Last year this time we were just starting the Heat Dome, where the forecast was showing "feels like" temperatures of 50 degrees C. We're in our first heat wave of this year with "feels like" temperatures of 37+ degrees C. Who else has trauma from last year?! I remember we had a newborn Eva who had to be swaddled and slept in our room and I was afraid she'd overheat. We had to lock the dog in a bedroom with A/C while we escaped during the day to someone's house to chase A/C. What an adventure... That was brutal. So hot. Never again!
Okay so first of all, how is it already nearly July?! We didn't even have a spring!
Second of all, we have been MUCH too busy. No blogs lately but not for lack of content. Just lack of time. Anywho. This is what we've been up to since my last post:
On June 17 in the morning I took the kids to Aunty Ashleigh's place where we went to the park and had lunch together. It was a very nice change of scenery! In the afternoon I took Dom & Emilia to the dollar store to look for some things for their friend Ester's birthday.
Oh and I finished my puzzle! I'm not a very good housekeeper when I have a puzzle going, so this was a relief to everyone haha.
On June 18 Dave took the big kids to their first friend birthday party! The party was at Kidtropolis in Richmond. D&E took a while to warm up of course, but they ended up having fun!
Random picture from the morning
While they were out, I took Eva to Jeff & Marta's for an impromptu brunch with some cousins who were in town for a funeral.
That afternoon, immediately after the kids and Dave got home from the party, we got changed and went to the church for my Great Uncle Gerry's funeral. The nursery was open thankfully, because Dom & Emilia (especailly Dom) had had it. He was so exhausted socially and mentally.
I brought some snacks and their little felt boards with felt shapes I'd cut out for them recently. Some nice quiet play.
After the funeral we hummed and hawed about going to another family thing at my Uncle's house. We figured if the kids weren't having it we could just leave, and decided to go and hope for the best. Definitely not relaxing and near impossible to have an actual conversation, but it was cool to see some old cousins (second cousins?) and great uncles/aunts again after many years.
Little O watching his Daddy slappa da bass
Little old soul Dom brought his wordsearch book into their house and sat in the living room all by himself in his own little word search world for a bit haha. Man after my own heart. He knows what's up!
After the dinner we zipped home and got the kids to bed. Then Scott & Ash came over (surprising Dave, who had no idea we'd made plans with them!) for some games and drinks. Ashleigh treated us to a dramatic reading of a book I got from the dollar store, "Mums Don't Fart, Okay!!!" It was hysterical. It was also Ashleigh's birthday!
So that was a full day...
Sunday was Father's Day! The kids and I got Dave a nice card and a bottle of Johnny Walker Green Label. During our pancake breakfast, we decided to speed it up and get out the door to watch Aunty Allana run Fynn & Voltage at the dog agility regionals at Thunderbird in Langley. I was a little hungover from the night before and we were all a little (a lot) peopled out, but we did it and enjoyed it! We got to wish Grandpa a happy father's day while we were at it so that's a bonus! Eva LOVED all the "buppas". We also got to see Sherlock's mom, Ruby, and Shel! Nice to catch up for a bit as it's been years.
We pushed our time as long as possible and left at the last second to get home for Eva's nap. Well. We got stuck in the mud. It took 4 men and a pickup truck to tow us out of that stupid mud pit. Alas. Eva fell asleep 5 minutes into the drive. D'oh! Thankfully she went back to sleep for a good nap when we got home. Phew!
Eva's face much of the time haha
We got to be on toller duty for a bit :)
Watching one last run for Fynn before heading home.
Doesn't look like much, but that mud was slippery and stubborn!
After her nap we packed up and went to Mom & Dad's for dinner as Adam and Myles were going to be there and were bringing steak. Don't mind if we do! While we were sitting around, Scott, Ash & Phoebe came sauntering in from a family gathering where they thought there would be food. Phoebe wasn't going to make it home so they planned to grab a piece of toast on the way, not knowing we were all together. Lo and behold, they joined our dinner and it became a family affair (minus Jeff, Marta and Owen). It was absolutely chaotic. As the adults were sitting down to eat, all the kids/babies were running around behind us and it honestly felt like a sitcom.
Jeff sent a selfie when he realized he had been left out of the dinner unintentionally. Dave took to Photoshop to make sure he knew he wasn't forgotten. Somewhere in this photo there are 7 Jeffs haha
Then comes Monday! I had a playdate in the morning, and then was planning to make a nice meatball dinner, but was invited for pork at Jesse & Kirsten's! Yes please!
Jesse's mom kept a lot of toys from when they were little and passed them down to Wren. This one triggered memories for me. Who else had this doll?
Tuesday (June 21 now), I went to spin with Ashleigh in the morning. Scott Ash & Phoebe came over for a playdate and I had another little guy join us for a bit as well. We did lots of outside play and a picnic. We managed to have our meatball dinner that day and then after bedtime I went to a General Meeting at church.
Church is a bit of a thing right now. Our church in itself is going through some things, but the CRC as a whole has just made some decisions I am very unhappy about and that marginalizes and excludes certain communities from being fully involved in the church. Maybe I'll get into that sometime, but this isn't the platform for it I don't think. The meeting went well overall. Not much to report!
