Wordless Wednesday

I've been feeling uninspired this week,  so I'm jumping on the Wordless Wednesday bandwagon

Alyssa chillin' in the stroller

Lynden & Harley

Hi Baby Sissa

Smiles!

Lynden & Harley waiting for the ball

buddies

Harley would fetch the ball
Lynden would fetch Harley

This would be cuter if it didn't look like Lynden
was kissing Harley's butt, haha

Lynden running

She's so cute today

terrible framing but fantastic smile

looks like she's making a funny

Harley

Out and About: Pitt Meadow Days & A BBQ

Summer has arrived and what better way to kick it off then at Pitt Meadow Days!  The weather was Fantastic and the events were great. 

We started out the morning by picking up grandma and making our way over to the pancake breakfast, which we barely made before they shut the doors.  After breakfast we wandered over to the vendors to see what they had for sale.  I was on the look out for some head bands for Alyssa (she's going to be a head band wearing baby, with the way her hair parts it suits her perfectly) and did I ever score for her.  We found a woman who had a set of Canucks clips, and she only brought the 1 pair with her.  Sold!  Check out Tiny Seedlingz.  She does custom work as well.  (I see she has another style of Canucks clips, might need those too.  Now if she could make them in pink....)

waiting for the parade to start

Afterwards, we headed over to watch the parade.  I must say there is not much that is better than an almost 3 year old at a parade.  Every float he was excited about, he waved and danced his heart out though it all.  When we heard the drums of the first "float" (it was bagpipers and drummers walking) he was stomping his foot, shaking with anticipation.  We were at the end of the route so all the candies and such were gone, but it didn't matter.  About half way through a dancer gave Lynden the last pinwheel she had because he was so cute waving non stop with a massive grin on his face.  Towards the end a dance group stopped in front of us to perform their "Walking on Sunshine" routine and the MC saw Lynden rocking out to it so he went to the float, pulled off a beach ball, walked over to Lynden and told the crowd to check him out.  It was great to see him have such a great time.  I can't wait for next Sunday's Teddy Bear Picnic parade.

We left the parade before the last float came down (it was a long parade) and made our way to the park.  Lynden needed to use the potty, Alyssa was hungry and in need of a diaper change.  Lynden and grandma played catch with his new beach ball while we waited for Aunty Barbara to meet up with us.  Once she was able to find us in the massive crowd we headed over to the food area to eat some lunch.  Pizza and mini doughnuts, yum! 

Back to the vendors to pick up a puzzle for Lynden and then off to grandma's for a nap before heading off to an impromptu bbq.  Lynden was asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car.  While Lynden napped I raced home (doing the speed limit of course) to pick up Danny, who opted for a much needed sleep in. 

Go Canucks Go

Once Lynden woke up (and was in a better mood) and Alyssa was fed, had 2 diaper changes and a new change of clothes off to the bbq.  About 2 weekends ago we did a late mother's day bbq with all the cousins and it took Lynden awhile to warm up to the many cousins there.  Today he was much more comfortable with them and was playing with them pretty much right away.  He, finally, used the rocking horse in the yard (we've tried every time we're there to get him on it, today he asked) too.  Alyssa sported her Canucks head band while the Canucks game was on (Thank goodness they won!!).

It was a wonderful day, even though Lynden and I got a tad too much sun (I was a good mommy and lathered both kids and myself in sunscreen and insisted Lynden wear his hat all day) and Alyssa was not too impressed with having to be covered or in the shade all day.  I can't wait for the next family gathering!

running around



Alyssa's so photogenic



gnawing on her fingers

riding the rocking horse

Grandparents

My grandparents were very involved in my sister's and my life (I don't know if that is grammatically correct or not and google didn't help me).  We spent most school breaks, parts of the summer and other holidays with them.  They came along on field trips and other school activities.  I even lived with them for just over 2 years.  For me they truly were and are second parents to me. 

