Wednesday ... Long day .... but I ran 6km with no training!!!

Here is the start of most of our lunches together. 

I went for tea with Mark and Cathy after work, he is enjoying retirement very much ... I would imagine!  I see what full time does to Mary, and I can see what part time does to me, and I will continue to always to part time at this rate .... there is no getting ahead of this government animal!!  Funding is decreasing everywhere, making it hard on everyone, especially up and coming adults!

 

Anyways, a new routine I want to take on is running around this lake in Nanaimo .. it's a 6km loop trail that has a lake view through the whole thing, so psychologically it's very easy to gage where you are at and whether you have enough ammo to finish .....

And I did have enough ammo to finish!  I had much stress to run off from work ....so it was actually quite easy ... I was pretty slow though ... took me about 50 minutes, but that included needing to slow down to text a couple people in regards to work things ...next time I should leave my phone in the car?

On other news, hadn't gone to the bathroom for days, so my friend Nikki said this was for dinner ... starting 1/3C every day .....

I was exhausted, as I always am by Wednesdays, so I didn't have it in me to encourage these kids to bed, so I just crawled into bed, and they eventually joined me with a YuGiOh battle on my bed.  They are such nice friends ... I love it.

 

I live here ....

It's mid April and this was taken moments after a flash hail storm!!  Hail?  Why not?  Anything can happen here .... We know who owns the place!

Wren turns 13 ...

Mike and Laura made a really nice dinner for the family to celebrate Wrens birthday ... Which is actually tommorow!  Here she is picking out her numbers for her cake.

And here she is modelling the dress she got today when her grandpa took her clothes shopping. Beautiful girl. 

Happy Birthday Wren!!

I may, or may not tag her in this on facebook ... Now that she is 13, this may or may not mortify her .... ;-)

Highlights from the first week of April ....

While I sat at work this week, this was a shot that my handsome hubby sent me via text.  Nice eh? 

Kinda reminded me of the Calvin and Hobbes strip:

So nice to have the sun shining again .. the boys are excited to get home from school when its nice out so they can engage in shenanigans with the neighbors!!

Laura and I had a hike on Friday morning together with the dogs ... we laughed that we aren't a dog family anymore, and she is.  She says she likes the dog, but its really another thing in her life that makes her feel guilty ... we laughed at that.  Why all the guilt? 

Little visit with Amara and Nicole after Fridays hike ... can you see that she has BOTH feet in my shoes?  She is just so adorable ....

Saturday morning garage sale finds .... a couple of lazer tag guns!  They have been playing with them since the find ... I just wish we had been able to find 3 more for neighbors to play too .. however, they take turns pretty well together ...

Even the big kid likes them ....

This was also the week last year, that Jaxon was diagnosed ... this was the shot that is etched in my mind right before they got to call to rush him to the hospital for further blood tests ... We were making smoothies together after school .... its been quite the year ... and he is recovering wonderfully!

It was also a year ago roughly that we celebrated Wren turning 12 ... 

We are heading out now to celebrate her turning 13 .... Crazy how fast these kids grow ...

Easter Monday part II

Starting at the local tea farm to grab a tea prior to our walk .... Eves Park.  Beautiful....a bit like Jurrasic Park.

The kids have known eachother for a long time but don't see eachother too often, so it was fun to see everyone just pick up and play!! Running through the forest together, playing hide and seek was so sweet.

Time spent with Nic is always good for my soul .... I hope for hers too .... I love that she is so good to talk to, no judgements, even when I say stuff I don't mean, I just need to air it out.  I can count on one hand the people I am able to do that with.  

We made a huge bonfire and had a wonderful dinner outside around it - ham, brocoli salad, potato casserole, beets and yams, with cherry pie for dessert. 

Boys kept the fire burning, kids put a movie on while Nic and I hit the hottub.  I thought I was so sore from my walk with Amanda yesterday.... But I realized tonight it was when I fell on that log!!!  My front thighs feel like I ran a marathon!!  So the hot tub was really nice .... They have a beautiful private backyard where we could watch the boys burn at the bonfire pit.

As we drove home from our friends house, I commented to Chris how relaxed I felt.... It was a day with time well spent. 

Easter Monday Part I

Made this for dinner this morning:

Then we hit the lake for some driving lessons!

We were nervous!! Haha

But then it was Elliot's turn ... And he tried to show us what real fear was!!!  

Well, he tried but he was a pretty good driver!

After our ride, we were waiting for chris and Isaac, so Elliot and I were jumping up on the huge logs on the canoe beach road ... As I did my last jump (yelling out to confirm that indeed chris was watching!!), when I stepped up, my foot slipped out of my stupid croc and I flew through the air in slow motion landing front and centre on the log, totally winding myself, and crumpling forward onto the ground into a pile of pain.  Meanwhile, my little empathetic workout partner yells out "AFV"!!!!!!  And my older son grabs my croc which had fallen on the other side of the log, throws it over the log to land on my head... The only win was that chris caught my shoe in midair before it cranked me in the head ... Thanks honey. Sigh.

So ... After I assessed that I could walk and I wasn't completely damaged, I confirmed that it must have looked hilarious and I wished I was the one watching it and not performing it. Also confirming why I shouldn't do anything riskier than walking at a brisk pace!!!

Anyways .... New sushi place just opened up and dynamite rolls always make me feel better!!

Now it's off to the local tea farm and a hike with the Fitzpatricks.  Then back to their place for a ham dinner!

Easter Sunday happenings .....

Days that start with this girl are always awesome .... She makes me laugh and think and filters are always off when she is around.

Chris went metal detecting this morning while the boys and I hung out until it was time to go to the Burdges annual Easter egg hunt.  

After we got home, Isaac made slime ....

And Elliot did some whittling ..... 

Sombrio Beach Adventures!!

It was a long day in the car as we embarked on the Sooke circle route today ..... Hit up MEC for a few things for camp, and then headed up towards Sombrio Beach.

We hiked along the beach in search of the waterfall and sea caves that were there.....

As we walked along the beach, the boys saw that there were a few eggs hiden along the shore line...

We found the entrance towards the waterfall!!!

The green walls were beautiful ... You can see Isaac carving his initials into the mossy walls until we saw what he was doing and stopped him.  

The Waterfall!!!!!

Two sweet brothers .....

Here we are heading out and what you don't see is Elliot's mis-step, and he slips and falls straight into the creek ..... He lost his mind only for a short time ....

While Isaac was happy to walk through the creek soaked up to his knees...

Elliot was carried out and soothed by Chris ..... He's getting so big, but we still carry him at every chance we get...

Elliot and I sat on the beach for a few minutes together while Chris and Isaac climbed this rock ...

My adventure leader ...

After a few minutes, Elliot sweetly says "do you want to keep going with dad and Isaac ?  We can go " .... He recovers so much quicker than he used to!!

I love that one bird on the end!!

Again .... Up to his knees in salt water!

We also found the sea cave!!  Well, Chris did!!!

Boys found a beach swing ....

We wonder why we aren't out here every day ... We live in the most beautiful spot.