Our Budding Artists

There is no point to owning paintbrushes or to trying to keep clean. Alette was busy stamping patterns for school and of course, Abria wanted to join the fun. Then all chaos broke loose. Abria worked for a bit, then decided to taste the paint. That put a pretty quick end to our projects. Unfortunatley these pictures do not do full justice to Abria's 1980s hairdo.

Cultus Lake

It felt like we had the entire beach to ourselves-typically these docks are filled with kids/adults. So nice to be able to enjoy the quiet (except of course, for the girls yelling and screaming)!


The morning rain created lots of fun puddles to splash through on our walk.


Abria LOVES these hangy-down things (not sure what they are called). At some playgrounds she can get to them independently, which scares me to death as she will just swing herself out into space. Alette will now try them, so long as I am nearby. Sometimes it is good to have a dare devil for a younger sister.



The day started out rainy and dreary and I was afraid we would not be able to make our planned trip to the lake. However, by mid-afternoon the skies cleared so we headed out for some later afternoon fun. The girls loved digging, throwing rocks in the water, playing at the playground and searching for the perfect walking stick. We were all pretty muddy, wet, and tired at the end.

More Holiday Stuff

Hanging out at Mill Lake Park. The girls loved watching the ducks diving for food. Everytime a duck dove, Abria shouted 'bum'-because that of course, is all we could see on the duck.


Abria giving grandpa a 'hairwash'.


Uncle Sean is part of the children's band 'Alphabet Soup'. At our family picnic, he broke out the guitar and entertained everyone. Alette knows the songs by heart but was a little taken aback by Sean playing them live. Abria is just into a 'silly face' stage.


Abria gets a free ride at the zoo.


Hanging out with Auntie Natasha, waiting for the lions to be fed.

Granville Island

Abria practises her 'funny face' for the ferry operator.



This market is a gem-tucked right under the Granville bridge in the heart of Vancouver. We spent Saturday afternoon smelling flowers, staring at fish and crabs, chasing seagulls and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. The girls' highlight was the ferry-a small bumpy ride through the harbour. After a quick dinner at McDonalds, we were all exhausted. Alette fell asleep on the way home, mom and I dozed, and like usual, Abria got her second wind and chattered/laughed the entire ride home.

Water Park

Abria uses her sunsmarts and hides under the umbrella.



One of the joys of visiting my parents is Mill Lake Park-a wonderful park about ten minutes from their house. It has a couple of playgrounds, a water park, a lake, ducks....Natasha and Sean joined us for an afternoon of fun. The weather was great, the water was FREEZING, which of course did not stop my girls from getting wet.

A Trip Across the World (or at least the country)

We geared up for what has become an annual pilgrimmage to the west coast. Despite not having signed my passport, and showing my expired driver's lisense, we made it through check-in, security, and onto the plane. Thank goodness for pre-boarding, thank goodness for separate seats, thank goodness we had the entire row, thank goodness for lots of snacks and new toys to play with, and most of all, thank goodness our plane landed 30 minutes early. The girls were troopers but we were all going a little stir crazy after awhile.
Enjoy the pictures from our first day-I'll post more soon.