PEI August 2015

This past week we were able to take a family vacation to Prince Edward Island. It was a week of wonderful memories. We flew into Moncton, rented a car and drove across the Confederation Bridge to the island. We stayed at a cottage owned by diary farmers which was walking distance to the beautiful beach in Cavendish. The owners were very friendly and encouraged the kids to visit the barns to play with the kittens and watch the milkings. We spent time touring the different parts of the island and tried to take in different experiences. Mid week we had a rain day - so we went into Charlottetown. We checked out a free noon performance at the Confederation Centre of the Arts, took a double decker bus tour and went to COWs ice cream factory. Another day we went to Green Gables. This was the only thing that was a disappointment. Friends of ours raved about the little town (Village of Avonlea)  that had actors that would re-enact different parts of the books and was very interactive for kids; however, the little town is now just a bunch of tourist shops. The park of Green Gables was also nothing special. We checked out the singing sands beach - which was a beautiful beach. We happened across (quite by accident) access to the beach that the local use, which allowed us just to enjoy the beach without the crowds. The singing sands were more like the squeaking sands; however, it was still neat and we also saw a seal (or sea lion - we are not quite sure) while we were there. Micah heard about sea glass and wanted to find some, so we tried different beaches that were suppose to have sea glass - however, we couldn't find any, so we ended up buying some at a little shop. Other highlights of the trip included clam digging (which included a picnic lunch of steamed clams that we just caught), lobster dinner, and deep sea fishing. It was a lovely balance of relaxation and new experiences. The trip ended with us back in New Brunswick visiting dear friends of ours from Edmonton who now live outside of Moncton on a farm. Their oldest boy was Jared's age and the kids had so much fun playing in the mud, picking berries, feeding chickens and roasting marshmallows.

 Deep sea fishing

 East Point Light House

 Confederation Bridge

 Lobster Dinner

 Beach time

 "City boy"

 Clam digger

Clam digger 2

Great Grandma's 90th Birthday Party

In June, we went to La Crete to celebrate great grandma's 90th birthday. Micah had the flu and missed all the festivities surrounding the party and by the time he was feeling better Jared got sick (luckily for Jared not as severe as Micah). We tried to make the most of it and had a few days of being sick free.

 Waterballon time

 Going quading with grandma

 Baking buns with grandma

Barbecuing steaks is serious business.

 A highlight, hanging out with Pamela's childhood friends who all happened to be in La Crete at the same time.

Happy Birthday Great Grandma!

Pamela's Cousins

Kindergarten Graduation

This is a little late (oops)! In June, Micah finished kindergarten - yay! He made some good friends and enjoyed learning french. His class had a year end program which included the class singing a few songs and a small ceremony. Micah was really proud of his graduation hat that he made.

Jared turns 4!

Happy Birthday Jared - our baby is now 4! Jared couldn’t wait to turn four and waited patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for July 18 to arrive. For his birthday party we held an outdoor party with friends that included time at the local splash pad, water balloons, BBQ and a piñata. His party was extra special this year because Aunt Janette was able to be part of the festivities. The next day we spent the morning at the beach and in the afternoon went to SkyZone for some family fun.

Two Wheeler

In May, we decided that it was time to finally take Micah's trainer wheels off. He was nervous about it; however, was willing to try as long as he could wear his hockey elbow pads :-) He had no problem and did it on his first try.

Biking is hard work.

Happy 6th Birthday Micah!

Wow – at times it is so hard to believe that it has already been six years. He is such an amazing kid and we love him beyond words. He is creative, inquisitive and kind. Lego is his favorite toy and he can spend hours creating and playing with Lego. For the past few months he has been telling us that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. At first he told us he didn’t know what he was going to do because he wanted to be a scientist and an astronaut. When we told him that many astronauts are scientist he was thrilled J Recently he has been saying that he wants to be a scientist who studies animals. He loves learning about animals, bugs, and sea creatures. He is always reciting different animal facts that he is learning. Right now is favorite animals are the black mamba, cheetah and sharks.

He loves being in water and is becoming a very good swimmer. Swimming is one activity that he is always enthusiastic about and when we are in Phoenix he is happy to swim every day for hours at a time.

He enjoys school; however, usually by Friday he is ready to be done. He is a kid that loves to be social and needs his home time. This is something that I know I will always need to be mindful of in not scheduling too much for him and ensure that he has time to just be at home.

He is a wonderful playmate to his brother and they play together so well (for the most part, they do have their moments).  There are times when he has been able to do things without Jared (e.g., go to a classmates birthday party at a play centre) and afterwards he will talk about wanting to take his brother there next time to show him because he knows that Jared would like that too. He is also very protective. He gets very worried if Jared runs to far ahead of me. He urges me to hurry up and for Jared to stop.

For his birthday party we had a science theme party with his friends. As a surprise we hired a ‘scientist’ from Mad Science to do experiments with the kids. It was a huge hit and Micah loved it. For birthdays we also like to do something special just as a family. This year Micah picked to go to McDonalds with a playplace. That was easy enough. On his actual birthday, I brought Micah’s class a monster craved watermelon (thanks, Pinterest J).

Easter in Phoenix 2015

Around Easter we went to Phoenix for a week. As always, it was a fun and relaxing time hanging out with my family. We had a good mix of activities: swimming, hockey game, the zoo, tennis and hiking. Grandpa also took the boys to a spring training baseball game. It was a lovely holiday.

Family photo (which took a little bribing to make happen)

Hiking with my mom and sis

Doing science experiments with Auntie Janette.

More science experiments.

Jared feeding the giraffes.

 The boys on the water ride at the zoo.

Hiking with mom.

Swimming, swimming, and more swimming.

Silliness :-p

Grandpa and Grandma