Family Day in Port Renfrew.

Do you see what I see?!

Port Renfrew is like pushing a reset button!!  It's so rugged and beautiful...

Exploring the beach ....

We went exploring along the rocks only to look back and see our path back to shore covered in water!! It swept in so fast!!

Here is Chris trying to monitor when the water will wash out again to sea in order for us to get back!!

We're smiling, but we were a bit freaked out!

Mel's boots are still my favorite!!!

Classic red touque ....

Piggy Back ...

The kids ran for much of the trail!! 

This stopped the running, but only momentarily!! We both noted that five years ago, had his shoe gotten stuck like this, he'd be yelling and crying and we would be carrying him! But he waited calmly for us to arrive and help him put it back on ...

This is a sweet little tree on a tiny little island in the middle of Fairy Lake.

Happy Family Day!

Sunday at Skutz Falls.....

We left the house at the same time as Laura and the girls to head out to one of my favourite hikes at Skutz Falls ....

I love this picture of Chris and Elliot !!

Strange enough they found a couple of decorated eggs inside this little hut ....

Geocaching !!

Elliot happily chose the little headband.....

....and got laughed at ....

He stuck to his guns ....

My back was aching at the end of the long hike .... Just over 2 hours and 8km's and a beautiful hot tub waiting for us at home!!

Happy Sunday!!

Ava's birthday morning ...

Ava and her little friends came down at 7am stating they hadn't slept and were hungry.  Laura sent them back upstairs with apples for awhile.  Laura also went back to sleep for a couple hours!! So when I went upstairs to ask if they wanted chai lattes (Ava's favourite!) - this is what I found!!

Here is Poppy wrapped up in a little nest!

Lydia's daughter Hannah - 

Ava was passed out while her cousin played Mario Kart with the only girl remaining awake!!

So I set the table, made some pancakes and made coffee for Laura and I.

Ava arrived at the table last, literally looking like the 'morning after' !!  She refused to wear the tiara .... Which the adults found amusing to watch!

Before breakfast, Elliot showed Laura what he loves about Blocksworld-

It was a nice night .... 

Ava's 11th Birthday Party!!

Super fun to have Ava and a few of her sweet friends up to camp to help her celebrate turning 11.  Laura brought pizza and ice cream cake!

My boys took it on themselves to explode these streamers Auntie Jackie gave to them last weekend!! Beautiful but brutal to clean up! Ava seemed to love them!!

..... Chris took them to the gym after dinner for a run and then we walked them down to the outdoor chapel to yell at the mountain and hear the echo back.  The wind blew our umbrella down yesturday so chris went and bought a new one and strung lights up for Ava and her friends! So pretty!!

After hot tubs, the girls put on Freaky Friday (better than their first choice of 'Fault in our stars'......)..... Laura and I hottubed for an hour during the movie and went up to say goodnight.  Ava isn't planning on sleeping so that'll be interesting!!  

This is how we left them!!  Sweet girls .... Hard to believe she's 11 already! Love that she's having her party here....so fun.

Thursday .... No school ...

On Thursday, the boys had a outing trip for school but neither of them wanted to go to.  So I let them stay home with me.  

We were all still so tired from the trip and with Elliot still being under the weather, we were all pretty happy to stay home on this rainy day.

Chris arrived home just before supper. We had a steak dinner planned for him...so good to have him home!!

Monday and Tuesday - Sick Days!

I thought this was a funny shot of my 'work station' at home on Monday morning!  Elliot was still super sick and somehow my back totally went out on me on Sunday night!!!  So, Monday morning, this was the lineup!!

Elliot drank tea and smoothies .... but he was not well,  he slept for much of the day ....

He told me that he knew he was sick because he didn't want to play Wii!

When Isaac came home, he was happy for a long time working on stop motion .... such a creative kid. 

This was Tuesday afternoon around 3 .... we had just had a hot tub and crawled into bed and both of us had a nap ... this is where Isaac found us when he came home on the bus!

It's Wednesday now.  My back feels better though I still need a little help through the day .... today was a tougher day because I was in a car and an office chair in Nanaimo for most of the day.  I was glad I went, there is a lot happening at work and this was a good meeting to be part of.  The boys were ready to go home when I picked them up at 2:20 .... so we got home and I crawled into bed with my achy back while the boys had a snack and did a pile of chores.  We ate soup and watched movies and the afternoon flew by.  Since Elliot is still unwell, we have had no visitors, which has been a nice change of pace for us.  Chris is coming home tomorrow night ... he is eager to get home to see us and do some laundry he says. ;-) 

Traveling home!!

It was a crazy day of early car rides, early flights, and ferry rides!!  Elliot was so unwell but he held it together all day and I was so impressed !!

Almost home!!!

On the island !!

Love these traveling shots of the boys ....

I had fallen asleep. When I woke up and looked over, Isaac had already ordered his drink and was reading happily.  He'd gotten up with no problem at 4am for this 6am flight. 

Elliot, too, was amazing. Having woke up at 3am not being able to breath, he had a bath and was dressed by our 4am ride to the airport with Kevin.  He slept everywhere (see previous post) and this was my favorite picture of this traveling warrior folded into his seat, sleeping almost the whole flight. 

Saturday in Studio City!

Saturday morning shenanigans .... this is what boys do in girls rooms!!  It's a manicure set!!  Two cute little boys in their onesies, doing their nails ... pretty adorable hey?

