Big Day Trip...starting at 4am?!

The trip wasn't supposed to start at 4am but Kai decided that was the right time to get up this morning, and therefore, I was up too. We (Maria, Ani, Trisha, Kai and I) headed out to Vancouver Island at 6am to visit our oma and uncle al (on my mom's side). We got to take Maria's snazzy new mini van which was fun. The weather was awesome and the fall colours were amazing. The kids behaved wonderfully with really no meltdowns. I've realized that Kai will never sit still and needs to roam and explore all the time. I'm a little stressed with this realization as we are flying in a plane to Mexico in a few months. How will I ever get him to sit for hours? I think the longest he'll sit on my lap right now is 1 minute! Please, any tips are greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Ani and Kai on the ferry. They had to do everything the same. Kai wears a jacket, Ani needs one too. Kai eats a banana, so does Ani. Kai runs around the cafeteria shouting, so does Ani. Please note that Maria was pretty brave to go on this trip as she is 8.5 months pregnant:)

It was great to visit with oma and uncle al for a few hours. Through email/blogs etc its been easy to keep up to date with what's going on. It was nice to talk about what my mom was like as a kid (she could walk and talk clearly by one and she sucked her thumb til she was 5!) Oma made a yummy soup which reminded me of all the times she made that soup when we were growing up and visiting. Did I mention that Ani and Kai are having so much fun playing together now?! Whether its `tackle Kai's blankie' or `shout weird things out the window' they love doing it together!

Auntie Trisha helping the kids get some shells when we stopped in Parksville on the way back to the ferry. I LOVE that beach! Auntie Trisha also helped chase down kids and carry toys and bags etc while studying for a midterm.

DId I mention auntie Jackie is back?! Woohoo!!! I've never seen her so dark, and will prob. never her see her this colour again. Great to have us girls all together again! Excited for her and Kai to have some great bonding time.

Undefeated!

Today we had our last football game of the season. We played in the quarter finals and won 20-0. Then, we played in the finals and won 26-0. It was pretty exciting and also, we didn't lose a game the entire season! Our best finish in previous years was 2nd so this was pretty cool. We had a bunch of fans, Gary and Kai included. I got to run in a couple TD's which always feels good when you are zipping past the defenders! Below is a cheesy pose but I was sick of the same old team pics:)

Kai has started playing with cars and trucks. Its weird to me because I'm seeing some stereotypical `boy' things come out. I did play cars with him and tried to be all `tough' about it by having the cars collide and race rather than having the cars kiss:) He does have a lot of different types of toys and I hope it was okay that I got him a doll. He actually hates it and won't touch it. I just thought it would be good if we had another kid, then he could practice being around babies. His stuffed animals will just have to do.

The pictures below are at the lake right next to the fields that we play at (Burnaby Central). The camera was on a wonky setting with its aperture and its old lens but I just like the scenery here. Kai did really well just watching us play and eating snacks and trying to get ahold of some of the big/regular size footballs on the sidelines. He had enough energy after to chase all the ducks and squirrels around.

Lodi and Bubi

(Kai with his doggy)

So in Kai language we have a few more words. Apparently the giant stuffed monkey's name is Lodi and his blankie is now called Bubi. Kai is making me laugh so much everyday. He now checks himself out in the hallway mirror and recognizes that its him and not a friend. He recognizes himself in pictures too! This week he got up 3 times at about 11:30pm crying as though in pain/discomfort. I've taken him to our bed where he just plays and giggles (and farts and giggles) for about 15 minutes, and then he's good to go back to sleep again. Below are just some pictures I took of him while we were playing around downstairs (its an unfinished basement but there's a section with lots of fun toys for our photo stuff that he loves to play with and he's pretty good about being careful with our lights etc). I took Kai jogging today as I realized that I am pretty out of shape, I should prob. do that I little more often...especially since football will be done after this Saturday. Well, time to play with Gary, Lodi and Kai!

Auntie Trisha bought her cowboy hat by (for us to use for Halloween). Kai calls everything that is cone shaped a hat. Shells, umbrellas, lamp shades....

I wish you could hear him with this picture, he was giggling sooooooo much!

Sisters

I'm very excited as my sister Jackie (on the far left) will be home in 3 days!!! She has been gone for 3 months and we really miss her. I think about how much Kai has changed since she's been gone and I'm excited to see their reunion! Not to be too cheesy but I am so thankful for my sisters. Four of us went out to lunch the other day, and it was so nice! It's so wonderful to just be yourself and laugh and know exactly where the other person is coming from. On Saturday, I went to Ikea with 2 of my sisters and it was really fun (I think Maria, who is 8+ months pregnant was sad that the line was too long to get another frozen yogurt!). We were not always close, especially Maria and I, as we would often beat eachother up physically and emotionally. For Maria and I, it was best when I went away to university and she was then the oldest and could take over that role in the family. We are all so different in the way we deal with stuff (stress, grief) and def. different in our taste in music, art, and movies, but there are some things that we are similar on; love for food, family, camping, hiking, and deals! Also, to all of us, a promise is a promise. If you really need us to tell the truth, ask us to promise because none of us have ever broken a promise. Back to Jackie, excited she is returning. When I was in Kenya, she wrote me a letter every week. I have not been so kind to her because she had daily email access!!! Really roughing in Jackie!! :) It is so awesome to have so many people nearby who love Kai. Even though they can't take the place of my mom, it really, really helps.

It's def. time for a new sisters photo as we haven't had one all together in a very long time!

