Just the shoes.

Packing for camping.   Not my favorite chore.  It takes a lot to keep everything in its place and packing is undoing the work that was already done.

I'm always trying to find ways for the kids to help and be responsible for their own stuff.  I've also quit packing for the Mr.  So for shoes, I make a grid and ask them to find shoes LIKE mine.  It looks like an awful lot of shoes!  Shower flip flops, beach holeys, biking runners and sports sandals each. 

Steady movement and there still feels like a lot left to do.  Everything left to the last minute this time.  Still need to clean house for the house sitter.  Feels more like a holiday this time.  I'm quite excited to not be camping with dogs,  rats and a kitten. 

Pet day and Ancient Rome

Winding up at school.  Last day tomorrow.

Pet day for Jia.  We'd planned to send Isabel but last minute switched to me just taking Lacie.  Eric was busy cooking for the Roman lunch. 

Miss Lacie was a Queen.  Accepting all of the attention that is due to her ;)  Jia was so proud in her little shinning moment with Lacie on her lap. 

Lili and Fei were looking lovely in their togas.  Would have liked a group photo but it was still chaos when I was there.

Sports Day

Lili's last and Jia's first.

Grade 7 Graduation

Lili is done elementary school.  Moving to High School in Sept.  She even brought a t-shirt home from her new school.  Really crazy how fast the years flew by.  I can still feel her tiny hand in mine as I walked her to pre-school.

She has laryngitis.   We had to wake her up to go to her evening celebration.  We were the first to escape at the end.

Today she went to school because she didn't want to miss sports day.  Ancient Rome day tomorrow.  Poor kid.  Not sure how much rest she'll get at  Rathtrevor!

Isabel needs Cowgirl boots.

Jia put a purple bandana on Isabel and then wanted her to wear boots.  Oh how she suffers.  Isabel didn't love the pink rain boots, imagine that?!

Imagine how much stuff happens around here minute by minute that I don't catch with a camera. 

Father's Day

Our plans all fell through.  We were going to take the little boats to Newcastle Island but they went on strike Friday. 

My brother's family decided to stay home.  So my Dad and Mom met us at the movie Inside Out.  We brought Luk and he did fabulously.  Then we went to our back yard for dinner and a swim.  Nice and relaxing.  Eric stayed home all day puttering in the yard.  Best part of the day...the cherries are ready!  Nom nom nom.

Dance recital.

As always, so proud of the girls.  They were lovely.  Up on the stage five times each.  Weird for them to be some of the big girls now.  Lili did some of the dance introductions.   She was good at it.  Shelley has asked her to MC next years show.  It's possible she's more excited about that than dancing ;)

Awwww

Jia at the water park.

We took Jia to the Waterpark her class was going to so she'd be familiar with the park.  It was cold and windy but she wanted in anyways.  She had the place to herself.

Maiden Voyage

Eric and I took the Littles for a paddle while the Bigs were at dance.  We went to Somenoes and did half of the lake.  One full hour.  Jia and Luk paddled almost the whole time. The canoe is lovely and definitely feels more tippy than I was expecting.   It was hard to keep Jia sitting.  I'm already begging Eric for a pontoon.  

Jia's year end celebration.

Beach day at Transfer Beach.  She was so excited this morning about getting  to go on the bus.  I work just down the road so I went to see her (check on her). 

Yikes.  There were sooooo many kids there.  It was crazy.  I wasn't sure how I would ever find her.  There were several schools there. Then suddenly she was right there in front of me at the playground. Except she was supposed to be at the basketball, volleyball area.  Wish I'd thought to take some general area pics to show how many kids were there!

She looked at me and said 'I don't want to go home with you!  I want to ride the bus'.  I had to reassure her several times that she could ride the bus.  Then I trailed behind her.  So, ya', she wasn't really delighted that I was there cramping her style.

Fuller Lake

We met friends at Fuller Lake for a picnic and swim.  The weather turned and our glorious early summer was overcast and a little chilly.  Had a nice chat, big girls swam, the Littles played hard in the sand.  Jia made her first moat on her own.  Eric brought his canoe so we could have our first family paddle but it was cold and we ran out of time.  He did a fabulous job restoring it.  Hoping it's something we'll all enjoy.  Lots of day trip paddles planned already.

288 Views

Holey Cow!

Just went to the full site on my work computer to load the girls youtube videos from yesterday (don't know how on my phone) and there have been 288 views on our blog today! 

Sometimes I see a spike if I've put a link on one of my groups but I haven't lately. Normal activity is between 30 - 90 a day.

Feeling a bit like I should be writing something more than a digital memory scrapbook.

Piano recital.

Phew.  Another one down.  Both girls are old hat at this.  No nerves.  Perfectly calm.  They were lovely as usual.  Lili had to restart her piece but it was right at the beginning and her second attempt was great.  Good save.  Girls haven't approved me adding videos yet.  Kathy only did one recital for all of her kids.   It was longer than usual.  Soooo glad we let Eric stay home with the littles.

This afternoon I took the big girls to see Jurassic World.  Wow.  Great movie.  Scary.  Grateful we didn't see it in 3D.  Can't wait to see it again with Eric.  He hates sitting in the theater so he has to wait.  Kids loved it too.  Lili wants to read the original books now. 

 

Videos

Fei    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX3XBDr1apU

Lili    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orpnin3cUO4

 

Lili dancing on Saltspring

My brother offered up $ for anyone if they would go dance in the field.  Lili did it.  No surprise.  She was surprised to actually get money though.  Fei got some cute shots.  I love the one with her hair flying.  Kids did well, both Gramma and I gave them money for the market, Lili made some dancing and they only bought one drink.  Gramma bought Fei a dress too.  She wore it for her piano recital.

Evening with the Grandparents.

Lili and Fei went with Gramma and Grampa to Saltspring on Saturday and we met them for dinner later with the littles.  Eric worked outside, I did five loads of laundry snd watched a few episodes of season 3 OITNB, Jia did hours of serious crafting, Luk did a lot of nothing.  Jia is all about getting to a park these days so we ended the day with a little play.