Three Years

I was debating whether I was going to post anything this year but decided that it was important because this day is apart of us - whether we like it or not. Today would be Jael's third birthday.

The last few weeks leading up to this day have been hard. I thought that this year would be easier but it doesn't seem to be the case. Memories of the month and the day and the funeral come rushing back (I guess because I suppress much of it throughout the year.). Conor got up this morning and told me that he "hated today." He said that the day makes him sad. He is much like his mom and does not talk about it, so I am glad that he voiced what he was feeling. On the other hand Mackensey wants to talk about it all of the time. In fact, the other day she told me that she and Conor have been talking and that they want another brother or sister - now that was funny! Seriously, she loves and adores the babies at our church and in our young couples group. It really breaks my heart at times to watch her and know what a great help she would have been. She would have adored her sister.

Today we will go down to our favorite spot, Maple Bay, and release some balloons in her memory and we will thank God for the blessings that he has given us.

HOT, HOT - SO HOT

The island has broken all records this year. We had a crazy winter and now a crazy summer. It has been so hot here - in the 90's. For those TN people - you would say - so what - that is normal for us? Well, you have central air. Not too many homes have that up here. They say that it is not a necessity. We have had to close up all windows and put sheets over our back windows to keep the heat out - not that it has worked. Last week our house stayed in the 90's. This is inside our house!!!! Thank goodness for a basement home. We slept there at night but the day was spent at lakes and even the nights at the lakes or beaches. Dad would come home from work as we were pulling in from being at the lake all day, and we would jump right back in the car. We have discovered once again some new spots. We found a new beach (was not our favorite) and a new lake that is a bit further of a drive but very nice. I am not use to seeing the bottom of lakes, rivers and oceans so it is a bit daunting to see crabs running everywhere and fish swimming around your feet. The lake has plants at the bottom (well duh!); however, I have never been able to see them before. Conor and I were taking a long swim and I looked down to see these green things coming up from the bottom. I screamed and headed for shore. Conor said, "I hate to tell you this, Mom, but they are all around you." Shane could not believe that I was freaking out over plants. I told him that it is his fault for all of the scary ocean movies that we have watched over the years. Our next adventure is going to be swimming in the ocean (Maple Bay)at midnight (If we can talk Dad into it). They say that at night the ocean is lit up by plankton and it is beautiful to swim in. It stays light here till around 10:00 PM so we would have to go at midnight. They assure us that there is no sharks and that they swim in this all of the time. I think we are going to try to do it with our singles group. Hey, this blog is about our adventures so we need to keep looking for new ones.

Up There Down Here

VBS week has come and gone and I am exhausted. This year I was in charge of the games which brought back so many youth ministry memories. Conor was too old (Can you believe it?) for VBS this year so he was one of my helpers. The games were a success and the final night was family night with highlight games and inflatables. Some of the highlight games were spaghetti heads, human bowling, plasma car races and the dough sling.

Finding New Places

Dad finally had a day off and he said let's check out the beach that some church members had told us about. We were told that this beach that has lots of sea life, and they told us that it was better than Transfer Beach. Well, Transfer is one of our favorite spots, so we definitely had to check this place out. We weren't given directions. Note - must get directions! So off we went. We drove up and down this beautiful scenic route that leads to a ferry and saw lots of beach but could not find a park. We eventually stopped at a visitor information center and she told us about this Wildlife Park with a beach access. She also told us about another beach. The Wildlife Park had a lot of trails that we decided to save for another day (The beach was on our mind!!!!). This beach was very rocky and the tide had gone out, so we headed for the next place.

Wow! We are so glad that we decided to check it out. It was very windy and the water was very cold, but it was a beautiful site. Conor said that he was going in the water no matter what since we came this far (Not far - but we had been doing a lot of driving). This is the place we will go to when our house is unbearably hot. Such a nice breeze and only a handful of people were there. We so thought of G-daddy. He would have the whole beach to himself - just the way he likes it!

Soaking up the Sun

After Nanny and Great Nanny left, the kids were driving me crazy wanting to do something everyday (because that is what we did with Nanny). The weather was beautiful so we headed to our favorite spot Youbou. We had not been there yet this year because you need some really hot days to warm the water up. We were quite surprised at how wonderful the water was. The kids and their friends spent hours here and we will definitely head back up next week. The drive is approximately 30 minutes. You might laugh at that and think that that is such a short drive; however, we have water "spots" everywhere that are a lot closer (perks of being on an island). We went to Fuller Lake yesterday with Dad and had such a great time. Shane was teaching Mack how to dive off the pier. I did not get any pictures due to the fact that I was in the water as well. Maybe next time!

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.