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.

Our Disney Cruise

The weather could have been better, but that didn't stop the kids from swimming and enjoying themselves. We'll let the pictures tell the story, here's a video slideshow that Roger put together. Like Tracey said, it makes her forget all the bad things, ah that Disney magic. Here you go:

Five years can be a long time when you look at how much the kids change. Last weekend the family went to Aaden's birthday party, he turned 6 years old. Five years ago they saw Aaden take his first steps in Hawaii, oh how things change. Roger put together this diptych to show the changes. Tomorrow the family is heading to California for a family vacation. Stay tuned for lots of pics in two weeks! Below are some pics from Melody's field trip to gymnastics. Roger was able to take some time off and help out with the class.

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

Warm weekend.

The weather couldn't have been better this weekend, warm temperatures coupled with glorious sunshine. The family got to enjoy an outing to the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Nikkei Centre on Saturday and a nice bike ride at Pier Park on Sunday afternoon.

The sticker reward system is still chugging along. We're still having some issues, but all in all there have been some micro improvements. On their own the kids are pretty fantastic, it's when they get together things become volatile. Call it sibling rivalry, call it being mean, Tracey and Roger get tired of it pretty fast.

Here are some pictures from the Nikkei Centre:

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.

Easter and stuff...

No one said that parenting was easy and for what ever reason it's been extra tough on Tracey and Roger these days. Forget those wistful thoughts of the kids getting easier as they get older. The fighting, complaining and whining can be so exhausting! The silver lining in all this came last week when the kid's report cards came home. Honestly, they couldn't have been better. There were so many kind words, words that would make anyone proud. There were things written by their teachers that literally brought tears to Tracey's eyes. The good and bad of it all is that they know the kids can be extra great and for what ever reason at home it's a different story. We're all keeping our fingers and paws crossed that things will get better soon. For the most part it's a maturity issue coupled with some typical sibling rivalry.

Last Friday, we had some friends over for brunch and a little Easter Egg hunt for the kids. Fun was had by all. It was nice seeing everyone. In our midst, some of the friends are going through a lot. Roger and Tracey find themselves in a situation where many of their friend's parents are getting older and even some dealing with some pretty serious illnesses across the board. I guess as we go on there will be more of this happening.

Last week Malcolm was experiencing some serious leg pain, just above his knee. He actually stayed home for a day. He couldn't walk, he couldn't even move. Roger went so far as to get him a pair of crutches. The ultrasound and x-rays came back this week and the doctor said that he has some calcium deposits near his knee. From the sound of things, it's quite typical and no cause for concern. It's lucky cause baseball season is just starting. Roger decided to keep him back a year and play Rookies again this year. He figured that he wasn't quite ready for Minors yet. This year's rule change with Little League actually cheated him out of a year.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks, including ones from Sierra's 4th birthday.