Thankful Thursday - 154

Definitely almost forgot about posting today. This week I'm thankful for...

1. A visit from Juanita. She was in town from Holland for just 5 days, but we got to hang out 3 times and it's always so nice to reconnect! We've been connecting more and more the last few years. Probably partially because we hang out one-on-one instead of in big family groups more. I do much better one-on-one :). 

Closest we could get to the kids cooperating with a photo

SO. MUCH. DROOL!

Dom calls her Nanny too. Every female that comes into our house is now Nanny apparently. It cracks me up.

We took Dom and Em for a walk, and we finally thought Dom was going to hold her hand and she got excited, but it turns out he just wanted to push the stroller. 

2. Kids playing nicely. 

Playing nicely together

Always Peeking and Boo-ing

She's started sitting up! Not for very long spurts, but she gets stronger every day. I love this stage so much. (Except for the fact that she's in the middle of Leap 5 and she wants to be held... a lot... I brought out the Beluga Baby wrap again this week after not using it for a couple months! Still a lifesaver.

3. Fall! I don't recall the last time we had such a gorgeous Fall. Yes, now it's kind of gloomy, but we had a great run!

Oh my gosh these colours

Langley Airport - Plane Watching

Since Dom loves to point out planes so much, I've been wanting to take him to the airport to see some in real life/up close. David suggested going to the Langley Airport because it's close and the plans are much smaller and not noisy. I think the Richmond Airport would totally overwhelm Dominic. 

With all the amazing weather we've been having, I wanted to take advantage and go before the typical Vancouver Fall & Winter hit. Friday afternoon we decided to go have a picnic at the park beside the airport and then go right up and see some planes up close. 

First of all, the park was perfect for Dom. He was so excited (again, there was a Jeep, so that was the most exciting part). He even went down the twisty slide all on his own! We enjoyed some cheese buns and fruit. Dom couldn't even sit down to eat it, he had to run around with the fruit bowl and eat his bun on the go.

After we were done at the park, we headed over to the airport. We parked by the restaurant there, and were only there for 15 or 20 minutes. Emilia was done by that point. There was a little plan practicing landing and taking off so it would circle around every 5 minutes. Then two other small propeller planes taxied right in front of us and waved at Dom. He loved it so much. It made my heart full. He was really sad when we had to leave! We will definitely be going again sometime!

Straight for the "Beep" (Jeep)

Eating his bun on the go

Happy little picnic-er

Checking out the ladybug

Ladybug went down the crack in the table

"Go Bee?" (Where'd the lady bug go?)

Look who came to join us!

Such fair babies. Blonde/strawberry hair, super fair skin, and blue eyes.

Off to the airport to watch the sunset and planes. I think next time we will try to find another spot where there isn't the big ugly fence, and possibly go to the flight museum.

She didn't last long before getting angry and tired

This face though. Seriously says it all. He loved it so much! Look how bright his eyes are; just taking everything in.

If you look very closely you can see a plane taking off into the sunset. The pictures don't do the sunset justice, but it was just the most perfect evening. I am so glad we did this! 

Thankful Thursday - 153

How is it mid-October already? This year is zooming by. 

This week I am feeling thankful for...

1. New Parks. Phase 1 of a new park right across the street from my parents' house is done and we went to check it out yesterday! Soooooo fun. They have something for all ages; even I want to try out some of the things. Dominic was over the moon with the drums/xylophone and the Jeep. 

Dom insisted everyone get in the Jeep with him. We had to pry him away when it was time to go back home for dinner. 

Xylophone-ing

This is the coolest park ever. They even have an outdoor pingpong table, and something that looks like a merry-go-round crossed with a space net. Most definitely a death trap.

The highlight of Dom's day

Drumming along with Dad

2. Smelly Candles. I love candles, but especially smelly ones! Gives such a lovely, calming ambiance and makes my house feel less dirty haha!

If you look closely, you can see that it says, "Thankful" on this candle. Fitting.

3. Our faithful Sherlock. He is the perfect fit for our family. I can't believe he's 4 already, but hopefully he will have many many more years with us!

Our annual Fall photo

4. When nap times overlap. I sat outside for a while yesterday and enjoyed a cup of tea while both the kids napped. Breaks are few and far between lately, so I soaked it up! Unfortunately it was lawn day, meaning I did not actually get any peace, just lawn mowers, weed-wackers and leaf-blowers.

5. Daily life. I am so blessed to be able to be home with my kids and have David home in spurts throughout the day. We also have so much family in the area that we can have visitors (or go visit) almost any time we want!

David's cousin, Amanda (or Nanny as Dom called her), was in town for a little while from Winnipeg!

Mom & Dad came for dinner last weekend and we made an evening trip to the park before bedtime. A rare photo of Oma with Emilia. I hope I look as good as her when I'm 51. (Genetics for the win, right?!)

My crazy old lady baby loves chatting up her furry big brother

A trip to Talize the other day where Dom saw this pink guitar and just HAD to jam out.

He has just recently started playing with his train tracks, and can put them together on his own now (although he often asks for help to actually make them connect into a continuous track). They are the first thing he grabs when he wakes up, and the last thing to go away at the end of the day. All day long he rides his trains and cars on the tracks. 

Toes toes toes

Pumpkin Patch and Fall Days

I just cannot get over how gorgeous the weather has been, or the fact that the 14 day forecast shows 14 more days of this! Yesterday it got up to 17 degrees and we made the most of it! 

After Emilia's baptism, there was a client event for our realtors, Greg & Liz Holmes. Every year they have a pumpkin patch event at Hazelmere pumpkin patch. This was our third year straight. We invited Scott & Ashleigh along, as I know David wanted to get some more pumpkins than I could help carry, and we would appreciate the extra hands with the kids, and I guess we enjoy their company too.

Reverse order of the last 3 years at this event. Oh how our family has grown! Sorry Sherlock, you didn't make it in the last years. We only have so many hands :(

2018 Pumpkin Patch

Both the kids are staring at the hay ride as it goes by. Best shot we could get.

2017 at Pumpkin Patch

I am secretly pregnant with Emilia here

2016 at Pumpkin Patch

I am heavily pregnant with Dom here

There is a petting zoo there and Dom was SO excited about all the goats, sheep, ducks, chickens, and pigs. Also the tractor train hay ride thing. "TA TA!!!! CHOO CHOO!!!" 

Between Ashleigh and myself we got tons of beautiful photos. Realistically, that's the main reason I wanted to go. I don't actually care about the pumpkins. Here they are in no order whatsoever, because who really has time for that?!

Happy little Pumpkin Patcher

I knew we brought the stroller for a reason...

Dom had SO much fun. I haven't seen him run so much before. He ran and giggled the entire time. One of the best parts was when Scott & Ashleigh were chasing him through the corn maze. We were outside and could just hear these muffled giggles and screams from Dom as he ran around. Adorable.

Trudging through the corn like an old man

"Go Daddy?!" Whenever he can't find someone or something he does this and goes, "Go ____?" Go Puppy? Go Mommy? Go Yaya? Go Ball? Go Vroom? 

"Where'd it go?!"

I forced us to go on the hay ride. I Dom was great. He didn't exactly grasp what was happening, but he loved the tractor at the front. 

Snorting with the pigs