New sign, yard sale and barbecue

Big White Community School has a new sign...a huge one to let everyone know that it's there!  So, we had a Grand opening, a yard sale and a barbecue to celebrate.

All the school children, their teachers, the fire department and the Loose Moose came.

Lucy's teacher and the children of the parents who made the sign got to cut the ribbon.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a bit of a mystery in Canada. Not even Canadians seem to know exactly what they are meant to be giving thanks for!  The general consensus is that it is for harvest, but it could be family, friends, snow, life...anything you feel like being thankful for really!  There was a huge thanksgiving dinner organized in the main Village Centre Mall for the whole community with games outside for the children first and then a potluck dinner....everybody brings something to contribute.  There were about 200 people, and a live auction. The children from the school had all written haikus and Charlie had to read his out together with another couple of kids.  The money raised was for the Powder Hounds, a charity for disabled skiers and the Freestyle team which Charlie has decided to take part in this year.  All in all $4000 was raised..a good fun evening too!

The reason Ned looks the way he does is because I tried to fix the red eye on Ned but without much success!

Do bears s*** in the woods?

Yes they do!  As I found out on my walk with Charlie (hence the stupidity of taking just my camera with me).  I had to take a photo as it's my only evidence that they even live on this mountain!  I am reassured by the fact that it's dry,  if it's wet then run!!!!

Up to the top of the bullet.

We all embarked on a mammoth walk to the top of the Bullet chair.  Ned and Lucy only got about a quarter of the way up before deciding it was far too much like hard work and gave up, so Jamie stayed with them while Charlie and I carried on alone (and with only a camera which in hindsight was a really stupid idea).  The walk seemed endless, but spurred on by Charlie and the promise of a beautiful view at the top I battled on and I wasn't disappointed....it was stunning.

The mountain in the background is the dreaded cliff run!

Kelowna

The children were having withdrawal symptoms from sand!  So off we went in search of a beach which is a bit tricky when you're 6 hours inland!  However, Kelowna, our nearest town 45 minutes away, sits on the Okanagan Lake which is 135 km long so we figured there must be a beach somewhere!  We found some gorgeous parks and even a beach, although Lyme Regis it was not, and the sand was rubbish for sand castles!   Charlie and Lucy even braved the water.  Apparently, the temperature of the lake is in the mid 20's in the summer, but in October is was a bit chillier!

In the background is the Kelowna bridge which spans the Lake at it's narrowest point.

Terry Fox

Terry Fox is a Canadian hero.  He was born near Vancouver and at only 18 was diagnosed with bone cancer and was forced to have his right leg amputated 15cm above the knee.
While he was in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
He would call his journey the Marathon of Hope.
After 18 months of preparation and running over 3,000 miles, Terry started his run in St. John's, Newfoundland, the most easterly point of Canada.  He had little attention in the beginning but as enthusiasm grew the money collected along his route began to mount.  He ran close to a marathon a day through Canada's Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario. However, after 143 days and 3,339 miles, he was forced to stop running because cancer had appeared in his lungs.  He passed away aged just 22.
To date over $600 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in his name through the annual Terry Fox Run and my children all took part in the Big White Terry Fox run at the beginning of October.
There were 2 races, one at 5 km for the older children and a 2 km run for the younger ones.  Lucy was determined to do the longer run but chickened out at the last minute!  They all set off from the school at top speed and after what seemed like only 15 minutes 2 figures appeared at the end of the car park.  The 2 winners, Noah and Adam sprinted home as if they'd only run 100 metres, ahead of those doing the 2 km run!  As I watched for the rest of the pack, who should appear next but Charlie, running his heart out, and only just behind Lucy, I was so proud... he did brilliantly.  There was quite a big gap before the others started to trickle home and Ned came in a respectable 12th.  Good job, Guys!

Too close for comfort!

When Jamie and I were on our way back from town today, we were greeted by a whole stream of fire engines going the other way and planes were soaring overhead.  At the school, everyone was talking about the forest fire that was just outside Big White, so we went to the highest point of the village to have a look.  There were 2 planes, one was a spotter and the other was dropping red fire retardant liquid all over the fire.  The scary thing was that the fire was on close to the road that we had just come up, and it's the only road in and out of Big White cutting off any means of escape had the fire taken hold...thank goodness for the Fire Department.

I know it doesn't look scary, just a small plume of smoke actually, but it could have been serious...honest!

Bike Rodeo

The children had a bike rodeo at school, meaning they all had to take their bikes to school and participate in a whole load of different events...slow races, stopping on a dime, slalom etc.  However, my children's bikes are still in a container in England so the first task was to find bikes for them.  The other parents were very generous and I finally got 3 that were about the right size (except for Ned's which as you can see was a bit small but he managed fine).  Also, no bike helmets so they all had to wear their ski helmets, I think they are probably more sturdy anyway, never a bad thing!