Little Tomato

Melissa was passionate about buying a tomato plant from Rona, mid August. It was a little late in the season when we bought it, and the plant was a sorry sight (it reminded me of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree). It had one little tomato on the way, so we took it home and nurtured it. With much encouragement, water & sun, the little tomato grew to be a perfect sized tomato for a little girl :)

This tomato plant is a far cry from the plants we grew back at our previous house, where there was an ideal setting, southern sun against a white stucco wall. The plants couldn't have been happier, as you'll see in this post from the archives.

The tomato is finally ready to be harvested!

Yum, yum... she ate the whole thing in one sitting :)

A Party for Colby

This weekend Melissa's little buddy Colby celebrated his third birthday! Melissa & I joined in the festivities.

Colby tapped his magic wand on the turtle pinata... (give it a few more years, and he'll likely not have reservations about beating the candy out of a pinata!) 

After three children took turns swinging at the turtle, and not much more than a minor dent or two, the kids tried the "pull-string" method of opening the turtle... which proved fruitful (or shall I say... candyful!)

The mad dash for loot!

The party-goers... we were lucky to get them all in one spot for this photo ;) Although getting them all to look at the camera, was more of a challenge!

Blowing out the three candles on his yummy birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Colby... thanks for letting us celebrate your special day with you!

A Birthday Party (for Mom)

Last weekend, while the weather was still nice, we celebrated my birthday here with my side of the family. 

Melissa was eager to get at the munchies... in particular the cheesies!

Acknowledging the camera :)

A big bite of her subway sandwich...

Playing with cousin Xander after lunch... going on a bug hunt!

Playing in her tent...

Cake time... everyone admires the cake with candles spelling "30-1"... thanks to my siblings!

Eating the cake (carrot cake, my favorite!)

Opening the presents... Lexi was wanting to get the show on the road! Card reading is counter-productive!

Sheer excitement... I got some cupcake stands! (I look forward to using them)

Melissa and Xander...

Three cousins...

*** All photos courtesy of my brother-in-law Jason of Revival Arts Studio.

Harrison Sand Sculptures

One last thing on my list of things to do this summer was to go to Harrison to see the sand sculptures. I have never been to this event before, and really enjoyed the art and creativity that went into each sculpture. I took plenty of photos, but did my best to narrow it down to a few for this post... although the pictures aren't the same as being there in person. 

An isle of sculptures...

A not so traditional sandcastle...

Entitled "Bringing water to the sea"...

Melissa's favorite... a big cat!

Melissa throwing coins to the street singer and his howling dog...

Melissa cuddling with Pop, trying to get warm...

"People's Choice" and one of our favorites... a boy looking at turtles in a glass(less) tank... 

First Day of Preschool

Yesterday marked a milestone, Melissa's first day of Preschool! She was very excited, as we have been talking about this all summer, and the day was finally here! She is now going to the Wind & Tide here in Abbotsford, two days a week for 2.5 hours each day. She has excellent teachers, that I know she will soon love. 

Here she is the morning, minutes before we left, with her Dora lunch-kit...

Here is an unrelated photo that I had in my camera. I took it one morning when I found Melissa getting dressed with her very close friend, our cat Pepper. They spend lots of time hanging out in Melissa's bedroom.

Celeste Visits

This past long weekend we had some special visitors from Kamloops come by for a playdate! It has been about a year since we last saw the Rivards. Melissa & Celeste didn't skip a beat, and from the minute Celeste entered the door, the girls were busy playing together. Check out a post of the two girls, from two years ago.

Playing board games in Melissa's tent...

Posing for the camera... 

Lina & Celeste...

Lina & I were busy catching up while the girls were quietly occupied upstairs. We decided after a hour or so to go see what they were up to. I went armed with the camera :) Opened the door and they had this look of "BUSTED!"...

They had torn apart Melissa's room, unloaded her closet and all her drawers, which were filled with crafting supplies, play-dough, tempera paint, etc. (probably not the smartest I guess). Lucky for me, the worst part was the clean-up. 

Lina and I spent a good 20 minutes cleaning up Missy's room while the girls were told to keep out of trouble and not create anymore tornados. Meanwhile the girls moved on to the master-bedroom... into my shoes, purses, and magazines!

Destruct-o-girls...