All of us, with mom, up at Green Lake about 2.5 year ago.

Soggy Sunday at Crescent Beach

This morning Kai was `cooking' in his kitchen (putting cheerios in a casserole dish and shaking it up). Look at his `new' duds that I picked up at the swap meet yesterday. I went in the last hour and got everything super cheap. The plaid shirt and jacket were just $1.00 each, Dr. Scholl shoes $4).

We went to Crescent Beach in the crazy rain so that I could collect some seaweed for Biology 11. Kai loved it. Well, he loved certain parts which I'll get to. It was fun that he could use his new rain boots, jacket and pants.

Here I'm showing him some fun shells. He kept calling them `hats'. I guess that's what happens with a limited vocab. On the way home, he kept sucking the salt water off of them (we let him take two home) and then putting them on his head saying `hat, hat, hat' over and over.

Showing daddy his shell

He kept pointing to the buoy's and saying `ball, ball' over and over. That was def. his favourite part and slightly frustrating with him that we could not go play with them.

Did I mention that we won our football game again yesterday?! We are 7-0 for the season and playoffs are next Saturday. It was a good game as they changed up their defense since the last time we played them, but, we figured it out and worked around it (coachless and all!). Go us!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Isn't he so cute?! Unfortunately he learned how to stick his finger up his nostril this week and I don't know how to get him to stop! Do I ignore him? Tell him its yucky? It's a little bit funny but not really when we're in public. Oh, one other thing...we started praying with him at night and he loves holding his hands together and giggles when we say `Amen' and he will say his rendition of `amen'.

Tonight we went out for Chinese food, well, Western Chinese food. We go about 2x per year and all I want is the sweet and sour pork. I KNOW its bad for you but its just so good in a bad way. Each time we go, it reminds me of our honeymoon trip to Alaska where we ate out just a handful of times (we camped most of the way). One day, when we were in Ft. Nelson, we went out for Chinese food and stayed in a nice hotel due to the rain. It's always nice to eat out and and stay in a hotel after camping for a couple weeks! That was a great day. We saw some amazing things on our trip up to Alaska and if you ever go, Valdez was our favourite town ever. Unfortunately, our pictures were all deleted from our camera when we tried to upload them to the computer. One day, we may have to do the trip again....another highlight was Liard Hotsprings in Northeastern BC...oh ya, and all the buffalo and moose. Now, its time for Gary's homemade apple pie. I usually do the baking and he does the cooking but we switched it up a bit this week cuz we're fun like that:).

I will leave you with an old Chemistry joke that I told my class today. Some kids laughed.
Sodium and Chlorine were walking down the street.
Sodium: `Hey, you stole my electron!'
Chlorine: `Are you sure?'
Sodium: `I'm positive!'.

What's new?

Wow. Nothing. Really. I always like checking people's blogs so I know that new stuff is good stuff. Let's see....my dad is in Africa. I am so jealous. I cannot wait for the day that we, as a family, can go back. My sister Jackie (who is he visiting) will be home in a week! Wooohoo! In case you don't know, I have 4 sisters and we all live within 10 minutes of eachother and email daily so having Jackie gone for 3 months has been a bit sad. What else. I have my last regular season football game this weekend. Then, we have the playoffs. I love, love, love playing football on Saturdays as it puts me in `Louise' mode. I'm no longer a mom or wife, I'm just me. Love it.

What's new with Gary? He did the Golden Ears hike with the Outdoor Society at school. He was supposed to blog about it but I'm not going to bug him to do it. He had a great time and I'm a bit jealous that he got to hike and camp. I am also glad that Adam found our camera (which cost us a pretty penny) which popped off of Gary's pack and rolled down the ridge. Thanks Adam.

Kai can now crawl downstairs. Phew. He still has to be watched but now I feel a lot safer with him running around at 10 million miles an hour. He was also pulling Bubba (his stuffed beaver) around with a leash the other day, so cute:) I'm at home tomorrow so maybe I'll get some good pictures. For now, this is a picture-less post. Have a great night. I'm exhausted. Is it bedtime yet?

Our little pumpkin

Today we visited a pumpkin patch purely to let Kai play in a field of `apples' as he called them.




Please note that I also got my hair chopped off this weekend:)
He found a hole in one of the pumpkins and proceeded to take out a chunk and eat it. At least that is relatively healthy. I was not as impressed when he ate the chunk of manure filled dirt before that.

Loving tortellini:)

Pretend Play

Kai has been making me laugh a lot lately. He is making a lot more noise and saying funny things like `didderdidderdidder' etc. Lately, he has been doing `adult' things like grabbing my comb and trying to comb his hair. What else has he done?

He put Bubba on the potty (when Kai actually had to go)

He gets out all of the pots and pans and then gets a spatula and pretends to eat food out of them.

He pushes Bubba in the mini stroller

He keeps putting bowls on his head and saying `hat!'.
What a monkey. He got another tooth this week, I think we are up to 9 now. He also has something weird on his tongue but I think he must have just bit it really hard or something. I was trying to look in his mouth with a flashlight and he thought that was pretty fun.
I'm trying to get ahold of Passport Canada right now. I dropped of Kai's passport application mid June and we still don't have it! Have a great Wednesday.

Jan and Doug engagement photos

This afternoon I had a back massage at the spa (don't I sound all fancy) and then went for a fun lunch with my sisters. After that, we did a photo shoot for engagement shots of my sister Jantina and her fiance Doug. It was our first time doing engagement shots so it was a lot of fun...some of the pictures are below.

(I like the one above!)