Sunday, August 28, 2011

Summer News/Catching Up

My goodness it has been a busy summer!  We have been having a blast and haven't slowed down since PEI.  I am starting to look forward to those lazy fall days and returning to a routine.  Although our 'routine' is about to change abruptly with Adrian starting kindergarten in a week.  I can't wait to report about the big day.  He seems to be feeling quite positive about it.  I think he is ready for the challenge.  The real one having problems is me!  Adrian is done at the Preschool Center on Wednesday.  We have had three great years there and I have really watched him blossom there.  Vivian is still there and it moving up to the 2/3s room on Thursday and will have a whole new circle of friends.  She is quite a little social butterfly so I am sure she will enjoy it.

The summer has been filled with activity -- too much to even try to summerize in a blog entry.  Every weekend we have one or two things planned and I try to fit in something fun after work as well.  Below are a few pictures to give you an idea of what we have been up to...



Vivian is officially in her big girl bed.  The crib is a thing of the past.  She went straight to a double bed and never looked back. 


We had a  great Beek family reunion in Doaktown will all much of Jamie's family from out west and MA.  The kids loved all of the attention and all of the candy they got from the parade of lights that night.  Thanks for this lovely picture Adina!

We had a fun visit to the zoo near Uncle Brian's and Aunt Tracey's house.  It was hot if you can't tell by our flustered faces.

Vivian was very careful not put her fingers near the cage.  She wasn't chacing a duck taking a finger off.

Adrian, Vivian and Grampy U are buliding a camp in the woods behing my parents house.  What a fun memory for them to have.

You don't want to meet these scary pirates on the high sea!

Whale watching in St Andrews.  It turned out to be sunny but we didn't see many whales.

Looking for the whale with Uncle Brian and Grampy.

Adrian's 5th Birthday.  *sigh*  He loved presents this year for the first time ever.

Ice cream and cake with his BFF Abby.  They have been pals since birth pretty much.

Blowing out the candles.  What a great party it was.  All of the kids were so good.

PEI 2011


Our annual summer vacation in PEI was another hit this year.  We had the best weather ever and enjoyed many days at the beach! 

 

We kicked off vacation with some Canada Day celebrations.


Fishing in Millstream


Can you say tired?


Running on the beach.  Cutest baby bum ever.

It seems strange that Adrian was ever scared of this pool.. now he jumps in the deep end.


Smores are always a hit.



She is supposed to be a bunny but I think stubborn goat might be more accurate.


An evening stroll on the beach.  (How much bribing do you think it took to get them to hold hands?)

Monday, May 30, 2011

Old Orchard Beach

We took a long weekend trip to Old Orchard beach.  Yes, a strange time of year to go but it was off-season and we got a real deal on an apartment big enough to fit all four of us plus Grammy and Grampy U.  It was cold, but at least it didn't rain for the majority of the time.  There was an indoor pool and cafe within a few feet of our apartment so that kept us busy.  Adrian's favorite part was that he got to buy a pop from the pop machine.  I love that kids are amazed by the simplest of things.  Vivian's favorite part was the 'ducks' (which were really seagulls but she insisted on calling them ducks).  It was a good trip and a welcomed break from the usual.
Running on the beach.  Nothing like shorts and a rain coat!

 
Finding sand dollars.  I have never found these before. Adrian picked up every shell on that beach and insisted we keep them all.

 
We found the best park and this was the highlight of it.  Once you got in it didn't stop spinning.  Just ask Jamie who was almost sick afterwards.

Feeding the seagulls leftover french fries.

Vivian sneaking up on the 'ducks'.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Adrian's Preschool Graduation


Adrian was super excited for Graduation as was I.  He had practiced for weeks, knew all the songs and I had been treated to private performances.  But it seems Adrian has inherited my fear of performing because as soon as he had to walk to the stage he came running to me in tears.  Poor guy.  I understand completely (I passed out on stage during a solo at the music festival in grade 3).  One of his very kind teachers took him up on stage and stayed with him but it was all he could do to stand there.

