Easter

At the campsite for 10mins and already eating her first ice cream cone! 

Big kids have helmets on riding their bikes, so Jia wanted hers on too.  Even though she's only playing with the beach toys.

That's us on the left, Penny in the van in the middle and Nicole and family on the right. 

We bought this collapsable high chair for Missy and it worked fabulously.

Jia asleep in the bike carrier.

Bunny hunt at Butchart.  Eric marked Jia's map for her but we let her hold an extra one.

Jia's first carousel ride.

Ready to go to her first camp fire.  We sat her in her high chair so she couldn't get close :)

She was pretty thrilled with those new boots.

Our little bunny, so sweet.  The ears stayed on for about 30seconds.

Come on Mom!  Let's get on with the hunt already!

"oooo, eggs"

Found another one.  Not sure why we're doing this but it's fun!

Finished first!

Mmmm, candy eating time, except for Jia who has dried fruit.

We made it through the first camping trip with Jia.  She did great.  I think we can safely say she loves camping just as much as the big girls do.  We were all more than a bit shocked at the resort.  Row camping.  Not our style.  The girls were asking us if we could leave before we were even parked.  They quickly changed their minds once they started playing with their friends.  I did like how clean it was for Jia.  I don't care much about hook ups, the only real difference I see is that the lights are brighter.  We didn't take Isabel and it's a good thing we didn't as there was no privacy at all there, no room for her tether and there were a lot of other dogs walking by constantly. 

The rv site was small and the girls were able to take off and ride their bikes on their own so they had a great time with the new freedom.  When they rode by us they'd yell out 'Hi' to Jia.  She thought that was pretty great, she'd run to the pavement and wave after them yelling 'Hi' back.

Miss Jia did a ton of walking.  We're all shocked at how far she can walk.  We picked up a jogging stroller on the way to the resort and it worked fabulously.  So easy to take on the trails.  Jia even napped a couple times in it.  We went on a big bike ride on Sat. so got to try out our bike rack from the trailer to the car.  Very nice.  I can see that we'll use that a lot this year.  We did 12kms on our ride.  Who knew the kids could do that?!  They loved it and are already asking when we can head out again.

We were worried it would rain on Sunday so after our bike ride we took off to Butchart since it was still early and so sunny.  Our walk and bunny hunt was great.  Very relaxing.  Jia rode her first carousel and seemed to like that too.  There was lots of drool and she held on tight.  Then we had a heck of a time getting her to leave, she kept going back and saying bye bye to the ride!  Too cute.  Afterwards we met Catherine and her girls for dinner.

Sunday morning the girls opened their baskets together and we all laughed about what Jia must be thinking.  Later in the day we had a group egg hunt for all the kids (9).  Lili was proud to be the first to collect all her eggs.  Jia caught on quickly and really liked hunting for eggs.  When she first saw them, she said "ooo, eggs".  We're planning to hide some more eggs at home for her.  It's amazing to me how Jia just joins in and seems to understand what the kids are doing.  It's fun to watch Lili and Fei introduce Jia to the traditions. 

On Monday we packed up in the rain, so thankful that we had such great weather and made it home early enought to have a lazy day at home.  Needed after the super busy weekend.

Heading into Easter

Walking on the Trans Canada Trail with Gramma and Grampa.

Jia was sooo thrilled to be holding Lacie.

Hola' from Cafe Mexico!

Didn't even occur to Jia to sit with us on the sidelines at the school assembly.

Yup, that's Jia way up there in the alien monster head at Burger King!!

GASP, that is Jia way up at the top!  It was nervewracking for us watching but she had a riot.

Lili took Jia down the slide.  We can tell how good a time Jia is having by the amount of drool on her shirts.  Notice how exciting it was in the playcenter!

Video link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1a-FDJnFYc

Jia was asked to join in at the girls dance class, the girls even found a skirt for her to wear, she was sooo thrilled.  Notice the drool. 

