Whirlwind trip

So we headed up to Kelowna to visit my dad aka Grandpa Knox and Joyce. Or as Cassidy calls Grandpa "Papa" (emphasis on the 'a's'.) We left around 9:40am and had a great drive up. We went the farthest we've ever gone without a stop- 2.5 hours! Miss Cassidy only slept 15 mins. which was surprising since she loves her naps. We arrived up there around 3pm and got settled in quickly. Luckily there's a basement where we can spread our stuff out and be a little noisy. To get some energy out of the girl's we went for a walk. The highlight of the walk was seeing 4 deer- a mom, her twins & I think a grandma. The girls were thrilled!

The next day we went into visit G.G.- my grandma! How lucky am I to be still visiting my grandma? The girls were given a tour of Gram's Lake Country Manor and were on their best behaviour. After hanging out in Winfield for a bit we went back to Mckinley landing where Grandpa lives and Cassidy had her nap. After the nap we went to my aunt and uncle's house which is right on Okanagan Lake. Holy cow did Lexie and Olivia enjoy themselves!!! They spent most of the time in the lake. It was a lovely temperature. Not sure what it was- maybe 70-72 degrees? (around 21 degrees celsius) Alot of my family was there- most of my cousins and their kids & spouses. We had a fantastic time! I didn't get nearly as much time with my dad, aunt or cousins as I'd like. Miss Cassidy is such a busy bee and constantly into EVERYTHING! I'm on my feet chasing her all the time. I love love love this stage and it's rapid language development but the constant busyness is so exhausting. Especially for this mom who's not getting a lot of sleep.

We stayed one more night and most of the second day. We made one more trip to the lake for a quick swim in the lake & a visit with Aunt Betty & Jenna. Then it was back home. WHIRLWIND I tell ya. The trip home was great. We stopped in at a fruit stand for some peaches and had another great trip along the Coquihalla. We made it home around 8:30 and got the kids into bed quickly. It only took a couple days to unpack.

Ecola State Park (more Oregon pictures)

We stopped in at Ecola State Park on our way back from Cannon Beach. The girls were really excited to see this deer. We actually think this may be an elk b/c it was much bigger and darker than the deer we're used to seeing. This picture was taken on the edge of the parking lot.

This last picture was taken at Cannon Beach.

Answers to Guess Who?

Top- Cassidy
Middle- Olivia
Bottom- Alexis

All done.

As in breastfeeding is all done. I'm torn as to how I feel. On the one hand she's been biting for a while and that's no fun. And it's nice to now have my body totally back after 3 kids in 5 years. But on the other hand it's all done forever. She's our last baby (unless there's a monumental failure of some sort and we fall into that 1%) and I'm done breastfeeding forever. Cassidy actually went the farthest. Lexie was done the earliest at 14 months, Olivia was done at 16 months and Cassidy made it to 17 months. That's 47 months of breastfeeding or a month shy of 4 years!!!!????


Here's what else is new with little Miss C:



her favourite words: no, Dora, ewwww, flower (or as she says flow-wow) baby, dog (but she says it dado), daddy (she's been giving Daddy extra attention lately)


lots of other words: shee shee (for pee), poo poo, yuck, hi, boo!, bath (ba) lots of animal sounds like baaa, meow (her sisters love cats), raaaa!!! for scary looking animals, cheese (chee), two (when we say one she'll say two) nine, hi, bye, hat, shoe, Pa, Vavo,

Lots of babbling and imitating.

She's trying to do things on her own and not bad at these things: combing her own hair, playing with the VReader and explorer (both have Dora games she likes), turning the TV on and off, washing her body in the bath, putting herself on the potty, taking shoes & socks off,


No words yet for her sisters. For some reason she says the word "nine" when I try to get her to say their names and she cracks up. So now everytime I say Olivia or Alexis to her she says nine really cheeky and laughs at me.


Let's play a game of Guess Who? The girls each have such a different personality and a different look but they share some of the same facial features. I was looking back at some old pictures and I can see each girl in her sisters. Here is each girl at 17 months:

Answers to come....

Portland Zoo and science center (OMSI)

The Portland Zoo is the only zoo we know. There's something really special about it. It's mostly outdoors (duh!) and there is just so much to see in it. It feels clean, friendly and safe. I feel like the animals are well looked after and the people who work there like their jobs. Here are lots of pictures of the girls, Dan's parents and Dan and I spending a morning at the zoo.

