some summer fun

the wedding was a success. {a good friend was married this weekend and we were privileged to be able to attend}

the high school reunion was a success.



we went to school together from the beginning {grade one to university degrees} with only a few years apart in the middle. she and her husband farm in the area now. if it were not for her, there would not have been a reunion. we may go for years without even a hello and only have christmas cards to remind each other we are still around....but she will always be a friend. a kindred spirit. and she rocks!



i also managed to arrange a cabin holiday/visit while we were in the area.

all those years i lived in Meeting Creek, her husband and his family enjoyed summers at their cabin at a nearby lake only a few miles down the road from our farm.

then she met Kristian at work and she initiated get-togethers for us. as divine coincidence would have it, we also had our first babies only 10 days apart. thus cementing our friendship for life!

she is now living three hours away and we don't get to chat nearly enough. to our satisfaction, our firstborns still enjoy playing with each other and get along very well.

i'll share more photos on this later. {and also discuss my recent decision to not let photos of my extra chin be taken...ha! or maybe i could just work on removing it?!}



she now has 2 children. her youngest is a darling 9 month old. very. cute. Kiara is now old enough to join the oldest two with minimal complaint. although we noticed that little Shannon needs to grow up quickly and offset the odd number of playmates! 98% of the playtime was enjoyed by all three of them together. which meant we had some great chatting time and relaxation.




this lake is a bit of an oddity. one of the few that seems to be shrinking...even with the massive amounts of rain we've had lately. however it contained an important component - it was WET.

the kids enjoyed splashing. digging in the sand-mud.



oh, and whatever the weather this toy gator was a thrill to everyone.


the long weekend is nearly here. the sun remains. yay!! the plans for the afternoon will require sunscreen and involve lots of moisture. can't wait!!

Friday already?!

where has the week gone?

the rain has been crazy this year. it seems like we can't go for more than 5 days straight of sunshine. for the past few years, summer has been not so memorable. we've had lots of cloud and cold....but no rain. i believe we are now making up for it! the forecast has more sun for the next week and i hope it's reality.

on the positive side. the grass is REALLY green.


i think i mentioned before how the kids in our neighbourhood have the biggest backyards? they will play in one backyard for awhile...then move to the next yard...and the next.....then they play in the walking area...

so it seems the same play routine can go for the dogs in the community! one day last week, Aidan and Kiara requested that they play with our next door neighbours' dogs. these dogs have a lot of personality. a lot like our kids. they were thrilled to be chased, cuddled, catch thrown puppy-toys. to the point of exhaustion. our kids outlasted the puppies!

here is one of the "community dogs". ha!



he has been here only a few weeks longer than we have. her name is Cooper....or as one of our little neighbours calls her...Pooper. which is not all that far from the truth....for any mammal....



isn't she cute!

Cooper has a new room-mate. his name is Lennon. yup. as in John. and yes, he is a little rockstar. however, Kiara and our same little neighbour refer to him lovingly as Lemon.

our other next door neighbour has the same breed. Asia loves to jump and steal kisses. she may not sit still long enough for pictures.

another neighbour has a sweet puppy named, Molly. again i think we'll be lucky to get a photo of her too. she is a little wary of our children who are eager to share their love with her.

anyways....

the kids requested photos. this was the first time they learned how to hold the dogs properly. as you can see, Cooper is fairly tolerant of their learning.


of course i won't ever turn down the request for a photo opportunity.


we have a busy, busy, busy weekend ahead of us. lots of fun stuff. very much a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of weekend. Monday will be welcome. but it will also be sad to have this exciting weekend complete.

i doubt you will hear from me until next week at this time. it will be all good!

for today

this has been the highlight of the summer so far.



i think he would be at the library nearly every day if he could get me to agree!



he has also decided to challenge himself to read more difficult books. it is amazing to watch him. once in awhile i catch a glimpse of that little baby boy that smiled at everything and said nothing! had i only known that he was just soaking in life during those first few months.






his top question these days is:

"how do you know that?"

drives us crazy!




he finally got his hair cut. it was getting so long.

he started going to the same salon where i get mine done. it was getting to be really inconvenient to take him back to the place where he first got his hair cut. he had a little boy crush on his hairdresser too. i still remember him looking through one of the gossip mags in the waiting room and seeing a blonde woman....he thought it was Simone (the hairdresser). i convinced him to show her the photo....totally made her day! he was only 2 1/2 years old at the time! a little charmer.

this time he sat off in the chair, while i waited in the waiting room and read my own gossip magazine. and Kiara read My Little Pony in French! not really. since she can't read yet, it is the pictures that are bilingual! i think the only thing he would have changed was getting some blue dye put in it. so far none of the salons we've taken him to have such a thing available.

they are growing so quickly. it really is unbelievable how much more independent they both are. today we went to Toys'RUs. neither of them fought, cried, whined, ran away or did anything stressful. i'd love it if it happened all the time. still, it was a glimpse of what we have to look forward to with them. what did we buy? water balloons, pop rocks and a game. perfect combination!