Last Day of School

It appears there's no stopping the clock - school's out for the year and summer has officially arrived. I was talking with a friend yesterday who was genuinely surprised by my excitement over the arrival of summer holidays. He thought it would put a damper on my activities (and come to think of it, it may!) but it'll be so nice to sleep in in the mornings (Emma willing), and enjoy our time together swimming and playing all day. While we'll have a schedule of sorts, there will be lots of flexibility to be adventuresome too! I can hardly wait - but at the same time, I don't mind waiting a bit as I never want summer to end!

The kids posed for a "last day of school" pic! Seems like only yesterday that I took their "first day of school" pictures.

The end of a tradition of going to the park after school!

Sibling Love

Emma's unique style of blowing kisses!

As parents we love it when our children play together and love one another as friends. On Monday, Austin and Emma were doing just that. Austin snapped the top pics of Emma and he was sooo excited when he was able to get a picture of her blowing kisses. Then he raced her around in the doll stroller (which is probably her favourite toy - either to climb into or to put one of her babies in and push around). If you're wondering why his legs are bare, it's because he's only wearing underwear!

Sleeping Giggles

Austin hasn't quite been feeling himself this weekend. He didn't have any specific complaints; more a general malaise. He ended up falling asleep by 6 pm on the couch and then surprised us with giggles erupting from his dormant self. See for yourself!
Note: Just as I grabbed the camera, Emma smacked him in the head with a hard object. Poor guy! And he still managed to laugh for us!

Our Saturday Adventure

Ethan ended up going to the movies with his friends (and dad and siblings) on Friday night and then having a "double" sleepover with both boys. David had given Ethan a game set with chess, checkers, etc.. and the kids had entertained themselves with that for awhile. I like games that make you think.

On Sat. we decided to go berry picking and since David had never picked strawberries before, we invited him along. That was only the beginning of our adventure. Shawn had seen a sign for a berry farm north on Ritson so we went to check it out. As we arrived, we saw youth from the church who were competing in "The Amazing Race". Isn't timing everything? (Aside note: I had decided not to get all dolled up to go berry picking because who would I see anyways? Turns out the whole ward!!)

After we were paid for our berries, we let the kids loose in the play area. It was huge and had a variety of activities for the kids to keep themselves entertained. Shawn had gone off to pack the berries into the car... and was gone for a long time. When he came back his lips told the tale: he'd filled himself up on berries!


Shawn has been dying to go to Port Perry... again! I wanted to go to a children's carnival in Oshawa but we let the kids "vote". Port Perry won so we were off! As it turns out, it was the place to be as the town was hosting a Dragon Boat Festival. Another first! While we were checking out a couple of stores, the weather tried to rain on our parade, but the sky cleared up shortly. It was a beautiful day.

Here's a list of the "firsts" for David: strawberry picking, eating fudge, eating cheese curds, going to Port Perry, watching dragon boat races, having a sleep over, and watching some new movies he'd not seen before. He told the kids that whenever he comes over to our house, it's always exciting because he tries new things - last time it was a stir fry! His parents are originally from Colombia and are about to become Canadian citizens on July 1st! Woo-hoo!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

The big 1-1Chocolate rice crispie "cake" complete with frosting and sprinklers!

Ethan turned 11 years old this week (how can it really be?) and he was supposed to go out to the movies with his friends. Since his one friend, Cole, couldn't come on Wed. we postponed the festivities until Friday night. Wanting to still do something special for Ethan, I arranged for us to go and use the Brady's heated pool. Of course, Wed. was the coolest day this week and as we found out, heated is a very relative term! Still, it was a fun adventure and once Austin cooled down and was looking for his towel (which Ethan had left in the van), Ethan kept saying that it was warmer in the pool than out of it!

Don't jump little froggie!

Brave souls

We're off to the Beach... and then the Farm!

