Buchart Gardens

What an amazing day we had today. I heard many good things about Buchart Gardens but it far met my expectation. We began our day taking a ferry ride over to Victoria and that view alone was amazing. Conor and I enjoyed watching the sea lions jump in and out of the water while we waited to board the ferry. I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of the flowers and gardens. Some of the spectatular gardens we walked through were an Italian garden, a Japanese garden, a Sunken garden, and a Rose garden. We did not stay until dark, but we were told that at night the entire park is lit up by beautiful colored lights shining on the plants, and they conclude the night with fireworks. We will definitely go back to experience the night show another time. We had a wonderful day and on our drive back Nanny got to see her snow capped mountains. What another spectacular site to end our day.

Nannies Arrive in July!

The much anticipated arrival of Nanny and Great Nana has finally come. Unfortunately the first three days had not been the best weather but finally today the sun has come out and it is here to stay for the rest of their visit. Today, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to our very favorite Transfer Beach and Maple Bay. Maple Bay is Nanny's favorite spot and she did not want to see it until the sun came out. We were greeted on the pier by a sea otter and later saw two deer by the side of a road. Tomorrow is our big day as we head on a ferry to Butchart Gardens. I will post lots of pictures of that at a later date.

So far this week we have had lots of grill outs, played lots of games, ate lots of ice cream and even had a stampin up party. The time spent together has been so great, and I know that the rest of the week will be even better.

Conor - Football and Babysitting - So Grown Up

Well, the football season has come to an end with a very devastating loss for Conor's team. The first round of the playoffs was last Saturday and the team went into the game with confidence. Having beat this team twice in the regular season, their expectations were high. I guess the team came into this with nothing to loose and trampled us in the first half. We came back in the second half - but it was a little too late. Dad says that this is why he loves football. It doesn't matter what your record is going into the playoffs - in the playoffs your record is wiped clean and it is do or die.

On another note - Conor and Mack have been helping me out in the nursery with the two year olds. The kids are so great with the two year olds and make my job so much easier - especially Conor. He is a magnet to these little ones. He reads with them, plays hide and seek, etc. Well, Conor got a call the other day for a babysitting job. The mom cuts hair out of her home (including my hair) but needed someone to play with her son and her normal sitter could not help out. Conor was playing with a friend that day but said the he and his friend would do it together. They did such a good job that she told Conor that she would be calling on him this summer. He was definitely excited especially about earning some money.

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!