The Start of School!

Brea is off to kindergarten!!!

She has been quite anxious in the week leading up, some nightmares even but it's been a few days now and I think she's liking it. Here are a few pictures of the very first day off to school. I am so thankful to have been able to be there to walk her.

Showing off her glitter.

Packed and ready to go. Thanks Auntie Signe for the beautiful lunchbag, she was double checking to make sure I would use it for her first day.

When we went to pick her up after her first day (which was only for a couple of hours) she told me it was good except "everything was so rushed Mommy, it was too quick, there wasn't enough time to do everything." Her teacher told me that Brea was great though the very first thing she questioned the teacher about was whether her supplies were alright - I had dropped them off the week before. What can I say? She has me as her mom and I can be neurotic like that.

Day 2 brought this gem:
Me: "So what happened in school today Brea?"
Brea: "Well, when I got to school, I put my bag on my hook and sat on the bench where I'm supposed to and I changed my shoes to my inside shoes, then we were going outside so I went to the bench and changed my shoes to my other shoes, then when we came back inside, I had to change my shoes to my inside shoes and when we went home I changed my shoes to my other shoes again!"

There you have it, kindergarten is going to be a year with a lot of changes :o)

Conversation with kids: Hands

So, we were having dinner tonight when I looked over at Rhys with his soup and see that he is using his right hand today. Our little guy has yet to decide which hand he's going to go with and it seems to oscillate every day and activity.

Me: "Rhys which hand do you like to use better for eating?"
Rhys:
"This one!" - he's his right hand with the spoon
"Is this my right hand? Is this my 'shaking' hand?" - he mimes a handshake
Me: "Yes, that is your right hand, good remembering!"
I watch as he takes a few bites.
Rhys: "Actually, I like this hand better." - he switches the spoon over to his left side
Me: "Well, you know your Grumpa uses that hand to eat and so does your Uncle Kent. Daddy, Brea and Mommy use the right one. Which one are you going to use more?"
Rhys: "This one!" he exclaims holding out his right hand

Sigh, I think this is going to take a bit more time still.

Meanwhile, Brea has been watching this from across the table and not to be outdone, she says:
"I use my right hand, it's my favourite hand! But I can use my other hand too!" - she switches her spoon to her left hand and attempts a bite
"It's just not as cooperative."

My Boy Rhys!

Rhys is one of a kind. I bought the hat he is wearing from a craft fair when he was a wee babe, I tried to pass it on but he insists that he fits it and loves it and to show me he was sincere about it, he wore it for the whole day even though it was really hot.

Helping mash bananas for banana bread but not too happy about me snapping pictures.

Hence the pout.

But he's concentrating on the mashing so the pout is going away.

Wait a minute! Mama's still taking pictures!

Pout's back.

Then, he decides that he wants to do some art with his sister but he doesn't want to share the blue pencils. I tell him as long as he is not using a particular colour, Brea can use it until he is ready for it. So he has to use them ALL at the same time in order to not have to share. Have I mentioned, he's a bit of a stubborn monster?

Our Summer So Far...

Our summer is well underway and we have been keeping busy... so busy that I know I have been neglecting my updates here. With summer school out of the way, our bucket list is in full swing and here are a few highlights:

Delicious Maple Syrup soft serve ice-cream at Anny's Dairy Bar! Brea ate Rhys's when he gave up on it.

Geocaching took us to some lovely parks... it also found us with some unexpected visitors...

There is nothing like having your back turned as you are looking into rocks for a cache when the kids start shouting "BEAR!" and you know it's behind you, not 20 feet away.

Thankfully, he was just after a nice cool-down in the water.

We made some delicious homemade popsicles and shared it with friends.

Having science fun with baking soda and vinegar.

Building a lego tower with Kai. Rhys was so proud to get it so tall.

Brea was so excited to spend time with her cousins.

Rhys "reading" to Kai.

Tie-dye extravaganza!

Our house is looking wonderful thanks to Craig busting it out painting every day for several weeks now and our excursion to the south of the border is still to come so our summer has many more things still to come.

