Water Park

This is my last vacation post. On our last day in K-Town, we took the kids to the water park.

As usual, the Girl was all for it.


The Boy was much more cautious. It took a lot of hand holding before he would even go near the water. At one point, he was convinced that he'd just sit in the stroller and wait while the Girl splashed and sploshed.


Then, I showed the Boy he could control the water, and he eventually got into it.


They had so much fun.




At the end, the Girl basically refused to leave. She went back to say good bye to the water jets and her good byes involved hugging and kissing each jet of water. It was hilarious.

Parties

Once we got back to the city, we had party after party with other friends and family in K-Town.

While we were still rolling out of bed, getting breakfast, feeding and changing the kids, my MIL magically produced this spread for brunch.


Oh, and there were desserts. Yep, plural. DessertSSS!


Everyone had fun. Some were a little scared...


The big kids participated in dinner party preparation the next night.


After the guests were gone, the kids went back to the usual routine of running around making messes. While most people were outside, the Boy was very quiet and hidden in one room. I went to check him out and found that he had covered the room - furniture, pillows, our luggage, etc with stickers.


He was insanely proud of himself. His finest work was to plaster stickers all over his little cousin.


Strangely, this one activity was what truly brought them together. Now, the Boy has become the center of the foursome and it's just so cool to be covered in stickers. They consult him for the "rules of engagement" and what stickers should go on whom/where, etc. It was pretty funny. The next day, we went to the dollar store for some essentials and my brother-in-law bought a big box of stickers. That afternoon...


And...


Yep, she even put one on her forehead. The funny thing was the Boy started it all but he didn't have any stickers on his body. I'd have to say he's pretty smart because getting the stickers off was a little painful. He just directed and told people where to put the stickers and helped get the stickers on their bodies. Isn't it interesting what fascinates the kids?

Last Night and Day at the Cottage

We are back to our regularly scheduled programming after that short break about sibling love. More pictures from our trip.

On the last evening we had at the cottage, our dedicated chefs served us yet another fabulous meal.


Meanwhile, my brother in law took care of all the kids.


That gave me time to enjoy this amazing sunset! This picture totally does not do the view justice. The sky was endless and there were so many different shades of pink everywhere. Truly gorgeous.


After dinner, we had a bonfire!


Can't you just imagine how excited the kids were?


Most of us stayed out to enjoy the fire. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy it as much because I was attacked by bugs. I still have plenty of scars and bruises on my body to show for the little time I spent outside. What I did get to do was star gazing. I am not a country girl and don't get many chances to see the stars without the city lights. I was so impressed - I saw the Milky Way with my own two eyes! I also caught a couple of shooting stars. Yes, wishes were made and they are between me and the stars.

The next day, we drove back to my in-laws' house. The Girl was very excited about the ferry ride.


What a fun week we had!

Beach

We spent a lot of time in the water and on the beach. I don't have a lot of pictures because I didn't want to carry my camera when I could get wet. Here are the few that I have.

Throwing some rocks in the water in order to warm up to the idea of swimming in the lake.


The Girl pretty much dove right in. The Boy was a lot more hesitant.


We gave it another try when we went to the beach but he was still mostly interested in hunting for ladybugs (there were lots!) and making them go through his "tunnel".


The kids were so involved with what they were doing that in order to take a family shot, we had to ask our photographer to get ready. Once all the adults got into position, we just each grabbed a kid. You can see that they were not happy about being disturbed.


Here is a group shot of the three brothers and their wives and kids.

Thrity Years

We celebrated my in-laws thirty year anniversary while we were there.


We all went out to town and had a fine lunch. One of the criteria when choosing a restaurant was to find some place that could accommodate all of us and that noise level wouldn't be a problem. We found this little cafe with a patio area. As soon as we got in, the Girl and the Older Cousin claimed this table as their own. These two were so cute together.

The Boy sat with the adults. He had a pretty good lunch, too. Yummy pizza and chips and a tall cool glass of chocolate milk. Pure heaven!

Bossy

This picture sums up how bossy the Girl is and her amazing ability to make people listen to her.

"Why didn't you arrange this huge pile of rocks the way I instructed you to?"

Grass

Since the kids don't always bring toys outside, they played with what nature provided. One thing in particular that made them very happy many evening was cut grass.

One evening, the Girl came up with this ludicrous idea of decorating a flower plant with some cut grass.


She roped her cousin into helping.


