Star Gazing

Last night it was pretty windy and we had a power outage. Jia was in the bathroom and by the time I got my flashlight on and got to her she was a mess. Which made going to bed chaotic. Then Eric opened the windows because the a/c was off. Then we heard all the sirens. 5 halls to a fire nearby. Branch hit a line, transfor blew and massive fire went up and was spreading fast with the wind. There was NO chance I was ever going to get Jia to sleep. Eric to the rescue. He came and got her. They went to the folded down couch swing on the back deck and star gazed until she fell asleep. Not a great picture but a great memory.

We're going to the Caribbean!!

Just booked a cruise for February!!

Insanely excited. Mayan ruins in Belize! Grand Cayman, Mahogany Bay and Cozumel. Leaving from Miami.



Friends...join us if you can. The more the merrier.

Jia's Trip

Jia's turning 9 in December. So it's her turn to have her own trip with Mom. I finally booked. There has been much debating on where she wanted to go. Feels good to have a plan. We're leaving the day after her Birthday. No booster seat. Flying out of Bellingham to LA. Doing Universal and Disney. Staying at the Candy Cane Inn. We're both so excited!

Surgery Consult for Kai.

The Duncan team rejected Kai as too complex. So I was really hoping the Victoria team would take him on. If rejected we would be stuck going to Children's.

So we put him in a nice outfit. Cleaned him up. Fixed his hair. Polished his glasses. Did his teeth. We talked about expectations and behavior. Ya. You all know already how that worked out for us. Why do we try?!

We walked in the office and saw this...

He ran full tilt towards it. I yelled to Eric to get him. Stopped him last second as he was climbing in.

We sat down and Luk read Green Eggs and Ham by himself. Yay.



Then we noticed the back of Kai's hair. Rooster tail! How?


Kai was pretty busy in the waiting room. When his name was called he leaped up and ran to the Dr. yelling "me, I Kai!". Then he couldn't climb into the chair so Eric helped him and he promptly did his maxin' pose with arms behind his head and slipped off the chair. So Eric put him back on and then he crossed his legs and tipped over off the chair towards the Dr. The entire time he is telling a huge story loudly and unintelligible. The Dr. looked at me and said "I can only imagine what he's like in the winter." I didn't bother to tell him there are NO breaks...that's just our Kai 24/7. So the Dr. blessedly agreed to do the surgery. With special plans in place. Oct. 19. Kai has no clue. We were told he should stay still for two weeks after. I said clearly that will be impossible. He agreed.

I told Eric I just wanted to cry in there. He said he did too. We went to Cobbs Bread and then headed home.

Beaver Lake Resort

I drove past this resort over and over. Finally looked them up online and then asked Eric to go check it out with me. We had the kids with us. Except Fei who was working. It's beautiful and the lake looks amazing. There were several sites for sale. It was fun poking around. A couple of them had potential. A few things that don't work for us. There are no fences allowed. We would need/prefer a fence for Kai. Dogs only allowed at the dock, not the beach. Which would almost be ok except the lake is stalked and there would be fish gutting happening where we would be. Ew. Lastly, it was very quiet. Very very quiet. Which didn't work for Kai at all. So perhaps our family is still too young to settle into our own site.

10 days off.

Staycation for me and the teens. Eric and the littles got to camp at Lake Cowichan. I booked a week, Eric made it five nights. Longer than I thought he'd manage! It was a lot of driving back and forth for me. 2 hours each trip. I stayed home to accommodate the girls work schedule. Which worked out great for the dogs. Much cooler at home. Also Oliver cries when he's been alone. He's not ready to be left yet.

Mom and I took the big girls school shopping in Victoria. I took four of the kids to see the Christopher Robyn movie. We all liked it. Jia didn't want to go. The rubber springs broke on the tag axle of the moho on the way home so Eric was busy figuring out where/how to order/fix that. He's taken it all apart and ordered replacement parts so all is good. Pricey but good. We found ice cream a few times. Did a couple kayaking days. Swam lots. In the lake and at home. Took Kai to consult with a surgeon in Victoria. That needs a separate post. I got a pedicure. Lili and Fei got haircuts. Lots of summer fun.

I had hoped to cull out the littles shoes and coats and clean all the cubbies. Eric did the boys shoes for me. The rest just didn't get done. I've done a lot of school shopping. All piled in the laundry room waiting to be moved in. If only that was more fun ;)


Back to our private beach.



Making silly movies together.


Maple s'mores.

Looks like they had the beach to themselves.








He has retained some stuff.

The shopping day.

Took Fei to meet our cows.

Getting pretty close.

New Vans from Gramma.


Believe it or not...my first Starbucks treat.

Kayak Trip #2

Another day trip. We packed a lunch and went to a wee beach. A little bit of heaven.

Kai helped Eric clear the beach. The kids played hard together on a group project. It's rare for Kai to stick it out.

I thought the water was great but kids thought it was still too cold. They're camping on Lake Cowichan for a week starting Monday! Will be long days if Eric can't get them swimming.

I'm not getting much camping in. Stuck home for the bulk of the week with the teens. Some back and forth. Girls working and a few appointments.










Look what we found on the side of the road for free. So cute.