When Grandma Comes to Visit

Kevin's mom came to visit us!
How great for my girls to have a Grandma and a Nana who come out to enjoy and spend time with.
Kevin's mom doesn't come out very often and so when she does, we make sure that we show her all the fun that our awesome corner of this earth has to offer. 

Kevin's mom, or Joan as I call her is always up for the adventure.
Give it to her like it is, let the girls run her to the ground every. single. day.
Even if it means that she can't catch up on jet lag because she's having late night chats with Kevin and early morning bed snuggles with the girls!   
She is out there for the girls and a good dose of her boy Kev, and she just drinks it all up.
I am pretty sure she goes back completely shot, but also fully topped up.

One of our stops - Whistler.
The night before, the girls and I came up with a great plan of doing the Peak to Peak Gondola ride.  Knowing that a ride from the peak of Whistler to the peak of Blackcomb is something not to miss out on, we made the suggestion to Grandma.  Only after agreeing with the great plan does she inform us that she is afraid of heights, but she'll be damned if that stops her from participating in a little adventure!

 Sadly, the peak to peak gondola just happens to be in is "break" season.  No big gondola ride was going to happen for us.

Plan B was to head up to the Roundhouse on Whistler mountain for lunch.  

When we left town it was sunny but upon arriving to Whistler it was cloudy, rainy and there was a low hanging ceiling.  Not exactly ideal for great views from up high. 

Knowing that Whistler will always be there and there will be future visits to make this happen, we jump right into Plan C - playground and shopping.  

And of course the girls have no objection to that.

I just love the look of happiness on Grandma's face! 

I stayed close to this swing, standing around waiting to jump on it as soon as everyone had had their fair chance and it could then be my girls' turn.  Somehow they were certainly less enthused about it than I actually was.  Their ride didn't last much longer than it took to get this shot of them on it!  ; )

Its not very often that my mother-in-law enjoys being on the other end of my camera, but I insisted on getting these shots of her with them.

And I know that she will be happy to have this photos in a frame somewhere in her home. 

Shopping time!
Hello Daddy.
Funny girl!

Lunch time at Earls.
Yum!  I get the same thing every time - the grilled chicken and baked brie (with apple and figs) on ciabatta sandwich.   So delish! 

The morning was cool and as we ate finally there were breaks in the clouds.
I popped into some shops to try on some clothes and make some purchases while the girls had one last play with Grandma. 

 

And fun is fun and all, but for this little two year old it also wipes her out.  

When I noticed the blank stares, I knew it was time to pack it in. 

 She happily climbed on and gave in to the the tired feeling that was taking over. 

 Kamille and her new bear friend.  Not sure how the Mama was feeling about it all.  ; ) 

Whistler you are always good to us.
We'll be back again to play on your mountains! 

While Grandma was here, we also took her on one of our park adventures.  I am always interested in new places to play with my girls.  One day while working I was walking through this park.  I immediately put it on my list of places to enjoy with my girls. 

 

With the promise of a stop through the Tim Horton's drive thru for Timbits, the girls were super excited for the whole adventure.  

Fresh spring greenery, a big blue sky with puffy white clouds, and an always willing "pusher" made for such a great morning in the park. 

Some of these photos aren't perfect and I should have adjusted by shutter speed for the moment, but what I captured through some of the blurr were pure smiles of happiness. 

You just can't fake smiles like these!
I love it.
I love that Kamille has this shared experience with her Grandma and I caught it for her to always remember.

The girls played "Tim Hortons."
Kamille was "the girl" and Karis was going through the drive-thu.

Dare I tell Grandma that only a week prior to our visit at this park some local moms and children were stranded on the top of the play structure while a cougar lurked about the forested area below.  Yikes!
I told her on the drive home.  
Hows about a lil' adventure, eh Grandma!  ; )

 

While the girls played, I took some time to practice the art of self-portraiture.  Not something I practice, but definitely something that I had been reading about recently over on i heart faces. 
A girlfriend of mine, who shares so many common interests, including photography, had been posting on her own new experience with self-portraits and so I was inspired to really do it.

And as much as I was interested in creating my own story, showing more of myself, it is quite different to be the subject of my own photo.  I had fun with it though.  I was jumping around to get in place before my 10 seconds were up and all.

I didn't tell anyone what exactly I was doing.  No one asked.  No one dare ask, really.   I am sure my mother-in-law and girls think I have an unhealthy obsession with my camera anyway.   ; )

However...
....this is me capturing me on that morning.   Watching and enjoying what I see.