Photography

A few things about photography:

1. Check out our GC Photography blog for our latest wedding. I LOVE the two locations they chose! Feel free to leave a comment there:)

2. Do you know how expensive business insurance is? Wow. We are currently getting quotes from various places but ya, it's as much as house insurance. Kind of annoying since it's mostly due to liability and you don't want to risk being sued for a million dollars for something....To all those that do have a small photography business, please know that your equipment is NOT covered by your house insurance.

Surrey 2010

This afternoon we went to Holland Park to enjoy the Surrey 2010 Olympic festivities. It was actually a lot of fun! Well, if you have a 3 year old it's a lot of fun:) In case you are thinking of going in the next couple of days, it's not open until 3pm on weekdays, 11am on weekends.

We were watching the women's gold medal hockey game on the giant t.v's...GO CANADA GO!

(Doing up his skates, I had a flashback to being a kid and my mom doing up my skates. She used to take us ice skating on Friday nights).

We had a great time as a family. Kai got to go `skating' on the fake ice. They have a bunch of skates and he ended up with size 12 skates which are 2 sizes too big. I'm not sure if it was the skates, the fake ice, or his ability level but he was really, really bad:)

(Future Olympian?!)

I thought he must've been having a terrible time since all he could do was stand and then flail around wildly. However, once we were putting his shoes back on, he said that he LOVED skating and he had so much fun.

(Great form, Kai bear!)

We then went to the toboggan area where the kids could go down a fake slope with soapy carpet on it. Kai wanted to go by himself and did a great job. Well, until the run was over. He grabbed his sled and proceeded to run UP the slope to go again. Another family was waiting to come down so I had to run after him, in front of everybody.

The kids each got a free olympic pin!

Kai also did some curling. Sort of. Those stones sure are heavy!

We may have indulged in some of the carnival type food that they had there. Kai has his first corn dog (oh man, I think those things are gross) and we shared some mini donuts.

At the end, Kai wanted to throw a coin in the fountain and make a wish. He took it very seriously. He said, `I wish for a lot more trucks'.

He asked how wishes come true. I said that if we really need something in life, we should probably ask God. He came home and checked out his car bin right away to see if there were any more trucks. There weren't.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. We were just there for an hour or two and Kai loved it. Koen loved running around. Everything there is free...well, except for the food. I'm glad that we went and I would recommend it.

The Real McQueen

Kai LOVES cars. He has seen the movie `Cars' probably 100 times. He tells everyone that he has the `car movie' and he loves pretending to be Chip and run into people. Can you guess what he is so excited about below? This is his `Oh man, I can't believe it...this is crazy!' face.

Opi (my dad) got himself a snazzy retirement gift. Whenever my dad spends money on something, he will compare it to a certain number of cigarette packs that he has not smoked (he quit about 25 years ago) and therefore money he has saved. This is definitely a few years worth of not smoking:)

Now Opi is even cooler than before. I mean, he has a dirt bike, jet ski, quad, riding lawnmower...and now a convertible. Kai gets to experience all that this little boy dreams of. Thanks Opi!

The Weekend

What a fabulous weekend. The weather was just way too nice! Kai bear LOVES to help with anything and everything. He actually really loves recycling the most. He searches the house for paper to recycle (he almost recycled our business license today!) and purposely asks for apple sauce so that he can recycle the containers. I'll be honest, it is starting to drive me CRAZY. Even when we go on walks, he is picking up pieces of paper to recycle.

My sister Jan is due in just 3 weeks!!! Woohoo!! I'm praying that she either goes into labour BEFORE Trish's (my littlest sisters) wedding or after we get back from our getaway. I really don't want to miss it!

We had a surprise wedding shower for Nut (Trish) this weekend. She seemed pretty surprised so that was nice!

And on Saturday we photographed a beautiful wedding. The photo location was at one of my favourite places....The Abbey. The stairs there are just beautiful. Oh, and so is the path towards the pond/lake. Okay, it's just all beautiful there.

I'm taking my time editing the photos but should have something up on the photo blog in about 4 days.

