Home again, home again

Well, here we are. Back in Hay River after our 3 weeks in Comox, BC. We had a lovely time, spent almost every waking moment outside, shopped til we were cross-eyed, and drove Gramma and Poppa crazy! I am sure they are enjoying the peace and tranquility of their home, now that they can hear themselves think!!
We returned to Hay River Friday evening and blah!!!! It is grey and dreary and (as Peekaboo pointed out from the airplane...)there is still SNOW!!!
All that aside, it is nice to be home. Ez crawled around, from room to room, checking out everything. I am not sure if he was exploring because he didn't remember his house, or if he was checking to make sure all his stuff was still where he left it!! Peekaboo went right into her room, and put on a pink dress...what a kid!
Tim had spent some time cleaning and straightening while we were gone, and we had that undone in about 10 minutes. Nothing like returning from a trip to put a house to shambles-sorry Tim! I noticed, and it was lovely, but now we are here and with us come the messes of life!!
NeWT was BERSERK!! I think that is the longest time she has been apart from me, and she was CRAZY when we came in. Tim had shut her in the office, so that we could get in the door without being molested. When I let her out she just freaked! It was nice to see her too, I missed my girl.
I am fairly anxious to return to the usual schedule, playgroups and Play School for Peekaboo. We have had no schedule to speak of for the last few weeks and I am hoping, now that we are home, everyone (meaning Ezra) will settle down (meaning sleep for more than an hour and a half at a time)!!

On a completely different note....Congratulations to the Wents!!! They had a big, handsome baby boy on the 21st!! Yay! (I still think you should have named him Fischer-it would have been the perfect name for Hunter's little brother!! But, Cavan is nice too!)

I need a vacation from my vacation....

So, Sunday night Liz wasn't feeling well-we went to a friend's for dinner. Later, she was sick. Monday night Dad joined her...Didn't see either of them for 2 days. They stayed in their room, trying to keep their bug away from me and the kids (thank you) Wednesday morning Peekaboo work up at 4am crying, which is very unlike her. She was miserable and complained of a sore ear. I took her to the Doctor Wednesday morning, turns out she has an ear infection for the first time in her life....what the heck!?!? Ezra has been running a fever and has a wicked cough, this has been going on almost a week now....

Help! I need a vacation!!

Our day at The Theraputic Riding Barn's Easter Fun!!

The Courtenay Theraputic Riding Barn had an awesome Easter themed fund raiser on Sunday. We went down, even though the weather was less than stellar.....










There was an egg hunt...each family got their own stall to look for easter eggs in the hay.











There were numerous little games;fishing pond, lollypop tree, hockey puck shooting, etc.

Inside the barn (because it was really windy and wet outside) they had the petting farm and the blowup bouncers.

There was a tractor-drawn hay ride through the neighbouring treed lot...









Poppa went with her on that one-Liz, Ezra and I were soggy and wanted to stay inside-lucky Poppa!

But, the most exciting, thrilling, stupendous, wonderful thing of all? "Pony" rides!! Peekaboo met and got to pet a horse when we were down last spring. She really liked it, but she got to see how big they are and was a little scared. This year I wasn't sure how into the horses we would be....but....Whatever! They had a lovely little pony named Beauty-perfect Peekaboo size!

Then, after a brief hot dog break, she wanted to go again! This time a slightly bigger pony named Sparkles! She LOVED it!!









And, by the end, the weather even got nicer and the sun came out!!

Happy Easter!!

Easter Weekend on the Island

Weather has been great! Sunny and relatively warm. We have gone down to the water at Kin Beach, and played at the park there.

We have had a fire in the backyard, to rid Gramma and Poppa of their spring branch pile. Peekaboo had the job of dragging all the branches over to the fire pit!

Gramma and Peekaboo have been doing some gardening as well.

More Comox fun!

Here, in Comox, the number of little motorized carts that are driven around by seniors is astounding. Well, my father got one for my Grandma to use when she came out to visit...She didn't come...but Dad still has the cart....Apparently it makes a fun toy!Wow! What a crew! They must be all related! And yes, my goofy daughter is wearing ear protectors...the Snowbirds were practising...

OK, to be honest, it does look fun-next time I am driving!

Ezra is getting in touch with his inner outdoorsman! He discovered Gramma's garden and applauded her efforts! I think he has come to realize the joys of not having to wear every article of clothing he owns in order to go outside!

