Summer is winding down...

The sad news is that the kids are still not back in school. As every day passes there seems to be less and less hope that a negotiated settlement will happen. Melody has officially missed what would have been her first week of school and Malcolm's summer vacation just keeps going. It has been a good summer for the whole family, with trips, swimming, bike rides, food truck festivals, kite flying and the usual end of summer visit to the PNE. The family is actually headed out for one last camping trip this weekend before the cooler temperatures settle in. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Our apologies for the late update.

Our last camping trip of the summer.

It will probably be the second last camping trip of the summer and perhaps the last overnight trip for the family. I was happy to hear that everyone had a great time. Then again, what's not to love, good food, good weather, good, company and good friends. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Maple Bay 2014 from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

It's been a week since the family got back from Kelowna.

From what I can tell, fun was had by all. Here's a slideshow that Roger put together.

Kelowna Family Vacation 2014 from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Tooth #5 and other stuff...

Well last week Malcolm lost tooth #5. It's actually been very loose for a long time. He finally had the courage to tie it onto a string and pull it out. It bled a little, but all in all it took very little effort in getting it out.

In other news, Roger and Tracey were able to go out by themselves in the evening for uncle Andrew's birthday dinner, yay!. The last time they went out was November and Melody cried the house down. There was a lot of bargaining, but in the end she let Grandma put her to bed without much fuss. As a reward she got some Frozen shoes, a new nightgown and a little $3 necklace. Malcolm got a little Angry Birds bag to keep his toys in when we go out. All in all grandma said that the kids were good. They both hope that it won't be another 8 months till they get to go out again, no one said parenting was easy! Roger and the boys even met up with Jimmy Crescenzo, their old drama teacher from high school. It's hard to believe that it's been over 24 years since they've graduated!

Also, last Sunday the family headed out to Harrison Hot Springs to witness nephew Brandin get married, even grandma went! It was a very nice ceremony followed by a pot-luck dinner. Stephanie looked very beautiful. From the sound of things the kids had a good time as well.

Summertime

Summers in Vancouver are pretty great. It never really gets too hot and there are lots of things to do and see. Primarily the kids have been enjoying themselves outside. They play in the backyard with the sprinklers, enjoy swimming at the local pool and certainly love running around at the waterparks. Here are some images from the past few weeks of the kids enjoying themselves.

Back from camping at Alice Lake.

A pretty successful trip camping this time around, despite the very chilly first evening the weather really warmed up the second day. The kids were pretty chilly in the tent, if Roger and Tracey could just convince them to actually sleep in the sleeping bags, things would have been much better. We rotated cooking the meals and it worked out really well. So many delicious things to eat. Our resident chef Jamie made a killer pulled pork and coleslaw. All in all, a good time was had by all. Here are some pictures from the camping trip:

Falling behind on entries...

I'm falling behind lately on entries. With the first day of summer arriving the other day, the family schedule has really seemed to pick up. We have so many things on the agenda, camping, mini vacations, photoshoots, and overall summer fun.

Roger just returned from Toronto from his business trip on Thursday and even since then it's been a whirlwind of activities. It's definitely hard for Tracey to manage everything while Roger is away. Having that extra body and set of hands really does make the work lighter. Also, Melody picked up some kind of stomach bug from the night of her graduation and she was throwing up all night. With Roger away, Tracey had to clean up and try to comfort Melody. I'm happy to report she's doing very well, and back to normal. In fact, for last night's dinner she had three helpings of macaroni and her full portion of Grandma's chicken.

Roger's birthday party fiesta went off without a hitch. The photobooth and the taco bar were great successes. Having that many people in the house is always a challenge, but from the look of things a great time was had by all. The family is heading out camping to Alice Lake for a Canada Day long weekend trip. They'll be joined by a couple of other families, I'm sure a fun time will be had by all. Here are some pictures from the last week.

Kindergarten step 1.

Melody was excited to go to the Kindergarten orientation all week. With the strike action in effect, she was lucky it wasn't cancelled. Tracey and Roger were both able to go with her. Having both Malcolm and Melody at the same school is going to be interesting come fall. Again, it all started fine, but when it was time to sit on the mat with the other kids Melody decided she didn't want to be alone. She wanted Mommy to sit next to her. Being one of the youngest kids in the group can't be easy. She's actually going to still be four in September, just like her brother was two years ago. Malcolm took a while to transition, let's hope that Melody does well. Here are some pictures from her orientation. Keep your fingers crossed for us.