the long long road...

We're back!!!!!!!!!! After a wonderful vacation we are back! And this my dears is the first installment of many blogs to follow all about our grand adventures. Sunday afternoon we headed to Victoria to do a car switcheroo with Colin's parents... oh praise the Lord for air conditioning! After a quick visit with the grandparents (my mom inc.) we headed to the ferry for a quick jaunt across the water to my sister in law's (Megan) house for a petite visit and sleep. 4 thirty came way too early... but after some Tim's we were ready to go! Rupert was an absolute champ... napping off and on, playing with his toys and munching on whatever was handed back to him. One of our stops landed us in Revelstoke where there was an amazing train museum... however it was $10 a person... so we snuck in to use washrooms and snapped a pic of Rupe on this cute little train instead.

{One of our many pit stops... eating, running around, using the tree as a washroom only to discover a proper rest stop five minutes later... oops!}

Ok... so we've always been told that we had to drive through the Rockies... I now understand why. Seriously... my mouth was open the whole way and I kept on saying... "wow!" "wow!" "wow!" It is such a beautiful drive and the grandeur of the mountains is just awe inspiring. Truly experienced how big God is!

{a friend we met along the way...}

Enter... Calgary. Ok so there are few times I have been truly frightened while in a car. Usually they include snow or ice. This time it was rain, wind, thunder, lightning and hail... yup all at the same time and not just a little bit... a huge amount!!!!!!! I'm an Island girl... I can handle myself some rain and wind... but this was not right... it was freakish. People were pulled over on the side of the road waiting it out... not us... Colin "knew what he was doing". Rupert laughed and chatted in the back of the car completely unaware that we were about to die... well not really... clearly we lived, but I was doubtful at moments. Anyways... we made it safely to Calgary to our friend Todd and Brianne's and were greeted very warmly by their little boy (Rupert's new big buddy!) Stay tuned for the next installment... less dramatic but super fun!

grand adventure...

Hello all... well we're off... on a grand adventure for two whole weeks! We're heading to Calgary this Monday to visit some very dear friends and on our way back are visiting family! hooray! We are very excited and am sure we will have bucket loads of photos and tales to return with. Not too many exciting photos for today as we've been busy preparing and taking care of our sick little monkey who has come down with strep throat... just in time for holidays! AWESOME! Anyways, here are some incredibly pitiful and precious photos of our sick little monkey.

Have a wonderful next two weeks... also here's a little gift from me to you... well you may not consider it a gift... but it's just a bit of fun that I've created for myself. A bit of a creative outlet if you will. Hope you enjoy. I have been thus far!

Thoughtsicles

cloudy with a chance of ice cream...

So yesterday it was all hot and sunny... so I say to myself... let's go to the beach in the evening... not just any beach but Rathtrevor beach! I relayed the message to Colin who was very excited. So he got home, we ate a quick dinner and prepared to leave... (which ps takes a loooong time with since Rupe has entered our lives)... well by the time we got there it had clouded over... what????? however it was still rather warm and muggy so we decided to head to the water anyways! First stop? Store at the top of the hill for some delicious Island Farms ice cream! Please... it was never just a chance it was always going to happen!

As soon as our little man's feet hit the ground he was off to explore... yes in full shark gear!

{the boys doing some serious exploring and pointing}

{George Michael is that you????}

In previous visits to the ocean Rupert has been a little hesitant of getting wet... however this time he was all over it... or in it rather, and he even waded up past his knees! Brave kid!

It did not take him long to find a rock. This is his absolute favorite thing to do... pick up rocks and throw them in water.. the BIGGER the BETTER!

{This one was so big that it knocked him over!}

Ok seriously! This kid cracks me up! Check out his face! (sorry for the boobage, oops!)

{You didn't think I'd leave you without some diaper pictures did you???? :D }

{First taste of sea water... didn't go over so well!}

{Perfect end to a perfect evening... sitting and watching Winnie the Pooh, his new show of choice!}

{And for the mom and dad... chips and fresh home made guacamole.. along with some Modern Family... lovely!}

ummmm... have I mentioned how much I love living on the Island????

Summer lovin'...

ah... summer... I am not a fan of the heat AT ALL... however I am a big fan of summer activities! Including Market Days in Courtenay. Our main shopping street in town closes down and all the merchants set up booths with huge sales and the goodies flow freely!