It was my hope that my children would have the same relationship with their grandparents that I was so fortunate to have.  Danny's mom is a very experienced grandma, she has 9 grandchildren (Lynden is #7 and Alyssa #9) - for those of you keeping track at home she can field a baseball team.  She was living in the Okanagan when Lynden was born and had a chance to be around for the first few months of his life before moving back to the coast.  She still made trips up to visit and with us back in the lower mainland (living, literally, next door) she gets to spend a lot of time with us and them.  Danny's dad, who only has 3 grandchildren, is a very proud grandpa.  I wish we still lived closer to him as I can see him being the cool outdoorsy grandpa, who takes the kids camping, fishing and teaching them all the things I don't want them to learn. 

Lynden and Alyssa are the only grandchildren on my side of the family.  It's a lot more grandparents, as I have step-parents, and the kids are treated like they have a lot of grandparents (they get spoiled!).  Even though we are closer we still don't get to see all of them as much as we'd like to.  My stepdad lives on the island, so it takes a lot of planning to visit with him but we always have a fun time.  My mom works long hours so it can be hard to match up our schedules.  My dad and stepmom are busy people, it seems like they're always on the go, but we try to see them on a monthly basis (although there's talk of them moving to the island as well).  My grandparents try to take Lynden for an afternoon every few weeks.  I love how they try to be as involved in his life as they were in mine.  I also love how excited Lynden gets when he knows he's going to see them and tells me about "papa noring" when he gets there.

It's hard knowing we now live in the same area as most of our family but still not be able to see them nearly as much as we want to.  I'm used to everything being pre-planned before we come to visit and having designated times to see people, although it was never enough time and someone was usually upset when we left because it just wasn't long enough (when you have 4 or 5 days, sometimes less, it's hard to give everyone the one on one time we want).  It was almost easier because people would make the time to see us for our short visit but now it's trying to fit us into their every day life and routines.  In some cases it doesn't feel like the effort we try to put in to see people is reciprocated, and it breaks my heart.  Our kids are entertaining, loving, funny and all around (mostly) enjoyable little people to be around and it saddens me deeply to think there are people who don't seem to want to be apart of their lives.  In the long run it's them who are missing out, not our children since they are so fortunate to have such amazing family in their lives.

Out and About: Vancouver Aquarium

On Wednesday the kids and I met up with another mom from my mom group and headed downtown to the Aquarium.  I had been telling Lynden for a few days that we were going to go on the skytrain to go see some fishes, I think he was more excited for the Sky Train than anything else.

At 10am we arrived at the sky train station and waited for the other mom and son.  Every time a train passed over our head Lynden got more and more excited and kept saying he wanted to go on the train.  He was almost vibrating when our Aquarium buddies arrived and we headed upstairs to catch the train.  Once on all he wanted to do was go.  Thankfully my grandpa has taught Lynden this train game where they go "ding ding people off.  Ding ding people on" so at every station we said "ding ding people off, ding ding people on". 

As we passed by Rogers Arena (I still want to call it GM Place) I tried to show Lynden where Kessler plays hockey but we couldn't see it too much until the ride back.  Then into the tunnel to get off the train, he likes tunnels. 

The second highlight to the day was the bus ride to the Aquarium.  I didn't tell him we were going on a bus so he was quite happy to get to go on one. 

At the Aquarium Lynden started to get tired, one of the downsides to getting up at 6 so we can have the car for the day, so there was a lot of cranking about wanting to do something other than what we were doing at that exact moment.  The other little boy and his mom go monthly so he was all gung-ho about seeing certain things (the sharks were his favourite) so we followed their lead. 

one of many butterflies

We started off by sweating our butts off to see the butterflies, which were very neat.  Poor Alyssa was sleeping in her sweats when we went in and woke very quickly from overheating in her carseat.   But she was good and was quite content to frown at the world.  They had so many butterflies just flying around the room, it was quite pretty.

alligator

Then off to see the alligators, monkeys and tarantulas (still give me the heebie jeebies).  Lynden liked the alligators.  Once we were content we went to see the sharks and the huge turtle - that thing is Huge!  While Lynden and his new buddy looked at them I went and gawked over the seahorses, are they ever cool looking.  Lynden then announced he wanted to go home, so it was a lot of talking him down and explaining we were there with our new friends and mommy still wanted to look at the fishes.  I tried to get him to touch the glass where star fish were but that was a little too much for him.  After a while we wandered over to see the octopus, which Lynden was dying to see, but it was hiding in the back of the display behind a rock so we could only see a tentacle.    

