Police Command

After the Salt Spring Island day trip we decided we needed a few days at home to rest. It was a busy week. Sox had heard about the Victoria Police’s 150th birthday celebration at the Empress. After asking Sprout, he was in, so we headed down to check it out. There were demonstrations, a marching band, dog demo’s, firetrucks, emergency vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, and more

Sprout enjoyed pretty much everything and wanted to see it all. We caught one of the dog demos and a funny thing happened. There was someone in the crowd that brought their big German Shepherd to watch. The spectating dog was barking and causing a bit of a scene. The police dog got distracted and actually started running toward the spectators barking. A quick sharp command from the handler brought the dog under control, but I was a little shocked. First, why bring your own dog to such an event? Second, I thought police dogs were trained to not get distracted?

The motorcycle drill team did their performance, and it was pretty amazing. One of my favorite moves was their figure 8. They kept making it tighter and tighter until they were within inches of one another. My other favorite was when one rider came flying at the group and each pair in the group had to deak out of the way. Very cool.

It was a pretty fun event. More pics are here.

Daytrip Breathtaking

The day after we got back from the camping trip we had a daytrip over to Saltspring Island to visit with some of the same family that we were camping with.

It was a great day, but pretty long. We got on a morning ferry and Sprout enjoyed the trip. The boat was full and some cars actually didn’t make it on. Weird thing was when I walked to the front of the ferry there was an empty spot that they could have fit another couple cars in.

Once in Ganges we met up with Sox’s family, got some food, then headed headed out to try and find the beach on St Mary Lake. We had some trouble finding it, and when we finally got there we understood why. The beach was all of 30 feet wide. Tiny.

We spend the next three hours there. Sprout and his cousin had a ball playing in the sand and water. Getting buckets of water, pouring them out, getting more. Sandcastles were made and demolished. Rivers were created, rerouted, filled in, and created again. Lunch was eaten and the playing resumed.

I had heard about a photography exhibit at ArtSpring called Into The Light. I had also heard about a gallery called Galleons Lap. I was hoping to check them out, but I was adamant that I wasn’t going to leave Sox at the beach with two children and no car. When Beet started getting sleepy, Sox suggested I take her and go. I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits. There was on picture in particular that was breathtaking. It was called “The Horns at Sunrise” by Steven Friedman. Awestruck. I literally stood there and stared at this picture for minutes. I perused the rest of the exhibit, then went back to that one image. If I had the cash burning a hole I would have that picture with me right now. Alas and alack I have not a spare grand. 🙁 I was definitely glad I got to see the show. Galleons Lap had some excellent images too, including a very creative set of pinhole camera pictures from Victoria.

The rest of the day was fun, and the return trip to Victoria was easy as pie.

Camping Memories

This past week we were camping up at Rathtrevor Park. Sox’s family all came out for the trip, and it was perfect.

The cousins all got along great and played well together. The food was excellent, and the weather was spotless. Sleep was a little lacking though. The first night there Sox and I headed to bed around 10. Sprout was still awake and started talking to us. We tried our best to ignore him and to convince him to go to sleep. We also tried our best to prevent any outbursts. He kept saying things like, Hi mama, What you doin? and my favorite Can’t see (by this time it was late and very dark). Every time I was about to nod off he would speak up. Ack. Then Beet woke us all up at 5:30. The sleep got better after that thankfully.

This trip brought back lots of memories for me. One of the few things I vividly recall about my parents is going camping. Especially to Rathtrevor. I loved it as a kid, and one of my great hopes as a father is to create some of these special times with my family. I don’t want to recreate what I did as a child, but I do want my children to some day reflect back on the fun times we had as a family.

Sox and I actually took two vehicles up there (long story) so this afforded me enough space to take my bike. I did get out for one ride, and apart from missing one really fun trail I had a great ride. On another ride I also towed Sprout in the trailer for a while and we ran into a couple that were out walking their two pointers.

