Vancouver - Day 1

We ... the whole family ... went on a "vacation" last week! Unbelievable but true! Also true, is the fact it was business related!!! I've come to realize that this might be the only type of vacations we go on, so I guess I'm OK with that for now! We flew into Vancouver on Monday morning ... so we had a good day of family fun before the 2 days of A&W meetings started. We went to Granville Island first, then Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, then checked into our hotel and then went to Uncle Gordie and Auntie Ruth's for supper (baked salmon and scalloped potatoes and strawberry pie - YUM)and the evening. Wish we had a pedometer because I'm sure we all walked miles and miles, with very little complaining from the kids since it was all new and exciting!! And the plane ride ... I think Keithan thought that was the best part of the trip ... especially after this nice grandpa in front of us bought them all headphones so they could watch cartoons :) We forgot to bring them .. and he must of heard me say I didn't think it was necessary!! He was either feeling sorry for them, or himself, if they were noisy!! Those headphones were treasured possessions let me tell you!

ON THE PLANE ... the much anticipated journey!

GRANVILLE ISLAND - or chasing pigeons!

CAPILANO SUSPENSION BRIDGE - a great adventure (my favorite I think)!

the boys got lots of compliments on their matching outfits ... thanks Grandma Stewart! It was easier to spot them in the crowds!

Well, I need a break from uploading pics ... so will continue later!

end of school days

I went on a school trip with Samara to Edmonton to the museum and I-max. I was responsible for 5 girls and it was a tough job to keep track of them in the museum. As you can imagine, after 3.5 hours of sitting on the bus, none of the kids were really wanting to take their time going through the museum in an orderly manner! And then ... the gift shop! It was all fun though but I'm not sure I'd want to go with Keithan's class and try and keep track of 5 boys! The I-max was great ... would highly recommend "Born to Be Wild". On Friday (the last day for our kids since we were skipping 2 days to go to Vancouver) the Rootbear visited the kids classes with Rootbeer suckers and Rootbeer floats! It was Phil's first time to wear the bear ... and it is a rather warm and fuzzy experience!!! I tried the costume on the night before but I'm too short so it wouldn't have worked well for me to wear it with the head balancing precariously on the shoulders! I'm not that sad about it though :O) Can you tell?!

forgotten soccer pics

Oops ... this is one of the photos I was talking about for Grady ... swim gear and cowboy boots!

soccer monsters

Here are a few pics from the 2 times I remembered to take my camera. As you can see, Grady likes to wear his swim shirt and swim trunks all the time ... and usually with his cowboy boots and sometimes with his bike helmet even though we walked there. He makes quite a style statement as a soccer spectator. I never saw Keithan play a game - just practice with his team, so the pics of him are not as great (was also visiting with another mom and likely missed a 100 opportunities for better shots!). Rhett and Keithan both had a fun first season, but I must admit I`m glad it is over, for now. I am sure we will be doing it again but I need a break from this crazy schedule. I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO SUMMER VACATION!!!! Today is the last day of school for our kids. Yahoo!

fabulous few minutes

The kids and I felt so lucky that we were able to take a quick trip down to Lloydminster to see Uncle Keith, even if it was only for a couple hours. He looked pretty good, sounded good and his hugs still felt the same!! Was also very special to see Grandma O again! As you can see we tried very hard to get a group shot with Grandma, Uncle Keith and the great grand-kids. It was entertaining! While Wendy tried to get all the kids to cooperate and look at the camera I enjoyed snapping a few close-ups. I was so happy for how they turned out ... for me and my lowly photography skills and point and shoot camera!! Hope you enjoy them too! Sometime soon I'd like to experiment with photo editing - but for now what you see is what you get!

Colby - the cutest brown eyed boy who always seemed to have a snack or two in his hands

Brennan - the cute, camera shy boy

Amy - or maybe a clone of Samara

Ella - just a little hair-styling gone terribly wrong underneath that cute headscarf

Samara - she enjoys speaking for herself :-) p.s. hope she always finds all the videos of herself singing and dancing and performing funny and not embarrassing.

Keithan - who seems to get taller every time I turn around

Rhett - the soon to be school boy, who makes sure you know about it

Grady - my "no more baby" boy (FYI - now fully out of diapers and NO accidents on this trip - can you hear me cheer from where you are?)

grandma and 2 of her girls

performing arts crew (and peas in a pod)

having a little fun