Escape Room...

The so called "dream team" is getting pretty good at these 'escape rooms'. They did one a few weeks back at a downtown location called "Smarty Pantz". They even made it out in half the allotted time. Lucky for them, they managed to win a free experience for next time. They solved the room at 21 minutes! It was an interesting experience with a better quality experience this time. They solved puzzles, worked together and solved the mystery. Apparently the next one is more of a murder mystery where they start out handcuffed!

Stubborn as a mule? Stubborn as a 5 year old....

When Melody sets her mind to something, there's pretty much no going back. In many ways it can be positive, but from time to time, it's not fun. She's been unbelievably stubborn ever since she was 2 and a half. When she doesn't want to do something, it's woefully clear that there's no changing her mind. This time the annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch was the victim. Luckily Malcolm, Roger and Tracey enjoyed themselves. In other news, the surgery was a total success. Also, the teeth cleaning only resulted in one extraction. All in all the recovery process has been great, bouncing back quite well. As for the growth, the Vet believes it to be some sort of Melanoma. I don't think Roger and Tracey feel like it has to get tested, especially since it's now been removed. The eyelid will take about 10 days to heal, when the sutures have to be removed. Anyway, here are some recent pictures from the Pumpkin Patch: Malcolm appreciated it.

Jumping for joy.

Well, last weekend Roger and Tracey celebrated their 10th anniversary. The commemorated the event by getting away for an overnight trip to Whistler. Can you believe it's been almost 9 years since their last trip overnight anywhere without kids! Well, despite the rain, they enjoyed themselves with a dinner out and a night away from any screaming kids. Here are some pictures from the short trip. Here are the crazy kids on their honeymoon in Cuba: Here's the IG picture Roger put up: INSTAGRAM

Cousin Minseo

Our cousin/nephew Minseo has been in town. He's visiting from Oregon State University. Roger took him out to play hockey, even though he's never played before. He actually did great! All of Roger's friends have been super nice to him, offering advice and tips along the way. Last weekend he went trap shooting and to the Richmond Night Market with the family. Here are some pics from his time in Vancouver. Sadly, he'll be leaving for Seattle and then back to Korea to fulfil his military service obligations. So suffice to say, he'll be taking a LOA from school. He now wants to transfer to the University of Washington or perhaps even UBC or SFU. For Father's Day we got to have dinner together with the whole family, well most of the family.

Busy, busy....

Summer is on the horizon which means the kids are going to be out of school. There is a mix of activities planned including camps, mommy days, daddy days, Carol days and grandma days. We don't really know how other parents manage to arrange full-time care for 11 weeks!

The weather in May has been absolutely fabulous, with very little precipitation and apparently a record for dry weather. In fact, Roger's old student from Korea who has been in Canada visiting has been able to take advantage of some very good weather. It's hard to believe a whole month has flown by for them, they're on their way back to Korea in a few days. Tonight Roger and Tracey were able to have them over for a bbq dinner at the house. The kids played together so well, despite a pretty significant language barrier. They told Roger that Malcolm tried to take his time in enunciating and slowing down his speech so they could understand, but Melody on the other had talked so fast that they didn't catch many of the things she said. It's fantastic to see how well the kids got along. Here are some pictures from their visit and a quick trip to the park before dinner. The number 1 thing I observed between cultures is how reserved and quiet Korean kids are, or perhaps it's an indication how loud and crazy Malcolm is.

Field trips and stuff.

Roger and Tracey try their best to participate in the kid's activities both in and out of school. For the most part they are lucky that their schedules are flexible enough that at least one of them can volunteer to help out. Last week Roger was able to go with Malcolm's class to the Burnaby Village Museum. The class did the "Tools and Fuels" workshop and learned about all sorts of things including steam engines, coal, charcoal, and even how the Carousel works. Included in this week's set of pictures are some from the field trip and some from Science World. They are trying to make the best of their memberships.



















Science World

Science World

So Roger and Tracey bucked up and finally bought into the family membership for Science World. It's been a long time coming. In the past they never thought it was worth the trouble, especially considering Melody's age. They'll have to go at least 3 times to make it worth their money. I don't think that will be a huge challenge as Malcolm and Melody are both excited to do so. Hopefully, the next feature exhibit will be of interest to both of them. The cartoon/animation exhibit that's going on now was pretty cool. Malcolm had fun making a stop motion movie and Melody enjoyed colouring and tracing some figures.

In other news, the kid's behaviour has improved slightly with the implementation of the rewards chart. They are awarded stickers for good behaviour, showing kindness and only getting up once in the night to pee (for Melody). They're about half-way to their goal already. Once they reach the end, they'll be able to pick out a treat for themselves. Fingers and paws crossed it will work. Now to deal with the other issues like homework and whining, baby steps I guess.