Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures!

We got hit with more snow this week - ugh! Naturally, we've been feeling a bit desperate for warm weather. So, with snow mountains still lurking in our backyard, I may have jumped the gun a little the other day by buying a bubble gun! When I brought it home, Elizabeth had no idea what it was, just that it looked TOTALLY fun, and she wanted to rip it open right away. Since the weather didn't permit us to actually enjoy it outside, we decided to bust it out in our kitchen. Morg is really good at cleaning floors....so the soapy residue mess was just a minor, temporary annoyance - and well worth the fun! So yeah, the bubble gun turned out to be REALLY budget, and more effort and mess than it would be to just blow bubbles the old fashioned way with a wand, so instead Elizabeth uses the gun as a pretend hair dryer. That works too.... Here are some photos of us pretending we are in our backyard blowing bubbles - sun on our faces, grass between our toes, dogs barking (yeah we'll take anything at this point).....

BASEMENT RE-VAMP!

A few weeks ago Morg and I decided it was time to really make the best of our uninished basement! I always think it's fun to rearange and change things up a bit, so we added some curtains to act as walls, added some family photos, and added a nice old 36 inch tube tv that we got for 25$. We brought our surround sound down there as well so now it's our very own "theatre space on a budget". It's been a really nice to feel like we have an extension of living space for the kids as well. Morgan is a great mover of big objects and I am good at letting him know where I'd like things to go, so we make a great team! That good old brown couch from Brookridge is still the most comfortable seat in the house! Long view of our basement

If you ever stay with us, this is your your bed! (notice the nice new big screen to the right - yeah baby!)

The living area - curtains hide our freezer and food/kitchen gadget storage.

Zoo Trip!

My friend Laura had a great idea to go to the zoo Saturday morning! We packed the kids up as fast as we could to get the best of the sunshine and it was a gorgeous morning (despite what it may look like with some snow on the ground...)! We both got annual passes so hopefully Elizabeth will be great friends with the animals by the end of the summer. The zoo is SO fun for the kids (and adults - Morg and I love it too!). Elizabeth's favorite animal was the giraffe. I'm not sure if it's becuase it's actually her favorite, or because she saw it first...probably the latter. My favorite were the hippos - they are so creepy and ugly looking, but they are so intriguing! I could watch them all day. After seeing lots of animals we had a nice healthy picnic lunch, though Elizabeth crashed it with her french fries (oops, my fault), though she happily shared with her friends. Afterwards the girls had a great time heckling some neerby geese, climbing the stadium stairs over and over, and checked out the huge tiger. By that time my kids were officially tuckered out. They had had such a good dose of fresh air and sunshine - always does it! I soon realized it was time to go though when the meltdowns started (my kids anyways!). It was such a great trip and made me so excited for more summer fun to come! Laura, her two girls Jadyn and Heidi, and Elizabeth.

They were almost dressed the same!

giraffes!

Heidi and Mason. Heidi has a year on Mason, yet, hmmm, not much difference in size.

Creepy hippo pic.

Who needs carrots? oops.

Mason showing off his snack.

Mason was so cool the whole trip (until the last few minutes). He is so chilled out and this picture depicts this perfectly!

Winter of our Discontent

So this has been a bit of a doozey of a winter for us with all the sicknesses that our kids have had! Between half a dozen colds, (Mason is 6 months old and has had five colds - the kid needs a break!) all-nighter throw-ups, week long cases of diarrhea, we've been slogged with home-boundness for a LONG time! I think I make it worse too since I try not to take my kids to any play dates or anything when they are sick so they don't get the neighborhood sick too. There have been healthy breaks and we've been able to fit in some fun here and there, but this sure feels like it's been the winter of taking care of sick kids. I am just venting I suppse and am so excited for summer to get here so we can play outside all the time! I love summer! In the meantime, this is a little bit of what we've been up to this winter.... Elizabeth with a snotty nose watching Enchanted on Dad's Christmas present. She thought it was so great.

Leave it up to Morg to find something fun out of nothing! All you need is a bit of tape.

Coolest look ever!

The kids really like playing together in their cribs. Elizabeth is reading "Here Comes Santa Clause" to Mason who was actually interested.

Haning out

Mason learned to eat solids. Kind of boring I know....but always an event in a house with a baby.

We went to the rec center pool whenever we could. This is Mason in his swim trunks, and a shirt we may have waited a bit too long to try on him....

I put Elizabeth to work whenever there is nothing to do. She loves windexing. I remember windexing as a kid and it was my favorite job to do around the house. Remember windexing the fireplace doors Leigh? So much satisfaction! hahaha.

working on the kitchen window. She's actually not bad at it - but is sometimes a little too spray-happy.

BRING ON SUMMER! WE'RE READY!

Going Coastal

We visited my parents new place near Victoria BC and had such a fun time. This is the view from the watch tower by their house. We had timed races up to the top and I won! What can I say, I'm fast. We went for lots of walks around the community my parents live in because it's just so darn pretty and right on the ocean. I think it will make for many fun vacations, and the company isn't bad too! :)

This is right after we made the trek down to the water through the forest in a NON rough terrain stroller. (I love my stroller but let's face it, it's meant for smooth turfs). It wasn't bad going down the path, but coming back up was a struggle. Especially since I didn't realize until half way up that I had the breaks on - smart girl. Once we realized we'de taken a slightly different path back up, we decided to make an adventure out of it and see if we could re-route home. Two hours later, it was starting to get dark and we were lost (my parents community is surrounded by huge BC trees and trails and forest) and we started to get worried since we had two cold and hungry kids, but then they fell asleep so we were able to huff it. Finally we found a lady jogging who directed us back home, thankfully. We slept well that night.

Morg enjoyed tee-ing off into the mountains.

We had fun taking an updated family picture.

Morg and Elizabeth in Victoria Harbour

We enjoyed a second Christmas at my parents. Mom left the tree up everything!

This is my nephew Miles! He is such a monkey! I love him!

Diggin for crabs on the beach, still a bit cold though!

I think Mason was sleeping in the car at this point. I am so excited to go back in tshirts this summer!!!