A summer picnic and a trip to see the Parksville sandcastle competition

I'll preface this post with a warning...it's very picture heavy, we had a fun day yesterday. ;)

My plan for Sunday (yesterday) was to have a family picnic. I haven't gone on one in ages and the weather has been so fabulous that it seemed like the perfect sunny summer treat.

First thing? Get a picnic basket. This seems like an easy thing to do but I couldn't find one anywhere if you can believe it. I posted to Facebook asking for help and suggestions and still have a few to follow up on. I even had someone find me one on Kijiji (thanks Judy!) but I have yet to hear back.

We decided we would just pack up a cooler. It is insulated after all and I think would have worked fine. I say would have because just as we were getting ready to pack up and leave I got a text from my sister asking if we would like to meet up with her at Parksville beach for their annual sandcastle competition...why yes we would!

With this quick change of plans we decided that rather than go for a picnic in the park we would picnic in our backyard instead. We have a big backyard with lots of shade and this turned out to be a wonderful idea. It was so peaceful sitting outside in the gentle breeze and enjoying some delicious food.

We had local bratwurst sausage grilled on the BBQ and served in a baguette with whole grain mustard, ketchup and relish. Way better than a hotdog and it makes me hungry just looking at these pictures again.

Spot prawn season just ended and we had these delicious ones sitting in the freezer just waiting to be enjoyed...and enjoyed they were. Cooked in butter and white wine with onions, garlic and scallions they didn't last long, incredibly tasty.

A few of my Mom's homemade dill pickles added a lovely salty crunch.

And for dessert a few chocolate chip cookies.

For drinks we had the leftover lemon sanpellegrino from yesterday's dinner on the deck.

And for one final treat a run over to the cherry tree was in order.

After a bit more running around to work off some of the post lunch sleepies..

We hit the road for the hour and a quarter drive to Parksville.

Along the way we saw many old cars driving around (I'm sure there was a car show going on somewhere). I only managed to get pics of these three but there were a ton of them.

 Once we arrived at the beach we had to stop and watch the kite show. There were quite a few being flown but this one in particular was so cool with it's long tail.

Check out the video...I love when Marshall says "it's wonderful!"...adorable. :)

Then it was off to see the sandcastles...

This was "Fallen" and was based on Rapunzel.

I can't remember the name of this one but it was made to look like a hand touching a mirror. This was one of my favourites.

This was "Humpty Dumped Me"

"Billy Goats Gruff"

"Rub A Dub Dub"

"Fishin' Friends"

There were several others I didn't get pictures of. The skill required to design and make these sculptures is just amazing. They are available to view until Aug 18th and you can find more information on the Parksville Beachfest website.

After checking out the competition we hit the beach!

This is a great beach with lots of sand and space.

C + M.....awww.... ;)

My water baby....heading straight in..

It didn't take long until she was right in there...

All in all, a great fun filled day in the sun...