family fun weeks aplenty

we've been having so much fun lately I haven't had time to write! we are one happy family (though in this pic Sasha looks a bit in awe from the waterfall) after a fun filled week of quality time to end the summer, and continued good times throughout september! :)

to write a full story recap on the past 5 weeks would just take too long, and I know none of you have time to read it all...so here is the summary, along with many pics, to fill you in on all we've been up to:

our family fun week (last week of august) started off with a camping trip to Klahanie campground with Kristina, Thomas and Keyan. The manager of this campground (across the highway from Shannon Falls and The Chief) is a family friend to the Whittam clan, and Rick set us up on the perfect site for the kids to play for a couple of days! Right beside a small creek, a pond, and a river Sasha was in water play heaven. Even the day it rained from 4am to 5pm...that just meant puddles to get soaked in too...we quickly gave up trying to keep Sasha dry! lol

we had a good blend of wet and dry, we ate superbly well, there were adorbale bunnies everywhere, and to say we were entertained by our neighbours is a huge understatement! the kids bonded (she talks about him all the time, and once "baby Sasha" to Keyan, he now calls her "Sasha my friend", awwwwww) as did us grown ups, and we very much look forward to the multi-family camping trip we're planning for next summer! :)





it wouldn't have been a family fun week without Che and we were happy to see him for a couple of days. Here are a few cute pics of our cozy time at home on rainy day. The stroller is a new obsession for Sasha and a spontaneous find, along with her new baby doll, during a family exursion to the Sally Anne.


love this pic of the Karma cat sandwich, teehee

Another family adventure was to Brit pool to finally take Sasha swimming! Karen is one of my fave guards to work with, and she is a big Sasha fan. Took her a while to like being in the water on her own (though in nature you can't stop her) she was a bit frightened by the big splashing fountains. this was something we all enjoyed together, and will be doing a lot more of!!


Another great event we went to was Justice Rocks where Sasha boogeyed and we caught up on what's new with some our fave groups around town. Pivot Legal Society rocks for fighting for the justice of all, and pulling together a great family event!



Here's a few more pics of hanging around the home and the 'hood. The playground at one end of our co-op (Sasha on the slide) is soon to be replaced, along with the green space on the other end. much like the upgrades occuring in all of the green spaces within walking distance of the Olympic athletes village....


which we got pictures of on our granville island ferry adventure day. with Science World, and the village-to-be only about 15 min away, we took the ferry from there to Granville Island and back again one day. she loves the boat rides so we are happy to have this so close to home! She was very into playing with the ropes, and didn't really notice the huge development as we passed. (one which is shaping the whole neighbourhood around us.)



wonderful to have some quality time with our sassy Sasha



these 2 are pics Sasha took.


the first weekend of september we had a block party for our co-op and the 3 buildings across the street. total blast and we had over 100 people pop in throughout the potluck event. street hockey, chalk and bubbles, yummy bbq buffet and dancing in the street! Sasha and Keyan were joined at the hip and had such fun with all the other kids that came. amazing!




Amie (who Sasha loves since she babysat for us) and her mom Martha, along with Vic who is our co-op DJ, live across the courtyard from us and are fantastic neighbours! These ladies know how to dance and gave us some tips on the Cha Cha and other latin dances.

The following weekend was another one full of social fun! taking advantage of the beautiful sunny days we: had dinner at Shannon & Ryan's on their backdeck one night; had Darcy and Teresa over for brunch the next morning; Sasha opened her first pack of panties and decided she needed to wear all 6 pairs at once, lol; and then we enjoyed a potluck bbq gathering with our co-op in the courtyard! Che played grill master, and then played with the older kids while Sasha played with Keyan and the younger ones. (both enjoying the park one last time before the new one starts being built) Mark and I had more time spent on building relationships with our neighbours and had great fun once again :)



the last 2 weeks we have been very much focused on one thing - toilet learning! Sasha is a big fan of wearing underwear and continues to have many successes...and quite a few accidents here and there as well! patience really is the virtue in this time ;)



we also squeezed in a visit with Monica, Cheyenne and Dean up in Whistler one day. awesome quality time with our cousins, a wonderful meal, a river we had a hard time keeping sasha out of and a great road trip!

Along with all this fun September brought back the school year...meaning Che has begun his grade 9 year, and I have put on my education hats again (took 'em all off for the month of august to simply rejuvenate and enjoy time with my family and friends)

Since my last post The Peppers (Vancouver Public Education Project) wrote an open letter to Premier Gordon Campbell and Education Minister Shirley Bond regarding the school capital funding policy choices when seismic upgrading needs are long overdue and critically needed in some districts. Published in the Vancouver Sun, the Courier and other papers, our open letter contributed to a big debate on a controversial announcement to pilot a project with 2 schools in the Premiers own riding, while seismic upgrades and infastructure needs are overlooked around the province. And we have been successful in getting COPE and Vision Education committees on the same page, and 4 of the Peppers are on the ballot for school trustee in the upcoming municipal election in November! wooohoo!

For CPEN (Charter for Public Education Network) I joined the president of our board, Mike Zlotnik, on a journey to the Cowichan Valley district for the campaign launch of Eden Haythornthwaite. A key organizer of CAPE (Community Allance for Public Education) and an incumbant trustee, Eden is a woman I admire tremendously. She is a passionate and articulate trustee, who has held herself accountable to those who elected her and she is a role model of the kind of trustee I would strive to be - open, honest, hard working advocate for the needs of her district, including community success at stopping the closure of 4 schools! Sorry to gush, but her passion and the love of her community is contagious and I've been a fan of hers for a while. At the public forum I gave my 5 minute history of how the Charter came to be (my all time favorite story to tell) and Mike gave a talk on "The Charter for Public Education - A Vision of a World Not Yet". A fantastic day of meeting new people and reconnecting with others, and Mike and I had lots of time to dream big visions for education on our ferry rides...



For "Educate Me!?" Tanya and I are now joined by Flick Harrison to broaden the Saucy Side productions team. I am super stoked to have him on board for the documentary as he has great ideas and a wealth of experience to contribute! we've had a couple of meetings (one a night out to get to know each other, and we have in common a love of live music at the Railway Club) and he's given thoughtful advice for the further edits of the proposal. Now we are looking for a prouction manager and executive producer...

the cronic headpain that has plagued me for more than 2 weeks is finally subsiding. and I published my first attempt at the co-op newsletter which felt great to get done! Che wrote a story that Mark and Alec have been serializing every other month since January, and I had been contributing articles every other month as well...but the whole newsletter gave me a new creative challenge to rise to which I found quite fun.

On Mark's bday I did the worm composting workshop at teh City Farm with Alec and we now have some worms eating a portion of our compostable waste. neato. Then to celebrate that night we went to see Burning Spear at the Commodore which was a great reggae show as always! Happy birthday babe!

we continue to live la vida loca and love it. The teachers at Sasha's child care have told me she is sweet, compassionate and enthusiastic and we would agree!! though she reserves her most stubborn side for mom & dad, teehee

so...i think that about covers it. for now ;)

happy thanksgiving is soon upon us, so I send you positive wishes and many hugs of gratitude for family and friends to spread around in these crazy stressful days of market turmoil and instability...hope you are well!

Video clips for this post are of Sasha pretending to be on a boat ride on the patio, and Che playing his version of Tears in Heaven on the ukelele for your listening pleasure :)