Last night we got together for a mini nerdfest and it was great to just hang out amongst the chaos of a billion wild kids running around. Jen (living in the Philippines) was in town-ish (Seattle) for her midwife certification, so she drove up with a friend to visit with us. Good times.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Downtown Date

Yesterday, I dropped the kids off at my sister Maria's and then went and got Gary at school. I've taken the skytrain 3 different times over the last week and every single time I've gotten a seat, they are just running so many trains, it's perfect! We made it downtown by about 4:15pm and we started at Main Street/Science world.

Spoiled guy trying to decide which lens to use:) He decided on the 24-70mm (wide angle) for most of the time and I used my 50mm. The second we got there, we were just so excited. It was a gorgeous sunny day (14C I guess?), the kids were back in Langley, and everyone was sooooo full of Canadian spirit. Red everywhere. The Russian house wasn't letting anyone else in so we just started our walk from here all the way towards waterfront to see the cauldron.

There's some art along the waterfront at Science World. Lots of playground stuff for kids too. I do want to say that I'm glad we took the kids a week ago, and that they got to be part of the Olympic spirit. However, yesterday we were planning on covering a lot of ground and staying out past 7 pm so it was such a nice change to just be Gary and I.

Welcome signs everywhere:)

These are all the inukshuks at Science World, see Gary in there?

I would recommend doing this part in the day time because you won't be able to see them very well at night.

I can't tell you how fun it was to just worry about ourselves and enjoy each other and just soak in the atmosphere. It is so friendly, positive, and prideful (in a good way!) down there.

Could the day be any more beautiful??

On the way to the Plaza of Nations...they have some live shows there and a ton of food vendors. Fun atmospere.

We then walked to Granville Street (maybe a 20 min walk from the Plaza of Nations) where there was a ton of art and also street performers. We had already seen this part so we just kept going towards Waterfront to see the cauldron for sunset.

Okay, this picture below is out of order but I just need to tell you about the coolest part of the night. We had left the cauldron around 6pm and were walking towards Robson street. People were gathered around restaurants and pubs that had the game showing on tv's. People would stand together and cheer Canada on. It was so patriotic. We watched the OT that way and then went to watch the shoot out while on Robson Street. It was absolutely crazy but in a safe and fun way:) Thousands and thousands of people cheering.

When we won in overtime, everyone just kept cheering `Go Canada, Go!' and Gary was high fiving with strangers, and as you crossed major streets the people coming towards you would start cheering and it was awesome. There was no violence at all and I would feel completely safe with my kids there (except for the fear of losing them in the crowds!). The outfits people were wearing were crazy and yet, it seemed normal. Spandex, boas, whatever you want! I would say that if you could be there during a hockey game, do it!

Everything was neat and clean and there were volunteers around, able to direct you if you needed it. I would recommend spending some time at Robson Square where the skating rink is. We did spend some time there but didn't take any pictures. The zipline line up had a 4 hour wait and had just closed for the night. I think that would've been something I would want to do but maybe only wait 2 hours for. Robson square is really pretty and lit up and during the day it has a lot to see too.

(By the cauldron)

They now have a line up for the cauldron if you want to see it from above. Gary and I did wait in this line. It said 30 minutes but it took more like 45. That was totally fine with us, and worth it. You get a view of the rings and the cauldron while you walk along the top of the building.

The rings were all lit up in gold because of the gold medal yesterday!

We got some sushi around 7:30pm, after the game, and then we started to head home.

We took a look at the Bay's Olympic Store but it was CRAZY busy so we didn't actually go in. We left for home around 8pm and the skytrain was not busy at all. I think if I was young and full of energy, I would've stayed down town, on Robson, a lot longer. It was just such a positive atmosphere.

Overall, a fantastic date for Gary and I. I've realized that taking pictures of people is my favourite thing, but it was still fun to take shots around town. Gary got some good shots but he wants to HDR them so I may post them later.

Finally, my sister had brought my kids home and put them to bed for us! Isn't that awesome? My kids snug in their own beds when we got home. So nice.

