Over the Long Weekend

Happy Canada Day and Independence Day! We had such a great weekend. Ryan went to visit his family in Saskatoon, leaving me alone in the sunny Okanagan all by myself with the kids. SUCH A SACRIFICE! :)

We spent a portion of each day at the beach. Went to two birthday parties. Tie-dyed some t-shirts. Saw the fireworks. Played with friends. Hiked with Auntie Maria. Went out for dinner for Uncle Kent's bday. And just soaked up the beauties of where we live.

Here is a missed photo from when I was in Vancouver 2 weeks ago. This is one of the stores that was vandalized by the riots.

check out Maria's awesome tie dyed shirt...

joseph hates having his picture taken. this is what so many of our photo look like...

June!!!

At the beginning of the month, we took the kids to Creative Chaos! We love to see the local artisans selling their wares. The kids all wanted to have their faces painted. This is the result.

A beautiful fairy princess!

A three headed dragon!

And Osama bin Laden! :)

Edwin's class put on the play, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". He was the moyen (middle) billy goat and did a great job!

I turned 34 this month. Ryan ordered Thai (my favy), we went on bit of a bike ride, had marble slab "cupcakes" and then they all came to cheer for me at my beach volleyball game.

My BIG birthday gift was a weekend away. I spent the night at UBCO thursday night so Ryan wouldn't have to drive me to the airport at 4:30am with the kids. The university rents out the dorm rooms for a great price. Here is my cute little room.

After an airport fiasco because of a late cab.... long story, I made it to Seattle in time to pick up my race packet and swag bag for the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon. My dear sister, Maria came with me and we had a great time at the Expo grabbing as much free stuff as we could. :)

That evening we met up with my old time BYUH friend, Lisa, that I hadn't seen for 15 years! It was such a great night.

My sister, Sarah met up with us as well and ran the 1/2 with me Saturday morning. I have been really sick the last 2 weeks and was a little nervous about my run but did fairly well. Unfortunately, I walked a bit and had stop at the honey pots which really slowed me down. But I finished in 2:06. Better than the first year I ran but worse than last year. Not bad after 2 weeks of no training right before the race.

Post race posing...

Our wicked runner's calves. Yes, my legs are hairy and goose bumpy.

Posing "Marilyn" style waiting for the light rail. I look just like her, don't I? :)

After the race we headed up to Vancouver and met up with my parents and dear friend, Rachel to see Wicked. It was WICKED!!!

School ends tomorrow and we are SO excited for summer to start. Here's hoping the summer weather comes too :)

Greta-ism's

In a sing-song voice " Daddy, we love your whiskers" and just so I don't feel left out, "Mommy, we love your 'softers'." (meaning my whisker-less cheeks)

After asking Greta to head to the bathroom several times she bowed to me and said, " yes, your Majesty."

Climbing into my bed declaring, " this is my kingdom!"

Her ABC's "a b c d e f g h 9 j k ello ello p...."

As I was preparing to get into the shower and being very déshabiller Greta gleefully announces, " mommy, I want to suck yours boobie!" I guess she still remembers breastfeeding :) NO, I did not indulge her.

Visiting Family

Grandville Island for great bread and patisseries.

Snacks with the girls.

Another great shot of Colette :)

Adoring Gus!

Super cool Van.

Storytime with Lucas.

Games about the ancestors.

The ever attentive Auntie Maria.

Grandpa gets his picture taken :)

Spring 2011 in a flash

You may not recognize the boy in the following picture....

You are used to seeing him like this....(or not seeing him)

Joseph was able to get a lego set if he gave me sole custody of his hair length for a year! This means for the next year you will be able to see his handsome face .

Paddy, our dog, had her summer haircut as well. Greta seems to think she is getting a new dog whenever Paddy gets shaved.

Easter weekend we headed to Langley and had dinner with Great Grandma,

Easter dinner with my parents and a few siblings (sorry for the minuscule picture),

An Easter hike,

An Easter hunt,

Good times with our friends the Timms,

and another Easter hunt.... Thank you Timms!

Edwin and Joseph both performed their Concours D'art! They were awesome. Joe gave a report on the red fox, memorized and in French. ( my camera died just as he started )

Edwin sang "Si tu aimes le soliel" by himself and then did a number with his whole class where he and a friend danced around. It was AWESOME!

Ryan and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants thanks to Ryan's parents.

This weekend was a blurr. We had hoped to join our friends out at Scotch Creek but Ryan was violently ill and Joe wasn't feeling well either.

So, Edwin, Greta and I hiked Bluenose with our friends the Knauf's today. It was a great hike and had gorgeous views at the top.

Quotes

I want to keep better record of the funny things my kids say.

Edwin: "mom, you and dad make a cute couple!"

Greta: "this is big fun, mom!" (after coming down a slide)

Greta singing Wierd Al Yankovic's "Yoda"

Greta: kiwi pronounced "quew-y".

Edwin: " this is the best day ever!" or " this is the worst day of my life" can switch between the two within minutes.

Joseph: telling me he wants to become an inventor for peace and create a bomb to drop on anyone who won't stop fighting.

Joseph: "raise your hand if you like my cooking".