Nanaimo FCC

The picnic was a bit of a bust on Sunday.  We arrived a few minutes late after dropping the teens at a mall.  We went to the wrong parking lot and then walked the wrong way.  It was cold, windy and starting to rain.  We finally  found Elenor all by herself huddled in a lawn chair.  Ended up us and one other family with Elenor.  Such a sad turnout.  We went to town for lunch together. Pot luck doesn't work with two families!  We both brought salads. 

We did have a nice visit with Holly & Ian and Jia was thrilled to spend an afternoon with Esmei.

So we're in crunch time to get camping tomorrow and Eric kindly took the boys for back to school hair cuts but when I got home it was shocking to see they both had horrible crooked cuts.  So we loaded everyone up and headed back.  All three girls wanted cuts so two hours later all five were finally cut. The lady fixing the boys cuts was nervous.  She did a great job fixing what looked impossible to fix. Phew.  Should have taken before and after pictures. Hard to think in minor panic moments.  That first day of school photo is next week!!  All three girls look nice and neat again.  Jia went quite a bit shorter.  She looks cute. Luk says he looks like his old self again. 

It's 8:30 and Eric and I still have to grocery shop.  I did just pack clothing for me and the littles.  Still need to check shoes. I'm still working this week so it's not going to be a  relaxing trip by any means.

Shoes for the boys.

We had our 6 month post placement visit with our social worker today.  Interesting to reflect on how far Kai has come.  Lots of changes.  We're in the thick of it so it's not always so easy to see the improvements and changes.

When Kelly left we put the boys in the convertible and headed to Walmart for shoes. The weather is amazing.  It was nice to be out and about and the boys were super excited about some shoe shopping.  And then we got there.  Sigh.  They are barely able to put on shoes. We've timed Luk at 7 minutes.  It's awkward to watch.  Like they don't bend, can't reach their feet, even sitting down.  They aren't strong enough to manouver the shoe or push it onto their feet.  Its truely amazing how matched these two are. They were all happy for the first few pairs they tried on but then they were tired.  Luk declared it too much work.  Kai was busy grunting his way through.  He was rejecting shoes by looking at them but he has super duper wide feet that are crazy short so he's extremely limited.  Has to be velcro and full straps without things to thread them through and none of the fake elastic laces.  They aren't strong enough to push past those.  We muddled through.  Both of us took turns walking around other isles. They both got indoor shoes and an outdoor pair.  Unfortunately we got tired too and gave up searching and they've ended up with the same outdoor shoes.  Which although different sizes it is going to cause a constant situation.  Kai will be constantly trying to put Luk's shoes on.  We can see it coming already. 

We had been thinking of going to the mall in Nanaimo with the boys.  Glad we opted for baby steps around home.

We just moved onto groceries after that. Both boys walk on either side of the cart, holding on. Good as gold.  They create a stir of extreme cuteness for sure. 

Eric is about to take the big girls for a drive while it's still so nice out.  We all just love the convertible! 

FCC picnic tomorrow. 

Back to school shopping.

To the big city today.  Girls shopping day.  Gramma came too.  Jia was excited to be included.  She was pretty good.  A riot in a couple of stores.  She got a really good haul. Including a dream backpack with unicorns and butterflies on it. Pretty much everything in her bedroom is too small.  Now that we're home and she's done her show and tell for Fei and Eric she is sitting quietly with her lego.  She'll sleep well tonight.  Fei's pedometer says we walked 11kms today. 

Jia has been on about Newborn Robot Kitten for weeks.  She had some money from Gramma so we found the kitten at toys-r-us today.  Really, it made today a dream day for her.  :) I bought the boys some little classic lego with their money.  Thinking that will amuse them in the moho.

Big girls bought a few things.  Lili found the jacket she's been wanting.  They found the important Adidas that are all the rage.  Most stores are sold out and they are tiny sizes so it was looking like we'd have to order from the states.  Lucky to be in Footlocker today for a new shipment. 

Still a long list to go.  Only found two pairs of pants for Kai today.  He needs elastic waist for school.  He can't do up snaps.  Buttons and zippers are a no go too.  But he is getting to the toilet on his own so that's the important part.  He can have cool pants and jeans later. 

Not sure when we get to fit more shopping in. 

Our social worker is coming tomorrow for Kai's six month post placement visit.  I was thinking of taking the kids for a train ride afterwards but perhaps we'll attempt buying shoes for the littles instead. 

I want to be Esmei.

Kai is almost 5!!