We also went to the beach a few times, played bocce, badminton, volleyball, drank copious amounts of coffee, drank a few beer, and had campfires. Not sure what more you could want in a camp trip really.

In years to come we are going to have to really reconsider how to pack. Our CRV is great but with 2 kids, a dog, and all the gear, we are short on space. In the next year or two we will need to take bikes too. Maybe a utility trailer or even a tent trailer if the CRV can tow that.

Platy Growth

Approximately two weeks ago, my big Platy died. I think it was most likely old age. I had it for quite a while. The rest of the tank is doing well though. The baby Platy is growing like crazy. He no longer hangs out in the weeds, but swims with the rest of the fish. It even feeds on the flake food when I drop it in. The Danio’s and the Guppy still do their thing, and the Cory’s still feed on the shrimp pellets.

The snail is still my favorite part of the tank. I love watching it motor around the tank and am constantly being surprised at the distances it travels between commercial breaks.

The increased sunlight of summertime brings increased algae growth so I have been cleaning the tank a little more often and a little more thoroughly.

Sprout has started helping me feed the fish too. He likes to give the Cory’s their pellet and can just reach above the rim of the thank to drop it in the water. In the next few months I will see if he wants to drop in the flake food too. I may not have to feed them all the time if my helper works out 🙂

Fireworks Release

Tuesday night I zipped out to Macaulay Point Park to watch the fireworks and to take a few pictures. It was a little windy and tiny bit chilly standing out in the dark near the water as I anxiously waited for the show to start.

Shooting fireworks can be easy and fun provided you have the right equipment. Start with a camera that has a bulb setting (ie the shutter stays open as long as you press the shutter button). Must, must, must have a sturdy tripod, and a cable release is pretty handy too.

With the camera pointed in the right direction, fix the aperture and focus then get ready to shoot. Try to anticipate when the big bursts are going to happen and mash the cable release button. Vary how long you keep the shutter open. Take lots of pictures.

I’m very happy with a number of my images, but of course I had over 75 to pick and choose from.

Can’t wait for next year.  Hopefully I can make it out again.


Yoshi Thunder

Remember that lightning and thunder I mentioned? Well, it picked up again around 12:30 in the morning.

Yoshi doesn’t like thunder.

Yoshi pushed his way upstairs through a baby gate.

Yoshi barged into my bedroom.

Yoshi made a lot of noise and kept nudging me with his nose. My back actually. It was warm and the duvet was down so he was nudging my bare back. At 12:30 in the morning. Cold, wet dog nose while I am trying to sleep.

Aaargh.

Zoned Sideline

Great Ulti game tonight. It was a little warm out, but there was nooo wind! It was cloudy making it easy to see down the field, but the tradeoff was that it was muggy.

I had a great time at the game. I felt like I was running well, playing well, making good hard cuts. I caught a couple points and threw a couple points.

We were zoned a couple times which was an interesting tactic in calm weather, but we managed to march the disc up the field consistently, then unfortunately it would get thrown away or dropped near the end zone.

We were so close to winning for a while. We were down a few points, then managed to claw back to an 8-7 score.

During one point I was in the stack and one of my teammates made a cut and the throw to her was made. It sailed high and wide. I sprinted off after it, and managed to track it down to prevent the turnover.

Another point we were doing a lot of give and go’s right up the sideline. The score then was 2 points apart. I caught the disc and knew I was close to the line. I looked down and to my dismay my left foot (the one I landed on) was very close to the line and my right was even further out. I did a double take and called myself out. We were close to the end zone too.

Throughout the game we could see lightning in the distance and hear the occasional grumble of thunder. I was kind of hoping it would open up and pour on us, but that didn’t happen. 🙁 The fields are drying out quickly and tonight the ground was pretty hard.

Now I am home, needing a shower, then it will be time to hit the hay. I have to miss next weeks game, so in two weeks I will be out there again.