Graduation

Two of our family members reached great milestones yesterday. Malcolm graduated from kindergarten and cousin Carol graduated from high school. The whole family is so proud. Malcolm did really well this year in kindergarten and despite a little bit of a rocky start, the year shaped up to be a really great one. His teacher Mrs. Baird said that he's grown 7cm since the beginning of the year. Roger and Tracey are hoping that he'll have a growth spurt over the summer as well. Carol too did great, it can't be easy moving from another country and be expected to assimilate into a new system. She's really come a long way. We really hope for great things for Carol as she now embarks on a career in the film/tv/digital media industry. Her program at Vancouver Film School will be great.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day folks out there on the interwebs. I think a fun time was had by all celebrating fatherhood, despite the early wakeup by Malcolm at 5:50am... poor Roger. Malcolm was so excited to give him his gift that he woke up super early. It was a cute school-made necklace self titled, sparklie dude. Roger wore it with honour for the morning until its googlie eyes fell off. Following that, the two Dads Roger and Mel + family were treated for breakfast at White Spot. The family also managed to swing by Grandpa Harry's store to wish him a happy Father's Day. Here are a few images from the day. In the afternoon Roger also had a chance to play with the new pressure washer. He washed the backyard paver stones and deck. Not really my cup of tea, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

Happy Birthday Roger

It was a jam packed weekend. Saturday we celebrated Roger's 40th birthday entertaining so many friends and family at the house. It was fun to look around the room and see all the great folks that have remained so close over the years. In fact, most of the friends in the room he's known for at least 10-20 years, topping out with Steven at 35 years and counting! As always, there was a lot of food at the party. Tracey had the hors d'oeuvres catered by the Savory Chef, which were a big hit. From what I understand the Vietnamese mini subs were a fan favourite. Also, courtesy of Roger's Dad they had 25 pounds of Kalbi on hand to share and enjoy as well. A couple of Roger-centric games were played including a round of Family Feud. Andrew edged out Janey in the Roger trivia contest, keeping up with his best-man duties. Roger says when you're young 40 seems like an eternity away, but now that he's reached it, the weight of the situation doesn't seem as bad. Perhaps that's a good thing, Roger still feels young (maybe his body might disagree) and for the most part still looks it. He really does wonder where the next 40 years will take him. To think the kids would be 43 and 46, whoa! By far, the biggest hit of the party was the makeshift photobooth that was put together in the garage. Roger set up two strobes and a white seamless for guests to trigger pictures via remote. I think cousin Joseph and Ty managed to take advantage of the apparatus the best. Here's a slideshow link to the best images photobooth link: All in all the party went off without a hitch, the kids played well together, the adults seem to have a good time, delicious food was had by all, and ultimately Roger was able to celebrate this momentous occasion with so many people that he cares about and loves. Special thanks to Tracey for making the event a huge success.

Hopefully, summer is just around the corner.

It's always a constant concern and topic of discussion, but the weather has sure been quite disappointing the past while. Although, we did have a few days of sunshine most of the days have been downright un-spring like. The school year is winding down and I think it's been a huge success for Malcolm. Despite his bathroom woes to start, it really has been a good experience for him and us. Hopefully with the onset of summer Malcolm will be able to see some of his classmates around town, especially at the local playground. Also, Roger had 5 rolls of film developed at Custom Colour in Vancouver. Can you believe it cost almost $200! This photography thing is definitely not cheap. He really loves it though, the analog look is something that can't really be duplicated in digital. The first few pictures were shot with film, primarily Kodak T-Max 400. The family went down to Spanish Banks this morning to walk out on the tidal flats to explore what happens in low tide. The kids walked forever out to the shoreline and back again. It's cool how far they could get in low tide. Melody and Malcolm enjoyed walking out on the sand looking for creatures and observing all the seashells, crabs and seaweed. Certainly the other dogs were having a great old time. Maybe, I can go there someday.