Last getaway of summer 2010

Since Dan and I love late bedtimes, early wakings and sugary roadtrip snacks that make the girls hyper, NOT! we decided to drive up to Kelowna! We left at 9am on Thursday and arrived in Kelowna at 2:30. We had a pretty smooth trip except for the traffic hell at Abbotsford. Seriously, who closes a lane on a highway that's only 2 lanes to begin with??? The icing on that cake was when we drove by the construction part and they weren't anywhere near the highway!!! I'm no construction expert (even though I should be b/c it's summer in Vancouver and that means lots of it) that lane could have been open!!! Anyways, when we arrived in Kelowna we unloaded our stuff at G-pa's and headed off to see G-pa's & Joyce's new house. The house overlooks Okanogan Lake and is going to be pretty fabulous when it's finished. Olivia wasn't all that impressed. She said "I want to go back to the other house." We did see some pretty cool stink bugs though. Then there was more travelling to go to the lake- aka Auntie Betty and Uncle Willy's house. Here we got to hang out with family in a gorgeous setting and just relax. My cousin Linnea's 9 year old daughter J was there with a friend and they were kind enough to look after the girls. Woo hoo!!!! I need J to move to Vancouver and be our babysitter. (Seriously, if you know of any lovely girls (or boys) who would like to make some money babysitting let me know!)

The highlight of the day had to be when the big girls and Dan with G-pa Knox, J, her friend M & Uncle Willy went out on the speed boat. We hung out, ate pizza and went swimming. That night the girls- all 3 of them- didn't get to sleep until about 10pm. The sleeping that night wasn't too bad. Olivia and Lexie slept on a blow up queen mattress and "slept in" until about 6:45. Miss Cassidy slept until 5:18am which is pretty awesome. She wouldn't go back down in the play pen and slept in our bed for about half an hour.

Our second day in Kelowna was a pretty busy one. We took the girls out to the playground close to G-pa's place first. Then it was off to Auntie Betty's place to pick up J, who offered to help us out. We then went to a beach near Oyama called Kaloya. We hung out at Kalamalka Lake (I think that's what it's called?) where the water is a pretty blue-green. See the picture with the weeping willow and turquoise water? That's where we spent a few hours. The girls swam, played on the playground and swam some more. We packed up our stuff and off we went to visit G.G. (great grandma- my grandma who is 96 years old!) at her care home. Next to grams place was a farmers market where we got some fruit to bring back home. It was the cutest farmer's market with people who were clearly proud of their produce & the fact that they didn't use chemicals or pesticides. They let Olivia and Lexie sample some fruit too. Your mouth is going to water when you hear what we got: peaches-yummy, perfectly ripe peaches, peaches & cream type corn & a blueberry nectarine pie. After picking out our fruit we were off to the lake for a last visit. This time I got to go swimming too. Getting into the lake is quite the ordeal. It feels so cold at first and it's kinda a shock to your body. It's easiest to just get it over with and get yourself in quickly. Once I had been in for a minute or so it felt wonderful. It was 72 degrees (or 22 celsius) and really felt like a swimming pool. Olivia and Lexie had these little Toy Story themed boats that they loved and felt really comfortable in so they spent a lot more time in the water this time and didn't want to leave!

I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the wonderful, fun stuff we did while we were there. We really packed a lot into 2 days. See the next post for more photos.

Last of the hot summer days

Dan took the big girls to the Aquarium and Stanley Park for the day. I stayed home with Cassidy so that I could clean up the girls room before school starts.

So tired....no energy for descriptions of the pictures. Cassidy has been super fussy. I keep feeling for a tooth but nothing yet.

Hanging out with Cassidy

The big girls have been at summer camp this week (afternoons only) and it's been mostly me and Cassidy just hanging out at home. She is one happy little baby.

I started to tidy up her room and pack away all the 0-6 months clothes. I actually had a lump in my throat knowing that I will never use those clothes again. Oh well, trade off is I'll get to sleep and I should (with a little work) get my body back.

We stopped using the Miracle Blanket a couple months ago. I found it in her room and I've had to pack it away. This is the best picture I could get of her in it. She is so wiggly! She's always trying to roll and move now.

We will also have to pack away the swing soon too. She is trying to get out of that when it's moving and grabbing at the legs. In this picture Olivia was just cracking Cassidy up! She would say "peek" to her and Cassidy would laugh so loud!

Random stuff

Cassidy has found her toes! I was in the kitchen making dinner when I heard a sucking sound...

Sisters....aww isn't that sweet? Who knew that seconds later there would be a brawl. Just kidding! Kinda....

Miss Independent....she likes to feed herself. I hope she's independent like Miss Alexis. But not too independent because I want her to stay my baby for a long time.

Lexie took this picture of me.

