Friday, November 20, 2009

Turning 5!

Thunder really enjoyed turning 5. As is customary in his life- we celebrated on his Birthday. He had a party with some of his friends. His party was at the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary and included being able to feed turtles and ducks, hold salamanders and snakes, watch a toad and turtle eat a worm, as well as other interesting tidbits. The interpreter was wonderful and the kids ( as well as parents who stayed along ) thought he was great. Grandma and Grandpa came along to help and bring a delicious cake too! Aunt Laura and Jason came over for the night and lended a hand at the party and afterward. Thunder chose wendys ( !!! ) for lunch and shared with other customers that it was his 5 year birthday- TODAY! We skyped grammie belle and grampie fred and watched grampie fred make some funny faces from the hotel Laura and Jason were staying at. Thunder recounted his funniest gift- socks and underwear from the Hatfields which made him laugh at breakfast. Guess he wasn't expecting that at all. Nor was I - as it made me laugh out loud too. He had so much fun with a whole bunch of gifts and seemed though everything he hoped for he received.
The anticipation was really too much for him, all week he was counting down to the big day. One night( four more days ) he arose every 10- 15 minutes asking is it morning yet? Well, Mark brought him to TOYS R US to look and choose a gift from his dad- so that he could think about that instead of what he might see on his day! Seemed to sleep the nights following. So he is five- five five five- LIVE IT UP!
How long before he starts asking about being six?

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Oct 29 2009.

Here is a clip of Thunders first preformence in a school assembly today. He certainly looked like he had fun up on the stage.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

More Wittys Lagoon.



Playing on the shore line...











Wittys Lagoon is one of my all time favorite places to spend a day. When you park at the Nature House, and take the trail down to the beach- it is ever changing. This last time while we passed the Sitting Lady Falls waterfall, the kids were less interested than other times. But thats ok, off we headed and found so many slugs. Slugs Slugs Slugs, wrapped around leaves, hiding under leaves, even ( slowly) making their way accross the footpaths. Then I was surprised at how MANY apple trees loaded with apples there were closer to the beach. Tastey too. We all enjoyed them. Of course the blackberries were plentiful along the path. Ocean and I separated from Mark and Thunder as she was too interested in watching the snail cross. The boys had made the way to the beach and found crabs already by the time we connected again. THe kids left after much sandy play and then it was off to catch grasshoppers in the tall grasses before heading up the path again. Lots of fun and LEARNING along the way.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Wittys Lagoon



The boys shoes...shore walking, the family.

Mark and thunder and Ocean and samantha had a great time finding crabs at wittys lagoon. And they had lots of fun. ( dictated from Thunder )

Friday, September 4, 2009

summer left overs

Girls own lunch party. While the big brothers went to the Bug Zoo the girls had a blast playing...

Lots of visitors...

Aunt Mary visited last.

Summer left overs.

Well he did it- learned how to ride a bike this summer thanks to peddalheads (camp). We were looking at this again the other night when I caught Mark giggling. Whatso funny? Mark pointed out, look at his super cool bad@#$ shirt. Now look at the bike. Some day he will laugh too.
This shirt by the way was the full on choice of his own. This was the day I realized even if i wanted to, I could no longer just pick his clothes for him. ( Although 99 % of his full near five years of wardrobe has come from my parents via frenchies! Thank you Hatfields) We were at a shop and I found what I thought was a great shirt for him. Save the strings prgram fundraising shirt from a few years back. Jimmy Wrights Polar Bear image on a brightly colored cloth. Thunder looked at it. Hmmm, mom- I want to see that one? Which one? Yeah that one, with the flames on it. Thats cool. There is also some sort of space traveler on the front. He does love it.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY .

Happy Birthday Love Filed Fridge.

Here one moment

gone the next...

YUMMY.

Ocean waited overnight and all day for the cupcakes she watched Thunder and I make the night before.

Pink Pink PInk....


Birthday Cupcakes with Pink Icing and Candles.

Beauty

Friend Simone. Ocean has been slowly learning how to say her name, for a long time it was Moan.

Lucky for Thunder...

Lucky for Thunder, Oceans friends all have older brothers- his best friends!
So it was a doubly exciting party for the children here.

Also missing from photos are Dylan and Mae, Logan and Gia, Nadia and Carrie-Anne and Mary. Katie seemed to keep herself out the photos too...

