Fall Fun!

Sometimes I get so panicky that my babies are growing up so fast that I forget to focus on how much fun I'm having with my two big kids!!  Now that I'm at home with the kids and everyone is settling down happily into their new routines - we are really having some serious fun!!

The pictures can do most of the talking of just some of the fun stuff we've been doing this fall:)

Kolton's first time bowling and he LOVED it!  He needs another inch in height and he'll actually be able to get the balls on the rack all by himself ;-)  I really took them for Kailie's sake but Kolton definitely had just as much fun as his sister!

She loved it too - and was a great big help to her little brother too:)

We don't do the beach in the summer as it's just too hot (for me)! But with the great temperatures in the fall we had to get some sand in our toes. 

Some kids slide in the snow . . . ours get to slide in the sand:)

Me and my littlest babes cubby toes!

Just being silly!!  Kayt - remember when we had these on our big girls?!?!   

Kolton having some fun with Ms Caesar at school. 

Kailie and some new friends at a birthday party.

This massive grin is because he's sitting on a train!!

Selfies with my little luvs:) 

Mommy's silly kids ;-)

Date Night!!  Love that my Kailie-Bear is old enough to love these dates as much as I do.  We had a lovely girlie dinner out together!

Kailie learned what a Shirley Temple was on our date!

My baking / tasting buddies!

No more baby swing - time to upgrade to two big-kid swings:)

The pumpkins came out around October 3!!  Joel and I have always loved holidays, special occasions etc - but with kids to now share it with, we've kicked it into high gear!!  Now we just need to get past Halloween so we can get started on Christmas ;-) !

This is one of K&K's favorite activities to do together . . . they march around and around the house with one banging and the drum and one waving the flag and both of them singing . . . something . . . just not sure what it is exactly!!  It's super fun and cute to watch.

Every Friday morning Kolton and I head to a playgroup - after a morning of toys, crafts, snacks (and coffee!) out comes the parachute and bubbles for a sing song.  It's great fun for the kids and most of the adults don't seem to mind it either!!

Lots of fun playdates at the Aquarium!  It doesn't seem to matter how many times we go, they still love it!

This is at the Bermuda National Gymnastics Training Center . . . .  basically a couple days a week they open up the entire center to Mom's & Kids and Kolton is in Heaven!!!  This is him playing in the foam pit, but there is so much to love there, definitely a favorite activity for us!

MSA Fair - lots of fun stuff for the kiddo's:)

More MSA fun rides!

International Day at Kolton's school.  Kolton was supposed to be a Canadian Cowboy - but he refused to wear the cowboy hat, the handkerchief,  or the cowboy button - so he was a cute Canadian Boy!  I've been to this International parade with Kailie the past 2 years and the youngest kids always seem to get upset when they see their parents, but Kolton actually had a total blast!  It was actually hard to get a picture of his class because he kept jumping all over the place!

Cute Canadian Boy waving a Jamaica Flag - whatever keeps them happy!

Halloween Kids Party at Joel's office - Kailie won best costume for her 'Mommy-made' ghost costume - she was thrilled and quite happy to tell everyone we passed that evening:)  Kolton (again) refused to wear the over-priced Thomas The Train costume I bought for him and his Thomas t-shirt really wasn't a contender in the costume competition!!

Another girls day!  Kailie and her friend Ryley have birthday's very close together so we took the girls for a birthday treat to a kids spa they have here.  We all came out with pretty pink fingers and toes:)

Not pampered at all . . . 

My sweet girl!

This was a really fun morning spent out in Dockyard as Joel teamed up with some friends to run an interesting challenge.  It was the last of 3 team events held over the last 6 months or so and it's basically a 5K course with obstacles and challenges along the way.  Joel and I were a team in the last race but I had to sit this one out due to my foot injury - but it was fun to be a spectator especially as it was a chilly morning and they had to swim in rough water!!  They all did fantastic and had a really great day:)

A couple of us Mom's in charge of the little future racers :)

Daddy coming through one of the final obstacles.

This was a very challenging part of the obstacle that very few people could actually do.  This rope is suspended pretty high off the water and across a large channel . . . once he got to the end and he wasn't dragging in the water anymore it was all upper body to pull himself out and onto the dock.  Most people just dropped down and swam around - but he did it, I was super impressed!! 

On the ferry ride home - best buds!

Tractor Ride at the pumpkin patch.  Despite the look on Kolton's face, he actually really did love it:)

Kailie picked a great pumpkin!

And here was the final product!  Aside from some cutting help from Mommy & Daddy - Kailie did all the cleaning and tracing herself this year and I think she did amazing!

Happy (and Safe!!) Halloween Everybody!!

First Day of Year 1 (Kailie) and Preschool (Kolton) - 2013

September 2013 was a big month in our house as Kailie started Year 1 (equivalent to Kindergarten) and Kolton started preschool!

