Yeah For the River

The kids were so excited today. After school we checked out the river to see if it was "swimmable." During the spring the river can be rough and even though we feel quite Canadian, I am not ready for the kids to be "that Canadian!" Well, the river was PERFECT! We called Dad and said, "Come home now and let's go to the river!" He agreed and we had such a great time. The water was crystal clear. Conor jumps right in without a thought. Mackensey was a little nervous without her life jacket due to the current, but after the intitial fear she was swimming down the river. We have a few favorite summer spots and this definitetly is one of them.

The Rose

I decided to dedicate this blog to Mackensey. She is the sweetest most loving child, and there is never a dull moment with her. She loves life and expects everyone to enjoy it with her. Her latest adventure was getting ears pierced. I have included some recent photos of her, but in this blog I must include a story. Mackensey came home from school the other day with a rose. A boy in her class gave her this rose. When I picked her up from school, her brother was having a fit that she "accepted this rose." It took about two days to finally get the full story. Apparently this boy in her class named OZZY (This already stressed Shane out!!!!!) handed her a rose and asked her to be his girlfriend. Mackensey told him that they were too young and she could only be his friend. She did not accept the rose right away so he laid it on her desk! Later I talked with her about it and she told me that no one in the class is nice to him and she feels bad about that, so she tries to be his friend. After hearing that, I am glad that she was not mean to him and did not make a big deal about it. The scary thing is that this is only the beginning!!!!!!!

Family Visits

It is so nice to have a visit from family. Even though we absolutely love it here, we wish we could see family more often. After the Christmas craziness - trying to get back to the island, we vowed it would be awhile before we tried it again. So, we are very grateful that Nanny and G-daddy came to visit us. We had a really nice visit and the weather was great. It was fun showing off our new home, doing some of our regular things like Hilary's Cheese, The Bread Shop and Rock Cod. New adventures were G-daddy helping Conor build a fort, Mackensey, Mom and Nanny doing an at home facial, G-daddy playing the drums, and a trip to Victoria. One of the highlights was grilling hot dogs and marshmallows on our fire pit that Nanny and G-daddy got for us. I have to say that I laughed so much that night. If we thought that we were becoming Canadians, we were sorely mistaken after our grill out. Conor and Mackensey came out in their robes (house coats - Canadian) and slippers,and Shane had the flames and smoke shooting very high. Definitely the term Red Necks had crossed my mind. But, hey, that is how memories are made.

Turning Eleven!

I can't believe that Conor is eleven. Time is going by so fast. He is taller than me and stronger than me! Sometimes I watch him and he is so grown up, but then just when I could cry about it, he does something so silly that I breathe a sigh of relief - He is still my baby. It was hard to come up with a party this year but we pulled off a great one. Shane and I took his friends to Transfer Beach where they played volleyball, played on the playground, had a rolling down the hill contest and went looking for crabs - to name a few. After the park we headed home for cake and presents. Oh, I can't forget the frog catching adventure as well. Who would have thought my kids would be sticking their hands in a slimy pond trying to catch frogs? The island life has been great for all of us!

Sports, Sports and More Sports

I am so behind on updating this blog and PopPop Adams has clearly reminded me of this, so I combined three sports in one. This year Conor played volleyball for his school. His team was undefeated. He also played league basketball. He is presently playing football for the Cowichan Bulldogs. He plays offensive line. Conor really wants to play defense; however, this year he moved up to a bigger team and he is "low man on the totem pole", so I told him that he has to work his way up. He is doing well and most of our Saturdays are consumed by football.

A Day at Transfer Beach

One of our favorite places to go is Transfer Beach. One Saturday when the weather was clear the kids and some friends had a picnic at the beach. I have to remind myself that even though the weather is clear it is quite cool at this beach as the breeze comes from the ocean. We had a great time but it definitely was not quite spring yet. We found baby jelly fish along the beach. Mack walked along the beach picking them up and throwing them back in the water. She was trying to rescue them. Hmm this sounds like someone else I know; however, her mother is not as passionate about rescuing fish!!!!

A Spa Birthday

Well, the much anticipated birthday of Mackensey has come and gone. She chose a Spa theme after watching me prepare for a MOPS spa event. With the help of two very wonderful friends, thirteen girls had chocolate facials, pedicures and manicures. They came in their house coats (This is Canadian for robes. I was told that nobody knows what a robe is in Canada.) They made homemade bath salts and decorated the jars with tissue paper flowers. If I could do it over, I would have made the party longer and had one more helper. The party went by so fast and it was hard to get everything in. The girls had a blast and the huge hug and kiss after the party from Mack made it all worth it. After everything settled down and it was just her best friend left in the house, I let her open her American Girl stuff from the grandparents. She screamed when she saw the packages because they are very distinctly wrapped American Girl. Thank you Nanny and G-daddy, Nanny and PopPop, Great Nana, Uncle Scott and Aunt Mara, Great Grandma Franks, Kelly and Wendy for making this day great. By the way, Shane was locked in the bedroom during the party!!!!!