O Canada!

We had a blast visiting our friends in Canada a few weeks ago. I have to say, it was a really relaxing vacation. We enjoyed ourselves immensely! Covered a big part of Canada - stop over for a few hours in Toronto then road trip from Saskatchewan to Alberta to British Columbia and back again! Whew! But with views like these, it was worth it :)

Snow capped mountains - lovely!
We saw a lot of wildlife, mostly deer and elk but also a couple of brown bears!
View from one of our rental cottages.
Breathtaking! I think this was in Radium.
Still in Radium.
The nicest Canadians you will ever meet :)
On our way to go somewhere.
Lake Louise was still frozen :(
On the Banff gondola. It still snowed there despite it being springtime already. I only brought one coat so most of my pictures look like I'm wearing the same outfit... Anyways, if you've noticed that I got a little rounder it's coz we are expecting a little one! We are so excited :) So my posts will probably be a bit more baby-centric when I do update my blog.

Our Camping Weekend And Tent Review

So a few weeks ago we were stressing over what tent to get for our camping trip. Finally settled on a Wenzel Big Bear tent due to the price [got it for only $80 due to an online promo] and the size [roof is 6 feet tall and we wanted a tent we could stand in comfortably].

The website said that it was good for 7 people which is hard to believe because you obviously still have to put your stuff in it. I'd say it's a stretch, but it may fit 4 adults perfectly, it has room for two queen size airbeds with space to spare.
Just to show you what the inside looks like. Very comfortable and spacious for the two of us.
The only caveat was that it rained on our last night for the whole night. Almost every tent there regardless of brand or size had water seeping in through the seams. So I'd say we fared pretty well considering it didn't flood inside our tent :)
Me and the husband with our small really packed car. We had a lot of fun camping even though there's not really much to do but eat, clean up, sleep, hang out. And eat ice cream :)
Combination of Death by Chocolate + Mint Chocolate Chip.
Nothing beats gourmet ice cream on a hot day!

A Walk In The Park

A few flower photos while strolling yesterday...

I love these gorgeous tulips! This is my best friend's favorite flower because she married a Dutch guy :)
I think these are called grape hyacinths, pretty cool coz I can hardly find blue flowers...
Narcissus flowers - this is probably the flower from the myth where this guy falls in love with himself after seeing his reflection in a pool of water. Also where they got the term narcissistic personality disorder... interesting.
Aster lilies... so elegant!
I love flowers, they make me so happy :)

Garden In Bloom

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,

Quite overcanopied with with lucious woodbine,

With sweet-musk roses and eglantine.

- William Shakespeare from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Happily catching the sun's rays...

A bunch of violets.

Would you like to walk in fields of gold?
Beautifully straight stems.
Hope everyone has a happy week!

Camping Trip

Spent another lovely weekend camping. This time in a different place with more people. The location was better too, we had platforms for the tents so it was more comfortable to sleep in...

Instead of pegs we had to tie down the tent with rope :)
Set up our parents' tent too.
Mostly my brothers' luggage and things.
Hanging out with Jemn and my brother.
Hair ties are really essential at camp...
This was my hairstyle the entire weekend.
With Jean and Ronald.
One of my friend's tent was so big it wouldn't fit in the platforms, so it had to go on the ground.
Lovely couple who are still going strong after 20 years of married life :)
Gorgeous titas.
Had fun playing all sorts of games...

A few shots of my cute buddy, Justine...

Had a fun and relaxing time. Can't wait to do it again!

Blooming Beauties

I just wanted to share some pretty flowers with everyone today... Hope it cheers you and brightens your day! :)

Have a beautiful day!

Camping Weekend

Warning: This is a picture-heavy post.

Went camping last weekend with a bunch of my friends. It was nice to get away from the busyness of work and the city for a while.

It rained really hard when we got there, it was a real bummer pitching tents... But it was bright and sunny the next day and it stayed that way until the end of the trip. Here's a group shot of all of us...

Preparing for breakfast - we had nasi goreng, champorado, scrambled eggs, cereal, fruit, turkey bacon, veggie patties, chicken adobo, hot chocolate... and the list goes on :)

My favorite time - nap time :)

Went out later the next day for a hike on a really cool trail. Of course, Mr. Photographer had to bring his gear...
My friend's daughter - Justine. She stuck with me through 90% of the hike and told me all about her trip to Disneyland, going in detail about all the rides she went to.
Some wildflowers that were on the trail.
And finally, after about a 40-minute hike, we reached our destination...
I didn't get in because the water was so cold. It did look really inviting though... (That's my brother with the weird pose, btw.)
The baby of the group went in but only for about 5 minutes. Then she had to bundle back into warm clothes. Here she is with Ate Jean...
Cool (dead?) tree on the way back.
And you know how I am with my flowers...
I was eating a grass stalk so she curiously asked me if she could try it too. Kids really do try to imitate everything you do. The walking stick idea she got from watching her dad.
More wildflowers...


And wild 'shrooms.
Back to the campsite and picture taking. Thank goodness for tripods and self-timers :)
Getting ready for our midnight barbeque and s'mores...
Ella and Jemn goofing around. I don't know why Jemuel was smelling the Growers...
Yummy bistek and leftover adobo in the other pot...
I swear the bistek sauce on top of white rice could've made a complete meal but I also got extra-large helpings of Jufran-infused spaghetti.
Smokin' cold...
Corn, burgers and hotdogs on the grill... We slept around 2 a.m. just talking, eating, playing Taboo, charades, telling each other scary stories. It was a lot of fun.
The next day we are still eating the same thing - we had to finish the perishables in the cooler coz nobody wanted to bring food back home. Justine again with Kuya Mark who is visiting from California...
Nobody brought sauerkraut and I forgot to put ketchup. Otherwise, this would've been an awesome hotdog...
Leftover corn...
Playing ninja. We also played patintero and volleyball, some canoed and went boating in the lake...
Here's Justine and Kuya Rydee swimming...
She really loves the water...

All in all, a great weekend with friends and family, we're going camping again in 2 weeks - I can't wait!