But we had a great night nonetheless. Adrian had a large cheering section with both sets of Grandparents attending.  He was all smiles when he received his diploma and then we had a fun pizza party on the play ground.

Getting his diploma.  Interestingly enough I figured out that a year of preschool costs the same amount as a year at UNB in tuition.

Family photos are always a challenge.  The kids just wanted to get going.

Showing Grampy and Grammy Underhill his artwork.

On the playground with Nanny and Grampy Jones.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011


Happy Easter from the Joneses.  We so enjoyed our 4 day holiday but it went too quickly.  Easter is by far my favorite holiday for oh so many reasons.... it is a time for me to focus on what Jesus did for me, it ushers in spring, it is less fuss than Christmas and well, chocolate.

Thursday afternoon I surprised Adrian by stopping into his classroom for his Easter party.  Vivian tagged along too since I picked her up first.  Adrian was thrilled to have us and was the perfect host.  The table was all set for snack but he found a spot beside a free chair and moved himself then set up a place for Vivian to sit and enjoy the feast.  So sweet.  I will enjoy Adrian wanting me to hang out with him and his friends while it lasts!  We then went home and did a little decorating.  It was really just an excuse to keep them busy while I made supper and it worked well.


We loaded up and headed to Stickney on Saturday.  We were especially excited to see Uncle Brian and Aunt Tracey and an early sign of our newest family member.  Vivian was quick to point out Tracey's belly and has been showing us hers ever since and saying 'baby'.  I think Vivian may have Tracey beat on the belly size for now, but I suspect that will change when we see them next.  We had an early Easter feast lovingly prepared by Grammy U and just enjoyed visiting with the Underhills.

Saturday night we drove home and the kids fell asleep in the truck.  I carried Adrian into bed and he woke up screaming that he didn't want the Easter bunny to come.  The poor kid was trembling with fear.  After much discussion we came to an acceptable solution of asking the Easter bunny to leave the candy and baskets on the front step and I would hide the eggs for the egg hunt.  Poor Adrian, but I can't say that I blame him.  If you truly believed that a giant bunny was hopping around your room in the middle of the night wouldn't you be a little freaked out too?

I put the alarm clock in Adrian's room and told him not to get up until he saw that the first number (hour) was '7'.  He woke up at 6AM and we sent him back to bed.  Around 6:30 he came in to tell us that his alarm clock was broken because it wasn't turning to '7'.  I didn't realize he was sitting there staring at it the whole time.   So we got Vivian up and began the egg hunt.  Adrian's fear of the Easter bunny was long gone at that point and as usual Vivian caught Adrian's excitement and was running around squealing and pointing to eggs.

He looks guilty for some odd reason.

Check it out... a pail of candy!!

Dueling garden spades.

Getting into the egg hunt mood.

'Mellow!!'

Taking inventory.

After our hunt we got ready for church.  I must say unlimited sugar followed by 3 hours at church made me very nervous but we did okay.  At least we had breakfast there to help balance out the sugar.
 
Dressed up for church and full of sugar.

We then went to the Joneses for Easter dinner.  Adrian and Vivian got to do an outside egg hunt this time which was a hit.  They found lots more candy but at least they got to burn off some energy.  I am always confused about how to handle vast amounts of candy with them but I decided to let them have unlimited access to see how it went.  Vivian barley ate anything.  She was more interested in playing with her candy.  Adrian is a bit of a sugaraholic and he ate a lot more (although less than I had anticipated).  By supper time he was telling me he was sick but didn't seem to buy it when I told him it was related to all the candy he ate. I will say that on Monday neither of them even asked about their candy so maybe the full access candy pass worked.  At least Jamie and I enjoyed our turkey dinner a la 'Nanny'.

Monday was so sunny and warm and we had nothing to do but hang out.    Daddy and Adrian washed the cars while Vivian played with her new chalk.  We also did some digging, raking and played playdough outside (so much easier to clean up than in my dining room). A great end to a busy weekend.
Finding eggs in the grass.

Pretty tickled about finding eggs in trees.

Checking out the new sandbox and shovels from Nanny and Grampy J

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