Summer Bucket List 2013

Finally buckled down and finished making our summer bucket list. I was inspired after seeing Amy's post at the Connection We Share. So I decided to sign-up for the Summer Bucket List Challenge to get the most out of this summer and hopefully make it a memorable one too. The Happy Family Movement put out the call and it looked like such a simple and enriching concept - think of fun family activities, make a list and do them!

I so loved Amy's bunting idea I decided to make one of my own and affixed it to our art wall. There is now plenty of space above to line it with pictures and projects to mark our progress all summer long.

Our list includes:

• have a family games night
• make our own tie dye t-shirts
• visit a fire department
• go to a museum
• visit a new park
• see a matinee movie
• go to the zoo
• splash at the water park
• ride the sky train and sea bus
• pick berries
• go to the beach
• hopscotch on the driveway
• fly a kite
• kids' choice craft day
• go to a car show
• eat a poutine, maple syrup twist ice cream cone and/or smoked meat sandwich at Anny’s
• geocaching!
• road trip – Oregon ho!
• visit cousins in Penticton
• make puppets

Here's to a fabulous summer!

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Da-Da, Daddy, Honey,

We hope you know how much you are loved. We love the time you give to us, play with us, spend with us. 

Happy Father's Day!

 xoxo

SunRype Tri Kids

Woohoo! Way to go! Brea and Rhys just completed their first ever triathlon!

We are so happy that our friends, the Kinetic Family, told us about the SunRype Tri Kids Races. What a wonderful opportunity for our children to get active in such a fun and safe environment! I showed a slideshow of past races and Rhys was so excited! We tried to prep the kids a bit in the time leading up to the race but we have been hit hard by some kind of nasty stomach bug so it's been a rough 10 days of very sick kiddos who have wanted do nothing but lie in a lump. We weren't sure Brea would be able to participate but she rallied and seemed better yesterday. So it was a quick go over of the transitions of swim to bike to run as well as a few goes of biking to the park and back. It was okay though, the distance expected for the 3-5 age group was very doable by either kid.

Prep the night before.

We woke bright and early, ate our hearty breakfast and were set to go!

It was a bit daunting upon our arrival since there were many people and it was pretty difficult to really explain and prepare the kids for that. We quickly headed to set-up and got our gear in place. It was lovely to bump into other friends who had kids at the event. Rhys was in the first wave and Brea was only six minutes behind so we basically stripped to our bathing suits and stood by the flag ready to go. It was a bit chilly so the kids were not as happy-go-lucky as we would have liked. It wasn't too long before Po-Po, the Kau-Kaus and Auntie Joyce showed up with a dazzling sign to cheer them on. So that made the waiting a little easier.

Both Craig and I had to be in the pool and along the course with the kids, a requirement for the 3-5 age group. We were on deck though for the swim portion so I did manage to see Rhys go. Brea was very interested in the timer that was strapped to her leg and questioned me on how it worked over and over while we waited. Soon we were in the water and off we went, those swimming lessons totally paid off as Brea crossed the pool without any difficulty, just a few stops to rest supported by my arm. Meanwhile, Rhys had a few gulps of water in the pool, insisted on waiting for Brea outside where it was cold and lost a bit of his enthusiasm.

By the time we headed to the bike section, Rhys wanted to go home. I think it was a bit much for him to hear a myriad of people on the sidelines cheering his name. After a bit of coaxing he did make it onto his bike and met up on the course with Brea and Daddy who had gone ahead. We swapped kids and I went to race the end stretch with Brea. It was so great! The announcer called out the kids names as we crossed the finish line and Brea's smile when she got her medal was well worth it. Rhys got there too in the end, with a bit of tugging encouragement from Craig. He was bawling for the 100m run but once he saw that there was snacks at the finish line, he was fine. This kid knows what his priorities are.

I'm waiting for some pictures from our on-site photographers, I was not able to snap shots while participating in the event, though the Kinetic Family totally did with the help of a strapped on waterproof camera. Hopefully, I'll add them to this post soon.

Proud little kiddos.

They did have fun and we are so very proud of them for completing the event. Here's to more triathlons in our future.