October

Just thought I would post a few photos from our trip to the Pumpkin patch in Richmond yesterday as well as some from last weekend in Gibsons. Enjoy!

Wow, was it summer! We went to Porpoise Bay and the weather was beautiful!

Playground at Porpoise Bay with Nona

Windy day at the beach!

Pony ride for Aidan at the pumpkin patch

Aidan loved playing in the hay!

Perfect fall weather! It was nice and dry since it hasnt rained in awhile and a good choice of pumpkins since we were there on the first day.

Aidan did a great job of carrying his pumpkins!

Sunny in the corn maze

We went with our good friends Meera, Andrew and Ethan. Here is Ethan, Clara and Aidan on the hayride to the pumpkin patch.

September Update

Well I think its safe to say fall has finally arrived . The trees around our place are changing colors and we can almost put away the air conditioner that we decided to buy after the heatwave this past summer.

The fields are starting to fill with orange pumpkins and the kids are making decisions on their costume choices for this October.

Summer started early this year for us. We managed to get in several camping trips visiting the Okanagan, Deception Pass and Penticton for the Peach Fest Parade. Both Aidan & Clara have grown this summer and we have spent alot of time outside catching with family and keeping busy.

Here are some photos from the past few months to bring you up to date. You can click on any image to enlarge them:

Picasso Clara ( It's for sale ).

Aidan taking a martial arts class. Here he is at Tae Kwon Do.

Aidan grabbing the camera he loves the self portrait.

Aidan at soccer camp watch out Beckham.

We had to visit the PNE same stuff as always but the doughnuts were great.

The first time my camera has actually taken an action shot in focus.

Clara & Mom I told you she has grown ( same height as Jackie now ).

Biking .. Clara is all thumbs.

Swimming in Penticton.

Outside our Hotel in Penticton the smoke was terrible due to the fires this year.

The kids making apple juice Sun Ripe watch out.

The bear falling victim to a fashion disaster.

Aidan at the Campbell Valley Fair.

Here is a good friend of ours Dana ( to the left ) Sadly she is battling cancer but remains strong. She just had a new baby Bailey who is very cute and doing great Here is Jackie Dana & Marcia at a night out.

Just clowning around at the Capilano Suspension bridge.

Here is Aidan doing some bike bike tricks. Thanks Uncle Ed for the setup.

As always there is lots more going on but that should cover it for now. Have a safe Halloween and we will be sure to update again for costume photos.

Long time no post.... Again!

I know, it has been awhile! I have been trying to work on a photo book and it seems to be taking away blog time. Anyways, enjoy the photos! Sorry, they are backwards in order....

We just got back last Wednesday from a 4 day camping trip to Shushwap Lake Provincial Park. It was wonderful! The weather was sunny and between 25-30 C and we had almost the whole place to ourselves since the kids are still in school. We bought a blow up boat that we had a good time rowing around in. Carter and Aidan actually went swimming as well.

Carter taught Aidan how to play Uno, he loves it!

Of course we had to have Smores :)

The beach at the campsite

Glad we brought the bikes along! The roads betweeen the campsites were paved which was perfect for riding, especially Clara's tricycle. Aidan is pretty confident now without his training wheels on. I got a lot of exercise by walking with him around all of the sites (25o in total) while he road his bike.

Waiting patiently for Dad to make the pancakes for breakfast.

Aidan's 1st love right now is lego (bike riding is a close second). Aidan and our next door neighbour Josh can entertain themselves for hours playing with it.

We visited a friend of Tracy's on the coast and the kids had fun playing in their hammock.

Visiting the park in Sechelt

We went to visit Richard and Kathy down at Black Mountain Ranch for the day. The weather was perfect and the kids had fun playing mini golf.

Jared and Kai came to visit with Richard and Kathy for a playdate. It was a hot day but the kids had fun in our bouncy castle.

The kids favourite spot to have lunch in the summer.

Playdate with Aidan's friend Alexander from preschool.

Visit to the park at Steveston.

Endless fun with playdough!