Busy day

Today was free admission day at PNE so we headed off early to get our free parking as well. Paying $20 for parking is just ridiculous and thankfully we found free parking around Notre Dame high school. We're trying to wean Olivia off the stroller so we just brought the green stroller. This was Cassidy's first time in the back of the double stroller and she was amazed! It was a totally new view for her. (As you can see from the photo we still haven't totally weaned Olivia from the stroller) The first place we went to was "Those little donuts". Yum! It was 9:30am but that didn't stop us from eating up those yummy little donuts! After walking around for a bit we headed over to the Super Dogs. I love those dogs!!! They are so entertaining. I stayed for most of the show but Cassidy was getting tired so I left a little early and put her in my Moby wrap. I just have to say again that I LOVE MY MOBY WRAP!! Having Cassidy all cuddled up close to me is such a delicious feeling. She's so quiet and calm when she's in the wrap on me. She ended up falling asleep and having a nice little nap while we walked around the PNE. After the Super Dogs show we went to the barn and checked out the farm animals. Dan and I were laughing at ourselves b/c as we walked around the barn we kept saying things like "Don't touch that! It's got germs." We bring our 3 year old and our 5 year old into a barn full of farm animals and ask them not to touch! So after we saw the farm animals we kinda felt done but we still had to have lunch. What's the PNE without having a nice meal of extremely over priced, yummy smelling but mediocre tasting food? Dan got a gyro and I got some butter chicken while the girls each got a corn dog. After eating we tried to head home. It was slow going b/c there were TONS of people coming in. And Olivia's shoe was bugging her so we had to keep stopping to fix it. As we get to the entrance gate it gets crazy. There are a lot of people leaving but some are getting re-entry stamps which is causing a huge bottleneck. Then the people who are coming to the fair are starting to RUN towards us b/c the free admission is close to ending. The PNE staff begin to make a chain to stop the people from coming in. It was very interesting. The walk back to the car wasn't too bad but I did have to carry Olivia. We were all exhausted when we got home. Lexie had a nap but the other two girls didn't. I so wish I could have a nap.

Later at home Cassidy was on her play mat. She's been getting up on her knees a bit lately but today she was trying so hard to crawl! She's getting around a bit but not on purpose. She's actually moving backwards. See the picture with Lexie? Cassidy started out in the middle of the jungle gym (on her back) and ended up with her feet in the t.v. stand eventually. I can't believe that she is starting to become mobile!!! My how time flies. I'm sad to think I'll never go through a pregnancy or baby phase again but also excited to think about what the future holds. Like a little more sleep maybe???

Look who's eating cereal!

It's not the kind of cereal we all remember from our childhood. The special kind of sugary cereal that we got on weekend mornings. No, it's powdered rice cereal mixed with breastmilk. Yum right? I've been teasing Olivia and Lexie if they don't sit and eat their breakfast I'll take their food away and they'll end up with a bowl of it too. Neither Lexie or Olivia liked it when they were little but all the books and "experts" say to start with rice cereal. It's easiest on little tummies and non-allergenic. Cassidy isn't even swallowing it yet. She still has the tongue thrust reflex and everything comes out onto her chin and bib. (Seriously, I wouldn't swallow it either) Next week I'll try oatmeal and maybe she'll tolerate that enough to swallow. After oatmeal she'll be at that magical 6 months and we'll go on to something yummy like apples or pears.

Who's who at 5.5 months old?

Check out these three pictures. They're all of the girls at 5 months old. Can you guess who's who?
(oh my god, am I the luckiest mom ever? Those are 3 gorgeous babies!!!! so says the humble mom...)

Cassidy's update: She's reaching and grabbing for everything. At first it would take me by surprise b/c I wasn't used to it. Like when I was bringing back muffins to the breakfast table and she reached out and grabbed the muffin. She was bringing it to her mouth as I grabbed it away. She can now roll from her tummy to her back. We brought out the jolly jumper and she's loving that. When she's on her tummy, she's bringing her knees up and moving forward a bit. She's also able to move her upper body around too. She'll be playing with one toy then notice another off to her right and she'll swing her body over to get that toy. She's still not sleeping through the night. Ugh. She was getting up twice a night the last few nights. I think she was going through a growth spurt. Last night she went back to sleeping from 7pm-3:30, then up at 6am for good. These days getting up at 7am is considered "sleeping in" at our house. Her napping has gotten considerably better. She's actually napping!!! It's not consistent but it's a heck of alot better than before. She'll usually do about 30mins in the morning and then maybe an hour in the afternoon. She also has to have a little sleep in the stroller, carseat or mommy's arms inbetween the two naps. I start to nurse her around 5:30 and I've been putting her down- awake- at 7pm. Putting her down awake is a huge improvement. Before I would have to hold her in my arms until she was in a deep sleep. If she woke up (or one of the noises coming from her big sisters rooms woke her up) I would have to "restart the clock" and hold her longer. I have to say that Cassidy is truly a happy baby. She is so sweet, smiley & is constantly cracking up. She finds humour in alot of things. When I look at her my heart is full of love. I thank God for her everyday. She wasn't planned but truly a gift from God.

Answer to above photos:

far right (wearing brown pj's) is Lexie; middle (wearing pink & green sleeper and eating the spoon) is Cassidy and the far left (wearing the bib) is Olivia