May Long Weekend

We spent Victoria day down at Crescent Beach. This was our first bathing suit trip to Crescent Beach this year. We built sandcastles, had a picnic lunch, and walked out to where the ocean gets deep and the girls went for a swim.

The highlight was seeing a huge dungeness crab bury himself completely under the sand because he was feeling threatened by us. We had never seen a crab do this before. But we are a very threatening bunch.

Our sweet little Peter is a sleep walker. Sometimes at around 2am we hear him up and about around the house. He can be found playing cars, sitting at the breakfast table waiting for oatmeal, or just standing in the bathroom. He has no recollection of these things in the morning. The other morning Spencer woke up and found Peter sleeping in our living room (pictured above). Funny, but also a little scary. Childproof door knobs are on their way. We do not want to wake up to Peter riding his bike on our driveway.

In other news, Peter has dropped his nap and is now doing quiet time. On days that he falls asleep and has a nap he is unable to fall asleep until about 9pm. He is quite happy to look at books and play cars in his room for quiet time. And we are quite happy for him to have a good night's sleep again.

Ella loves the "All of a Kind Family" book series by Sydney Taylor. The book series is about a family with 5 daughters. The eldest sister is named Ella. I read the first one as a read aloud last year and we were delighted to find out there is a whole series of them. This girl reads faster than I am able to find good quality books for her. So it is always a blessing to find new books.

This is a common scene in our backyard. The ladder is propped up against the fence so the girls can "chat" with Molly. We have plans with our neighbors to build a gate this summer.

These two have been on ant control. We have an ant problem in our kitchen and they are coming in through our backdoor. Ants don't like to walk across chalk lines, so our kids have been busy drawing with chalk to prevent them from coming in our door. It is working quite well.

Last Friday our nature group met at White Rock beach.

Ella is happy to keep our boys entertained with rides in the laundry basket. Peter calls this a "sky train ride." Or sometimes he says "try skain ride."

Peter loves to help me make bread. And to dress himself (if you look closely you will notice that his shorts are on backwards).

Peter loves to be read to. He has a stack of books that he likes to read again and again.

Last week Miriam came for a visit. She helped us identify several of the wildflowers in our lawn. Miriam is so precious to us. 

We went for a walk together and the kids gathered branches to build a fort.

Peter loves to "fish" down at the creek.

We watched the Loewen kids the other day. We spent hours down at our local creek. The kids built their own fort. It was amazing to see them work together to cary the branches across the water and plan the layout of the fort. 

We are raising butterflies again. The caterpillars just formed their chrysalides today. So we should have some painted lady butterflies emerging soon. Peter has been very interested in the caterpillars. He loves to observe them and then have me read "the Very Hungry Catterpillar" to him. When he looks into their habitat he often says "oh, that caterpillar is very hungry."

And sweet Silas is doing great. He is not pictured very often here because he is normally strapped to me when we are on our adventures. He is saying lots of new words and standing freely. We love you sweet Silas. Next time I will get some more pictures of you.

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."