Above and right: looking at the kelp forest
Below: hanging out in front of the dinosaur exhibit. Last year Dan and the girls paid the extra $8 to go in and see the dinosaurs but the girls were a little afraid. This year they begged us to go in but we just didn't want to spend that money again to have them rush through it. We promised gift store stuff instead.

There's a little statue garden the girls love climbing on. Here's Cassidy (below) with the hippo.

They have a whole section of the zoo on African animals. Here are Dan and the girls (right) playing with the drums.


Check out these lions (below) !!! It's kinda a little creepy having lions staring at you. There's a ravine all around their exhibit and then a glass wall. Down below is a viewing area where you're looking up the little hill to them. Not just a little creepy but ALOT creepy. It feels like you're in there with them. I was constantly checking things out and making escape plans.

The girls are checking out meerkats. Does anyone remember Meerkat Manor? I LOVE that show. These little creatures are super cute and so smart. Telus had meerkats in their commercial once and we have a Telus meerkat from Uncle Mike.

Check out these giraffes wrapping their necks around each other and nuzzling!

Pa and Avo checking out giraffes, gazelles, zebras and other animals whose names escape me. But trust me they're really cool!

I love how Jose and Madalena really enjoyed themselves at the zoo!

These penguins were so fast but here's one just chillin' out. I'd love to know what's going on in his mind. Something like "Man those things are slow and colorful. wouldn't last a second out where I'm from."

We always stop and pose at this bench. There are little statue squirrels.

Dan took Olivia and Alexis to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. As Science World members we get to go for free. Cassidy and I stayed at the hotel and went swimming and then she went for a nap. When she was napping I packed all our stuff for our trip home the next day.

So busy I forgot to share....

Lexie turned 4!!!! My little big girl is 4. She had her very first real birthday party at the Kerrisdale Play Palace on July 16th. Her real birthday is July 31st. She's such a well spoken, spunky, funny and happy little girl. She asks the most insightful questions at her little age too. I try to get some one on one time with each girl but she loves to be with Olivia or Cassidy. Oh I could go on about how amazing Lexie is but these pictures will share with you some of that:

Beachin' it

Early last Wednesday morning Pa and Avo arrived at our house and we all set off to Oregon. We were all dying to share what we love about Oregon and our first stop was Seaside, Oregon. We stayed at our usual place the Rivertides Suites. There are so many things we love about it but our favourite things are the washer/dryer, full kitchen, and free breakfast. Also, every evening from 5-6 they served wine and snacks. I have to admit I had a glass of wine each evening. Seaside truly is a vacation for me. We got a 2 bedroom suite again so once the girls were in bed Dan and I really chilled out in the living room. We'd open the sliding glass door and just enjoy the smells and sounds of the ocean.
Just 10 minutes south of Seaside is Cannon Beach. It's got a much nicer beach where the girls can explore tidal pools and discover sea creatures. We'd love to stay there one day but Seaside is much more family friendly for us. Here we are walking through the streets of Cannon Beach. Cassidy had fallen asleep in the back carrier so I needed to walk around for awhile so she could get a little nap in.

This is how the girls spent most of their time at Cannon Beach- totally engrossed and fascinated by everything!

The waves from the ocean would wash in and made this river we're standing in.

Here is a picture of me and Cassidy with Haystack Rock in the background. This backpack carrier is an Ergo carrier and has been totally worth the money. When she was smaller I would carry her on the front but now she only goes on the back.

These pictures are now back at Seaside beach. Miss Cassidy loved the beach so much she wanted to eat it. She did not like the taste. Luckily Avo was so close and helped get the nasty sand out.

Olivia and Lexie could live at the beach. It looks cold in the picture but it actually wasn't that bad.

Even the water was lovely. Oh at first when you'd go in it was shocking but after about 30 seconds it felt nice. The first time the girls went to the beach I wasn't there. I had a coupon at Carter's that expired the first day we were there so I HAD to go. I met them at the beach and the girls were soaking wet (in clothes) and totally sandy. Even Cassidy was soaking wet. She couldn't get enough of the water! She didn't want to hold hands, she just wanted to run in the water by herself. She would squeal with delight with every step.

I had a couple seconds of hand holding and Dan managed to capture it! Right after this she shook free of me and ran into the water!

We spent five nights in Portland as well but that will be in my next post. We just finished unpacking today- 4 days later! We did tons of shopping. Oh the no-tax thing gets me so excited!!!! We started our "to buy in Oregon" list probably 3 months ago.