Tag: activity

Learn to Fish at Elk Lake

I enjoyed fishing when I was a kid (I even won a trophy for a fishing derby in Sooke that my Dad’s work put on) so when I saw that there was a free learn-to-fish night for kids I signed us up!

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC runs free two hour sessions throughout BC. They stock lakes throughout the province with fish for fishing purposes so teaching children & adults the rules and how to properly handle fish makes sense.

On a sunny evening at Elk Lake we gathered with several other families to learn to fish. We learned about different types of fish, how to hold a fish, types of bait, fishing rules and then we had over an hour to use fishing rods to test out our new skills. The rods were pretty large so Rhys struggled a bit. There were so many kids in a row at the lakes edge that fishing lines were getting tangled etc. The bait was worms which was a gross factor for the kids. Rhys went for a walk with Jimmy to the nearby dock to take a break. Claire had her sights set on catching a fish. Those who were positioned nearby the reeds kept catching fish so Claire walked over and somehow found a spot there as well 🙂 The instructor called out last fish of the night and Claire caught a fish on her very last try! She caught a Bass fry.

Not sure if we will fish again anytime soon but we had fun on the lake that evening!

 

Can you spot the little fish?

 

Summer swim class

This summer we signed up for less activities/ camps for the kids. They work so hard during the school year that it is nice to have some unscheduled play. Free-range kids 🙂

One of the few things we did sign up for was swimming lessons- 30 minutes per day for two weeks. Perfect! We ended up with a very nice instructor who was strict but made it fun for the kids. Claire & Rhys did really well this time around. They are like fish in the water although Rhys sinks so easily!

 

Oak Bay Tea Party

Every year in early June the municipality of Oak Bay hosts a fun parade, community party and fireworks- The Oak Bay Tea Party. They bring in a mini amusement park which is always fun except it will bankrupt you!

We normally avoid this event because Claire & Rhys don’t do too well with rides. Actually, let’s clarify that… Rhys does not do well with rides. He is always eager to get on but then he gets scared and sick feeling when it starts to run. We thought we would test the waters this year and give it a whirl. It went okay until the end when Rhys sat in a bumper car with Claire. She is a crazy race car driver in those things and Rhys was super bummed. Made for some funny photos though! Post-amusement park cuddles with Dad made it all better ♥.

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Happy times before the rise started:

Once the ride started- poor Rhys! He has to ride it out until it was over:

Cuddles with Dad ♥:

 

Easter!

Easter was a bit more special this year with my Mom visiting for two weeks.

The weather was improving slowly to warmer days so she came at a perfect time when there was still snow in Alberta where she came from. My Mom and Dad love to garden so having her with us sure helped our wild garden. She weeded and prepped many plant pots and garden beds. I took several days off to spend with my Mom to organize for Easter and to just get out and wonder around Victoria. Claire & Rhys loved having a visitor as well. Nana is always up for reading, playing board games and having light sabre battles outside in pajamas!

We even headed out to Sooke where Wendy, Chris and Senna hosted a lovely lunch that brought all the Millers together. We got to play with some not-so-baby chicks, we ran outside in the sun watching Claire & Rhys have an epic easter-egg hunt. The Easter bunny went a little overboard this year! Our family got a hilarious board game from Wendy, Chris and Senna that was at the end of a very cool scavenger hunt that Senna organized.

We loved having Nana visit us and we had a wonderful Easter.

Beacon Hill:

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Saxe Point:

Easter morning:

Easter scavenger hunt for Nana:

Easter hunt at Aunt Wendy & Uncle Chris’:

Hilarious poopy head game:

 

Claire ♥ American Girl dolls

Claire received her very first 18″ doll for Christmas 2016. She has since acquired two more dolls. Her American Girl doll was from Nana & Papa for her 7th birthday. Rhys has a doll too and it is really quite fun to set up a play area for the dolls and to watch as their imaginations unfold.

Her dolls: Claire (blonde hair), Clarabel (brown hair), Deanna (black hair) and Rhys’ doll is named Jim 😉

Claire ♥’s to set her dolls up in a scene. Here is the dolls having a dance party:

 

 

 

 

Christmas 2016

Christmas was very fun this year! We stayed in Victoria and had my Mom spent the holidays with us. My Dad joined us after Christmas.

We visited the museum, did a fun art project at 4Cats, had a great early Christmas morning, had our annual brunch with Debbie on Christmas day, walk on the break water, and Butchart Gardens annual Christmas light visit. I love our holiday traditions and spending time with family.

 

Pre-Christmas Museum visit:

4Cats art class:

Christmas day:

Break-water walk with Nana & Papa:

 

Butchart Gardens:

Science kits!

Claire & Rhys received very cool science kits from Auntie Wendy, Uncle Chris and Cousin Senna for Christmas 2016. We put them away until weather got better and warmer outside as this was definitely an outside job! Well…we forgot about them for a while and found them one day in November.

Claire & Rhys are all about science so they LOVED working on these kits. Claire had a geode to crack open and Rhys had a shark fossils he had to chisel out. It was super fun.