Some Lunch.

Some lunch, after a loooong wait the pizza arrived.

Fun times with Friends


Here are some shots, you've got to love young birthday parties- no planning, impromptu story telling, gifts when you arrive! Good times.

She's Two!

This morning on her birthday, she's 2!! I let her open some markers for her birthday before everyone arrived. Thought I would occupy her a little so that I could finish tidying. Once I was in the washroom, she decided to move on to demonstrate her interest in art...Here is an image of her proud drawing - ON THE WALL! Argh, i was happy to not lose it first thing in the am and manages to pull off an ITS BEAUTIFUL. I think I even surprised Thunder, because then I saw she had marked all over her brother- while sleeping too. Look out future sororities/ residence prankster in the making.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Mama poo...

Ocean is talking so much these days. It is proving quite entertaining, as well as the obvious- functional. She can tell us what happened when something is wrong. She will ask for what she would like for breakfast- coo- key. Yes Peas.
This weekend we went on a farm drive through Saanich to Deep Cove back through Sidney. In Deep Cove when we saw a mother horse with a baby horse we decided to show Ocean up close. We used to do that ALOT with Thunder, so out we get while Mark carried on a short way to the farm stand. Ocean and Thunder were delighted petting the little ones nose and mane. Attempting to give it grass and clover -both of which it showed no interest in. The mother horse was ignoring us- eating away and well, doing her business. When she headed back to the barn, the little one ran after her too. Ocean loved it.
Once back in the car Ocean kept repeating mama poo. Mark, Thunder and I would giggle, because it was pretty outlandish- I didnt even have gas! Mark asked her- Oh does mom have to go to the washroom? No Ocean says. She continues, mama horse big poo.
Of all the things she could share with her dad about the horse viewing?
Oh and on the map, Mark went to# 19.

Monday, August 3, 2009

A worthwhile long scenic drive....takes us to

Lizzard Lake! Seriously- there are little lizzards in it that pop up for air. ( swim up ) Ckildren everywhere at the lake catching them and putting them in buckets. Too fun. We caught a few. Thunder and OCean loved handling them and putting them in the water. We were glad that Ocean fell asleep on the drive as it prompted mark to continue driving to see how far we would get- LIZZARD LAKE! Too busy having fun to photograph with the cell phone camera. Another time?

Friday, July 31, 2009

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Honey Bees

For fun- I will add this one of Mark and his dad, checking out the experiment!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Sea Stars thunders photos


Just after this Thunder took a photo of me and then slipped with the camera over his neck. He seemed okay, but the camera lens wouldnt work anymore...so we did not have the camera for the fabulous beaches that followed...but in our minds eye we can see them. ( I hope)

Amazing Display...

It was so fun to look Everywhere and see the sea life.....

More at the galleries...

Some from Malasapina galleries

Rosebud rolling around at the Malasapina galleries.



I was HERE!

Thunders Discoveries...

he thought this looked like and Alien.
He found a DINOSAUR foot print in the rocks.

Look at my Dora Underwear!!!

What do you see?

Collective Art Piece!

Trip to Gabriola Island to visit Tracey, Billy, and Rosebud

We were lucky enough to get a visit in with Tracey and Billy before the summer zipped by. Gabriola Island was a treat, Tracey took us to a lot of Beaches with beautiful rock formations, shorelines and sea life to explore. I think Thunder and Ocean had a blast. They even looked at the recycle depots thrift shop and found some trinkets. Ocean LOVED spending time with their dog Rosebud. Thunder- who is usually apprehensive around dogs- seemed to really enjoy her company toward the end of the visit. I enjoyed watching this process. Thunder played his first full game of checkers with Tracey- who won! ( He tells me each time I recount the stories of his trip with him)

Marias eatery...

We had a nice meal at Marias. We just can not seem to stop returning with Aunt Laura to this establishment.

Glass Beach.

Thunder searching for Beach Glass.
Laura and Ocean chasing dogs on the shore...
Pretty Blues at the beach.We finally were able to get Aunt Laura to the glass beach in Sidney. We had tried before without success. It is one of Thunders fav. spots in Sidney. We have brought home so many pieces of beach glass that we dont know what to do with them...now we choose a number at the beginning of the search to agree on before starting and only take that many.