Time to get ready.  We'll be camping with our fcc group.  I think 30 peeps in our group.  Not planning much for games, likely a beach day, weather permitting.  It's likely his first celebration.  Certainly his first Birthday with us.  So planning cake and presents in the afternoon after the beach.  With lots of goodies for him to hand out.  We're trying to figure out his favorite food for dinner.  Tricky.  He doesn't speak nearly enough to establish that.  Fruit (fruit salad) is a given.  Thinking possibly hot dogs.  He loves them.  But honestly he loves cheerios and oatmeal more and I just can't do cheerios for all of us for dinner.  Well I could but as the party planner I don't want to ;)  He really likes french toast and pancakes too.  Ya he loves breakfast.

Eric and I took him last night for a drive to the dollar store for the goodie bag supplies. He loved the convertible ride and was very clear about wanting the "boon" (balloon) pattern.  Love it.  So boons it is.  We'll have to get his cake in Parksville so the boon pattern is likely doable.

Kai was great at filling his goodie bags.  Hopefully he's just as good about giving them away! 

Fei and Jia are wrapping all the presents for me. 

Trying to get organized.  Always 'trying' to stay a little bit ahead of the chaos.

Mom and I are taking the three girls back to school shopping in Victoria tomorrow.  Just heard there is a forest fire on the Malahat so fingers crossed. 

Summer Days

Eric isn't much for taking pictures but he took some yesterday of their lazy day at home.  Watermelon and a sprinkler on the trampoline.  Jia declared it the best day ever.  Keeping it simple works ;)

Scamper

Our mouse has a name.  Lili named him.  Scamper. I could hear him last night running all over the place.  His cute little barefoot sounds.  He didn't love his dinner last night, only ate a little bit.

Osoyoos

Dinner and an evening stroll through town and to the water.  It's freaky hot here.  I tried talking kids into swimming in their clothes but they all declined.  ?

It's been a long day of driving and incredible views. We've seen a LOT of summits. 

Champion Lakes

Gorgeous weather for a lake day.  We stopped at lunch time. Found a spot in a giant provincial park and spent the day at a lovely lake.  Our first camping day.

A mouse in the house.

Did you all know Eric hates vermin.  A lot.  He has been a really good sport about our pet rats. So we arrived late to our site last night.  Plan was for Eric and the girls to hike to the hot pools for an evening soak under the full moon.  I was staying with the boys and getting them to bed.  But as we layed Luk down a mouse ran over him and under my seat.  Eric grabbed a broom and was bashing it around trying to scare the mouse out the door. He had the door open so he could shoo it out but BIG moths were flying in and Jia is terrified of moths, dragonflies and bats. So that was happening.  While Kai is freaking in general.  I realized quickly that Eric was likely to be hunting the mouse all night.  I baked cookies and sliced fruit.  Eric built a barracade of cushions so the mouse couldn't come past the door.  Yup.  All the while shushing the kids constantly because families around us are sleeping. 

The boys finally slept. We did lure Eric away from mouse hunting to eat a snack.  Who can resist fresh tollhouse cookies. Then we talked him into ignoring the mouse and going to bed.  I even gave it food on a plate, hoping that would keep it at the cab.  Nope, it traveled all over. Plus ate the food I left. It was in the bathroom, under our bed and in the cabinets above our bed.  It was in cupboards and took dogfood from the kitchen to underneath our bed.

We haven't seen it all day and Jia is the only one still talking about it.  She says now isn't really a good time for us to get a pet mouse.  Haha.

We had a mouse in our camper once many years ago and Eric was just as nuts about it then.  I'm happy enough to wait until we're home to use our trap. His big worry is chewed wiring.

Nothing like adding more excitement to the Nelson adventures.

We didn't tell Luk the mouse ran over him. Shhh.

Maps

I use Google maps but today I wanted to show the whole picture so we whipped out the paper map.  While Eric, Lili, Fei and I were studying the map the littles thought they'd help.  We turned around to this sight. I don't even know if they're looking at a map of BC.

Radium Hot Springs

We had a lovely time taking in the mineral waters today.

Luk and Jia were delighted to discover hot water!  Kai isn't too impressed with getting wet in general but he lightened up eventually.

Kai in general is DONE with this holiday.  He wants to go home.  Lots of wild behavior. Crazy food stuff.  Lots of crying and extreme jealousy.  Sigh.  We're eating an early dinner and getting Kai to sleep as soon as humanly possible.  The moho is too small in some moments. 

Eric finally sees a moose.

Kai was so upset to find a pool outside the doors.  Wonder what he thought he was going to be doing in swim trunks.

Once he felt the warmth it was a little better.

WiFi last night while waiting for dinner.