Lately - Start of School/Work Retreat/Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope

The next stage of life has begun! Dom & Emilia started school on September 5th. These pics were taken the day before and accurately reflect their feelings around it haha. 

The first day's drop off went SO much better than expected. Emilia was nervous and a little bit sad as I left, but they both came out of school BEAMING saying they had had the best day ever! All of last week went that way for Emilia. <3 Majorly exceeded my expecations!

After school on their first day, I drove down to the Semiahmoo Resort in Washington for a work retreat. I was given an extra night before our full-day meeting and I made the most of it. I swear I haven't breathed that deeply in years. I was all alone. I had no agenda. I was at the beach. I didn't have to think about or talk to anyone. It was pure bliss. 

The weather was perfection. 22 degrees with a breeze.

Staring at White Rock Beach

It was so quiet. All I could hear was the ocean waves

I walked around the property which is surrounded by water on a long peninsula. I came across the marina with views of Baker and lots of seals!

Well it was very hard to get a picture of this baby seal hanging out closer to the shore, but he was so cute <3
I LOVE wildlife and would just sit there and watch it all day if I could.

More selfies than I've ever taken haha

Reading on the beach until sunset. Oh yes.

Too dark to read outside = trash TV and wine inside! :)

On the Wednesday we had a full day of meetings and meals followed by drinks and I was busy from 8am-10pm so I was exhausted. On the Thursday we had a board meeting in the morning at the resort and then I went home to pick up Dom from school!

Dave held down the fort of course, but the kids were still quite happy to see me!

Dom is taking his school work very seriously :)

Last Friday Mom took us out to Me N Ed's for dinner with Marta, Owen, Scott, Ash & Phoebe. Perfect restaurant to visit with little ones. It was chaos and they all ate a ton and had fun. 

We had a little bit of time before bedtime, so we went to a nearby park afterwards with the cousins. I'm so glad they all have each other!

Literally maxing out those smiles

Could NOT be happier

If I go into a Saturday without a clear plan, I end up doing the most random tasks that I was not planning to do. I get carried away. This Saturday it was (finally) putting up the girls' wall decals from Opa & Oma! Owls for Eva, unicorns & fairies for Emilia. 

We had gourmet nachos for dinner with J&K. So so yum!

Sunday was the Ovarian Cancer Canada Walk of Hope in Vancouver. I raised over $1,100 which was a major feat for me! I've always been anxious about fundraising which is ironic considering I work at a fundraising foundation. I used some of the tools I've learned and a lot of social media and quadrupled my original goal! Proud to support this incredibly important cause!

The walk was at Queen Elizabeth Park. Dave was the official event photographer/videographer, so Mom helped me out with the kids. I brought scooters and the wagon thinking it would be foolproof for the short walk. As it turns out it was not fool proof. We made it probably a quarter of the way before deciding to turn around and meet everyone back at the start/finish line haha. Best decision ever. We had lunch and listened to live music and danced instead of fought with each other at the back of the pack the whole way. 

Eva complained the least and was so motivated to attempt to ride the scooter we borrowed. Strange that she complained the least as she woke up so sick. I almost forgot that I didn't sleep at all the night before. Eva was up every 20-30 minutes the whole night until 4:30am. I slept 4:45-7:15 on the couch finally. By morning she couldn't even open one of her eyes. Just a cold/congestion/cough, but she was very upset about it overnight! That sucked.

You'd never know how miserable she was or how tired we both were <3

Dancing to the live music and munching away on some berries

We love you Aunty Lasagna!

What's this?! A family photo?! Rare :)

Eva didn't want to wear her tutu, so I weasled into the very stretchy waistband to match Emilia

Back to school this week! I got so much done yesterday, and I only had 3 hours with both the older two in school + lots of back and forth driving. Eva is loving her quiet time where she gets to play with whatever she wants without being yelled at. She's gotten to watch some TV which is rare for her. She's feeling very special. 

We'll see how next week goes for Emilia as she gets into full days. She's getting tired, and starting to have feelings about me dropping her off again. She is also loving her teacher, her friends and her independence. She is so ready for Kindergarten <3

We brought a friend for pick up yesterday. The kids were so proud to show him to everyone. 

In other news, there is something very exciting coming to the Kimber Images universe! I can't share too much yet, but hopefully by next week I'll have something to show for that vague announcement haha.