Picture Overload

Where has this month and a bit gone?  Well, let me show you (not in order...)

1. Power to Change Staff Conference.  Week in a swanky hotel in downtown vancouver! [Sounds exciting right?  It was h-a-r-d.  Staying in a one bedroom hotel room with two kids is not ideal.  Didn't hardly get to the sessions or connect with all the people we wanted to... and Toby ended up projectile vomiting and feverish just before we sat down for the formal banquet with dresses and suits on...  but it came and went.  Not a lot of photos to share as we were busy stressing about kids' naps, meals, childcare and sicknesses but near the end of the conference we did get upgrated to a double suite on the 26th floor.  Look at the view!]

we found out later that our room would have cost us 500 bucks a night?  Wow.  

Got to go on a dinner cruise in Vancouver as part of the conference.  Silas loved the boat:

Wave!

Silas developed a crush on a particular childcare worker at staff conference and kept running up to dance for her.  What a little hunk!  How do children just know how to flirt? 

We look happy don't we?  We were incredibly sleep deprived...

"Sure Jason, let Silas-run around on the 26th floor patio, it's not giving me a heart-attack or anything..."

2. Kitchen Renos

Kitchen leak = a lot of work.  We have been staring at an empty kitchen for over 3 weeks now.  First they had to pack it up and tear it all out and dry it out, and now we've been waiting for insurance to get their ducks in a row (read: paperwork) so that they can begin to repair it.  We thought about getting new cabinets but decided that it's going to take too long and cost too much.  AND since no one is doing any repair work as of yet, we might as well paint.  Our plan (thanks to a very interior-decorator-saavy friend) is to paint the cabinets cream, walls cream, change out the floor, add butcher block counter tops, put in open shelving and do a feature charcoal wall.  

Oh by the way, we have 3 weeks left this summer to do it.

It started like this:

Upper cabinets complete! See below:

[Amazing what a coat of paint will do!]

All this has meant very frustrating meal preparation, washing dishes in the bathroom sink, lots of time spent outdoors, late nights for Jason and I painting and working and...

3. Back Patio Playing

Lots of it.  Chalk colouring, pine cone collecting, pine cone painting, sand and water play, the works.

Silas' Nana dropped off a water/sand table on the patio and it's been a HUGE blessing (thank you Sally!)

Silas is finally learning how to play a bit more independently.  It's been awesome.  Although...I don't just sit back with a coffee and watch him play, now I'm chasing a little mobile Toby who eats grass, crawls, grabs at all of Silas' toys, stands on anything, climbs...phew.  

Here he is in all his glory:

He's generally a happy kid but when he's not- he's at least still super cute.

4. Trips to the Beach

We've spent a lot of time out of the house due to the kitchen's state and since I'm cooking dinner on the BBQ most nights anyways, we often end up going to a park/beach for picnic style dinners.  Here's us at Sasamat Lake:

At City Park in Lynden- on a day trip with my Mom:

Coolest park I've ever seen

Just cause it's a funny picture: (brothers!)

5. House Sitting

We've taken advantage of those who leave on vacation and have spent time at others' homes to get away from our kitchen chaos.  These are some pictures of us 'house sitting' at our friends place:

(We swapped out their pictures on the wall with the ones of us in their home.  Fun prank! - Thanks to old friends Jeff and Ashlee for the idea when they did it to our own house!)

6. Vacation!

Vacation has come to mean a new thing for me: work!  Packing, loading, driving, trying to get babies to sleep in new places, packing again, laundry....

Oh but the memories we make together!  Thanks to Nana and Papa we got to stay at a cabin on Pinaten lake near Kamloops this last weekend.  It was HOT but oh so much fun:

 Fishing!

 Cousins having a juice box break

7. Growing

Lots of change happening around here: Toby is eating solids and going to bed at 7 pm, crawling, standing, sitting, rolling and getting everywhere and into everything.  

Silas is learning how to play a bit by himself and LOVES spending time outside.  He is often found making 'cakes' out of rocks and sticks and trying to wrestle or race us.  He speaks so well that often people think he's older and has a really spunky sense of humor emerging.  Now he says things like "Toby's bugging me mom"  Oh boy. 

He has started to lose his nap (boo) since if he does nap he's up til like 10 pm in his room still talking and moving around.  I tried today for the first time to enforce a quiet time and he played contentedly alone with lego for over an hour before he was like this:

Asleep.  Lego crash.

And a picture for kicks.

I thought the fall was going to be busy but this summer is kicking my butt!

Next up: camping with our life group, tackling the rest of the kitchen, and a trip to Ontario for two weeks (that is, of course, before the crazy busy fall begins).