Goodbye Preschool

After 4 years of preschool, we are saying good-bye. Lucy had her Preschool Graduation at the end of June - and the ceremony was adorable!

Miss Hok is our beloved teacher, who has taught both of our kids. We will miss her gentle nature very much! Lucy's favourite activities at preschool were playing with her friends, with the toys and doing crafts. I'm confident she'll do just fine in kindergarten in September. She is eager to head to the "BIG" school and start French Immersion!

Run, Joshua, Run

Well the school year ended a week and a half ago, and I'm not yet caught up!
At the end of June, Joshua's school had a special assembly for Kilometre Club, which we and Nana attended. A lot of school in our area do a km club - I love that ours is run by parents and it is after school - meaning that the kids who really want to be there are.
This year 215 of 300 students participated, and 13 of them ran over 100km, including.... Josh!

Josh ran 102.5 km in 20 days, averaging 5 km in 30 minutes each day. He was the youngest student to earn a trophy (last year he won a silver medal). His goal initially was 90 km and to earn a gold medal, but then when he realized he was close to the trophy, he could not be deterred!

We are VERY proud of Josh and his persistence.
Way to go Son!

Cycling time

With the sun finally coming out (or at least the rain taking a break), we love to pull out our bikes and go cycling!

This year we purchased a Trail-a-bike for Lucy... it makes it into a sort of tandem bike with Mark. We love it! There are some great trails near our home - here's the family taking a break on the Deboughville Slough - such a pretty spot to watch wildlife from! It's just the soreness (butt) the next day that takes getting used to!

Day to day life...

The first weekend of June our family took part in the BC Children's hospital 5K Childrun. It was a lot of fun - Josh and I ran the whole 5k, stopping only once at a water tent. Mark and Lucy ran, then walked, then Mark carried her highness for 2K! As part of our run packages, the kids got these eggs... The instructions were to fill with water until the eggs cracked, then keep water only at the bottom. We've been watching bean plants develop ever since...
Lucy with Lilacs from Nana's lilac bush - best smell in the world!!! (Okay - maybe tied with the smell of fresh-baked pumpkin pie!)
Speaking of baking... here's my little bakers at it again! I think this one was chocolate chip cookies which lasted about 13 minutes in our household!

Happy Birthday Auntie Tara

So my sister's birthday was a month ago, but Lucy and I DID take this picture on her birthday, with tulips (Tara's favourites) from our garden! We did email her this pic, but I thought it might be cute to post.

We've had such lousy weather this year that when the sun does shine we are out in the garden!

Lucy like to be my Lil' helper: lil' mama, lil' chef, lil' gardener...

I enjoy having her help!

When good kids go bad...

Lucy is typically a delightful child, fairly agreeable and nice to spend time with. However, there are moments (really Grandma!) when things don't go her way, and she gets sent to her room.

On one recent day, Lucy was sent to her room as a consequence for talking back and defiance. I went in to check on her five minutes later (typically 1 min/year of age) when I found a typhoon had struck her room. Lucy was nowhere to be seen.... so I opened the closet door to find her hiding behind Daddy's slacks. I took pictures as evidence of her temper tantrum.

A short while later, after she cleaned her room, our delightful daughter returned.

She looks so innocent, non?

Life with Millie Twinkletoes

Millie is now 6 months old, and she is becoming a delight to have around. Her accidents on the floor are becoming fewer and far between - which leads to Mark and I enjoying her more!


I especially love how Josh has bonded with her. The first thing he does when he wakes up is run to Millie, pick her up, and let her lick his face. You can even see that he is still in his jammies in the outdoor pic.


Mark likes to have Millie in the car with him, especially on his lap while he drives. He thinks it hilarious when dogs stick their heads out the windows while driving - and so Millie stands on his lap and looks out the side window.
Lucy likes to run around the backyard with Millie, and "cuddle" her on the floor (though it's sometimes more of a tackle!).