Rhys – Page 6 – wee little lovelys

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!

Claire & Rhys turn 5!!

December 17, 2014

Time really does fly. It’s hard to believe that Claire & Rhys are already 5 years old! These past five years have been very fulfilling and amazing for us and our family. We have had a lot of great adventures with these two amazing kids and it is a joy to see them grow and develop into caring, fun and awesome individuals.

This year Claire & Rhys wanted to celebrate their birthday with a dragon themed party. A local art studio, 4Cats, hosts children’s birthday parties and they had an art party which could get spun in such a way -perfect!

Many children were invited from their kindergarten class, their cousin Senna and several of our friends kids were invited as well. We had 15 kids in total and the party was so much fun. Each child made a dragon and painted a dragon watercolour picture. We had snacks and then sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Claire & Rhys and then they blew out the candles on our homemade cupcakes which they helped me bake. It was a super fun celebration.

On the evening of their actual birthday (which was mid-week this year) we had Jimmy’s friend “Uncle” Doug and Aunt Debbie over to celebrate with some ice cream cake. Another fun celebration.

Claire & Rhys are now 5!

Hallowe’en

November 3, 2014

We love Hallowe’en! We had a lot of fun this year getting costumes together, carving pumpkins, school dance for the kids, doing hallowe’en crafts and going trick or treating.

Rhys went as a werewolf and Claire a witch. Jimmy was a punk rocker and I was a bat. Wendy, Chris and Senna (who went as Cleopatra) joined us as we ventured out on a cold night to a great neighborhood where almost every house was taking part in the hallowe’en fun. The kids received way too much candy and all-in-all had a great time.

Kindergarten!

September 29, 2014

Hard to believe we are at this stage but we are and it is going awesome.

Even though all good now, the start of school was delayed for everyone in BC due to a province-wide teachers strike. While we believed in the teachers’ stance, it was a source for frustration for all involved. In the end it actually worked in our favor though…

Being out of catchment due to living in a different area, our hope to attend a school where Claire & Rhys’ preschool friends were was low. Due to the time it took to dissolve, said strike pressured some families to delay enrollment, start home school or attend private school. Fortunately for us, this opened up spots for us to claim and we did so with fervor!

Our family’s transition into full-day kindergarten has gone well. The kids have adapted decently although they are pretty tired by day’s end. Jimmy’s time with the kids lent itself to spontaneity and flexibility both in mood and scheduling. Our new “9 to 5” life is still a work in progress but we all enjoy the fresh independence, growth, change and early start to the day -well maybe not Deanna (not a morning person).

The Historic Kinsol Trestle

August 5, 2014

Sunday seems to be our go-to day of the week to do some fun adventures. The kids are enrolled in a sports class on Saturday mornings and after a busy work week we like to relax on Saturdays.

This past Sunday we drove to Shawnigan Lake to visit the historic Kinsol Trestle. It is a wooden railway trestle located north of Shawnigan Lake which is about a 45 minute drive from our house. A description on the parks website is:

“The Kinsol Trestle is one of eight trestles along the Cowichan Valley Trail route and by far the largest and most spectacular. The Kinsol Trestle is one of the tallest free-standing and most spectacular timber rail trestle structures in the world. At 614 feet in length and standing 145 feet above the salmon bearing Koksilah River, the Kinsol is an incredible structure and was worth preserving.”

We had to walk along a trail for 1.5km to get to the trestle from the parking area and it was amazing! The views were really pretty with a river down below. There were hiking trails that led to the river and we could see some people swimming in the river. The kids had a tonne of energy and we ran races the whole way to the start of the trestle. We had packed a lunch and snacks and sat at one of the available picnic tables and enjoyed the beautiful day. This was a great spot to take kids.