Fire Truck Ride

Grandpa bought a fire truck ride for the girls and their cousins at a silent auction. They were both excited for days, but when the tiem came, the excitement turned to fear. Sedona absolutely hates sirens and Aja doesn't like loud cars or trucks. So Sedona got into the truck hesitantly with tears and Aja adamantly declared that she wasn't going. Of course, the second the fire engine pulled out, Aja wanted to go. So I followed the truck up to where they stopped and Aja got to ride along for the rest of the trip, and by this time, Sedona was over her nerves and had a great time too. Thanks Grandpa! You have some pretty cool ideas up your sleeve.

Circus in the Woods

On the weekend, we went to a cultural festival on the coast called "Synchronicity." They had a circus in the woods which was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's hard to really explain it and do it justice, but basically, it was an hour and a half walk through the woods with stops along the way. The different stops had something artistic- singing/guitar, dancing, acting. There were also random quotes and objects along the way to make you reflect. It was very abstract and we loved it!!

Sheila the Hamster

The girls are petsitting Aja's preschool's hamster for the last 2 weeks of summer. They are getting hours of entertainment out of this furry gal. Sedona is now very confident picking him up, whereas, Aja is content to just touch him quickly and pull her finger away.

Water Fight!!!

The girls and their friend were scootering today when all of a sudden our 50 year old neighbor (who is as playful as a child) started spreaying them with their hose. They went back for seconds and thirds and forths....

Ontario Cousins

My cousin Kelli and her husband Brian were out visiting their daughter who is working at a camp this summer. We're so glad they made it over to the coast for the night. This morning we took them on one of our favourite hikes: Smuggler's Cove.

Batchelor Lake Overnighter

We took the girls on their first back country hike-in camping trip. It was about an hour and 10 minute hike into Bachelor Lake cabin in the Tetrahedron Park. We went with our friends Erin, Ross and their son Joffre (Aja's age). Aja needed some help with the hiking, and was a little unsure of the cabin at first, but once she got her head wrapped around it, the kids had a great time ripping around in the woods. It's a very rustic cabin with 2 levels. The first level has a sink (no running water though), table and wood stove. You take a ladder up to the loft which has a floor to sleep on. We brought up yummy food to cook, explored outside and then the adults enjoyed some quiet time while the kids slept. It was the first of hopefully many more fun backcountry trips to come!

Thormanby Island

Friends of ours took us over to Thormanby Island today in their boat for an afternoon on the beach. We were with Aja's buddies from preschool, Tessa and Georgia. If you click on the collage and look at the top left picture of Aja and Tessa, you'll see that they're two peas in a pod. From the back, you can't tell who's who.

Sedona's New Look

Chris came to Toronto with us, but left after 8 days whereas we stayed for 2 weeks. He came home and painted Sedona's room which needed touching up more than any other room in the house. We chose her colors before we left and she was sooooo excited to come home and see the changes. She particularily liked Chris' creativity where he painted her closet doors the two different colors. It's a big change from the light violet and misty green she had before. He did a great job!

Crabby

Aja used her piggy bank money to buy this snorkel set and asks to practice in the bathtub all the time!

Summer Reading Club

Sedona loves reading, so took advantage of the weekly library club this summer where they talked about books, played games, did crafts and had guest performers. If they filled up their reading log, they got a medal at the end which Sedona was very EXCITED about!

Melted Crayon Art

Toronto Zoo

Our last adventure in Toronto was going to the zoo. For those of you who follow the news, you would have seen how hot it was in Toronto at one point. We were lucky enough to miss the heat wave though. This trip was the one day where it really was hot and by the end, we were all pretty tired. The highlight was watching the spider monkeys (no picture) have a fight over protecting the baby spider monkey. We sat there watching them for about 20 minutes just amazed.

Mountain Lake Ontario picture slideshow

Kelly Family Reunion

My Dad and Cheryl had a BBQ last night with most of my relatives from my Dad's side. It was soooo great catching up with many of my aunts, uncles and cousins, some of whom I haven't since in over 10 years!

Cousin Eric

Eric is my brother's stepson/ Auntie Alli's son. The girls have only met him once 3 summers ago. Sedona was 3 1/2 and Aja was only 1 1/2 so they didn't have any real memories of him. However, Aja has an alphabet book we made a couple of years ago with photos and whenever she comes to the letter "E," she always says with more excitement than the rest "That is my cousin Eric." Well, the other night when we were with him, the girls both really took to him. He's now 13, just got back from Israel for his Barmitzvah and is so grown up!!!!

Subway Rides and the Royal Ontario Museum

Sedona asked this morning if we could take the subway again just for fun. So Nan and P.K indulged them and took them to the ROM while I met a friend for lunch.

Nothing like old friends!!!!

Laura (pregnant with twins) who I always love to see when I come home!!!!

Megan (who I haven't seen in 14 years!!!!!- it was so good to catch up and reconnect).

4D simulator ride

Another highlight of Ontario place was the 4D simulator ride. It was a 10 minute Ontario adventure in 4D. While watching the 3D movie, our chairs moved along to the helicopter ride, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, tobaggoning, skiing (we felt the snow and spray too) and rock climbing. It was very cool!

Mega Bounce

Before we came to Toronto, I had looked up some ideas of things for us to do while here. One of the places we decided to go was Ontario Place. I too the girls the other day and we could have spent the whole day there. However, one of the attractions we had read about was that you could jump 25 feet high on the "Mega Bounce." From then on, whenever anyone asked what we were going to do in Toronto, Aja would reply "we're going to jump 20 degrees high." Here it is!

Grandma Lou's House in Rockwood

It's always hard saying goodbye to Grandma Lou!!!!

Cultural Experience

Spending this much time in Toronto and taking the subway has exposed the girls to a variety of cultures (Sechelt is not very multicultural). It doesn't matter which Grandma's they go to, they will find her shoes and purses. After seeing a group of girls the other day with their hijabs (face coverings)on, the girls came out of Nan's room looking like this (a little too much leg though!!!). It's been interesting discussing culture/religious attitudes with Sedona because she is starting to be interested and understand these concepts more. I read about an organziation called "Because I am a Girl" that raises money for girls for health care and education that they would otherwise not have access to because they are girls. I think we're going to do something for this organization- a good learning experience firsthand.

Old Mill at Rockwood

Rockwood Conservation Area

The other day we went to the conservation area near my Mom's house. The girls swam and played on the beach for a couple of hours before we went for a hike. It's really pretty there!