Catching Up

        

                            

What says summer more than strawberry picking! We haven't had the chance to do this for 5 years, so when we heard of where to go not too far from us we went a pick'n!

It has been very busy around here as my lack of blogging has demonstrated. Things we have done...

Got back from OR which was such a great time for us as a family.

Rode in a Fire Truck.

Bought a bike for Paul.

Found a townhouse to rent for Aug 1.

Got the girl's registered for school which happens to be right across the street from where we are going to live!

Driven a 45 min drive back and forth to Langley more times than is humanly possible.

Finished The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe with the girls and watched the movie.

Saw Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Went to the Fort in Fort Langley.

Homework every morning with the kids.

Lots of playing outside and going to parks.

oh, and lots of laundry.

That about sums up the past week since we arrived back from our trip.

And this sums up how cool my gangsta kids are.

Day.... I have no idea....

Isn't it true on vacation somehow time stops. I have no idea what the date is, the day of the week, hardly the time. We have been waking up in the morning, looking at each other and asking 'what do you want to do today?'. It has been a Truman adventure for sure. We have been to the High Desert Museum where we saw lots of fun animals including a baby porcupine, very cute. We did the museum on the only rainy day this week, it possibly was the only rainy day this summer! Now, it is hot and getting hotter. We have spent the past two days cooling off by the pool, taking bike rides and playing lots of tennis. The guys at the sports centre are getting to know us by name because we are there so much! We are getting out of our swim wear and getting ready to head out to see my cousin that lives just 10 minutes away. She has two kids Cici and B's ages, it will be fun to let the kids play and to catch up! We have only a day and a half left before we head home, it has been such a relaxing time for our family!

Ok, here are some pictures

Day 4 of our adventures and I thought I would share some pics of what we have been doing.  

On the way down here we did a stop for some 5 Guys, it was our first time and it didn't disappoint. The kids loved the free peanuts!

This was the first ride last night, see how full of optimism we are? I turned back with Beaner about 5 minutes after this picture was taken!

The night was topped off with a soak in the hot tub, a nightly experience now.

What would a trip be without those tiny boxes of cereal?  Full of High Fructose Corn Syrup but so fun!

Oh, this is another example of fine US food, this is bread that is more like a dessert, sooooo yummy!

And this was today's adventures, us girls on horseback. We had so much fun, the girl's did great and even got their horses to trot. It was Beaner's first time on a 'real' horse by herself and loved every minute of it. She kept saying how much fun she was having. I really enjoyed being on horseback again, it's a bit like riding a bike, you don't forget...my legs however may be sore tonight!

On the Road

It is now day 3 of our Oregon adventure.  We set out from Vancouver, BC and headed to my cousin's house in Vancouver ,WA, weird I know.  My cousin and her family are amazing and are always willing to let us crash a their house when we are travelling.  They have 3 boys that are Cici's age and up.  My kids were so excited to see their cousins again, they love getting together with them.  They played and played and played.

We left their house yesterday and arrived here in Redmond, OR at my Aunt's vacation house.  As soon as we got out of the car it was instant relaxation.  There is a wonderful smell here that can't be duplicated anywhere else.  The cedar buildings mixed with the high desert air here is amazing!  We have already hit the hot tub twice, been to Costco, Gap and Children's Place, gone to the park, set up horseback riding for tomorrow and been bike riding.  The bike riding started good but on the first slight hill we realized that perhaps Beaner isn't quite ready to handle hills!  She made it safely to grass but forgot how to brake, needless to say that we need to spend some time teaching her hills!  We are hoping to hit the pools and tennis courts soon.  There may also be some canoeing in our future too!

Paul has had an awful cold, you know he is really sick when he asks me to drive!  He is feeling better now and we are hoping that no one else gets it.

We have been loving the change in food here in the US, although we are shocked about the amount of foods that have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them.  Corn Flakes, really??  All the cereal we bought with the exception of Rice Krispies are full of the stuff.  No wonder the kids are flying high at bed time!  All the kids are sharing a room, there are two sets of bunk beds and Cici was thrilled to finally have the chance to sleep on a top bunk.  J Man is learning how to share a room and not keep his sisters awake all night.  Hopefully tonight will be better.

I woke up this morning to an owl outside my window, pretty fun.  You will have to be patient for pictures of our adventures till our return, but will keep you posted about all the fun we will have!

Ladner Life

We living in Ladner right now for the summer, you may wonder... "What is Ladner Like?"

Well, first it has ducks.  Baby ducks

It has 'the oval' which we go to every night to ride bikes, look at the tent caterpillars, the inch worms, the bunnies and the Buttercups.

Oh, and ladybugs.

Oh, also, crazy dogs that run straight at you with a wild look in their eyes, or a least just one dog that happens to live with us!

Beside 'the oval' is a Willow Tree that we also can not pass by without investigating.

What else does Ladner have? Well, it has dykes, the Fraser River, a very popular thrift store, an almost open Fat Burger and it is right beside a town that has some great beaches!  These beaches have great playgrounds, tons of things to explore on the beach, Bald Eagles that fly overhead and fire pits!

S'mores, we have S'mores.

Did I mention the S'mores??

We are enjoying Ladner, the spray park, the library, the playgrounds, the ocean smell that sometimes covers the smell of the farms spreading you know what on their fields.  Ladner, a good place.

Fairness

This past weekend there was a fair in town.  So, since we didn't have anything else to do, we headed over to check it out.  I was expecting something simple but was surprised by how Ladner pulls out the stops.  There were lots of free stuff for the kids to do.  Animals to pet, small paddle boats for the kids, gymnastics stuff set up, plus all the rides which we steered clear of!  There was also free face painting which when we saw the final product I was blown away!  

We have been busy, Paul is in school everyday for the next two weeks learning the Hebrew language which is proving to be much more advanced than first thought.  He is taking the class with 5 other students, all are training to be Bible translators... and Paul who doesn't want to translate anything.  It is intense.  Me and the kids are keeping busy finding things to do around here.  Our car was in the shop for a few days and seems to be fixed so I am thrilled to have a car again to get around.  I have started in on all the school work that was sent with us when we moved.  It is going good and it is great to get some work done each day and then play for the rest.  We have been asked several times this week why the older girls aren't in school, which requires a long explanation.  They miss being in school and enjoyed going with J Man and I to a Strong Start group at a school today.  We are getting used to walking on sidewalks, using crosswalks and stoplights.  Noticing that people here just look at you but don't say hi but are friendly when you get a chance to talk.  

Another huge thing that has happened since we have moved is that Beaner can now ride a bike with no training wheels.  We have taken her out every day for the past 5 days and last night was the night.  She is so proud of herself and we are proud of her!  I should post the video.

Watch close for Cici at the beginning, its a good laugh.