Wednesday June 22 I went to spin again (Kate kicked my butt!) and then went straight to work. I worked an extra long day trying to catch up from our event and the fact that I've been too busy to work properly. I am totally falling behind and I can tell they're noticing, but I'm trying! It's a really difficult season for me right now.
I came home after work, had half an hour to breathe and then was on a 2 hour zoom call to debrief about our event on June 11th. By the time they were nearing the 2 hour mark it was almost our dinner time and they were talking in circles, so I tapped out.
We had dinner with Jesse & Kirsten again. Burger picnic!
After we put the kids to bed they came over and we watched the Kenobi finale! Fan service fan service fan service. Haha! It was great.
She is constantly climbing everything right now.
Thursday was the most beautiful day. It was the first day of sunshine all day and perfect temperatures. Normally most of May looks like that, but our Spring was crap so this felt amazing. Dave was busy all day (actually all week it felt like!) with shoots, but I took the kids to Costco and got outside with the kids and set up the pool, tent, blanket, etc. Kirsten and Wren joined us and brought the water table too! Tortellini soup for dinner, and then I was supposed to go to a band practice at 7 for bass on Sunday, but I bowed out of that. I was so toast. I needed an evening off.
This boy is so good at independent play! He will play Crazy Dice, War, Memory, Tic Tac Toe, and more against himself.
Friday morning Dave got Dom & Emilia up at 515 to take them to watch his last morning basketball of the year at his old High school, Frank Hurt. I can't believe they wanted to go, but they were very excited! They didn't get home until 845 or so, by which time I had had a super relaxing morning with Eva, cleaned most of the kitchen, and had Ash & Phoebe come over!
After they left and Eva was napping, I put on a movie for the kids. They watched Pocahontas for the first time. Lots of good questions like "Why are they calling them savages?" and "Is John Smith a bad guy?" I answered them the best I could in an age appropriate way. Not sure what if anything was absorbed haha. While they watched a movie I folded an hour and a half worth of laundry. Right when Eva got up from her nap we zipped over to Jeff & Marta's and visited with them for an hour and a half or so. From there it was zipping back home for calzones at J&K. After dinner and the kids went to bed, they came over and we watched the new Dr. Strange. It was... strange. It was gory. Too gory for me. Creepy. Not what I'd expect from a Marvel movie. Definitely captivating, but blech!
Only picture of the day haha. Nice...
SATURDAY. Okay... Saturday morning Dave had a photo/video shoot, so I packed up the kids and took them to Fleetwood Water park where Opa & Oma joined us (thankfully). We had a little picnic and came back home for Eva's nap. I love her long nap. So much. The kids watched Pocahontas again... (yes... again), and I got to relax for a little bit, shower, put some makeup on, and get ready to go crash a wedding ceremony (not actually crashing as it was open, but they're not people close to me so it felt like crashing haha). Ashleigh's brother was getting married, and Ash/Phoebe were flower girls. Dave dropped me off at the church and went to Jeff & Marta's with the kids. I offered to take care of Phoebe if she got fussy. Almost immediately after going down the aisle she wanted to run around, so we hung out in the nursery together while the ceremony went on.
I should get him playing Solitaire
Right after the ceremony, Jeff picked me up and brought me back to their place where they were having a kiddie pool party in the back yard. It was 30 degrees, so it was definitely necessary. Mom & Dad joined us and we had crispy tofu bowls for dinner which were sooo yummy! We had some drinks (maybe a little too many for me given the heat haha) and then headed home for bedtime. Dave dropped me and the kids off and I got them to bed. He went straight out to a housewarming party for a friend in Coquitlam and got home around 1115pm. I was in bed by 930 after zoning out watching some Netflix for the evening. Whew... Another busy day.
That brings us to Sunday! I played bass at church, so was there by 820 or so and back home around 1145. It was a long service, but it was good to be there. I think we will try come as a family soon since Eva is on one nap now and it doesn't conflict anymore. Despite all the church struggles, I want to try!
We got Eva up from her nap a little early and piled in the van to go out to Agassiz for dinner. The temperature creeped up as we drove and by the time we got there it was nearly 36 degrees. Bah!! We tried to hang out outside but it was too hot and Gramma & Grandpa have AC, so we ducked back in. We had burgers and hot dogs for dinner, and were back on the road to go home just before 730. When we stay out past bedtime for this drive it tends to be a rough one. This was no exception. Everyone was hot, overtired and cranky. The first stretch was a lot of yelling by all three kids. Not necessarily upset, but just overtired willies and loud noises. Then around Whatcom Eva's yelling turned into crying, which upset the other kids who could no longer hear their audiobook. Finally Eva's crying turned into screaming and I reluctantly reached my hand back to comfort her. (If you remember last time I did this on the way back from Agassiz I damaged a nerve in my arm and had no feeling in my thumb for weeks). Alas she didn't take long to fall asleep and my nerves remained in tact! The drive from 232 to home was peaceful as can be and the transfer to bed for Eva was simple! The big kids didn't go down til around 9 due to some expert stalling techniques such as imaginary poop urgency. I got some of our stuff tidied up, poured a glass of wine, and decided to start this blog. 40 minutes later and the wine isn't touched and Dave is off to bed. Guess it's going back in the bottle! Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.
Now it's tomorrow and I can add all the pictures haha!
Such a cute watermelon fruit basket!
