Tinky and her pigtails. She doesn't like the sun shining in her eyes, so we've been teaching her to cover them or close her eyes when that does happen. Here she is demonstrating...isn't she a vision of cuteness?

Asleep on the way to grandma's!

By the time we got to Grandma's on Tuesday Davey was ready for a nap. But since he very seldom naps anymore he just kinda crashed with Tink's soosie on the couch.

Jadeybug had a fever so she crashed on the couch too.

Tink on the other hand, slept all the way to grandma's so she was a bundle of activity!

"let's go home now mum, these kids are BORing!"

This is from today: Davey wearing my headband. He gives it a kind of "jock cool", don't ya think?? When he's not wearing it like Geordie Laforge that is. He's SO his father's son!

God Bless the Internet!

Now I know that some of you have three year olds whose drawings rival those of Da Vinci. And others of you have children who could write their names by 18 months. But my son just hasn't been interested in anything remotely resembling art. Which, quite frankly, befuddled us. Especially since both Andrew and I are (or fancy ourselves to be) very artistic.

So imagine my pride when he drew this magnificent rendition of...well a guy?? Pretty awesome, no?

My favorite barn this morning.



This morning we decided to go to one of the park/playgrounds in town. You know, there really aren't enough parks in this community. For instance, we live on the mountain here. There is one playground (which has two of those bouncy things for toddlers. That's all.), one school with a playground (so you can only play there outside of school hours) and a private preschool with a playground (ditto). There is a park being built next to us, but who knows when it will be completed AND there are thousands of people living on this hill.

This particular park is located waaaay the other side of town, but will be great in the summer because across the road is also the leisure centre and a water park. I guess we were spoiled in Langley because there were at least three water parks there and there is only the one here. The population difference is only 20,000 different so I don't understand the difference in amenities.

Griping aside (for now), the park was marvellous. It was very cold, but it was so nice to get some fresh air.



Of course, when you're the parent, you tend not to get to run around so much (at least not yet. Give Tink a few more months and I won't have to help her up and down and on and off so much...) so I was frozen way before the kids were ready to leave. So I did what any stay at home parent would do...drove the kids to McDonalds to play there.

This was dumb on so many counts. The eating wasn't too bad. The kids split a Fruit and Yogurt Parfait and a blueberry muffin and I had tea. But first of all, every other parent in town was there. Of course they were. It's the only McDs with a play area. So LOTS of dirty hands, lots of noise, lots of hyperactivity.

Which is what I think spawned problem number two. Davey would not come out of the play area to go home. Now have you ever looked at one of those things? The reason we NEVER go to these places is because once your kid is in there, you can't get them out. So you have to rely on your child being obedient and well behaved. Which is a battle we've been fighting for a while in this house. So after giving Davey two warnings that it was almost time to go, I packed up our stuff and...couldn't get him out. This is my worst nightmare. Of course all the dad's there were marvelously helpful with ideas and tricks (none of which worked, but thanks for trying) while all the moms studiously ignored me. Of course Mcd's was hugely busy so even though I went and asked the manager to come and unlock the front of this play thing, I still had to wait about 20 minutes before he had a chance to come. During which time I still tried to get Davey to come out. I even tried (on one dad's advice) telling Davey I was leaving and then hiding in another part of the restaurant (something I didn't want to do because I don't like making false threats). Yah, he didn't care.

Anyway, the manager finally came and unlocked the play thing and I managed not to beat Davey to a pulp (I was very proud of myself!) and we left. And we're never going back, let me tell you!

Sunday at the Beach (again!)

We spotted some blue sky on the horizon today, so after church we, along with most of the Lower Mainland, headed to the beach. We took along a picnic lunch and braved the cold. And MAN was it ever cold!!




Yes, this is what Vancouver looked like yesterday afternoon. Totally makes the cold worth it!!

So, uhm, I snapped a coupla pictures then me and Tink went and sat in the car for half an hour while Davey and Andrew kept working on the wind breaker.

We finally came back out (on my part it was only to tell Andrew that I was freezing even inside the car, that Davey must be freezing and we should LEAVE!), but everyone else wanted to play some more.






See that rock in her hand? You KNOW what she's gonna do with it next, don't you?!

Yah, I TOLD you not to put it in your mouth! EWWWWW...






I finally persuaded Andrew to warm up in the car. This was Davey when we started leaving.
And Elisabeth:
Of course they soon perked up.

We drove home via White Rock and it was SO beautiful we had to stop and walk again.

The train was very loud and the wind was very windy.


Tinker was hilarious on here. She'd take two steps, peer down into the water, then shuffle a couple more steps again. She wasn't scared, just being funny.





This was from this morning.

Week at a Glance!

I've been too busy lately to do much blogging, so there is quite a build up of pictures to post today. And it's quarter to one in the morning, so I don't think I'll do a whole lot of talking this posting (because unlike some, I am NOT a night person!!)

Here the kids are racing their motorbikes.

On Tuesday we went to visit the Abelmans. The kids are all getting so big so fast!

They loved having each other to play with. It's been a while since we've seen them!

On Wednesday, Tink and Davey helped me bake. Then Tink did the dishes.

Pre-baked cookies. Tink mixed the batter, Davey formed the cookies. And the next morning while I was showering, he found the cookies. And ATE THEM ALL.

Dave modeling the scarf Alexis made him.

(he's not picking his nose. I think he's telling me to shush. Tink is about to pull her hat off her head because "mom you don't wear hats when you're watching TV!!) Alexis made this strawberry hat for Tink too. Thank you! They're awesome!!

This morning we went for a walk on the Rotary Trail. This guy was keeping a close watch on us:

Happy Tinker
I'm not sure why he looks so grumpy or sad here. He was fine right before and after this picture was snapped.
Everyone running in circles.
Our little mountain goat. She sure likes to climb!



Yup, the ice never seems to melt lately. I'm just glad we didn't get the promised snow. This winter is a cold one!