Kolton is just going to preschool a couple mornings a week so we started off sending Kailie to school on Monday.  I cannot tell you how incredibly proud I am of her!!  Among all the school forms we had to fill out was an information sheet for Kailie's teacher of anything that we thought the teacher should know about Kailie . . . being the concerned Mommy that I am I wrote literally paragraphs about my sweet girl who could be a bit shy, quiet, timid and uncertain when starting off in new environments.  I was particularly concerned because at Kailie's new school most of the kids had been there the prior year in a 'Preschool Year' but we had opted to keep Kailie at her preschool.  So I was concerned that Kailie was coming into a classroom full of kids who all knew each other and given her quiet nature I was worried she might not be easily integrated in and that this might upset her a bit.  As we headed out the door on her first day I was nervous and loaded up with tissues (I was pretty certain there would be tears from everyone)!!  I held my breath all the way to school just praying that the first day/week would go by quickly and that she would adjust ok.  Once we got to school we had been instructed that we were only 'allowed' to drive up to the front door of the school and that a teacher would there to help Kailie get out of the car and once she was out, we were supposed to just keep driving.  I had warned Kailie about this and she seemed ok about the idea but I was sure once we actually got there that there was no way she was leaving me like that (and there was no way any teacher was going to keep me from getting out of the car to help my girlie).

So that Monday, we arrived and I quickly found out that I have never been SO WRONG about anything - the only thing I was actually right about was that I was going to cry!!!!!  Kailie was absolutely AMAZING!!!!  As soon as we pulled up to the school, Joel was driving so I quickly hopped out to help Kailie get out and just to walk her to the door - she turned around didn't say a word but just held up her hand to me in a "STOP" motion and sent me straight back into the car (where I then utilized my tissues)!!  Despite the great start, I still worried all day about how it would go, but it was a lot of fretting for nothing.  When I picked Kailie up her teacher was raving about how well Kailie had done and that you would have never known that she was new to this group of kids!!  Then Kailie got in the car and DIDN'T STOP TALKING!!!  She was SO excited and animated about all the fun she had at school, I couldn't get a word in for a very long time but I didn't care at all, I just grinned and laughed as I listed to how much fun she had!  And this has been the same story pretty much every day since she started!!  Oh - and that essay I wrote about my quite, shy, uncertain girl - well the teacher actually asked me who the child is that I was writing about because it couldn't possibly have been Kailie!!  Apparently she is talkative, animated, easily and quickly making many friends and showing no signs of uncertainty!  So she made a complete liar of me, but I'm ok with that :)

Needless to say I am so incredibly proud of her and so very pleased that she loves school so much.  It's been just over a month since she started and her thirst for learning is really amazing to watch.  She didn't have a lot of interest in reading herself prior to starting school and now she can't get enough of her own books.  Her library days at school are very exciting for her, but I don't think she really pick a favorite between her reading, handbells, arts and crafts, or PE - she just loves it all and it depends on the day as to what her favorite activity is!  It really is so exciting to be a part of all of this:)  

The only downside to all this school and excitement is that Kailie is completely shattered every day.  Prior to school starting we were having a bit of bedtime troubles - well this has ended.  We can't get Kailie to bed fast enough and she usually falls asleep in about 5 seconds, despite this each morning when we wake her up she is ready to start the fun all over again:)  

On Tuesday morning it was Kolton's first day of preschool.  I naively thought that sending my 2nd baby to preschool would somehow be easier as I had already been through it before - for the 2nd time in as many days I was SO wrong!  My little man wanted no part of being left at "KayKee's School" and even though he had spent a lot of time there last year when I would take him to pick up and/or drop off Kailie once he realized I was leaving him this time it was waterworks for everyone :(  Over the weeks in September I had many close moments of just pulling him out completely as things didn't seem to be getting better and I had a few 'intense' meetings with a few of the teachers and administrators (over how I thought things should be done differently - yes, I was that crazy Mom!!).  Just as I was on the brink of deciding to admit Kolton into homeschool for the rest of his life he seemed to turn a corner and although he would still cry a bit when I dropped him off his days started getting a bit better (as per the many 'spys' I had checking in on him each day - yep, I'm that Mom too)!!  And I am so very happy to report that this past week I dropped Kolton off and there were NO TEARS!!!!  I think I actually skipped out the door!!  Now when we drive pass his school he refers to it as "Kolton's School" and he actually gets excited when he sees his lunch box and when we get to school he heads straight for his favorite toys.  It's such a huge relief as I really do love his preschool so much and want him to have the positive experience there that Kailie did.  I think the little bit of structure away from Mommy a couple mornings a week is a good thing for both of us - I just needed to know he was happy about it before I was really ready to buy into that :)

Now I can really start to fully enjoy my favorite fall season as my babes are settling into their new routines - I am LOVING being at home with them as it allows me to see them off every day and pick them up to hear all the exciting adventures they had . . . it also allows me the opportunity to spend time with them at their schools helping out and seeing first hand as they have these wonderful adventures!   And, this has really been a special time for me to get with Kolton as my little man and I get 3 days a week just for us which is a total joy, although we sure look forward to 3pm when Kailie gets to join in the fun too.

