Hot off the heels of our Oregon vacation, we were up in Whistler a few days later for some fun and a little competition - more on that later!
We spent a day exploring the village and surrounding area by bike. We revisited some of the trails we trudged around on snowshoes last winter, such as Lost Lake. It goes much faster on wheels! Same bench, different season....
Of course, it's very strange for your pocket to ring when you're out on the trails, but there's no escaping technology. Or work, in this case.
These two generally got along in the Chariot, as long as they had plenty of snacks and were reminded of their "rocket ship harnesses" at regular intervals. But it wasn't foolproof. They each inflicted one facial laceration on the other, a direct result of their close confinement.
Speaking of lacerations...we nearly crashed into a black bear at one point on a bike trail! Matt turned his head to talk to me as we pedalled around a corner and right in front of him was a BEAR! Seriously! I started yelling, of course, and continued to do so long after the bear had crashed his way deep into the woods.*
* This is not the same bear. This was taken from the car with a telephoto lens and some of my wits about me.
And then, we ran into MONKEYS!
Okay, enough of that. Onto a whole different kind of animal! The reason we were in Whistler was for Matt to participate in the Warrior Dash. As we made our way to the starting line, there were signs to the effect of "Are you ready for the craziest frickin' day of your life?" Does this guy look ready for a frickin' crazy day? Or does he look like he's taking his daughter for ice cream....?
I think Liam looks like he might be ready...
Ready or not, we gave Matt a kiss, wished him luck, and sent him off to join the herds getting ready for battle.
Now, this is an unbelievably steep hill. You really can't tell by this picture, you'll just have to believe me. And I have to believe the racers when they say that beyond that hill is another one that is even more ferocious. You'll also have to believe that little white arrow is pointing at Matt. When the race started he was lined up in the middle of the pack but I was able to pick him out of the crowd because his head was bobbing up and down, weaving around the slow pokes. He went from Pleasant-Stroll-With-Daughter mode to Competitive Warrior. Just like that. I should have known.
For the next 30 minutes we really had no idea what Matt was up to. We later found out about pits of fire, hurdles, dark tunnels and more hills. But the kids and I were content just hanging out in the sunshine with our pom poms and a zip lock baggie full of grapes.
Lo and behold....he emerges from the barbed wire-laden mud pit!
They gave him a medal and a banana...and the kids gave him some weird looks....
...and then we realized we forgot his clean shoes at the hotel!
Now it was Liam's turn for an adventure!
Since before he could walk, a shopping trip at MEC for Liam has meant climbing the rock wall with Dad. I know you're not supposed to.....
Anyways. He loves it and when we found out there was an all-ages climbing wall we had to give him the opportunity to try. He was so excited waiting for this...but his face when he watched the other kids going up said otherwise!
Sure enough, after a few giggles and goofs he got the hang of it. I was holding my breath at the bottom until he said "How come I don't hear Mom cheering?" so I put on my Loud Soccer Mom hat and before we knew it he was ringing the midway bell. We thought that would be as far as he would go...
...but look at that! He's at the top of the wall! He rang the big cowbell until we had to tell him to stop, and then he jumped down the wall as if he had done it a hundred times before. And then I started breathing again.
I'm glad they still enjoy bouncy castles, too!
After that we had a (shortened) round of Mini Golf. These pictures may give you an idea why it was a shortened round (which I won, for the record). I love how they give each other so much
space.
If you look closely you can see Liam's tongue sticking out in concentration....
And then we headed home to get ready for our next Summer Adventure!
And this guy is sometimes kind of FREAKY too. So, there you go...
* This is not the same bear. This was taken from the car with a telephoto lens and some of my wits about me.
For the next 30 minutes we really had no idea what Matt was up to. We later found out about pits of fire, hurdles, dark tunnels and more hills. But the kids and I were content just hanging out in the sunshine with our pom poms and a zip lock baggie full of grapes.
Sure enough, after a few giggles and goofs he got the hang of it. I was holding my breath at the bottom until he said "How come I don't hear Mom cheering?" so I put on my Loud Soccer Mom hat and before we knew it he was ringing the midway bell. We thought that would be as far as he would go...
...but look at that! He's at the top of the wall! He rang the big cowbell until we had to tell him to stop, and then he jumped down the wall as if he had done it a hundred times before. And then I started breathing again.
After that we had a (shortened) round of Mini Golf. These pictures may give you an idea why it was a shortened round (which I won, for the record). I love how they give each other so much space.
If you look closely you can see Liam's tongue sticking out in concentration....
And then we headed home to get ready for our next Summer Adventure!
