Dates, Mother's Day, and a Beaver Sighting

This little girl loves her Dadda. Spencer takes one of the kids on a date every Monday. Ella always looks forward to this one on one time with Dadda. She often tells me, "Mom, you married the best Dadda." Last week they went for a hike down at our local creek.

I spent last weekend at Rockridge Canyon for the Village Women's Retreat. To be honest, I don't always look forward to women's events as I often feel a little shy around that many women. This retreat was so so good and I am so thankful that Spencer encouraged me to go. I learned so much about prayer and intentional living and came back feeling renewed and refreshed. I am also so inspired by the women in our church. It was truly a Spirit-filled weekend.

While I was away the girls took great care of Dadda. Ella told me that she would "make things lovely"while I was away. She said that Dadda is great, but things are not always as "lovely" when I am not there. So sweet. The girls even let Dadda sleep in one day while they got the boys up and made breakfast. Such a blessing.

Karis and Juju have a special bond. They continue to love to play moms together. These girls are inseparable. When Juju is finished her school work, she will go find Karis and say "Karis, M-O-M-S!" This is code for "do you want to play Moms?"

The other day while I was making lunch Karis asked me if I would like to play moms. She told me I could pretend that I was the mom making lunch. How ironic.

We continue to develop our crochet skills. Anyone in need of potholders?

Spencer hung out with the Balasabas family while I was away.

Peter sleeping with a car and a bus (hidden under him). He takes cars with him everywhere.

We take a scooter ride to the park most days before lunch.

I love that the girls race ahead of me to get to the bridge to see what kind of nature they can spot in the pond. Seeing their love and knowledge of nature over this past year has been incredible.

There is a construction site that can be seen from our dining room window. The boys have spent a lot of time observing the paving of the road. Peter loves to give me a play by play of the action. "Mom, Mom, there is a huge blue truck now. And the digger is digging!!"

Math time.

Karis is working through the math book that Juliette recently finished. Juliette is very eager to help Karis when she doesn't understand. It is very sweet to see and a great way for Juju to reinforce her skills.

Last Friday our nature group visited the Capilano Hatchery.

We loved observing the Coho fry.

Yesterday we went for a post-dinner walk to Robson Park. And we saw 2 beavers. The kids were ecstatic! The beavers swam right under the bridge we were standing on. They were gathering branches to add to their lodge. The girls scootered up and down the path to follow the beavers and track their every move. At one point we scared one of the beavers and he slapped the water with his tail to defend himself. We are so thankful for this bit of nature that we have in our neighborhood. It is a blessing. We have had countless conversations with other neighbors who also come down to the pond to stand on the bridge and observe nature. We have heard grandpas and grandmas share their expertise on the heron, the eagles, the various species of ducks, and the beavers.

This guy is quite big!

And some pictures from Mother's Day. I came home to this precious crew, some new patio chairs, and a new path in our backyard.

I also received this new shirt. It says "Elle est forte" which means "she is strong" for those of you who need to brush up on their French.

Last Wednesday Spencer and I got out for a date. We try to get out on a date night once a month. We are committed to investing in our marriage and I am so thankful to be married to "the best Dadda."