Little Dumer News: To Osoyoos and Back Again!

In the car just as the roadtrip is about to begin!

We have made, what we are now considering an Annual Pilgrimmage to Osoyoos, for the first of a handful of summer trips. We just love the lake so much! For those of you who don't know, Chris and his family used to visit Osoyoos every other year when he was growing up, staying in the same little hotel with a private beach everytime - The Bella Villa, and he had such good memories that when Deb came along, they went too. And Deb loved it so much she invited her family to come stay on the lake too and the kiddos absolutely love all the play time! We've decided that Osoyoos is just too lovely a place to visit just every other year, and we are planning on making it an annual event. We're even in serious discussions with the Leatons about coming up next year! And why not? It's hard to argue against it after the fun trip we had again this year!

Check out this video of Jordan on the drive to Osoyoos! He's falling asleep,

but still singing along to Yo Gabba Gabba!

Osoyoos, as seen from the highway just east of town, got its name from the first nations people of the region and its name means "narrowing of waters." There is a very narrow passage of water between the two larger bodies of the lake mere meters wide! And Lake Osoyoos is the warmest freshwater lake in Canada. There are times when we've gone and it's been like bath water!

And this is the view of the lake and beach from our room!

Pretty sweet to have the beach on your back doorstep!

Cygni was happy to spend a majority of her time playing in the sand, stirring rocks in her bucket and "making cookies!" The water was pretty wavy this trip and she wasn't really into that.

A quick dinner of hot dogs to charge up!

You can see from the pitch of the floating dock in this picture,

just how choppy the lake was during our visit.

It didn't stop Jordy from playing in it though!

One ice cream stop per night! Yum!

Mommy gets some relaxing float time!

Cygni wanted to come to Mommy, but it was a little scary,

and snuggles were needed at the end!

She was much happier on dry land with Dad!

Daddy taught the J-man how to doggy paddle

(or doggy puddles, as Jordy likes to say!) on this trip.

He also enjoyed jumping from the dock while wearing his floaty.

Mommy would stay close by, but allowed Jordan to kick and paddle himself

over to the dock to to it all over again!

We also did a lot of exploring and drove down to Haynes Point Provincial park which has a campground on a sandbar that juts out into the southern end of the lake. And we also found this playground with a rocky beach to play in.

Mommy watching over Elmo while Cygni plays

click on the photo above to see a bigger version of the panorama shot

This kid loves blue ice cream, man!

Goodnight, lake!

One of the other ways we explored was to pop into a few of the Okanagan's wineries. Chris and I did a little tasting and brought home a few bottles to stock our wine shelves. The first stop we made was to Blasted Church, one of Deb's favourite wine makers since she was introduced to it in 2008. They are known for their fun labels as well as their unusual name. Many of the larger wineries will provide up to 4 tastings for free! Some of the smaller places charge a nominal fee. With two kids in tow, we never did more than two wineries in one day and sometimes we had to take turns entertaining Cygni and Jordy while the other of us tasted. Next time we are bringing relatives to watch them! HAHA!

View from the tasting room of Blasted Church winery, Skaha lake as a backdrop.

If you're ever invited to a party there you should most definitely accept!

This year is their 10th anniversary.

That same day we visited the much longer established, and better known

Iniskillin tasting room. They are highly regarded for their ice wines, which

Deb isn't really a big fan of, so she let Chris do most of the tasting.

We made another stop before we left Osoyoos at Wyse and Young, less than a kilometer from the US border. They are a very new winery, and Chris enjoyed the zinfandel they offered, so we took home a bottle of that. Forgot to snap pictures though! Then on the drive back, we took the northerly route through and Penticton and Peachland and made an impromptu stop at Dirty Laundry Vineyards because the name intrigued us! Dirty Laundry had very impressive facilities and I would highly recommend anyone interested in an Okanagan wine tour make a stop there. Deb also got a kick out of their risque theme. And we got to sneak in a view of the Kettle Valley Railway train while we were there! We took home two bottles, naturally!