water and wheels

Yes, water and wheels is exactly what this past week has been all about! Henry and Walter spent every morning going to one of the local Pedalheads bike camps, with the intent that they learn to ride without their training wheels. Sam tried last summer with Henry but it did not go well and we've learned that Henry would fare better with someone else teaching him. When I went to pick them up after the first morning I was surprised that their training wheels were already off. Henry was just showing me how he was doing, from a beginning wobbly morning, when suddenly he did his longest ride of the day there in front of me. And then just like that, he got it! He was zooming around me, no kidding, for 10 minutes as if he had been biking for years. I was so, so proud of him! (and so relieved!) Walter, however, was upset that he just couldn't get it that first day, like Henry did, but we kept reminding him what Henry was like last summer when he was 5. By the second day Walter was going with his teacher hovering over him and by the third day he showed me his amazing longest ride ever. Proud, proud boy and very happy parents! Today was their end-of-week bike parade for all the parents and they both went around all by themselves, big smiles bursting out as they were earnestly watching where they were going. That's the stuff of summer, right there. (To keep it real, Henry also did a big wipeout today and ended up with a fat lip and bleeding gums where he had landed on his teeth. All is well though. Sigh.) The boys have also been in our backyard pool often the past couple of weeks - a pool that neighbours across the street just randomly gave us. Thank you kindly! It's like having 3 boys in a bathtub ... it gets pretty squishy ... but still amazing what games and competitions and imaginary stories they can come up with even in such a small pool. Yesterday Nana and Grandad brought cousins Hunter and Mira down for the afternoon and the five of them had a great time together. It's so fun to watch cousins who actually really, really like each other play together. After the pool and ice creams and soccer and basketball and relay races and A&W we all went for a spectacular evening walk along the water here in Esquimalt. We could see Ogden Point straight across with a huge cruise ship currently docked, the Inner Harbour tucked in out of sight to our left, kayakers and sailboats bobbing about and a count of 10 seaplanes taking off or returning in the time that we were there. It was absolutely gorgeous and a great way to cap off the day. Sam finally pushed through all his work hours today and is now on holidays for a few weeks ... so August will have it's own set of adventures soon enough. Like last year, I find myself at the halfway point of the summer here on July 31st ... in a word, tired. Just wanting to get done any and many items on my to-do list but knowing that realistically I never will. It will be nice to re-evaluate tomorrow and make up a new list and enjoy August for what it will be. And by the look of our calendar: fun and busy!

celebrating fifty

We returned yesterday from a weekend spent up in Duncan with all of Sam's immediate family ... parents, the 3 children, their spouses and 8 grandkids. We had all reunited back to the family home to celebrate John and Diane's 50th wedding anniversary, on September 11th this year. With everyone's job schedules it's not often we are able to get together with everyone but this was a not-to-be-missed weekend and there was no question we would all come home. Our boys love to go to Nana and Grandad's and with the addition of their Morgan cousins they had an absolute riot! There were soccer games, late night ice creams, and constant imaginary games going on around and around the house. We spent many hours on Saturday out at Bright Angel Park, having lunch, crossing the suspension bridge, swimming, skipping rocks and playing Bocce up near the playground. That evening my since-Grade-11 friend Lorna and her daughter Adalee came to babysit the kids while the adults went out for a fancy dinner at The Masthead in Cowichan Bay. Delicious! Then Sunday morning we beat the impending rain storms with a photo shoot among the beautiful Garry Oaks in the neighborhood where we've all walked and explored so often throughout the years. We so often try to pull off a tripod picture but this time I knew a proper photo session would be a special way to capture how my parents in law have been blessed with family over these past 50 years. It was a true testament to their love and dedication to each other and they have been wonderful parents and grandparents to all of us.

Dad and son camping (Part 3)

Where did you go camping? To a camping site and the number was 18.
What special things did you bring? Baby Kitten.
What was your favourite camping food you ate there? S'mores!
What was it like sleeping with Dad? Ummmm, kinda fun.
What was your favourite thing to do there? Go to the beach!
Were you cold at night? No.
What's your favourite thing that Dad did with you? Hmmmm, probably ... go to play Bocce Ball.
Did you miss your brothers? Yeah, kind of.
Did you miss your Mum? Yes. Why? Because she loves me so much! (but I did have my Dad with me ...)
Next time you go camping, what are you looking forward to? Sleeping for a few days. For like 3 or 4 days.
What did Baby Kitten think of camping? She loved the s'mores.
One word ... Camping is ...? Fun and awesome and very good for you!

well in now

It's mid July already so we're well into summer holidays now and somehow 2 months doesn't feel very long after all. Henry and Sam are gone on their Dad-and-son camping trip right now so each weekend has felt a little different with all the prep and clean up and one boy gone in the middle of it all. Last week Henry and Walter went to VBS every morning and then finished with a special Sunday presentation at church. It's been an excellent program and Felix is incredibly excited to be able to go as well next summer ... while I am incredibly excited to have those mornings all to myself, I can't deny! This past Wednesday I took the boys on a long driving day up and down the Island to Parksville to visit old friends (and sisters) Brenda and Cheryl who had come "home" from Alberta for a week's holiday. All those hours in the car were worth it once we got to their hotel right on the beach and the kids were able to get in the water. The waist-high water and the beach which goes on forever is the best playground any West Coast kid could ask for! Pretty spectacular. On the drive home it worked out great to stop in at Nana and Grandad's church site for a potluck supper and a game of soccer after with Grandad. So it ended up being a very long, tiring day ... but I heard many times from the backseat that it was the best day ever, with "2 fun things", imagine that! We also ended up at one of our favourite local beaches on one of Sam's off days a couple weekends ago. That day was also at the height of the Island and BC-wide forest fires so the skies were dark and eerie and ever changing from brown to grey to orange to almost clearing in the 4 hours we were there. It wasn't our typical bright and sunny beach scene but it did make for some amazing photos! Walter found a bunch of "eagle feathers" on the beach and proceeded to stick them in his shorts while he entertained us with a crazy bird dance. Henry and Felix soon joined in and we were treated with a real choreographed show featuring the dancing and squawking group self-named as Bird Basics. Funniest thing I've seen in a long time ... my boys as birds!

Dad and son camping (Part 2)

Where did you go camping? On rocks.
What special things did you bring? Bear and Blankie.
What was your favourite camping food you ate there? Pancakes.
What was it like sleeping with Dad? Snuggly.
What was your favourite thing to do there? Snuggle Daddy.
Were you cold at night? Yes!
What's your favourite thing that Dad did with you? Eating.
Did you miss your brothers? Yeah! Why? 'Cause I do!
Did you miss your Mum? Yeah! Why? 'Cause I do!
Next time you go camping, what are you looking forward to? Eating!
What did you do when it started to rain? Snuggled Daddy in the tent and played I Spy.
What did Bear think of camping? He was going to sleep.
One word ... Camping is ...? AWESOME!

a little bit of here and there (part 12)