Comox fun (so far!)

Gramma and Poppa fully outfitted themselves for a visit from the "Grandkids". There is a tunnel with a tent, which is great fun!

Ezra (and Poppa) have spent lots of time in it! There is also a full Graco baby system with stroller, car seat, swing, playpen, snugglie, and diaper bag-a bit hit with Peekaboo. There is a Dora, plastic trike-thingy, wheelbarrow, froggie sandbox with all the trimmings....and....the Snowbirds!

Peekaboo is not thrilled with the Snowbirds...those of you who know her well, know that she doesn't like loud noises-not much louder than 9 jets flying over your house...over and over and over and....!

Oh, Yeah...

And just a word on how AWESOME our kids are....

They are AWESOME!!! Saturday was spent driving from Hay River to Yellowknife-a boring trip for an adult...And yet, they did extremely well. We slept in a hotel that night, again-a difficult and new thing, they were both awesome. Yesterday, we had to wake them up extra early, drag them to the airport, sit around with nothing interesting to do, then ride a small airplane for over 2 hours...No in-seat tv's, no meals served, no colouring book and crayons provided by the airline...Good thing Mommy knows how to pack a carry-on!! Peekaboo kept herself occupied fairly well for the trip. I fed them both almost constantly. Horray for the lovely lady in Yellowknife who checked us in. The flight was not full, so she put Peekaboo and I across the aisle from each other, and the window seat beside me remained "empty" so that Ezra had his own seat. I had a car seat with me, presumably for Peekaboo, but we installed it for Ezra and WOW what a relief! He sat in it, quite happily, for the duration of the flight. The second little hop, from Vancouver to Nanaimo, was only 20 minutes...But, 20 minutes of him on my lap was LOTS!! I hope the plane back up to Yellowknife on the 24th is only half full too!!
So, picture if you can, Peekaboo in her seat. She was wearing....you guessed it, Pink. There was a gentleman in the window seat beside her....full Harley duds! Ponytail, sunglasses, black shirt and pants, big boots, goatee.....It was very funny! Peekaboo opened her surprise playhouse that I made for her, and this guy was playing "Princesses" with her! Turns out he has a 2 year-old granddaughter and 1 year-old grandson! It was a very cute picture!! Wish I had a camera with me!!

Yay!! Spring!!

The kids and I made it to beautiful, snow-free, Comox-yahoo!! Peekaboo is thrilled that there is "no snow here, Mommy!" We arrived at Dad and Liz's late in the afternoon yesterday-after a brief shopping spree in Nanaimo-and the kids were outside immediately! I sat Ezra down in the grass on the front lawn....hilarious! He hasn't seen grass since last summer, and I think he forgot it! He wouldn't put his hands down for the longest time, and when he finally did he made the craziest face! Now, of course, he loves it-apparently it is very tasty, as it is in his mouth constantly.

We went out today to run a few errands (holy, can I just comment on how cheap diapers are down here!?!) and stopped at a park. Planted Ezra in a swing-he sure wasn't completely convinced that was a good idea! He didn't cry, but he looked mighty concerned!

We made the required stop at "Gramma and Poppa's orange store...The one with the car carts, Mommy" (I don't have the heart to tell her that the store doesn't actually belong to Gramma and Poppa!)

After supper, of lovely organic home-made minestrone soup and fresh baked buns, Peekaboo had "a great idea. How about a hot tub instead of a bath tonight, Mommy?!" How could I refuse!?

Bring-your-own dollhouse!

So, Ezra got a really cute little barn for Christmas. It is soft, portable, and it got my imagination all fired up! I went online and found a 'tutorial' for a little dollhouse. I made a few changes, added a few details that I wanted and 'voila'!

I made this one for Peekaboo (this is version #3!) I have kept it hidden from her and plan to give it to her on Sunday on the plane, hoping it keeps her occupied for part of the flight. Tim and I found her staring at a package of Princesses in True Value last Saturday, tiny little versions of Cinderella and Snow White. I made this house a good size for them, and sewed 'pockets' into the walls, to hold them. (the one in the background was version #2, slightly smaller, 2 handles instead of one...will be perfect for Peekaboo's friend's birthday in May)This was version #1. I started this all by wanting to make a neat birthday present for Jacob. I made his a traveling circus. It has velcro instead of buttons (I don't think Jacob can work buttons yet!) and I added some Little People circus critters!