{really, what more could a little boy want? a balloon... WITH a puppy on it!}

My mom and I didn't buy too much other than goodies! There were great deals to be had, but isn't that the way it goes? When things are on sale you can never find just what you're looking for! However the atmosphere was so enjoyable and the goodies were delightful! My choice was a frozen mango on a stick! Say what? I know right!!!!! Amazing! It was perfect on a hot sunny day! My mom got a frozen banana dipped in chocolate, yum! And we shared some freshly made kettle corn. mmmmm....

Another activity I have come to love in the summer is heading to the park in the evening with my boys. I love summer evenings. They're cool and the lighting is just perfect for this snap happy momma.

{although he looks uncertain, Rupe was all smiles and giggles at the bottom of the slide!}

{this child is a free spirit! loves to take off on his own down the path with only a few glances back to see if we are close behind.}

The duck pond. There is a long standing joke in our little family about the day Colin proposed. Just as he was about to pop the big question I noticed a duck nearby... it is my life long goal to catch and pet a duck... so I slowly made my way towards the duck and away from the man bearing the small box. haha! Anyways glad to see my fascination of ducks has passed on to my boy.

{the duck!}

All our outdoor adventures seem to end up here. On the ground picking up and looking at rocks and dirt. Such a boy!

{I just want to eat him up sometimes! I love his sweet little face!}

Ahhhh sweet victory! Another benefit of going out in the evenings is that it tires the little man out and makes bed time so much sweeter.

I do so love the summer!

chosen...

Hello dear friends and family... random'ish post for today... I was on facebook today and remembered a friend from college... then remembered I had one of her cd's that I have not listened to in FOREVER... so I popped it in and was truly blessed to hear her sweet voice and inspiring lyrics come through the speakers of our stereo. One in particular was just what I needed to hear... not that I'm going through anything troubling or anything like that, but it was just a reminder of how loved I am by God... and who doesn't need to hear that?

Anyways thought I'd post the lyrics and hope that they bless someone else today... Also here's the link to her website incase you want to read/hear more! Her name is Sheree Plett.

Here's the song.. Chosen by Sheree Plett.

- he says "don't be afraid, because I have saved you,

I have called you by name and you are mine,

when you pass through the waters, I will be with you,

when you cross the rivers, you will not drown, when you walk through fire, you will not be burned and nor will the flames hurt you, nor will the flames hurt you."

though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow.

for your sake my memory is lost from your sin, I still choose you.

come now my child, come now my girl, come now my chosen lover.

you are beautiful, you are pleasant, my love you are full of delight.

I will pour out my water for the thirsty land

and make streams flow on dry land.

I will pour out my spirit on you child

and my blessings on you girl. -

Table Top Tuesday modified...

Welcome to Table Top Tuesday... modified... the reason I say modified is that in some of the photos it is not my usual table and the items found on the table are also rarely found on tables in general...

Three precious cousins sitting on a picnic table... my kind of table top Tuesday :D This past Saturday Colin, Rupert and I headed over to Langley for a family picnic, Sawatsky style. We met at a beautiful park called Williams Park. The weather was perfect and it was an extremely lovely day spent with family.

{I couldn't pick a favorite.. so there's six of these shots! haha! which one is your favorite?}

{We miss Aunty Megan, Uncle Steve, Halle and Maya oh so very much and were so blessed to get to spend the day with them! Rupert is rather infatuated with his older cousin and followed her around for most of the afternoon, looking slightly lost whenever he didn't know where she was.}

{A rare moment where Rupert was actually standing still. I didn't get to take too many photos of family as Rupert was everywhere and into everything, so my eyes only had one subject.}

{Did manage to catch this amazing moment of Adam's new baby boy filling his pants :D Sadly we never had a photo like this of Rupe, he had the opposite problem!}

{on the go!!!!}

{Sadly, the parks program that included Jerry the Moose has been cut from BC Parks... thankfully Grampy has stepped up to the plate!}

Also gathered around and sometimes on our table this past week were our friends Bobby and Arden and their baby boy Cason... We bought a stove top espresso maker and they were our guinea pigs for iced americanos... they turned out really well!

{Cason doing some standing! Big boy!}

{buddies!}

{They're buddies because Rupert likes to stick his fingers in things and Cason likes to eat things...}

{Yes Cason is adorable in this photo... but I like this pic because of how amazing Colin is in the background!}

And so ends another Table Top Tuesday... I think I have a pretty cute center piece this week!