It's hard to believe that it's almost a year to the day that we were at Cobourg beach celebrating Father's Day with Nana and Papa and now we're back having a Stake Picnic. While the day started off cold (much cooler in Cobourg than it had been in Oshawa), the sun ended up coming out and burned hot and bright. In fact, Shawn was kicking himself that he hadn't put on a hat or sunscreen - if only I'd taken a pic of his sunburn. He even had someone ask him on Sunday if he works outdoors! ;P The event was very well organized and had activities for everyone (jumping castle, face painting, egg toss, etc..) and kept everyone occupied for hours. In fact, the kids had a blast and didn't want to leave.... even though we had to run to the farm to celebrate Father's Day with Papa! Once we got to the farm we finished preparing dinner (thanks to Aunt Jan and Mom for a great start on salads!) and then Jordan and Shannon and Jared and Stephanie arrived. We were also celebrating June birthdays and sang to Abigail, Ethan, Stephanie and Chris - even though Uncle Chris wasn't present!

Abigail's favourite face painting...ever!

It's not easy being green...

Fiesta means Fun!

Father's Day marks the beginning of Fiesta Week in Durham, a week-long celebration of multiculturalism in our community. With our passports in hand, we traveled to Greece, Portugal and the Ukraine and experienced traditional dance, costumes and foods. Here the family tries soda from Portugal. Fiesta was a new experience for our family and one that we'll be sure to take advantage of again!

Lil Pixie

These pictures were taken at the beginning June. Emma's just so cute I couldn't resist sharing them. Who needs a better reason that that?

Abigail's Great Week

Abigail had a great week that culminated with her 9th birthday! The Sat. before her birthday, we came across a Children's Community fair at Memorial Park in Oshawa. There were lots of activities for the kids to participate in, their favourite being the ladder climb. Ethan has attempted it at the Norwood Fair before but I think it was Abigail and Austin's first time. Abigail ended up making it to the top and won a prize. She was over the moon! This was the beginning of her amazing week!


She had NO homework this week, as her grade 3 class was completing standardized testing. This was a first since the beginning of the year so she was very excited. Then it was only a 4 day school week as there was a P.A. day on the Friday and we ended up going to the Evan's cottage. Next she had a pajama birthday party on Sat. and invited friends from school. We had waffles and bacon to go with the pajama theme and a huge brownie cake for dessert! Mmmm...

Later in the day we went and explored Kedron Park and had a picnic. A good end to a great week!

Lazy Cottage Day

Our family received a special invitation to go to the Evan's cottage on Fri., June 6th (PA day for the kids!) and we were thrilled to accept! Even though it was a last minute invite(Shawn told me at 7:15 am Friday morning that Marilyn had called at 10 the night before), Marilyn told Steve that she was 95% sure that we'd go - I guess she knows that we're always up for a good time. This was one of the first really hot days of summer and we were so happy to spend it by the lake! Now we're just crossing our fingers that we get invited back another day and that the daddy's can both come this time!

Austin and Samuel Oscar - buds for life!

Jumping for joy into the lake!

I was a little worried about Emma being at the cottage - especially since I was flying solo - as she runs, runs, runs everywhere! In the end, she was really good. She loved crawling up and down the cottage steps and stayed in the vicinity of the front yard close to the lake. Once she did venture onto the sand of the beach and into the lake and promptly fell in. I quickly ran over to her and she looked like she was trying to swim; it's amazing how instinct takes over. I picked her up and she didn't even cry out. She did stay put on my lap for awhile after that and decided not to get too close to the water after that. Worked for me!

Play Days!

Emma's been playing more with her toys; of course, it's still not enough for mommy but every little bit counts! Though she has a tendency to play more with them when there's other kids and people around. Go figure! Here she's playing with a wagon that she thinks is a hat (a gift from Uncle Jordan and Auntie Shannon for her birthday). I can't remember if someone gave her the idea or not but she certainly held to the belief that it was a head accessory! Now if only she'd wear her sunbonnet outside!

May 28th

Emma also loves pulling around some trucks that are part of our toy arsenal. I've never been a distinguisher of toys and have no issue with her toting a boy toy - especially if it keeps her occupied for awhile!

May 29th

Jared's Birthday

We celebrated Jared's birthday in a big way at the Stoklosa's on May 25th. Jared and Stephanie brought their newest addition, Buster, to the festivities too. Jared and Stephanie spent a lot of time with the kids on the trampoline which most of them loved most of the time - we just have to make sure that Jared plays fair with the kiddies! The kids managed to stay outside most of the time we were there as it was a beautiful spring day.