Summer Camps

This July Melissa enjoyed two different summer camps. One as pictured below a soccer camp through Immanuel Church and the other through our church Northview. I was so pleased that she was brave enough to do these all on her own without knowing friends going into them. The camps were so well organized and she learned a lot in each one. August she has a dance camp and a week of swimming lessons lined up so far. She certainly is having a fun filled summer :)

Brody turns 1!

Tuesday was a very special day in our household. 

We celebrated 1 year with our dear little Brody. 

The happy birthday boy...

Nana and Pop came by with presents to help celebrate...

Brody had his eye on some I put there earlier in the day...

New sunglasses...

Showing some of his new moves...

First lego...

Brody and Pop with their matching hair. I'm curious to see what color Brody's will be. In certain lighting it can look red...

A new toy set - Noah's Arc

The monkey cake I made for him :)

He was quite intrigued by the candle and cake...

Getting a grip on the ear after poking & sampling the icing around the eye...

In sugar bliss! Next stop the bath!

Happy Birthday little man! Look forward to many many more birthdays :) You are such a special addition to our family, and you are very much loved.

Brody Getting Around

So Brody turns 1 tomorrow! Hard to believe it has been one year already... and in some ways it is hard to remember life before he came along. Lately he has come up with his own method of mobility. Nothing too coordinated about it, but it works for him at the moment. I'm sure it will morph into something a bit more efficient ;)


In the process of taking this video we got a few bloopers:

Here was the first video attempt, I had put the treat container to the side and he went for it rather than the few I had placed on the floor! Smart cookie ;)


This was one of the last video attempts, and I think he had lost interest in performing!

Stanley Park

Luckily the weather turned around for the rest of the week and we spent a day hanging out at Stanley Park... 

The kids enjoyed exploring the beach area... Brody running his hands through the sand, until he rubbed his face with them :P

Melissa really enjoyed scavenging for shells and found many treasures she pleaded to bring home!

After cleaning up (Brody got a bath in the sink) we walked a section of the sea wall and found a place to have lunch...

In the afternoon we came upon this outdoor pool on the edge of the ocean and had to try it out :)

Playing in the shallow end...

Brody was good and tired, and eventually settled down for a poolside nap...

Granville Island

On a typical wet west coast weather day we went to see the sights on Granville Island. We took the Aquabus from near our hotel across to Granville...

It was a very brief, but fun ride...

Daddy giving a little lesson on the sea life attached to a post... 

We watched an artist busy at work blowing glass... 

and wandered the market place (my fav) and the many shops...

Outside a cute shop made out of a train car which only seemed fitting to take a pic!

Ken's special request - that we wander (and drool) on the docks where people had parked their yachts... ahhh that'd be the life!

Visiting Vancouver

The first week of July we went on a little family vacation to Vancouver. We got a hotel in False Creek and did a couple day trips. We have visited Victoria & Seattle in the past, and thought why not our very own Vancouver... plus it was nice to be close as it was our first family get-away with a baby (who did well with all the adjustments!).

Staying in a hotel is a huge highlight for Melissa. When walking around the city Melissa would often ask if we could go back to our hotel room! She really enjoyed the closeness and family time in a new cosy environment (not to mention the swimming pool!). So this post is dedicated to just that... us hanging out in the hotel!

Playing with toys together...

Watching cartoons while eating breakfast :) 

Ready to go for a swim in our hotel's pool...

This was Brody's first time in a pool. Unfortunately the water was quite cool and the weather wasn't compensating...

Tried a little floating, but wasn't really enjoying it, perhaps the water was too cold...

A little poolside bottle & cuddle :)

Daddy & Melissa play time!

Having an afternoon nap...

Sleeping like a baby... with her hands in the air just like her brother!

Sports Day

We lucked out with a sunny Friday in June for Melissa's school's sports day. 

Brody and I were helping out at the snack station, and I had a few opportunities to go take some pics of Melissa enjoying some of the many stations they rotated through. 

Here her class is at the rubber chicken relay. Melissa is in pink hat (far right) doing a fancy cheer / dance for her team members :) 

Melissa's turn to run with the rubber chicken - "Go Melissa Go!"

Her #2 fan on the sidelines cheering her on!

Tossing a football through the hoops... 

My favorite station... the tug-of-war! "Pull!"

Success!

Girls vs boys...

and the girls won!!!

Some shocked (and very upset) boys...

Ahh... good memories were made. It brought back memories of when I was in elementary school at our sports days. 

Melissa's Friend Birthday

This year Melissa chose to have her friend birthday at our local recreation centre. She invited all the girls from her class as well as her cousin. Photo credit goes to my sister Darcie... too many photos for me to narrow down, so I tried out a collage program to display them all. It's not perfect I know, as it wouldn't let me crop or shift them over, but it works!

For the first hour the kids played in the gymnasium with the toys and bouncy castle...

Then we did the pull-string piñata...

After it was time to eat pizza and cake-pops...

Followed by present opening!