Super busy days.  We've been our usual busy, catching up from being sick and now getting the RV ready for the first camping trip of the year.  Getting the unit Jia ready has been interesting.  She loves, loves, loves her little bunk.  We bought the girls toy boxes for the ends of their beds and she just sits in there and plays while we work.  I didn't think we'd get done but the push was on over the weekend and we got it all ready!  Including a trip to the big city for a 4 bike rack.  Eric had a hitch for the RV fabricated and we can now put all the bikes on the RV or the car.  Very exciting.  We'll have a few years before we have to figure out what to do with the fifth bike.  We talked/forced Fei to move to an upper bunk, much to her dismay.  I got a bed rail and her things have been moved up and she seems happy enough now.  We tried for a couple weeks to find a bracket for our RV TV with no luck so gave up and bought a new TV/DVD and braket.  It's quite fabulous after the old system, we tried watching a movie in there but Jia can climb up to our bed and reach the TV and she wants to sit right in front of it.  So, we gave up and took the kids to Burger King to play in the indoor play center.  Which Jia LOVED.  After working all weekend we took a break and went to Cafe Mexico for dinner.  It's one of my favorite places to go and the girls like it well enough, plus they get virgin margaritas there.  Mmmm. 

Our driveway is crazy packed so the decision was finally made to let our boat go.  Frankly no way we can get back to boating until Jia is older so what's the point in keeping it.  It's already sat unused since Lili came home.  I put an ad on a local used site and got 30 calls/e-mails within an hour!!  First guy to respond was supposed to pick it up the next night but he didn't show.  Eric called the next guy and he was there in 15mins, turned out we knew him and he was very excited.  Young fellow with a young family, he has the same boat but the floor has rotted out, he is going to switch his motor/cable/gears to our boat.  I'm so pleased it will be getting used.  I thought I'd be happy to have it out of the yard but I got a lump in my throat watching it go down the driveway. 

Next to go was the camper.  First family to come and look bought it right away.  Yay.  I am for sure sad about that but it will be great to see it out of the driveway and will allow for some parking space.  Not sure what to do about our trailer, since the relatives have their trailer in it's spot.  For now it's in front of the house, but we can't see out the front windows and we aren't keen to park it on the lawn.

Lili's teacher came for a short visit and house tour yesterday, Lili was so excited to show off her house/cat/room to her.  So sweet.  The really funny part was we asked Jia to show Mrs. Nowiki her room and she totally led the way, marched right in and opened her dresser and pointed out her rocking chair, crib and bed.  How hillarious.

Jia is quite the ham.  She is such a happy girl, totally on the go and her comprehension is just huge.  I bought her a pair of sports sandals and asked her to try them on.  I got busy and didn't see what she did with them and had no idea if they fit or not.  I found them later, lined up neatly in-between Lili and Fei's sports sandals at the front door!  She is still packing her toy rat everywhere with her.  She isn't talking as much but still making just as much noise.  She refuses under any circumstances to call me Mama.  I'm Dad, just like Dad and her Sisters Dad and Dad.  Lacie and Isabel rate getting their names used :) 

Lili joined the cross country running at school.  She didn't think she should because she thought she'd be the slowest runner there.  Gramma and I told her to go ahead and try if she wanted to.  So, she asked her teacher if she could go get the permission slip.  We took her to the track and she couldn't run the required amount but a few days later my Dad ran with her and Fei and all three of them did the 1.2kms.  The running has started at school and she has been coming in last.  We just keep telling her it's ok, someone has to be last.  This past Monday she was so thrilled to come home and report that were two other grade 3 girls behind her.  Today they're being timed.  She's fairly certain she won't be picked but we're proud of her for trying.  Oh, and it turns out Miss Fei is a really good little runner!  Who knew?!  She can't wait to join next year when she is in grade 3. 

There is a skipping club at school that they're both going to and they love that. 

Right now they are all about the camping trip.  I don't know how we'll get Jia to sleep in a bed, should be interesting.  I'm thinking she'll sleep eventually just like she did in the pack and play but the naps will be a no go.  I might have to take her for very long quiet walks.   Many years ago, when Lili and Fei were both still napping, we used to put them in the car with air conditioning and go for long drives when we were camping.  There was just no way they would settle in the trailer with so much going on outside.  With gas so high, we won't be doing that.  I'm cautiously thinking camping will be ok with a baby but it will certainly be more work than we're used to!

Normal moments.

"In a gwass".