In no time at all, it turned into a game of decorating each other with cut grass. There were four little grass people running around. I couldn't get a picture of everyone because they were moving very fast and the light was not very good. Eventually, we cornered one.


You really have to see it in person to appreciate the mess that was made. They were COVERED in grass. That night, the bath tub was filled with grass after their bath. Now, why didn't the neat freak in me put a stop to this madness? 1. They don't get to do this often. 2. I was too busy eating chocolate cheesecake.

Play

I don't think my kids ever had this much space accessible to them at all times. They loved being outside and just run around. When they are out, they don't even bring toys with them most of the time. What a refreshing change.


The Boy loved running around with the ball. He didn't always kick it or throw it. He just loved having it.


Dinner was served outside most night. It was great because the kids can leave the table and run around when they were done and we didn't care if they made a mess. The chipmunks would come and clean up after us.


Little explorers walking around after dinner.


A paddle boat ride after dinner. So romantic to see them ride off into the sunset.

The Cottage

Since there are 10 in our party this time, we rented a cottage to accommodate everyone. The main house has four bedrooms and a sun room and there is a boat house in addition. It worked out very nicely.

This is the first time all the cousins got together. The Girl and the Oldest Cousin immediately became best friends. They do everything together. If one wants milk, the other wouldn't dream of drinking water.

The Boy is learning how to be a "big brother" since the other Baby Boy cousin is a year younger than him and often like to follow the Boy around like a puppy. The Boy went from being totally freaked out to mildly tolerating it in three days. It's very amusing for me to watch because it's usually the Boy who tries to tag along with other big kids and now he is the big kid being followed.

Back to the cottage. Here is the view from our backyard.


There was a paddle boat that we used to exploring the coast.


The perfect hang out.


I really wanted to sit here and read all day. Although the bugs probably would have eaten me alive.

Flight

Thought I'd start documenting our trip.

Our journey to Canada was quite uneventful. The kids know the drill and are generally very good fliers.

The Boy enjoyed a pre-flight snack...


... while the Girl stretched out her legs and snuggled with Daddy a little.


Good thing she did because once we got on the plane, she was on her own. We got three adjoining seats and one off on the other side. Hubby and I decided instead of asking someone to switch with us, we'd just put the Girl over there. If they can't stand her, they will ask us to switch. Look at how proud the Girl was of herself and how terrified the guy next to her was!


We watched some movies and the plane started to land. It was totally painless. Even the Boy tried to use the headphones to listen to part of the movie.

The Wedding - Girl Edition

The Girl was one of two flower girls at the wedding. I've been prepping her for months telling her what may happen on the day of the wedding and what's expected of her. She was very excited about her "job".

We took a couple of pictures at home before we left for the wedding.


Man, does this girl know how to pose.


My snow princess.


Here is a short video of the girls walking down the isle.


The ceremony was close to 45 min. The Girl is known to complain about tired legs after about a minute an a half of standing. I was sure she wasn't going to make it but she did! She did get bored after a while and tried to get the other girl to play with her but the other girl was all business.


Then she came up with silly games to play by herself. She juiced the remaining petals in her basket and ruthlessly threw them at the front row guests. Here she is seen caught in action.


Other than worrying that she won't be able to stand through the ceremony, my biggest worry was that she wasn't going to be able to handle the stairs in her poofy dress. Alas, she made it up and down the steps gracefully!


My angels after the ceremony.


There was a couple of hours between the ceremony and the reception. The Girl was so tired after the ceremony that she got into kind of a funky mood and refused to take pictures with the bride and groom. In fact, I don't have ANY pictures of the Girl, the Boy and myself with the bride and groom. How ridiculous is that!

The Girl pretty much fell asleep as soon as I strapped her into the car.


What a nap that was. She slept from 2:30 to 5 in the car and was all refreshed for the party.


We discovered that night that the Girl is a major party animal. First of, she would take the hands of anyone who comes by and calls her pretty. Then we found out that she is a maniac on the dance floor.


Here is another video of the dancing duo. Some people were blowing soap bubbles at the dance floor and that's what she's whacking at.


We partied until close to 11 that night. The Boy fell asleep in the car on the way home but the Girl was on a major high. I am pretty sure I fell asleep before she did that night. We shared a room and I remember hearing her say, "you can dance with me tomorrow if you want" as I drifted off to sleep. The Girl is going to be completely out of control in 10-15 years!