Go Canada, Go!!

Happy

I just feel so content. Not going to work has taken away so much stress and busyness in my life. My kids can still drive me bonkers, but seriously, staying in my pajamas until 9am, doing yoga at 10am, going for walks every day in the sunshine, making good meals, playing at the park...this is just so right for me right now. I have never been so relaxed in my entire life. I've always just worked, worked, worked. I'm so thankful that I am able to do this. I truly feel that my thyroid has caused me to stop and breathe and take life in. I am a little bit thankful towards my wonky thyroid gland. So blessed. So happy.

10 Things

1. You know you are having a mild winter when you are at the park at 9am in February and you're not even wearing a jacket! Well, the kids were wearing one, but I wasn't. Loving this weather.

2. I'm loving the Olympics. I love watching it and it's nice to watch events in our time zone! We had a party on Saturday for the moguls and it was really fun to have people over, eat food, and cheer on the athletes.

3. Our kids have been the grumpiest they have ever been these past 3 days. They are both fighting colds, and Koen's is especially bad. He is coughing a lot and is quite congested. His grumpiness is mostly his non stop crying in bed and refusal to go to sleep, even though it's what he needs. Two nights ago, I got up with him and just held him, but nothing helped. We both got very little sleep. Last night, I just let him cry. Poor bubba. He probably cried about 5 different times throughout the night...only 10 minutes each, but still, he's not a happy camper. Kai is staying home from preschool today because of his cold. I don't like it when he misses it but its what we have to do! Oh, I should mention that Koen's eczema is 90% gone! Now, I don't know what it is due to (no soap/bubble in his bath, goat milk, or aveeno baby lotion) but I'm very glad. He accepted the goat milk with no problem at all. Only downfall is that it is twice the price of whole milk.

4. When are kids are super grumpy (Koen crying, Kai in time out non stop), I stop and think about having a third:) However, I know that these grumpy days are far outweighed by fabulous wonderful ones so I'm not worried. Just 5 weeks until we start the first part of the adoption process!

5. My friends, Tessa and Simon, had a baby boy last night! Their first baby! I don't know many details except it happened so fast, the baby was born at home just as the midwife arrived! Can't wait to meet him and hear a bit more of his birth story. So fun when you see you friends or family becoming parents.

6. I am the emcee of my sisters wedding (and photographer too!) in just 2 weeks. Any tips? I have no problem public speaking but if you've seen any wonderful things done by an emcee (or terrible I guess), please let me know! I need a tip or two!

7. I've started getting rid of a ton of stuff, craigslisting it etc. Our house is not very big so the more stuff in it, the more it feels super cluttered. Also, we would like to gradually finish our basement suite so I would like to have as little as possible in our basement. Talking about houses, we got our house and auto insurance through Coast Capital and saved $100 on each. Just saying....

8. I've started exercising 5 days a week. I've been quite inactive for 5 months and I'm tired of waiting for my thyroid to be 100%, so, I've started. I'm only doing yoga and short jogs but I think it will be very effective in getting me back into shape. I am quite a fan of yoga. I do feel quite well, still at 85%, and I just need to make sure that I take good care of my eyes and remember to take my medicine. With Graves' Disease, your eyes are attacked separately from your thyroid, so even if I get my thyroid under control, the immune system can still attack my eyes. The biggest problem with my eyes these days are dryness so I just really need to stay on top of it with the artificial tears and lubrication at night. Fun times.

9. Our second wedding (and first full day coverage) of the year is on Saturday and it's supposed to be nice out! Looking forward to it! So thankful that we are able to turn our hobby into a source of income, especially since we are now down to one income!

10. Gary and I are heading downtown on Thursday after he is done work. My lovely sister, Maria, is watching the kiddos and even putting them to bed for me!!! Woohoo!! Gary and I aren't really sure what we want to do but the object of the evening is going to be to take pictures. I think. Just 3 weeks until our 3 night getaway! Oh man, I have a feeling gramma isn't going to get any sleep having Koen sleepover:)

Remember, I need some tips on emceeing!!!

Love, Louise.