do some exploring. Baby Bear was thrilled that we were going to the mountains, and so we decided to climb one! Granted it is more like a large hill, and you don't even come close to breaking the tree line, but to her little legs it was mountain enough.

The mountain we climbed is a popular easy hike, called Bears Hump as seen below in the photograph. We had a nice picnic on top, enjoyed the great view, the sunshine and the wonderful fall breeze. Afterwards we enjoyed an ice cream and a leisurely drive around the village.

This is a picture of the view, looking south towards Montana. You can see the little village, the lakes and the mountain range. I plan on finding out which mountain is which so I can label this picture.

Long Time...

It has been a long time since I posted, sorry about that. We are moved, we have been in our new house for 3 weeks now after spending 2 weeks at my in-laws place. Our quick renovation turned into a major overhaul overnight. I guess that is to be expected in an old house. We ran into a few problems, but after a few trips to Home Depot we managed to get it all done. Now we are on to other things, and getting ready to go back to school! We had a fun time shopping for school supplies, and new shoes. Thanks to my brilliant planning ahead, the only things we had to buy for Baby Bear in the way of school clothes was 2 pairs of jeans. It has been fun getting Papa Bear ready for school to, there is still a long list for him, but he can shop on his own.

Not much new other than that here. Baby Bear would like to show off her "new" smile though. Happy rest of the summer all.

July 1st

It is Canada Day today! Papa Bear has the day off, and we sure like it when he gets to stay home. We did some yard work today, the lawn really needed it. I don't have before and after pictures bacuase that is just, WAY too embarassing! We went on a bike ride, got some ice cream and just spent some time together.

This morning Baby Bear helped me out again, by modeling some skirts I made for the Etsy shop I recently opened. It was really fun to see her creativity in posing, like the last time, Baby Bear had complete control over where and how to pose. Here is a few of our best shots.

Where the WILD THINGS are.

Well, they are at the ZOO! And that is where the Bear House was on Saturday. It was the Bear country family reunion over the weekend, and we spent some time in the big city with our fellow bears. It was a great time playing with the medium sized bears and snuggling the little bears. Enjoy some pictures we got of some of the wild things we saw!

The Bear cousins.

Baby Bear was thrilled they had HIPPOS! I was thrilled that they were out and visible.

You could get really close to these long legged friends.

This guy was just wandering around the Zoo!

It's Summertime!

Not much new to report here. The sorting of the house is moving along nicely, we have several things we have decided to sell rather than haul them with us. Papa Bear is still excited to be going to school. It seems like it is taking a long time for the first day to get here, but looking back it has been 2 months since we decided to move! So I am sure the remaining time will go quickly as well.

Baby Bear's last day of grade one is tomorrow! This school year has flown by and she has learned tons! Stay tuned for the end of the year report, and perhaps a happy dance or two. We hope you all have a wonderful summer! See you soon.

Fun in the SUN

It was a super nice weekend here in Bear Country. We spent part of Saturday at the beach. First trip this year! Papa Bear & Baby Bear enjoyed the sun, sand and the lake, while I enjoyed the shade and a book. This next weekend looks really promising too, so I suspect we will be heading out there again, maybe this time with lunch!

Going into Business

I have decided to try selling some of my creations. I like to sew, anyone who knows me knows that. I have been told a lot recently that I should sell my stuff, so after weeks of thinking and planning I am going to take the plunge! It will be slow going at first, I have only a few things ready to go.

I created an Etsy shop you can see HERE.

I created a Facebook Group which you can join HERE.

Orders are accepted at either place.

Here is a sample of what I have for sale currently.

Come by and see the rest of my stuff! and feel free to Buy!

The Beginning

So the news is out! The Bear house is moving. The rumor mill is running at full speed judging from the amount of corrections I have to make each time I am asked to confirm a version of the story. We are beginning to get ready to maybe think about starting to pack. The weekend was spent sorting out the stuff in the basement, emptying boxes and sorting the contents. Baby Bear was surprisingly cooperative about it too, there were a few boxes of kids stuff we decided to just get rid of and she didn't even bat an eye. This means 1 or 2 things, 1-she is growing up and showing her maturity or 2-she has WAY too much junk already and didn't really notice the 2 boxes and 1 garbage bag leave the house. I would like to think it is the first one, but I am afraid to say it is most likely the second one.

With our mind turned to minimizing this is what the sewing room currently looks like:

All the things we are trying to sell so we don't have to move them. That is nothing compared to what the basement looks like now. See for yourself!

That is the view from the top of the back stairs, I was way too embarrassed to show you Papa Bears workout space which is more heaps of stuff than space right now.

We are happy.

We are excited.

Just be happy for us.

Night Out

There was a movie night at the school today, we didn't stay for the movie part it was getting late. Baby Bear enjoyed running around with her friends, eating pizza and just HAD to get her face painted. Pretty inexpensive way to entertain a little bear for an evening.

May Long Weekend...

...was spent camping and fishing. 

What else would bears do?

Witty Conversation

My Mother suggested that I set up a blog for our family. I did what I always do and sent a message to my 6 siblings on Facebook. The "conversation" went like this: 

My initaial message: Mom wants me to start a family blog where everyone can post. I can do that if you all want to, but I sense that there will be a lot of No Thank yous to this request. No worries. I thought I would share her message to me about it anyway.