Auntie Tracy and Grandpa came to visit

Kite festival in White Rock

Day trip to the Tulip Festival in Mount Vernon, Washington

Easter up in Gibsons

Visit to my old elementary school, Cedar Grove Elementary with my cousin Jennifer's daughter Anika

Playing Lego with Uncle Ed

So cute!

Aidan's 4th Birthday Party in March

I baked the cake and Carter decorated.

Visit to Grandma's on Salt Spring Island

Nona and Aidan at the beach on Salt Spring Island

Clara loves helping me bake :)

Sunny Palm Springs!

Well, we got back late Tuesday night from our sunny trip to Palm Springs to visit Carter's parents and what were we greeted with the next day, you guessed it, snow!! Ah well, it was a little easier to handle since we had some fun in the sun :)

We had a great time hanging out with Richard and Kathy and basically just relaxing and taking the kids to the pool. Aidan was so sad to leave that he whined and cried for about an hour before we headed to the airport about how he wanted to stay! Already looking forward to next year :)

We hit the pool as soon as we arrived!

Carter and Richard

Aidan and Clara loved the pool noodles and their water wings

But loved the hot tub the best!

So cute!!!

We didnt make it to Disneyland this year but Clara had fun on the rides at the outlet mall instead!

We took the kids to the Children's museum of the Desert which is basically a smaller version of Science World, Aidan found what we believe were grapefruits growing outside the front doors.

They had an old VW bug inside which the kids could paint, Clara had fun :)

Nice art work Clara!

Carter had to check out the police motorcycle of course :)

The museum had a great mini grocery store for the kids, they had a great time.

And they loved the pizza parlour as well. Remember Aidan, no olives for Mom!

Feeding the ducks with Kathy which is right in front of their place

We took the tram up the mountain on our last day, it was very impressive and scary, it took about 15 minutes to get to the top.

The view of Palm Springs from the top. It was a little chilly up there, about 14 degrees with snow while it was a hot 28 degrees at the bottom.

Happy New Year!

Carter and Clara Christmas morning

Building a snow fort, of course I forgot to take one of the finished product

Sledding with Auntie Tracy

This one was taken before the snow arrived in early December in Gibsons

Uncle Ed was nice enough to let the kids "help" him decorate his gingerbread house

Aidan on Christmas day down at the beach at Bonniebrook in Gibsons

Christmas morning

Clara was so happy to have a left over piece of cookie that Santa didnt eat!

Just woke up!

Aidan leaving cookies for Santa

Trouble at the North Pole

Today we dressed the kids in their Christmas outfits and took them out to Semiahmoo Mall to speak with Santa. As we stood in line Clara did not seem too pleased. As you can see the results speak for themself.

Unfortunately even at $15 for the one photo you don't get the option for retakes as the line of excited kiddies was putting pressure on staff.

As both of us stood out of view Clara stared at us with such a disgusted look it was hard not to laugh. After watching several other kids endure a visit with Santa I expect there were a few other families headed home today with similar results.

Of course Aidan had a blast he was just waiting for the Candy Cane

Merry Christmas Aidan & Clara 2008

Aidan's 1st Party Day at Preschool

Okay, I know it is a little long but I cant stop smiling and laughing (just a little when I watch this), guess I cant say that Aidan is shy! I wish it wasnt so blurry but it is easy to pick out Aidan. His preschool has a "party day" at the end of each month where the parents get to watch the kids sing the 2 songs they have been learning that particular month (they dressed up for Halloween for this particular one) as well as sing Happy Birthday to the kids who had birthdays that month. Aidan had to miss his September one as he had a cold so we were very much looking forward to today's and he did not disappoint! I have to say I am counting the days till the next one :)

And one last thing, I am so proud of myself, I figured out how to upload the video to youtube and post it in our blog without any help from Carter (of course I would of had him do it if he had not been working at the Madonna concert tonight). Hope you enjoy the video as much as we did (he starts off loud but gets even louder at about half way through if you can watch it that long)!

I will update our blog soon (I know I always say that) with Halloween photos etc...