First hockey game!

My co-worker was selling tickets to a Victoria Royals local hockey game as a fundraiser for her sons hockey team. We mentioned many times to the kids that we should go see a live game even though none of us are huge hockey fans. Live games are always a good time so we bought some tickets and had a fun family night out!

We didn’t realize we were sitting in the family area where no beer is allowed. While sipping on a cold brew security came over and Jimmy & I got into trouble 😉 We had a good laugh afterwards.

 

 

 

Halloween 2016

We had a great time this Halloween! We went to the schools annual Halloween dance. They had a haunted house, dancing, quiet room, photo booth, games etc- fun! The kids are so independent now. Claire & Rhys ran around with their friends while we followed them around. I think we stayed at the event the longest ever.

Claire & Rhys both wanted to be Star Wars characters. Rhys was Kylo Ren and Claire was Rey for their school Halloween dance and a Storm Trooper for trick-or-treating. Jimmy and I dressed up too- as Ewok’s using the kids costumes from when they were toddlers.

Pics from Halloween dance photo booth:

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Pretty sure Claire did not read the prop before she used it 😉

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Pumpkin carving:

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On our way to trick-or-treating:

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Readers

Reading has taken off this school year! After bath time instead of playing Lego like most other nights these two wanted to sit and read through their books. Awesome.

Maybe all our reading to them since they were first born has paid off…

 

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Vancouver summer trip

Last summer we traveled to Vancouver for a mini vacation. We wanted to spend time checking out all the fun tourist things and to visit old friends. We stayed downtown for two nights so we could catch the sky-train and walk around the city. We visited the Aquarium, did some shopping, visited Science World and had a blast.

After our stay downtown we drove over to North Vancouver to stay with our good friends Faye & Niels. I have known Faye since my first year at University. She was my roommate in residence! The University placed us together randomly and have been friends since. We had a great two nights spending time with Faye and her family. We also visited with our friends and the kids surrogate grandmother, Evelyn, who was our neighbor in our old condo building when we lived in North Vancouver. We spent some time with her and her boyfriend Barney. They were so sweet and it was nice to catch up on all the condo gossip 😉 We also had some time to have a picnic with our South African friends Kim, Ryan and their two sons Kye and Fin. We spent a lot of time together when Claire & Rhys were babies as Kim and I worked together and had an overlap with our maternity leaves. We used to swap child minding which I miss so much! A bonus of staying with Faye & Niels is we tagged along to another friends big BBQ so we were able to see lots of old friends and they have the best backyard that Claire & Rhys made the most of.

We had a great trip and we are excited to make it an annual summer adventure.

 

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Science World:

Aquarium:

Lions Gate Bridge to West & North Vancouver:

Faye & Niels home:Faye & Nield

Evelyn & Barney:

Kim & Ryan clan:Kim & Ryan

 

Lisa & Sean’s BBQ…best backyard for kids:

And of course….Jimmy found a pool to skate 😉

 

Celebrating the end of school… in Tofino!

Every Canada Day there is a skateboard contest in Tofino. Jimmy has been meaning to attend it for years. We opted to combine his desire with a family vacation as a way to celebrate the end of the school year. Additionally, we were married in Ucluelet so this area of the island remains very special to us.

We stayed at Pacific Sands Beach Resort which was amazing and very family friendly. Being right on Cox Bay beach, the kids loved the easy-access to early beach walks and exploring. In fact, we visited several times during each day. We would spot new sea creatures, hike the adjoining trails, go slug hunting (where we would count the number of slugs along the way), and even venture into the chilly waters. It was so much fun! There was even a nature camp for 1.5 hours per day the kids could attend and nightly S’mores making.

One of our best trips ever. I think we will make it an annual event.

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