On my Mom’s very last day in Vancouver and the last day of vacation before I returned to work we met up with our friends Kim, Ryan and Kye at the Aquarium. It was a very quiet day with no crowds – yay!

It had been a few months since our last quick visit and Claire & Rhys are much bigger now. It was interesting how they were both more timid with the big fish tanks. Rhys more so than Claire which was a first. Rhys found comfort in Jimmy’s arms and we walked around the aquarium looking at all the aquatic wonders and the tropical zone where there were some really cool birds and alligators. I have to say the alligator exhibit is a bit scary – thunder and lightning and rain with spot lights shining on the alligators. I actually felt quite badly for them.

Claire & Rhys are still talking about the sea turtle. Everyday when they wake up from their naps or from bedtime they tell us about the turtle like they have been dreaming about it all night. Sounds like a really good dream!

We will be visiting again very soon 🙂

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After a really busy day with the kids we try to balance it out by following with a nice mellow slow-paced day. Claire & Rhys really seem to enjoy the downtime and the ability to not get rushed from one activity to the next.

After our busy Christmas we had some nice mellow time in our neighborhood. Having fun with Nana of course!

I should note that Claire & Rhys don’t like wearing their own toques. They always prefer wearing their Dad’s assortment of toques hence the big toque-heads below 😉

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We were graciously invited over to my Aunt Josephine’s home for Christmas dinner on Christmas Day.

We happened to have a turkey in our freezer that I had bought for our thanksgiving. Jimmy and turkey are a bad mix and the kids don’t eat a lot of food so when I ordered the organic turkey from our organic food delivery company back in October I thought I was buying a small turkey. It arrived and it was huge! for us at least. It also cost us $70! Needless to say that it was good news to be making the turkey for the family dinner. The turkey was really tasty and it would give us room back in our freezer.

It was fun getting all dressed up especially for Claire. She loves putting on a pretty dress and having her hair done (not everyday though)- such a little girl 😉

We arrived and there were gifts under the tree for the kids from everyone – how generous! The kids were spoiled and they had a great time running around. They did pretty good at the big table and they ate pretty well too. We had great fun with good conversation and yummy food. We also miraculously got home not too much past bedtime.

 

 

 

We had a nice mellow Christmas this year at home.

My Mom arrived a few days before the big day which was so nice. She stayed for 13 days combining time with us and other family. We ate, drank wine, visited parks, shopped… The kids really enjoyed having Nana visiting and loved to sit down and read a book with their Nana. We enjoyed having her here too 🙂

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Claire & Rhys were so excited for Christmas morning. We had them all charged up for it as we talked about it lots the week before. Also, they just came off having their birthday party where they had a lot of gifts to open. Rhys woke up first and was so excited seeing the little Christmas tree all lit up with a bunch of presents lying about. There were two winnie the pooh characters up-wrapped that he saw first and he shouted with excitement! Claire was still sleeping so we asked him to wait until she woke up. Although he was very good about waiting, it  sure didn’t take too long for him to sneak into their room and wake her up.

I have never seen Claire wake up so fast before…..we said ‘Merry Christmas’ and she was up and ready to get out of her crib. The kids really enjoyed all their new toys and we had as much fun as they did. Christmas really is something else once you have kids. It was great.

 

Tigger & Winnie-the-pooh

Loving their new doll carriers – thanks Mom!

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Our second day in Victoria was scheduled to be our main day to visit with friends. Jimmy was able to escape the previous evening for a beer or three, but those exploits are best left untold 😉

In the morning we went to Cook Street Village and met Kaisha, Brent and Amelia. We took a stroll to Dallas road and played on the beach for a while. It was a nice day outside and we had a great time. Amelia is a little older than Claire & Rhys and it was neat seeing them all check each other out and exchange kid-banter. Claire & Rhys loved throwing rocks into the water and picking up driftwood. Amelia found a really neat piece of algae and shared a piece with Rhys. It sort of looked like candy and when Rhys took a little nibble he quickly found out it wasn’t sweet at all!

We are already looking forward to our next visit with your lovely family 🙂

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Later in the day after Claire & Rhys napped we hosted some friends at our hotel suite. Lise and her daughter Amelia came over and we spent a little time out on our roof-top patio as the sun began to set.  Amelia was kind enough to let Claire & Rhys feed her Cheerios. They loved doting on her. Once we got a little chilly we went inside where it was warm by the fire. It was really nice to catch up and see how much Amelia has grown since our last visit! She is such a cutie.

Michelle, Dan, and Max came a little later and the bunch of us had a great time eating, chatting, sharing kid stories etc.  Max is a few months older than Claire & Rhys and it was nice seeing them all interact and play with some toys once some shyness wore off.

Thanks friends for coming to visit with us. Merry Christmas! and we look forward to seeing all of you in the New Year.

We traveled to Victoria this past weekend to have a pre-Christmas visit with our family and friends.

The one bedroom suite that Jimmy found was pretty much a one bedroom apartment complete with dishwasher, oven/stove, full fridge and gas fireplaces. We also had a roof-top patio on our floor that was at our disposal. The weather was fairly warm and nice so we spent some time out there looking at the pretty views.

We arrived on a Friday and got settled in nicely with the kids. We prepared for our visit with Jimmy’s family the next day which was also Claire & Rhys’ actual 2nd birthday. Bob arrived at 10am and everyone else arrived at 11am. It was nice having some one on one time with Bob and the kids before everyone else arrived.

Once we all got settled-in, we had a great time! Yummy food, gifts for the kids, lots of chatting, listening to music, laughing, visits to the roof top patio. When it came time for Claire & Rhys’ nap time everyone went on a tour of the hotel and they had some fun goofing around in the gym 🙂

Thanks everyone! We had a great Christmas visit. Merry Christmas and see you in the New Year!

Nana Nic – you are always in our hearts and we miss you dearly….
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Claire & Rhys with their birthday presents from us:

All dressed up and ready for family to arrive:

Daily visits to our neighborhood parks still continue even when the weather is chilly, rainy, or windy.

We don’t last as long outside but it is nice to have empty parks so Claire & Rhys can run free with no worries…

They have taken a liking to trees and now regularly give them hugs 🙂