Claire – Page 6 – wee little lovelys

Parksville with friends

September 5, 2015

Every summer a bunch of our friends that I have known since University organize a group camping trip. This year at the end of the summer we all met at Parksville.

On the way to Parksville and on our way back home we had some time to visit the Chemainus & Ladysmith skate parks. No vacation is complete without a sk8 adventure.

We had such a great time visiting with friends and having some solo adventures as well. The only downside was Claire getting stung three times when running through playground and a hornet got caught in her jean jacket, Ouch!

[wpvideo fiUcNcIE]

Alberta Part 3 – Medicine Hat & family!

August 27, 2015

After our fun time in Drumheller we caravanned to Medicine Hat and had four sunny days that we spent with family.

Our good friend Annalee drove from Northern Alberta to visit us while we were in Medicine Hat. Thank-you for making such an effort to see us! We had a wonderful visit with you…. ice cream, swimming, and a lovely lunch out.

I was able to visit with my Godparents- Aunt Linda & Uncle Norman, we had a family BBQ to celebrate my Mom’s birthday and we visited the Medicine Hat skate park and various tourist spots around the town.

Thank-you for the wonderful visit everyone! We will be back soon. xo

Annalee:

Cousin Sophie:

Cousins Sophie & Aubrey:

Back L to R: Deanna, Sarah, Mom (Tricia), Dad (Vern), Caithlin, Ethan, Michaela, Hayden

Front L to R: Rhys, Claire, Sophie & Aubrey

Little Reindeer:

World’s largest teepee:

Aunt Linda & Uncle Norman. The best Godparents ever:

Heading back to Calgary for one last night before flying home:

Victoria:

Alberta Part 2 – Drumheller & Royal Tyrell Museum

August 27, 2015

Claire & Rhys are still very much into dinosaurs. We couldn’t drive to Medicine Hat from Calgary without stopping for a night in Drumheller to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Drumheller also has a skatepark so of course we went there to.

My Mom & Dad met us in Drumheller and we had a lot of fun!

Alberta Part 1 – Travel to Calgary & cousins

August 24, 2015

When we returned from Africa late 2013 one of the first things on our list to do was get out to Alberta to visit with my family. We had not visited as family since 2010 so long overdue!

We flew Victoria > Vancouver > Calgary. My cousin Leah lives in Calgary with her family and they opened up their house to us for a night so we could get in a visit before we departed the next day to Drumheller.

Pedalheads Summer Camp!

August 10, 2015

We were all lucky this summer that Jimmy could stay home with the kids and they could have some fun mellow adventures together. Claire & Rhys still had plenty of summer camps lined up throughout the summer to keep them busy as they love activities. One of our favorite camps was Pedalheads!

It was a summer biking camp that was a week long camp with half days. Claire and Rhys received new bikes at the end of the school year that were a big step up from their balance bikes. Pedalheads summer camp taught them how to ride their bikes safely and with no training wheels- yahoo! It was a success and they can now ride their big kid bikes pretty well. The last day of the camp was a dress-up princess/ pirate party and bike rodeo. All the parents watched, video-taped, clapped and hooted as each kid rode through an obstacle course. Great fun! We will definitely sign up again next summer.

Summer camping in Sooke

July 15, 2015

We have never camped as a family before and the kids were eager to give it a try so as a soft run we camped out on Wendy & Chris’ property in Sooke. Obviously the kids loved it and Jimmy & I survived the night so looks like we will try a real camping trip next summer 🙂

We had a big picnic, spent time at Sooke potholes and had loads of leisure time reading in the sunshine, and visiting the chickens. Jimmy even entered a local skateboard contest where he did really well and won some skate goods.

We always enjoy our time with Wendy, Chris and Senna and this was yet another fun get-together.

The stream down from Chris & Wendy’s little hobby farm:

Chris cooking some yummy ribs!

Claire & Rhys sleepy heads:

Last day of Kindergarten!

June 30, 2015

The kids had an amazing year in Kindergarten! They met loads of new friends and learned so much. Amazing that the school year is wrapping up. We are all looking forward to a great summer break 🙂

First day of Kindergarten!

Last day of Kindergarten!

Easter 2015!

April 5, 2015

Easter is one of the Miller’s favorite holidays. As “grown ups” we get to live vicariously through the kids’ hyper excitement (chocolate fueled, no doubt). This year we did some fun crafts leading up to the big egg hunt -making paper bag animals, dying eggs, etc. Dying eggs was a first for us and we had a lot of fun making it happen. The kids also participated in an Easter baking class to keep things fun.

When it came time for the big Easter egg hunt, we hunted in our yard way earlier than desired because Claire and Rhys’ hype could not be contained. We sometimes call Rhys ‘Roo-roo the Rooster’ for good reason…he wakes us all up everyday around 6am! We made a special breakie early on Easter morning. By 8:15am all the eggs were found and we were forced to explain why portioning/rationing one’s sweets is a virtuous goal.

We ended our long weekend with a great visit with old friends and we finally met their new baby boy!