Houseboat Trip to Shuswap Lake, BC

We met my mom and dad in Kelowna at Costco

We stayed the night at a hotel in Salmon Arm - leaving Sunday a.m.
Sunday was Father's day, so while we spent time at a park until we could check in to the houseboat, we gave grandpa D. and daddy their presents.

Map of Shuswap - we boarded the houseboat on the far left bottom area. The only areas we didn't cover were the far left upper arm (no camping for houseboats up there) and the little tiny arm on very bottom.

Waiting to board the boat, we watched a bunch of monarch butterflies sitting on a board in the marsh...
...and some cute turtles entertained us. Shawn got a video of them crawling around on the log, then it rolled over, dumping them into the water. The color on their bellies was really pretty.
Hang on....wild driver at wheel! These quads are used to pull luggage carts to the boats.
Our tag-along friends.... (Brian's sailboat on left, our ski boat on right)

Off we go! Keep your hands on the wheel, Bri!
Ashlyn had her little "palace" up top. She was so excited when we boarded the boat and before we were set to go, had all of her stuff arranged and layed out, complete with her little toys set up that she'd brought along.
First a.m., trying out the fishing.

First camp...
A nice hideout for the kids under the bunkbeds - they found "forts" where there was luggage storage areas
Getting ready to make a splash...
"Ah... this is the life..."



Under this "sundeck" area, was a small sleeping area that held two full size mattresses with a privacy divider in between them. Brian and Cassie slept there.

Auntie Cassie helped the kids catch little tiny fish in a bucket here.
I loved the camera timing on this one....

I had a quest for each beach we stopped at to find a fungus like this for each of the kids. When my brothers and I were young, my dad drew on one for each of us that we still have. They grow on dead logs and when picked fresh they can be drawn on with a stick or something and when they dry, the picture is preserved.
Still smiling after dishwasher duty!
A moments peace.... :)
Unfortunately, Caleb got sick a couple of times - on our bed! This boat came complete with a fancy washing system - this is the rinse cycle on the machine.

One of my favorite spots we stopped at - a beautiful little creek running down to the lake. It was so much fun to hike around in the woods - they don't grow like this in Chelan!
Our little munchkins - small, medium and large
This brought back fun childhood memories of doing the same thing
This picture was taken right before Shawn and Caleb slipped and fell into the raging river below...

(just kidding!)

Brian and Cassie

Getting ready to party!! Cody turned 4 on June 17th. He knew for months that his birthday was going to be on the houseboat, so when we still had snow, he understood that it had to be "warm and sunny" before it would be his birthday. When the snow was finally melting this spring, nature took a few turns on us and blew in a few more snow storms. On the morning of the first one, Cody looked out the window, saw the snow falling and in a wailing voice said "OH NO, now it not donna be my birfday!!!" If we all depended on the weather for our birthdays to arrive..... :)
Cody loves his toy pirate boat, so a pirate theme got him excited for his birthday and it fit in well with being on a boat! I attempted to make the boat part of the cake at home, carry it safely on my lap on the 6 hour trip up, have an overnight stop then on to the houseboat the next day. The poor thing was a little dilapitated looking, but with a new layer of frosting, it turned out okay.



For some last minute festive dressing, I dug out Shawn's and my old pirate costumes and used them for the kids.

Hurry up and take the picture, mom, so I can tear these things apart!
Ahoy mateys!! I got a successful loot! Anyone dare to take me on with my new bubble sword??
Thanks for the new super battery powered squirt gun, uncle Brian! After getting squirted several times, Brian thought maybe a book would have been better??!!??!!
Brian trying out his new sailboat with my dad.

Ashlyn and Cody had fun setting up their own "camp" and "fire".
The floating restaurant we went to eat at.
Beach bums

Loved the wildflowers growing in the forest...


Caleb is just too cute in this picture

Home sweet home

A sweet moment with Cody that I had to capture!

There's an "art" to building campfires!
Some sailboats made out of driftwood and leftover birthday cake sails
I was surprised to find out this houseboat trip came complete with a massage parlor!
Our little flower boy - I don't even think he knew he had flowers stuck in his hat for several hours, but he looked pretty cute bopping around with them.

With an abandoned piece of styrofoam, a stick and the plastic tablecloth from Cody's birthday, Grandpa Danell made some sailboats for the kids
We enjoyed the evening camp fires.
THESE geese knew exactly what the sight of a houseboat meant - free food!

Grandma trying her hand at fishing

Ashlyn trying her hand at walking on water
We often went for a boat ride in the evening
Looking from front towards the back

My brother Brian...

He says he's out of practice, but it looked pretty good to me!

We got some pretty good skiing conditions, so despite the cold water, we took advantage of it.
We got a night off of cooking and went to a floating restaurant.
They didn't have a big menu, but the food was good!
We went to visit a boat full of some couples and their kids - we'd already met one of the couples after conv. and realized we would be on the same lake, houseboating, at the same time! Later in the week when we finally were able to connect up with them, we discovered that we had been camped next to them one night, but neither of us had realized it. It was fun to meet them all and get aquainted.

The kids had a great time playing together - Cody and Ashlyn had friends their same ages.
Their luxury 75 foot boat, complete with king size beds in every room with their own bathrooms! The greatest thing was the twisty tube slide off the back - it's really FAST!
Ashlyn got to waterski for the first time! She did awesome and stayed up all the way around - and came back with a smile on her face :)
By the time she got to the end she was crouched down, almost sitting - we were laughing about it when she said "they told me to bend my knees". They were bent alright.....
What a champ!

The boys loved flying trucks off the boat ramp.
A new friend can be made anywhere.....
Heidi and Dan McNary and their boys
Sherry and Jeremy Kofoed

(sorry if I spelled it wrong!)
The whole clan we visited

This is one busy mama! She really had more babies than the picture shows too. (maybe she was babysitting?) I wonder how she got them so nicely trained to calmly follow her in a nice line???? I could take some lessons from her!
Caleb, all grown up and pregnant!
Coming in to home port after a week of fun!
They have a really slick way of unloading your belongings and trailering them to the parking area. They wouldn't take passengers tho...
The End. Next stop: home