I really don’t know where the time went. One day he was a baby and the next he is 4. When I was in the midst of diapers, nap-time, breastfeeding, and spoon feeding I though that the baby days would never end. Days dragged on and I waited not so patiently for my husband to get home so that I could get a few moments to myself. Now with a preschooler and a child in grade 2 life revolves around school drop off and pick-ups. We will however, continue to celebrate each passing year as it marks the growth that we have all achieved and of course take loads of photographs.
Family
Kayaking with kids
We are so fortunate to live surrounded by so much natural beauty. Thetis Lake is one such place just outside of Victoria. We made it to Thetis twice this summer, once for a hike and the second time for a paddle. The trails around upper and lower lakes are classified as moderate, and I was so proud of our youngest hiker who walked the entire trail without complaint.
Date Night Apple Pie 2
A wonderful friend dropped off a big bag of apples and pears on my doorstep recently. An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but fruit flies not so much. It was a race against the fruit flies to do something with all the fruit. We are all fans of apple pie so we had a pie making marathon.
Third Times A Charm
After the first disastrous camping trip three years ago, I didn’t have it in me to try for a second time. When my husband decided to give it another go I wimped out and took our not quite 2-year-old home to sleep at night. Last year I used the “I have a brain tumour” excuse (which got me out of just about everything that I didn’t want to do) and we didn’t go. This year I took one for the family, pulled up my big girl panties and went camping.
A Few of my Favourite People
We see my sister and her kids once a year. Each time we see them we have a little photo shoot. It’s challenging to get a 1,2,3 and 7-year-old to look at the camera at the same time with their eyes open and smiles bright. Sometimes it works but most of the time no matter the timing, the treats, or the silly jokes it’s not always a success.
Northwest Deuce Days
As a mom, I find myself spending my time doing things that I have no interest in. I don’t mean cooking dinner (which coincidentally I have no interest in) because that is a necessity, I mean things like spending a Sunday afternoon at the Northwest Deuce Days car show. Before kids I would never have dreamed of spending a hot sunny afternoon with thousands of car enthusiasts. But post kids I did, and will probably do it again.
Safari Niagara
Lions, Tigers and Bears oh my. While we were on vacation in Ontario we spent a day at Safari Niagara, which is home to many animals including Lions, Tigers and Bears. This was our second trip to the park but it had been three years between visits, so my almost four-year-old had no memory of his first trip. He was a little apprehensive when he learned that the animals were alive! Sometimes I forget the innocence of my little people, but once he learned that he would be safe while seeing animals he was ready for the adventure.
Blackberry Jam
Who loves FREE food? I sure do. We have blackberries growing in our yard but after we picked all of the ripe ones my oldest suggested we go in search for more. It’s not hard to find blackberry bushes in our neighbourhood, but it is a little tricky to find the bushes that haven’t been picked over. Did we ever score today though, we went a little off the path and found the mother load of ripe juicy berries. Here are some pics of our berry picking adventures today. Someone was way more interested in eating than picking, but who can blame him. Continue reading
Color Vibe
We caught the Vibe this past weekend when my 7-year-old and I participated in a Color Vibe 5K run. Color Vibe or for those of us that are Canadian Colour Vibe is a 5K run with a splash of colour. We started the day by throwing handfuls of coloured powder at each other which was a fun experience to share with my son. At the start line you run through a cloud of coloured powder that is blasted at you by a leaf blower, we wore bandanas over our mouths and sunglasses to keep the power out of our eyes. The start line was the only place that we really needed the bandanas, but only because we were on the outside edges. If you were in the middle of the pack, then it probably wasn’t necessary at all.
Canada Eh!
Canada Day is a special holiday for me aside for the fact that it’s Canada’s birthday, its the holiday that I spent with my Nana. Sure we spent lots of holidays together, but rarely did we have holiday time without a whole pile of other family. On July 1st my grandparents would typically be at their cottage, and once I was able to get there independently I would call up a few days ahead of time to reserve my room. She would always tell me that it was ready and waiting.
Making A Life 