It's been a hot, hot summer.

The summer of 2015 will have to go in the record books as one of the sunniest and driest on record. I swear, it's sunny and warm every single day. Sure, we've had a few rainy days here and there, but for the most part very sunny and dry. There have been many, many pool days and with the kids in camp this week even more outside activities. Tomorrow, they'll be headed to the rink for some ice skating. It'll be a reprieve to be able to be in a cool place all afternoon. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks, including some from a dip in the Fraser River and the family at Leon's birthday this past weekend. Silhouettes on the Fraser River. Leon's Birthday

Back to life back to reality.

Well the family enjoyed themselves in Penticton last week. It seems like multi-family vacations are here to stay. Lots of great food, adventures and laughs. We're a bit behind on posting, but here's a slideshow that Roger created documenting their trip.

Back from Alice Lake.

The family went camping last weekend for three days. They went with the Htans and Proust families. Unfortunately, Jayden was very sick and the Hundle-Addah family couldn't attend. One of the best things about Alice Lake campground is that the roads are paved allowing the kids to ride their bikes and scooters with ease. Also, having electrical outlets is a big added plus. Roger even brought his waffle iron! It was a nice few days away, with good food, good memories and pretty good weather. Here's a quick slideshow Roger put together.

Alice Lake July 2015 from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Jada.

Nothing makes you realize the passing of time than to watch children grow and develop. As much as I stay the same in look and feel, the kids are ever-changing. Little Jada is now 4 years old. She's growing up. We had the privilege of attending her birthday party a few weeks ago, but this past weekend the family attended a home bbq. Auntie Shannon even arranged for a pony! Here are some pics:

First camping of the season.

Well it was pretty cool to see Uncle Calvin and Auntie Shannon's new tent trailer. They're certainly living in the lap of luxury. No more silly tents for them. 9 families, 16 adults and 14 kid! As usual, the food was delish and the company even better. The weather was very warm and it was nice to be lakeside. Here's a slideshow that Roger put together.

Maple Bay 2015 from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Adrianna's sweet 16.

The family helped celebrate Adrianna's 16th birthday last week. It was a lot of fun surprising her. Here are some pictures from the party and some silhouettes shot on the hill by the house. She's leaving for Vienna soon, we all wish her well.

The last day of school.

The school year has been a great success for both Melody and Malcolm. For Melody, although it was a bit of a rocky start she did very well with the adjustment of starting school. Here's an excerpt from her report card: "Melody had a very successful Kindergarten year. She learned so much and is well prepared for Grade One. Melody says the most important thing that she learned in Kindergarten was to count to 100 because 'some people don't know how'. Melody was most proud of the work that she did in writing because "I used to not know how to write'. We had many varied experiences during the Kindergarten year. On behalf of the family, we'd like to thank Mrs. B for her efforts this year. It's certainly been a great experience for our daughter. Also, despite all our homework woes, Malcolm did really great too. We're very proud of him. In fact, at the end of the year he was one of the kids chosen to receive both the Citizenship and Effort awards in his class. Here he his being recognized at the end of the year assembly. Mrs. Moy: Here's an excerpt from Malcolm's report card: "Malcolm has had a successful year in grade three and a very busy third term. He enthusiastically participated in many activities including: Jane's Walk, the Burnaby Village Museum field trip, and the Mad Science Workshop. Malcolm is one of the first students to lend a hand without being asked; it is common to see him helping a teacher tidy up, simply for the sake of being kind. He feels that his greatest achievement this year was, "reading because now I am great at reading". Malcolm states that his greatest challenge thi year was, "math because it was hard". Here's a good comparison, between the first day of school and the last day:

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.

Roger's Birthday

Although Roger's Birthday was technically a few weeks ago, the grown-ups went out to celebrate at Science World After Dark last Friday night. Luckily Carol was available to babysit. Looks like a fun time was had by all. Here's a little slideshow Roger put together.

SWAD Roger's Birthday from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Catching up.

Sports Day was a big success. Last year Malcolm missed Sports Day because of the Teacher's Strike. This year's theme was minute to win it, with various events focussing on small, but difficult tasks. I believe Red Team won this year. As you can see from the pictures Malcolm was Team Green and Melody was Team Yellow. Fun was had by all. The end of the baseball season was a good one for Malcolm. The decision to let him play another year of Rookies was a good one. He's improved his attitude, throwing and catching. Next year will be interesting to see if he can keep up to the other kids. I suspect he'll be fine, especially with some additional reinforcement over the summer, fall, and winter.

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.