Claire & Rhys turn 9!

Claire & Rhys had an epic 9th birthday. They both love Harry Potter and crafts so we had a Harry Potter felting party! Last year they wanted to have separate parties but realized afterwards that they liked celebrating together. It was a lot easier for us to have one party this year 🙂

We had their party at The Make house. Same location as Claire’s party last year. The ladies there have a great party space and are super nice.

We went all out with the Harry Potter theme- decorations, the cake, homemade house ties for everyone, Claire & Rhys in costume and the craft was part of the theme as well. We had a gorgeous cake made this year rather than my homemade cupcakes. It was really tasty & pretty! There were a lot of laughs and loads of fun for all the kids that helped celebrate Claire & Rhys!

Happy Birthday!

Opening gifts at home after the party…

Field-trip to the British Columbia Parliament Buildings

Claire & Rhys’ 4th grade teacher organizes cool field trips. Jimmy and I like to participate as much as we can. I was able to take the day off and accommodate the kids class to the BC Parliament Buildings and have a special tour from one of the other parents who works there.

It was a cold and rainy day but we made the most of it. It was a 30 minute walk from the kids school and once inside we warmed up and enjoyed the Christmas decorations and history of the building. There was even an old jail cell in the basement which all the kids loved!

Jimmy’s 42 birthday!

We always have fun celebrating Jimmy’s birthday. It typically includes a movie and pizza as it is his favorite!

We started off the special day with a yummy breakie and gifts. Happy 42nd Birthday Jimmy! You are the best husband and daddy that we could ever wish for xo

Halloween

We had a very fun Halloween! This year Jimmy & I decided not to wear costumes. However, we did carve some great pumpkins and made delicious marshmallow ghosts for the school dance bake sale. The kids costumes were a huge hit with everyone this year. Not only did they look great but they acted the parts perfectly… perhaps due to having grandparents live with us for many months 😉

Pumpkin carving
marshmallow ghosts

The kids participated in the school library literary pumpkins where they make a pumpkin based on a favorite book. They turned out great:

To finish our Halloween events off we had the kids compost their pumpkins:

Butterfly garden

We like to get out and try new things especially on ProD days. I take the day off work since Jimmy has no flexibility in taking the day off. He is required to be at school.

Claire, Rhys and I decided to go visit the butterfly gardens in Victoria. It was fun and humid. Lots of beautiful birds, turtles and butterflies to see. It is a pretty small place so we have walked through it and lingered as long as we could which totaled 30 minutes! It was worth it to try at least once 🙂

Butterflies!


Grade 4!

I cannot believe Claire & Rhys are in grade 4. Time flies.

They are in a split grade 4/ grade 5 class. The year started out with two female teachers- Mrs. Hart and Mrs. Bedi. One week in and Mrs. Bedi left to teach at a different school and it took a few weeks to find a new teacher. The kids are much happier with the new teacher- Mr. Mitchell.

It’s a great year so far!

Salt Spring Island – camping!

To date our camping experience has been isolated to the safety and comfort of our back yard and Wendy’s house in Sooke. If somebody was scared, we could go inside. If someone had to go to the washroom, it was right there complete with a flushing toilet.

We thought we would venture further this summer as we recently acquired two tents. We decided to camp at Ruckle Park on Salt Spring Island. On the day that we choose to depart, Jimmy had to go into his school for an early pre-school work date. That left me and the kids to ferry over by ourselves, find the campsite and set up the tents.

It was fun. Rhys was terrified of the small ferry and was impossible to get him out of the van but once we made it to the island all was good. It was sunny and hot. We parked at Ruckle Park and had to walk around to find out reserved site which turned out to be next to the outhouses- ewww. So we found a first come first serve spot (#11) that was nestled in the woods with a view of the ocean.

Claire & Rhys were amazing with helping to carry everything from the van. They had wheel barrows that we used to haul everything. It was a lot of work but we got it done and still had ample time to adventure before we had to go pick up Jimmy at the ferry. It is a very pretty camping location- right on the water with the ferries passing by. We went for a long hike to a historical farm. We saw turkeys, sheep, birds and chickens. It was a nice hike along the water. Then we returned to camp and cleaned everything up before we departed to get Jimmy. At the terminal we bumped into my Mom’s best friend (Crystal) and her family which was so nice. We snacked on gummy bears while we waited.

The kids were so excited to see daddy! We drove into town for dinner which was yummy. Before it got dark we drove back to the campsite and got settled in for the night. Jimmy had to take Claire to the outhouse in the middle of the night because she refused to go earlier. Outhouses were a new thing! Jimmy’s mattress deflated but not before he squeaked and honked on the taut, slippery surface throughout the night 🙂

We awoke early,packed up and headed to the ferry terminal to return home. Our one night camping trip was a blast 🙂