beluga

 We decided then the kids were probably hungry and to go eat lunch.  I also decided it was time for a potty break for Lynden, who I had stuck in a pull up for the day as I didn't want to be carrying around wet pants and underwear if he had an accident (he surprised me and made it all day with a dry pull up).  I have to give him a lot of credit, he didn't pee in the pull up and went when he sat on the potty.  We ate our lunch next to the Beluga whales and the kids were very excited to watch the squirrel beg for food from the next table.  After we were done eating Lynden ran back and forth from the table to the whales while the other mom and I chatted some more. 

see, Alyssa was there too

Just so you don't think I was neglecting my daughter all day, she was quite happy to observe from the carseat.  After lunch I popped her into her sling (which I love and will tell you about later) and continued on our day. 



soooo damned cute

We wandered over to the otter show (I think otters are the most adorable thing EVER and if I can find a way to have one as a pet I'd be thrilled), which was quite boring, and showed Lynden the otters.  Then down to see the dolphins and listen to the sea lions bark, they were quite talkative.  There were a few "kids" there barking back to the sea lions so Lynden joined in too.  By this time Lynden was done.  He just wanted to stand next to the stroller and hold Alyssa's hand.  We decided to make our way out, walked past the belugas just as they were about to start their show but neither kid had any interest so off to the gift shop.  Lynden chose a dolphin and orca toys (I'd like to Thank my son for managing to find the cheapest thing in the whole stop - they were on sale for 49-cents each.  Made it super easy to say yes to both toys). 

Back to the bus stop, Lynden was very unimpressed we had to wait for the bus, but was thrilled when it showed up.  Then back to the skytrain station.  I showed Lynden, again, where Kessler plays hockey and the ball that Yaya is working on (his yaya is my mom and she's not working on Science World, the company she works at is working on Science World, but we just say she is) and promised him we would go over the "bridge up high" after the tunnel.  It took about 4 stops before he was out, so he missed the tunnel and bridge. 

I think one of these days we may just do a transit day - take him from one end to the other on the skytrain and take a ride on the sea bus too. 

All in all, it was a good day, Lynden enjoyed the skytrain, buses, parts of the Aquarium and we made some new friends (we're going to get the kids together again to have a train playdate).

another butterfly

Lynden & his new buddy looking
at a stingray



tarantula

seahorse

I can't help but think of Nemo

lion fish, that'd be creepy to run into

Lynden & his buddy "taking turns"

Lynden holding Alyssa's hand

Lynden's bud checking out the beluga

our new friends

sea lions

checking them out

** I wasn't able to take too many pictures, as usual my camera, that I just charged, died shortly after we got there so I had to limit my pictures.  Think it's time to invest in a second battery.

Feeling Old

Earlier this week we took the kids to the pool.  We've been telling Lynden we would take him so we finally decided to follow through on it.  It has been quite awhile since Lynden has been at the pool and with summer coming we'd like for him to be brave enough to wade in water.  It was also Alyssa's first time - yay!  She looked super cute in the swimsuit she got for Easter from Nanny Allison, Papa John (not the pizza guy) and her Aunty. 

We have both kids in the second level preschool pool (the baby pool was closed and the water was surprisingly cold) - Lynden's walking around and Alyssa is splashing and kicking up a storm.  After a few minutes a couple of older kids (maybe 12-14 range) come into the pool (because it's cool to play in a kids pool when the water barely hits your thighs) and start to wrestle.  I'm walking Lynden around the pool and they're bumping and splashing us.  I do what most mother's do, turn to them and say "hey guys, there are kids here" and give them "the look".  They quickly left. 

Calling the younger generation out on their actions makes me feel old.  It doesn't feel like it was that long ago I was their age.  At least they didn't call me ma'am.

Alyssa in her swimsuit

**Photo update - we think it may just be the power cord on the laptop that's dead, if so I can start adding photos soon.  Keeping my fingers crossed