And of course we couldn't have house guests without dragging them to Sendall Gardens. We brought a picnic and had lunch!


Despite the sunshine, it was a tad chilly. But the flowers were absolutely gorgeous. The rhodos were in full bloom and there were still a few of the spring blossoms to be seen as well.


This tree is absolutely amazing. Coppery orange leaves on one side, and green on the other. Very shimmery and beautiful.

I had no idea there were so many rhodo colours. Makes me think I was a little boring by choosing red ones for my yard.


I love woodsy looking gardens. My long term plan for our backyard includes digging out under the big cedars on the west side of our yard and putting in some shade loving flower beds. Then, on the northeast side, I'd like to have a little woodsy area. These flowers would be perfect...if only I knew what they were...


We had to stop and visit Mr. Sendall while we were in the garden.




Here's Leona with one of the HUGE rhododendron bushes in the park.

We spotted some berries that looked as if they might even be ripe. Darren says they might be salmon berries.

Elisabeth was very interested.

Then we walked around the forest. Check out these twisty vines growing up this tree.




Back to the garden portion and David and Elisabeth played in the pea gravel. What is it with kids, cats and pea gravel?!

Among the adventures we had with Andrew's parents was a trip to Fort Langley. It was a stunningly gorgeous day with warm temperatures (something we didn't really have again after that).

We walked past the pet supply store (I only just realized that it moved to a new location. All this time I've been mourning that it had disappeared from Fort Langley, even though we walked past this dog - and the new store - several times!)

Then we stopped at the Fort Toy Store. It's always a favorite.



As it turns out, Elvis made a couple of appearances while the Ems were here!

Then, Leona discovered the stores! While she, Bill and Andrew perused the Cranberry store, I took pictures of the kids out on the pea gravel in the courtyard.


One day I'd like to head to Fort Langley and just take pictures - you know, like I did with my photo club back in February. There is so much scope for the imagination there!





Then we split up. Andrew, his dad and the kids went for a walk while Leona and I continued shopping.

Wow, I can't believe it's been more than 2 weeks since I last blogged - again! You can tell we've been busy around here!

I've been doing some reading on kids and healthy eating. Both of my kids eat reasonably healthy, but there's always room for improvement, right? With David, the biggest road block is veggies. He loves beets, peas, carrots, corn and potatoes. And in soup he'll eat almost any veggie. I tried giving David raw veggies while I cooked dinner so he could snack on them. But he just waited for dinner and then ate the hot stuff. So I tried something new: making a fun plate of healthy food while he waited for the real thing. He thought it was awesome but still didn't eat many of the raw carrots. Oh well, we'll just keep trying and eventually he'll have a bigger repertoire!


On the thirteenth, Andrew's parents arrived for ten days. On their first full day in town, we decided to try and keep things low key and so we headed to the park behind our house. Jade came too.

Mother's Day Tea, Trip to the Airport and a Stop in Steveston!

Last week Andrew was in Texas for a software conference. Luckily, Andrew's absence coincided with my dad's stop over in between trips so we weren't completely alone. Andrew came home on Friday so we decided to surprise him with a little party. Here's the banner the kids painted and some decorations we hung.

And of course it wouldn't have been a party without cupcakes!

Once we had everything set up, we dropped David off at Kathi & Cody's and headed to the airport to drop my dad off. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the sunshiney drive.

Next stop was the Kindergarten Mother's Day Tea. We were greeted at the door by our child, who then led us to a table covered in mother's day hats. Next, they performed three songs. Then each child found his or her mother and asked her to dance as they sang a final song. It was hard to keep the tears in, let me tell you! Then Mrs. Rutter and Miss K played a little video for us. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house!

After the video we made sundaes together and opened gifts the kids had made in class. What a wonderful thing to do for us mothers. Here's David with his sundae.

And Jade with her sundae. If you look at the picture of David and the picture of Jade, they are smiling the same smile!

Kathi and her daughter!

Me and my piggies :)

A little questionnaire David filled out about me. I love how he put perogies as my favorite food! Hah :)

And a picture of the two of us.

After the party we headed back to the airport to pick up Andrew. From my previous three visits (!) I knew that there was a lot to see inside the airport. So we went a little early and checked out the sites. Here's Ellie in the Olympic Store.

And both kids outside the store.

The first time I went to the airport last week I actually got lost! And I am at the airport a lot compared to most people. But I guess that lately I stick to the domestic side of things. There are so many new stores and things to see, it was kind of fun! This is outside the Aquarium Store.


And outside a Canadian Arts & Crafts store.

After we'd looked around a little, we went upstairs to see the new observatory. You can watch planes take off and land.

Plus there are telescopes. And you don't even have to pay to use them! Sweet.


Back downstairs, in the food court, there's a little toddler play area. I loved the castle and the sea gulls.




Once we'd collected Andrew, we decided we'd better kill some time. Andrew had to get up at 1 am our time in order to catch his flight from Dallas to Toronto. Since he landed here at 2 pm we wanted to distract Andrew so he'd stay awake till a better bedtime. The weather was so nice we headed to Steveston.


And the following pictures are for my brother, Dave. I've been trying to persuade him to take his honey there for a date for months.

Papi's Market:


We had fish and chips for lunch on the top floor of this building. We had the corner table in the atrium all to ourselves. Best view in the house and we were protected from the ocean breeze. It was perfect!




Elisabeth must have missed her Daddy. She barely let go of him all day!




Strolling back to Papi's Market.


The meat looked good in here, but I have to say the rest of the products were a little disappointing. I like a deli to have real European products but this was more boutique style stuff. Barefoot Contessa and brands like that.


The Prickly Pear Garden Store.

And the Cannery. One day we'll do a tour. I bet it would be very interesting.










Outside one of the coolest toy stores in the Lower Mainland!

Have I mentioned I love owls? Elisabeth pointed this store out to me. She's got a good eye!




And later we chilled out to some Wallace and Gromit.