Here is the screen shot the boys sent their dad ....

Steph and her sweet man of 5 years, Aki!!  They live in San Diego together - he is a graphic artist for a local restaurant and Steph has a job as a therapist in a transition clinic helping people with addictions re-enter society sober (or drug free) - Steph and I had a long chat in the backyard in the sunshine before heading out.  I have known this girl since she was 8 ... Chris and I played games with her and her siblings in the backyard in the dark on our honeymoon - it was one of the highlighted memories of our honeymoon - our time with the Inches ..... it has been so long since we have seen Steph because she has been at school the last few times we have come to visit ... but there is something about family that just runs thicker.  We picked up like no time had passed .... and I loved her boyfriend ... such a sweet guy !!  We talked a lot about her education and her dreams for her future, and student debt vs opportunities ... are they worth it these days?  $200,000 of student debt is pretty typical for someone getting a Phd .... how do you get out from under THAT?  Anyways .... we had fun .... but then it was time to make the boys dreams come true :

So Jackie took us all to Chuck E Cheese.....on a Saturday .... in LA .... need I say more??

It was the only thing on their wish list!  And if you know Jackie, the minute she finds out someone she loves wants something, she gets it done immediately!  Kevin, lucky duck, stayed home to 'mind the ribs because they have to be babied for like 4 hours!' ....so the boys ran around playing games, we ate pizza, and it was a zoo, but with the 4 adults sitting in the booth talking while the boys played their games, it wasn't too bad.

Jackie had the bright idea to give out the tokens in 10's so the boys would have to keep coming back to check in.  It was brilliant ... it also slowed them down from spending their tokens in record speed!  Elliot started to fade as the day wore on, I could tell he was going down.  Jackie started asking for hugs in trade for tokens ... so he started slowing down.  Finally I asked him if he needed me to re-negotiate the terms, enstead of one hug for one token, he'd get like 3?  She happily agreed ...like me, she knows you need currency with this kid to get any affection!! lol

Once we got home, Kevins ribs smelled amazing (that's a weird sentence) .... so we had an amazing dinner .... I was hoping for more movie watching, given all the new titles they have in the house, but Jackie loves sports, so basketball was on all night.  I finally went to bed with the kids around 9 ....

Croup update ...

I'll properly update the rest of the LA trip later but thought I'd just update on the croup since we have some worried family. This trooper had a huge travel day: at 6am; 

At 8am on the plane;

At 12:30pm at the ferry terminal:

On the ferry;

Croup gets worse with Elliot we have learned. So I was bracing myself for an awful night. Already at 5pm, we had used his puffer, which helped abit!!  It allowed him to have a nice dinner and watch tv and we had a hot tub and talked about tonight's plan for the croup. As if November since his last cold and bout with croup, our amazing doctor gave us the pills they'd use at the ER!

So the plan was to use the pill as a last resort. So he fell asleep and I read more on the pill. The more I read about what it did, the more I realized I'd rather get ahead of this than chase it once it's awful. So when he woke up at 8, struggling but not too bad, I gave him half the dose on the bottle. It now almost 2!! He's in the bath, but not for croup!! :-)

So I'm expecting a great rest of the night. That's my hope anyways ..... Oh and also, I threw my lower back out somehow just before bed. So that's a nice change from the neck, I guess. 

Croup, you suck!!

I haven't slept yet. It's 2am and I've been watching this kid breath all night. As per usual, the breathing gets harder and harder as the night wears on. 

I'm giving off a calm demeaner when he looks over at me, but feel sick to my stomach.  He didn't want to go outside or have a bath, he wanted more pain medicine and asked when we were going home. 

We physically get up in 2 hours but I haven't slept yet. This day is going to be interesting.  Excited for daylight. I have grown to hate the night. 

Croup??!!

He was fine when we left so I left his puffers at home but Elliot woke up with croup this morning. Gonna be another long haul with this damn virus that I have learned to loath.  Off to find some honey and ginger this morning. Neighbors have a lemon tree, so we're good for those! :-)

Friday Night in Studio City ....

Kevin gets a pile of movies every year before they come out in theatres because he's part of the directors guild. So this afternoon when the sun went away, I watched 'Brooklyn' and I really really liked it. The bravery it takes for people to travel to a new land for a better future really was captured. There was a bond between the two sisters that I really related to. Such love and desires for a good life for eachother. But watching them lock eyes as the older sister is on the docks watching her baby sister pull away in the boat bound for New York had me in tears. So gut wrenching, not knowing when you'll see eachother again. Communication isn't as it is now ... We are so lucky!! I can literally SEE my loved ones anytime I want. I don't have to wait years for letters.  Such a good movie. 

Kevin told me about his favorite Mexican restaurant and picked up tacos for dinner.  Kids were so not interested so they had last nights pasta with a bowl of veggies and cut up apple and were happy!  Tommorow is Kevin's famous ribs!

Jackie got home really late and crawled in with us as we were in bed. 

I had tucked both kids in bed, but Elliot is fighting a cold I think, he's got a fever. So they both came into my room. Isaac read and Elliot fell asleep. 

Jackie likes to maul the boys. It's fun to watch. Here she's doing a song she apparently did to him as a toddler. 

Stephanie is driving up tonight from Sandiego with her boyfriend to see us so we can spend the day together tommorow.