Summer in Nelson - a summary

In starting this blog, I'm not sure in fact where to start! We've had such a full summer. Aloka had her 3 year birthday a few weeks ago and she got her first kite. We went to Lakeside park to fly it, there's a picture here of her flying hers.

In a summary of our life currently, we have finally gotten our work permit submitted and are waiting with bated breath. It will probably be another month before we know. Once we get it, we can finally go down to Spokane and pick up all of our belongings out of storage.
It will be a relief to have some of our things again (like our bed), but in many ways we've really enjoyed living with so little. Our house is teeny, and so easy to clean. I can't imagine how it's going to look with more furniture and things in it. We will probably be selling a lot of stuff. But, oh, our bed! I will relish the night that I get to sleep in our bed. I've been joking that our queen size air mattress has now turned into a king sized pancake (round!). I guess they're not meant for long term use!

On a sad note, our kitty Zooey ran away two months ago and we think he is no longer. It caught us very off guard, we had always had the image of taking care of him into his old age. He got spooked when we had some guests visiting and he ran off. There are many predators in our area, and he doesn't really have very good survival skills. It's been a huge loss for us.

On a more up note, we are loving the summer here in Nelson and have been enjoying the beaches, the outdoor children's pool (at Gyro Park) and all the many events and festivities. Tomorrow is the Wednesday Street Market, Thursday is a "Storytelling from around the world" thing for kids, on Saturday there's a festival called "Froggy Fest" put on by the Sinixt Nation here for kids, and next week is the "Lenny Graf" concert for kids (i think this is Raffi-esque) at Lakeside Park.
Oh, and I forgot on Friday there's the Street Fest (they are once a month during the summer) which is in the evening. We went to the one in July, it was so much fun! There was belly dancing until late at night, over 40 vendors, music, face painting, just a blast. They turned the organic bakery into a "Turkish tea house" and when it got dark, the belly dancers moved into there and everyone joined in to dance. This video of Aloka is from that street fest, when it was still light out. She was emulating the belly dancing process. She has now gotten quite good and insists that we get her some finger cymbals. Aloka loves dancing, and if we're out and there's music playing, she will be dancing!
Our schedules are full, and we are having so much fun.
There are some great places to camp and very child friendly, we're wishing we had our tent. We'll be doing lots of that next summer!

It's hard to sum up the summer in Nelson. There's also a whole other side to it, which is the outdoor beauty and tranquility. I am in awe of the majestic but feminine quality of the mountains, the shimmering Kootenay Lake, the forests... and I'm eager to participate more in the hiking and camping side of things when we get our gear.

It feels good to be outside so much, and believe it or not people, I actually have a tan line!! Ok, it's very subtle on my shoulders (like I EVER tan) but I'm not flourescent anymore. I really do have pigment contrary to popular belief! Josh and I both feel like we have more vitality than we ever had before, and that's a good thing.