Here are the precious first day of school shots that all kids must endure each year!

Day 1 of Year 1 - September 9, 2013!!  PE day at Kailie's school so they get to wear their PE kit all day to save time changing.  When asked what she wanted to be when she grows up (on a video that I can't upload) her reply was "a teacher . . . no, a Mommy . . . . oh wait, a doctor . . . "!  Dream Big Sweetheart - I know you'll be amazing at whatever you do :) xx

Lots of fun poses!

Kolton there to see his Big Sister off to school:)

Day 2 - time for the regular uniform, and for the record, I LOVE uniforms!!!  This will be one of the things I miss most whenever we move home - makes planning, laundry, and getting out the door SO much easier.  Check out her excitement!!

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABY??!?!?!
First day at Preschool - September 10, 2013.

Miss them so much during the day, but SO proud to be Mommy to these two big kids:)

Summer 2013 - Final Installment!

After all our Alberta fun it was time to head East for some fun with the Matthews and Fultons!  This was our 2nd year that we went to Clear Lake, Manitoba to participate in the family golf tournament they hold there each year.  We had so much fun golfing but we also had so much fun doing a whole bunch of other stuff too!  

Clear Lake is such a beautiful little village in Riding Mountain National Park . . . I know, funny using the word mountain in MB!!! ;-)  Anyway, it's just the most lovely, quaint place where you can run along the lake in the morning (or swim!) and when you get to the centre of the village it smells of sweet cinnamon buns and wonderful coffee!   And we sure took full advantage of these amazing bakery's that served up all those massive cinnamon buns and other goodies!

We rented a fantastic cabin that easily accommodated all of us - one of the coolest things at the cabin was that it had a zipline!  We took video's (that I can't seem to load) but no pictures!  It was such a huge hit with all the kids and I know that they are all ready looking forward to playing on it again next year.

It was an incredible 10 days of golfing, playing, ziplining, boating, eating and visiting as a family.  It's such a treat to see the cousins play so well together but also fun for all of the 'big kids' to get some time together too

As usual the pictures tell it the best:)

This was on our trip to MB, it was a long 2 days in the car but the kids were amazing and we all actually had a really good time!  This was at our hotel in SK, it had a super loopy slide that Kailie loved!

We had MANY stops that looked just like this ;-)

The kids had A LOT of energy to burn off after a day of travel - they were crazy monkeys having so much fun everywhere they went, including the elevator :)

Ahhhh - sleep at last!  Time to rest up before we get to Manitoba:)

On the first weekend we were there Joel, Tyler and I participated in the Riding Mountain Triathlon - it was soooooooo much fun!!!  I think we were all inspired by all the amazing athletes there and I'm sure this Tri will become a permanent part of our annual trip there:)

The Fultons brought the boat out for the week and the big kids loved it - the lake was a bit chilly, but I'm pretty sure these kids don't feel cold as they were happy to get in at any opportunity!

Even the littlest guy got to have some fun with Uncle Tyler and Daddy . . . it was best that Mommy was golfing while Kolton was behind the boat, my heart couldn't handle it!

I think thumbs-up means 'faster' ?!?!?

These little's LOVED this kind of tubing!!  They kept switching spots and most of the time it was all thumbs-up!

 Gram caddying for Daddy - his clubs have never been more clean (and he had a great round)!!

Never a lack of fun things to do!

Watching Mommy Golf!

Watching Daddy Golf!

We had an amazing week of beautiful weather which meant some fun beach time!

The littlest cousin:)

There is an amazing play structure there that the kids spent a lot of time on.  This spinning tire was a big favorite - until Auntie Kandis pushed poor Mae a bit too far . . . . I kinda thought all kids can take a crazy amount of spinning (they did all keep saying to go faster!!) but apparently this isn't the case and poor little Mae paid the price all the way home :(  I was off park duty after that!

My Luvs!

I really love these next two pictures - they really capture the 'excitement and fun' that the kids had when they came to watch Mommy golf!!!!!  Maybe next year they will be able to convince Daddy to just stay at the playground ;)

Some really cool bikes there, Kailie & Daddy had a lot of fun on this one:)

Fun watching Grampa!

A fantastic campfire program for the kids - they went for the promised hot chocolate but ended up having so much fun even before the hot chocolate came out!

Adorable Buds!!

Back to Bermuda we go - after a summer full of amazing memories!  Until next year . . . .  xx