Replies:

Pete: VETO lol

Me: Thats what I figured.

Repeat: I don't care one way or the other.

Me: Well, you would have to post something once in a while.

Pete: slurpee run?

Repeat: dude, totally

Pete: u drive

Repeat: we can meet in Dead Rear

Pete: done

Repeat: okay, now we got to figure out when

Hector: im coming via camel train

Repeat: I call coming by Goose.

Pete: lol ok thursday ill start walking

Repeat: K, neet you there. I might be late though.

Pete: k man

Lou Loo: You guys crack me up -- this should totally be on a family blog sight

Me: Ok, I will put it up today!

Repeat: does anybody know how much it costs to mount a whale?

This is a prety typical flow of conversation when there is a question posed. We don't get much accoplished, but we have a lot of laughs!

Trying...

Brave seems to be the theme around here these days. Baby Bear has always seem to fear the water. She hates not being able to touch the bottom. This past week at school her class started swimming lessons as part of the Phys. Ed. curriculum. I was worried she would have a terrible time, I couldn't have been more wrong! Baby Bear has turned into a regular fish!

Baby Bear also lost her third tooth today! It takes a lot of courage to let someone into your mouth with kleenex. Here she is showing off the new space, and the reward she got for being so brave!

Three Things At Once

Thank you to Grandma Bear who sent Baby Bear a big bag of Easter treats! They are being enjoyed sparingly, or at least that is what I thought until I caught sight of the chocolate bunny. (Baby Bear was told she could eat just the ears.)

Baby Bear is (finally) on he verge of loosing another tooth! She lost her first 2 within days of each other last summer. You can see the one on the bottom right is ready to let go anytime. There are also 3 more that have decided to abandon ship in the near future. Baby Bear told me today she wants to have a no teeth smile for her spring school pictures. So, with that as our goal I better go dust off the pliers.

Baby Bear spotted this really cute skirt in Old Navy last month, and really wanted one. I would have bought it for her if it hadn't been almost $25! So in secret I dug through my fabric stash and came up with this handmade version of the name brand thing! She LOVES it! She wore it to church the last 2 Sundays. I am grateful I have the talent to make her pretty things, and save Papa Bear a few bucks too!

It is spring! We have enjoyed very much being out in the warm sunshine! Baby Bear has decided she wants to learn to ride her 2 wheel bike again. She learned how 2 summers ago, but after a rough tumble she was bike shy for a long time. We are excited for her to learn too. We would like tips and ideas from anyone who has ever taught a nervous child to balance and ride a bike! Comment away!

Going Visiting

It was Spring break here this past week, and I knew we had to do something! So plans were made and Baby Bear & I went on a grueling 6 hour drive to Fort McMurray to visit my older sister & her family. Our trip started out well, got to Edmonton just fine, then things got hairy fast. We got lost! Really lost, it took way longer than it should have to get out of the city. After frantic phone calls, we made it onto the 2 lane highway and it was simple to find our way after that. We enjoyed the drive after we found our way. We enjoyed the sunshine, the muddy roads, and the very dirty car we had when we got there. We enjoyed playing and singing with our family. We enjoyed some excellent cooking, and too many treats. We had a good visit and we share with you some pictures of our trip!

Report Card Time

Our school division does not give our quarterly report cards like they did when I was a kid. Now a childs progress is shown in a portfolio of work the teacher collects. Examples of all subjects are shown. The idea I am told, is to minimize comparing children to each other and I guess that is supposed to eliminate competition or something. I am not sure I understand exatcly what they are doing. I would understand letter grades much better. 

Our parent teacher interview was tonight, so we 3 Bears went to the school to look over the portfolio. Baby Bear is doing very well in school. Her teacher says the only real area she needs to improve would be less talking during work time, and being better at counting by 5's. Well the talking thing, if anyone has ever met her you will know what I am talking about. The teacher pointed out, that Baby Bear still completes her work, and does it well. My biggest concern is her talking disrupting other students. We can work on that.

 

We were told over and over how amazed the teachers is by Baby Bear's reading level,

 and her comprehension is equally as good. That I like to brag about a little bit. She is a super reader, and like me (I hope), can read a whole chapter book in an afternoon. Granted the books Baby Bear reads are about 120 - 150 pages, but I still think that is pretty good for a newly 7 year old bear. As a reward for such a great report, we visited the book fair that school was having, and bought 2 new books. I was happy when Baby Bear passed by the begining reader books and the character books to select a slightly harder chapter book. Good Job Baby Bear!

Life goes on here at the Bear house! We are anxious for spring to get here, Mother Nature has been teasing us with 1 nice day with sunshine then we get a few cloudy and cold days. Papa Bear is busy, busy, working from sun up to sun down! He has really been able to bring out his creativity in the floors he worked on the past couple of weeks. The picture below is a few examples of what he has done & believe me, this photograph does not do it justice. We are sure proud of him and his amazing talents! He is such a hard worker.

Papa Bear & I are working towards a major purchase in the near future too! We are negotiating the purchase of the company he is currently working for. It is an exciting time for us, and we are looking forward to the challange of owning a company and we are excited about making some changes too.