Oh the joy of bubbles!

Even more joy from marshmallow bunnies!

Everyone seems to be on the mend again.  Thank goodness for antibiotics.  Even Dixie appears to be doing better, she's still awfully thin though.  We're all obsessive about trying to entice her to eat.  Fei stood for half an hour this morning dipping her finger in apple juice for Dixie to lick off.  

Eric has emptied our RV so that we can clean, repair and start again.  Serious RV spring cleaning.  Jia found some bubbles in the camping gear and she wanted to play with them, of course she had no idea what they were.  We went to our front yard to play with them as there was still sun out front and she was just beyond delighted with bubbles.  Lili and Fei soon joined in and took the bubbles from me and kept Jia entertained for quite some time.  Very cute.  Then the Auntie from the front yard joined us and gave her a marshmallow bunnie, sadly the bubbles quickly lost their appeal, the mouthful of sugar became much more interesting.  Ya, we still have family living in our front yard.  We thought it would be for a couple maybe even a few weeks, but it's been three and half months.  We're starting to think they're never leaving.  The front yard is just embarrassing these days.  Way too much going on out there.  I'm hoping everything and everyone clears out soon.   I'd sure like our normal life back, and while I'm wishing, I'd sure like it if the Nelsons could be done with all the sickness!

Jia's words are coming fast and furious.  Some of it is just so surprising.  She's calling me Daddee now, seems completely unaware that she used to call me Mama.  She is calling Fei, Pay.  Lili has become 'guys'.  The other day she wanted milk and when Lili got up to get her a bottle, she stopped whining and said 'in a gwass?'.  So, we gave her a Strawberry Shortcake glass and darned if she didn't drink it all without spilling.  At lunch time however she dumped her water purposefully on the floor so she's back to sippy's and bottles for now.  She routinely says things like 'Jia go home', 'play toys now', 'see girls', and 'night night time now'.  When Isabel comes in the house she holds her pointer finger in the air and yells 'DOWN' and Isabel promptly lays down!  I can't get Isabel to walk further than the driveway on a leash or sit or go down or well, just about anything, but Jia, she's got that dog responding immediately.  Does that mean I'm the lowest member in the pack?!

Jia is such an easy going kid.  She loves, loves, loves her sisters and then is just fine when they leave for school or leave the room.  I keep waiting for her to say 'hey, get back here and play with me'.  Lili plays hide and seek with her, Jia's favorite spot to hide, behind the glass paned door in the living room :)  The girls came to Jia's music class on Saturday and although Jia does pretty good in there at doing things, when the girls were there, she did everything.  Total show off for her sisters.  I thought that was pretty funny. 
Our first camping trip of the year is the Easter weekend.  I have no idea how or when we'll be getting the RV repacked and ready to go.  Lili is the only one excited about going.  The idea of camping with Isabel and Jia is just overwhelming every time I think about it. 

Antibiotics

The antibiotics are kicking in today.  Eric is feeling much better, the pain from the infection is gone.  Lili is starting to sound better.  Dixie is starting to eat and drink again.  The girls went grocery shopping with me this morning to get all of Dixie's favorite things, cabbage, strawberries, honeynut cheerios, and apple juice. 

Gramma and Grampa took the big girls this afternoon so that I could nap when Jia did.  She has been napping once a day for three hours, but sadly today she only stayed down for an hour and a half.  When she got up we took her to town and bought a table and chairs for our back deck.  I had the set picked out, it was on sale,  I had a $50 coupon, there was no hst this weekend and we got a free turkey.  How hillarious is that?!

Once home we made the best ever homemade pizza and watched a movie together.  Starting to feel almost normal again.

Whole family sick again!

As unbelievable as it is, we're all sick again!  Lili has tonselitis for the third time this year, she will finally get to see an ENT.  Hopefully she'll be allowed to have them removed.  Eric, the baby and I have had a cold.  Eric has been the sickest and when I took him to the clinic today his fever was 104 and his chest and sinuses are both infected.  Fei is just starting to sneeze so she's on her way to joining us.  Now, the worst hit here is little Dixie, she has pneumonia.  The vet gave her meds and critical care food and said it was 50/50 on her pulling through.  I just adore Dixie, I'm devastated.  She has to be force fed every four hours.  I've already set alarms for midnight and four.  The big girls are being super helpful about nursing Dix.  We just saw her eat a noodle and drink some water.  She got sick and lost weight so fast.  Who knew how medically fragile rats could be?

