Well...its been quite awhile....and I don't have a really good excuse for not blogging...just a lot of little ones!!! While I've probably missed a lot in the last couple months on the blog, here is a little bit from a trip we took to Fairmont, BC over Giles' spring break at the end of March! Plus a few pictures (completely out of order, of course) from around home again!
We were quite blessed to be able to use a week of Giles' parents time share and enjoy some hiking and hot springing, and a half day of skiing for Giles, Xander, and Avery! We went with Luke, a friend of Giles' since...I don't really know how long...and his wife Karlen and their adorable little son, Eli, who is about Willow's age! I don't know if he just never cries, or if our wild brood completely drowned him out, but Eli was a really good sport about entering into the chaos that is our family!
This was actually the last hike we did, and the kids were needing a little extra incentive to keep going! So we brought along some bubbles to keep things more exciting! It meant a few more stops and starts, but everyone enjoyed themselves more, so it was totally worth it! I love how hard Avery worked for that one bubble floating in front of her! She looks like quite the little bush woman!
This is the crazy view we had to put up with on the hike...and could see it from the other side at the condo we were staying at!
We hadn't gone far when we realized this trail would also be great for the double stroller and so I quickly jogged back and got that....which saved us once the bubbles ran out and the kids could snack and "hike" in style! Like the little Prince and Princesses that they are, of course!
This was the end of the line for the stroller and so we all got up this hill before turning around and heading back! Avery ended up taking a quicker route down...by rolling...and we were very thankful she didn't get hurt doing it...a few tense moments when we saw her falling though!
Willow, generally confined to the backpack carrier or the stroller was very happy to be wondering around on her own for a bit! She actually looks a little shocked that its really happening!
We attempted a little family self-portrait!
Xander became our tracker! He kept noticing paw prints in the ground and was predicting what kind of animal they were coming from! I was happy that all we saw was the prints, to be perfectly honest!
Any one want to guess what it was?!? It might be hard to see in this picture.
Of course, before officially leaving this area (called the Hoodoo's for anyone interested) Giles had to just make a run for it and see where it took him! He's the tiny speck at the base of the cliff!
He was a little shaky when he got back to the bottom....but definitely the whole trip sent Giles to his happy place! He was really soaking it all in!
Now we jump to Avery's gymnastics! This was the parents day at the end of the year. All the parents sit on the sidelines and watch an older student walk around with their kids, doing what we as parents (and Grandparents...thanks Grandma Carol) did with them during the rest of the time. Avery really LOVED her "dance" class! She is so into dancing, that to call it gymnastics didn't even compute for her! She was a little nervous before everything began, but once the music started, her buddy took her hand and she was ready to lead the way...if they had let her.
We didn't have great seats for taking pictures, but you'll get the idea! Here she is doing her pencil roll down the cheese wedge mat.
Thats her hanging from the bar in the middle....notice we put the pull up back on for the event! She just gets a little forgetful when everything is too exciting to miss. Side-bar....the potty training is getting MUCH better, but she happens to be the type of kid who doesn't seem to care if there is poop in her underwear, as long as she doesn't miss anything.
We should have brought the video camera, because to watch Avery run, with elbows pumping, down the blue matted runway, to jump (almost from a dead stop) onto the little trampoline and up onto the pommel horse is ridiculously adorable! Here you can see that her pants are a touch short....I couldn't (for the life of me) find her black pants and so she's wearing Willow's.
Back on the home front, Xander took off the training wheels a few weeks ago. Uncle Dustin was out with the kids, riding around, when he asked if Xander wanted the training wheels off. We did this once back in fall, but it didn't last long and we just went with whatever Xander felt most comfortable with. This time, he was clearly ready (with a little encouraging from cousin Eli) and hasn't looked back since! Now we spend a lot of time on the front yard while the kids have taken over the street!
Avery has enjoyed taking over Xander's old runner bike...and while it was PAINFUL to watch her in the beginning since she didn't seem to stop talking long enough to practice...she has gotten really smooth at it now. We still have to remind her to watch where she's going quite a bit and do a little more riding and a little less talking, but she's really loving it!
Willow...after lunch....has taken to just nodding off in her high chair! Its really cute and it makes nap time so pleasant. We just lay her down, wipe her face, and walk away!
Xander and Avery put on a little puppet show for us one day! Its mostly just the two of them trying to out-talk the other, Xander telling Avery she's got it all wrong, and these random animal heads rotating in little circles there at the bottom!!!!
Here Willow is getting the pleasure of holding a brand new baby...which is weird because I still remember when she was that tiny.
She looks a little nervous that we took little Olivia away from her!
And now she's totally heartbroken and really wants her baby/new toy back!
Back to BC!!!!
Another hike we went on, near the Fairmont hot springs!
There's my beautiful family....playing beside the dangerous cliffs and on the slippery rocks! I hope we don't get in trouble if the wrong people see this!
Our more law-abiding friends decided to stick to the path and distance themselves from us!
Out cold!
Xander was quite typically STARVING by the end of this hike and could do little but stay on this rock until Giles got back with the vehicle to pick us up!
And these last few pictures are actually from the first hike at the beginning of the post...but I'm not very good at loading things in order!
She has a stick...one of many....and so we can keep going!
More bubbles!
Good times had by all!
