Fun Times in Van!

No, not like in a van, down by the river.... I'm talking like in the BC lower mainland city of Van, or Vancouver. We spent an extra-long weekend in the metropolis, celebrating the very first Cooke girl to graduate from college! Whoo hoo! Kristen followed her dream, she persevered, and she successfully completed the Pro Hair program at the Blanche MacDonald Centre. Congratulations beautiful girl! We are all so very proud of you! 💖

What an accomplishment! Great job Kristen! xo

The graduation ceremony on Friday afternoon kicked off 48 hours of festivities. The whole crew hung out for dinner and drinks Friday night, and then we regrouped for a late breakfast at the famous Jam Café on Saturday morning. With bellies full of one of the most fabulous brekkies any of us have ever eaten, the girls took us on a tour of downtown before turning us loose to do our own thing for a few hours prior to meeting up again for supper. After which, the girls ditched us to go see a show, leaving us 'responsible' parents/adults to carry on into what we thought were the wee hours of the night. However, it turns out we were back at the hotel shortly after midnight..... LOL! Can you say OLD!!! But what a riot! Everybody had a kick-ass evening.

Sister love!

Proud sisters with the graduate!

As Lindsay describes her and Kristen: Womb-mates!

Jam Café..... you need to go there!

Vancouver Public Library - it's quite the building!

I am likely going to hear about posting this vid, but....

I think it says a lot about how our evening went!

We had tons of laughs - thanks Janet and Tracy!

See video, above.... LOL!

The mystery bar - this was our last stop but nobody knows what it was called!

The getaway flew by, and before I knew it, we were on the plane home. I had a stellar time - I hope everyone did - and I am really stoked for Kristen. She is loving life in her new environment, and I know she is going to continue to succeed.

Cheers!

Lest We Forget

How grateful am I, to all of the men and women who fought for our freedom! Words will never be able to express my appreciation and sorrow for those who lost their lives, so that the rest of us can enjoy peace and liberty. Thank you.

I will always remember.

I spent this past Remembrance Day in one of my favorite places - on top of a mountain. In spite of me being into the third week of this stupid, stupid head cold, Chris and I toodled out to Canmore and enjoyed a few days in the snow-covered Rockies. The main item on the agenda was a wintery hike to the summit of Ha Ling peak.

Driving the back roads.

Check out the cool ridge of clouds!

Ahhhh, what a view!

The temps on Saturday were reasonable as we got a crack of noon start..... LOL....

There was a surprising amount of snow, which made my new trail crampons (shout out to Hillsound - I just bought the Ultras) the best purchase of the season so far. And in true Ha Ling style, the top was chilly and breezy, so we didn't hang out there for very long. The moderately sketchy descent returned us to the parking lot by about 4pm, and a late lunch downtown followed by rum and a soak in the hot tub rounded out the beauty day!

Now it's back to work for a short stint and then we're off to Vancouver, to celebrate Kristen's graduation. She moved to the big city last year to go to college, and as of this week she is officially a graduate of the Blanche MacDonald Pro Hair School. Woot! Should be a super fun celebration - I'm looking forward to it!

Cheers!