We're planning to lay low this weekend.  I sure hope we're done with all the colds!!

Trying again with a picture.

Playing duplo with Fei and Laurel.

Testing

Trying out a Blogger app on my Andoid. 

Pink computers and Chairs.

Can she even get any cuter?!

Hanging with Mom and our matching pink computers.

We found a pink recliner for Jia's room that is the same color as the big rocker in her room.  Actually, Jia found the chair and since it was a good sale price we let her bring it home.

Zoo Trip

The very start of our trip.  She wasn't excited at all.

Shopping for trucks on the ferry, she's such a Daddy's girl.

This is how I shop at Ikea, at least until the Ikea staff told Mom and Dad it was dangerous.  ?

Princess Potty and her new thrown.

Mommy, please stop taking pictures and take me out of this darn pack and play!

We've travelled all over BC and Eric is always looking for Moose, he thinks it's pretty sad that he had to see his first Moose in a zoo.  I'm just glad he finally saw one.

There were statues for the kids to climb up and pose on, they climbed on all of them of course.

Hang on Haley!

We even found one Jia's size!

Jade loved taking over with the baby while we visited with Cathryn and Marty.

Jia was thrilled to have a new friend.

Hey, this bunkbed is WAY more fun than my pack and play!

Captain Kids Adventure Zone.

To end the Spring Break we took the girls to the Zoo.  We went with Penny and girls and they all had a blast being together all weekend.  Jia did better in the hotel than we were expecting.  We were planning to go to Scienceworld on Sat. and the zoo on Sunday, but it was supposed to be a rainy weekend and when we got up Sat. and the sun was shinning, we quickly changed plans and went to the zoo Sat.  Which meant we were heading in the wrong direction re: reservations/ferries on Sunday so we changed our plans again and skipped Science World and went to Captain Kids Adventure Zone and then to a movie at the Colussus in Langley.  We split up for the movies.  I took Hanna, Lili and Fei to 'Mars Needs Moms'.  I thought it looked silly but man was I wrong.  One of the best Disney kids movies I've seen yet.  Plus I got to have popcorn :)  We're new to 3D, so that part was pretty cool too.  Fei hung onto my arm the whole time, she felt like we were moving.

The zoo was great.  Love the Vancouver Zoo.  Giant pens, natural settings, very clean, NONE of the animals look stressed.  Jia was thrilled.  She kept signing 'more', she pointed and babbled quite a bit.  One of the squirrel monkies has a new baby, OMG CUTE, and when we were watching she flipped the baby off her back and cradled it in her tail and arms and nursed the baby!  We also got to watch a racoon dig a hole and have a poop.  Good times.  The girls all walked for over five hours in there.  They're all eager to go again. 

On the Friday night we went to IKEA.  My first time there.  I bought a few things, but my list of items to pick up in the warehouse was huge.  I scrapped the list and have decided I need to measure and plan more.  There is a bus we can catch to take for a day trip.  It's now on my list of things to do.  The girls found stuffed rats in the kids section for .99 and all five of them bought one.  Miles of entertainment from those little guys.  Jia is still packing hers around, she tucks it in the neck of her shirt and gives it kisses over and over again. 

We were worried about getting Jia to sleep in the pack and play.  She wasn't keen on the idea and eventually we all just turned out all the lights and let her cry.  She was asleep pretty quickly once she realized she didn't have an audience anymore.  The second night went easier.  She was exhausted.  We're feeling better about getting her to sleep in the RV.  It might work after all.  She was pretty darned excited to see her crib once we got home!  She went in happily and didn't make a peep for a couple nights. 

We went and had dinner with friends on Sat. night.  They adopted their second daughter Lian the same time as Lili.  The girls had a great time visiting with Jade and Lian.  Dinner was fabulous.  Thanks guys!

Oh, and since we skipped Science World, Lili is on me to plan another trip!  She isn't going to let that go.  So, another day trip is on my to do list.