In Memory of Sunshine and +25

Seeing how it's -38 with the wind chill and predicted to get even colder, I figured I'd finally upload my summer pics and share my faves.  Maybe the sheer memory of summer will keep me warm and happy :-)

So here they are, a tribute to warmer days, sand (everywhere!), sunshine, and soggy swim diapers: My fave pics of summer:

The first ladybug of the year...

Cuteness

More cuteness

And MORE cuteness :-)



That moment where you get permission to go crazy in the mud....



Our a Daddy-Son camping trip.

Trampoline hair!!!

Sand monster

Four year old  + Cotton Candy ice cream = true happiness!

+35 cool down!

Beach babe

:-)

I've learned to get over the craziness of the height. Mark does this all the time with the kids. It makes a super awesome photo and the kids LOVE it!

 

The following pictures were taken on our family vacation to a cabin at Victoria Beach in July. Where we learned that we are definitely "cottage people". BEST vacation ever!!! We have such great memories and finally we found a vacation that is fun and relaxing for everyone including Mom and Dad! We spent the mornings at the playground eating fresh bakery goodies, the afternoons and evenings at the beach. Kids slept GREAT and since there was no cleaning, laundry, chores, etc.... Mark and I actually got to watch a few movies (yes, ENTIRE movies, from start to finish!!! Miracle!) and relax together! We are definitely going back next year.

 

 

 

 

This may be my favorite picture of Rylen EVER

 

 

Sorry. It's funny. Sad? Yeah, but funny too. Poor Rhys

 

 

 

And to finish off.... my favorite "me" moments of summer:



The night a miracle occurred: 100% of kids AND hubby asleep at 7:30 while camping. Mommy had some me time! Turned out to be a crappy book, but the fire was great!

Driving home after our many day trips...kids all washed and pajama'd  and sleeping in the back, Mommy and Daddy with a hot coffee and quiet conversation. PEACEFUL. :-)



 

Wow, just posting these makes me want to start crossing off days on the calendar and starting a countdown to spring.

Dear Santa

This past weekend was the Santa Claus parade. Rylen wrote his letter to Santa so he could deliver it at the parade. I helped him by writing exactly what he told me to. It was seriously the funniest thing ever witnessing him think so hard about what he wanted to say. Here's the end result: 

My favourite part "I listen all around" :)

4 year olds are so cute and hilarious. 

2 years ago...

It was 2 years ago today we found out there were three babies, not just one. 

If there is any one day I could relive it would be this one. How lucky we were and we didn't even know it!!!

Love you to pieces Garrett, Benjamin and Rhys!! Thanks for making me a MoM!! ( mom of multiples)

Mr. Snuggles

20 months and he still wants to cuddle on my chest. And fall asleep there. One of the things that makes co-sleeping so lovely. 

Rhys and Garrett

My cheeky monkeys! 

20 months old. Love these guys!

No Training Wheels!

A monumental childhood milestone has been reached in our house: the training wheels are gone! Rylen can ride his bike!

I am pretty impressed with this feat, since he only turned four in April. But I have to give ALL the credit to his balance bike!

If you don't know, a balance bike is an extraordinarily expensive bike that doesn't have pedals. Yes, you read that right. You are paying for " a broken bike" as Mark said when I told him I wanted to buy one for Rylen. But the idea is that the kids propel themselves with their feet on the ground and then eventually pick up their feet and glide. The focus is on learning to balance, not pedal. They are pretty cool little inventions!

And they work!! Within weeks Rylen's balance was amazing and he was even going up and down hills and jumps at the bike park. He's enjoyed his balance bike all summer, but it recently became obvious that he was more than ready for a "big boy bike". 

It took a bit of convincing to get him on his real bike without training wheels, but Grandpa bribed him a bit and he eventually caved. 

We were shocked! There was literally no easing into it. Mark held onto his seat for like ten seconds and then let go.... And he was zooming away! It was as if he was secretly some expert bike rider and we didn't know!! But, because he had the balance part down pat, he just had to pedal at he same time. Easy! 

I am so proud of my little guy! 

First Movie!

Rylen saw his first ever movie in theatres last weekend: Planes! 

I purposely have waited to take him to the theatres ever since last year I saw the  preview for this movie. Rylen is in love with airplanes so I thought this would be a perfect choice for his first theatre experience!

We really hyped it up for him telling him how huge the "tv" was, and that he got to eat popcorn ( his fave snack). Needless to say he was pretty excited to go on a "date" with mom and dad to the movie. ( Grandma and Grandpa were watching G and R).

He was pretty overwhelmed at first, but settled in nicely when I bought him his popcorn. The first 30 minutes went great.  

Then, he had to pee. Over and over again. I think Mark took him three of four times! It was kinda funny although I'm sure the people sitting beside us didn't agree.

About midway through I burst out laughing cause Rylen whispered to me " I'm really tired. I wish this movie was over already". And then he had to pee again.

We had a great time on our "date" and I loved watching Rylen's reactions to the theatre and movie. I found the whole thing quite amusing although I think that our theatre experiences will be few and far between, cause who really needs to spend all that money just to go pee a million times? 

P.S. I think Dusty Crophopper has replaced Lightning McQueen in Rylen's books. He's a pretty cool plane.