Karis Rides a "big girl bike"

Some video of our girl riding her "big girl bike." Way to go, Karis!

Peter Rocks

Shuswap Lake

Last week we went camping at Shuswap Lake. We love the Shuswap campground. The lake campsites are beautiful, there are tons of young families, the lake is great for kids, and the weather is usually perfect as well. 

All ready to go to the beach!

We had a fun trip, but we were definitely ready to come home and sleep in our own beds at the end. It didn't help that Juliette threw up in the tent on our last night. Thankfully she was feeling better the next day. Camping with little ones is always an adventure!

Juliette's birthday gift from Grandma Jo-Ann arrived in the mail. Juju is thrilled with her Rapunzel dress-up outfit and wig! And she was kind enough to let Ella wear the Cinderella dress. 

Karis is doing really well on the pedal bike these days and asks to practice often. Today she made it from one side of the court to the other all by herself! This girl is pretty serious about keeping up to her big sisters.

More Summer Fun...

For the August long weekend we went camping at the Coquihalla Campground. We went with 3 other families and had a fabulous time.

The girls loved lying in the hammocks. 

All together, there were 8 little girls on our camping trip. And 1 baby boy ;)

The girls loved doing Rainbow Looms, playing in the woods together, and playing in their fort - imagining that they were the characters from Little House on the Prairie.

Peter was thankful to spend time with the men in order to get a break from all of the girls!

When we came home we had our dentist appointments. Everybody's teeth look healthy! And Karis decided to share with the dentist that one time she dipped her toothbrush in the toilet. The dentist didn't say much in response, and then Karis looked her in the eye and said "and then I brushed my teeth without even rising it."

The girls completed the summer reading program at the Surrey Library. We had so much fun doing this program. We went to the library often to get stickers on our charts, to find the picture of the building that the librarian hid in the kids section, and to enter our names in a draw for a prize. Each of our girls ended up winning a prize.

And they got medals for completing the program.

This year our garden was a success!! This may not seem exciting for you, but it is for me. This is the first time I have ever grown any vegetables that actually turned out. The girls love eating fresh carrots from the garden.

Rainbow Looming with our friend Diya.

Karis loves getting french braids in her hair these days.

And yesterday we went back-to-school shopping. Each girl got to pick one new outfit. 

7

7 years ago today Spencer and I got married. 

Last night we went out to dinner and to Les Miserables to celebrate. We ate at Maria's in Kitsilano - the same restaurant that we had our first date. During our dinner Spencer said he thought our server was the same lady who served us on our first date -11 years ago. I was doubtful that this would be the same lady after 11 years. After talking with her, we discovered that she indeed was the same lady that served us on our first date!

I am incredibly grateful and humbled that God blessed me with Spencer as my husband. It is also always amazing when we hit a milestone and talk about what our lives looked like "then and now." God is good.

Kelowna

We spent a week in Kelowna with my family. We all had a great time swimming in the pool, visiting the Kangaroo Farm, playing Uno, and enjoying one another's company.

Lydia made her debut in Grandpa Clark's pool. She seemed to love the water. We had so much fun spending a week with our sweet niece.

Juliette was fearless in the pool. One time she actually forgot she wasn't wearing her lifejacket and jumped right in. Thankfully she was surrounded by adults and this was a good way for her to learn not to do that again!!

And Ella made huge progress in her swimming skills. She is now able to swim quite a distance without a lifejacket!

Juliette loved playing peek-a-boo with her little cousin.

Last year one of our memories from the Kangaroo farm was a goat eating Karis' tutu. We talked about it on our way into the farm. And this year, it happened again! The picture above is a goat eating Karis' favorite dress (it has several holes in it now) and below is a different goat eating Karis' tutu last year. Maybe next year she won't wear a dress or tutu to the kangaroo farm... but knowing Karis, that is very unlikely!

An intense game of Uno!

We had a nice visit with Ms. Eileen and Mr. Vic. It was also awesome to visit with my friend Megan, but somehow I didn't get any pictures with her.

A couple of nerds.