Back to the Zoo...

We went back to the zoo

with a bunch of "I Love NY" groupies!

aka the cousins! Amanda brought back a bunch of t-shirts when she went to New York and we thought they would look cute wearing them all together

Posing with the wild life...
Gramps and Gram came, too! We see them all the time and don't often take pictures with them, so we decided it was time they were added to the blog and scrapbook.

Cousins Day

Saturday, August 12th was Cousins Day!

The second cousins got together for a day of fun!There was Snow Cone making, Face Painting,and just plain fun playing together!
These are the "original" cousins!

Holidays!

On the August long weekend we went to Shuswap for a family gathering with the Stobbes. Eleven of the twelve great-grandchildren were there (with another one on the way) and Rachael was the second oldest - the youngest was a week and a half old! Here they all are with Oma and Opa.

We slept in a very small motel room. It had a double bed with a single bunk bed above it. The girls both wanted to sleep there so they squished it out for a few nights. Besides, it's way more fun sleeping together on a bunk bed!

Rachael hit it off great with her second-cousins Abby and Tim. You'd have thought they played together all the time!

And Kaitlyn found a friend her age - Tim's sister Meghan.

We went to the beach a couple of times and had yummy ice cream!
And we had campfires and roasted lots of marshmallows!
We had a fun weekend. Almost everyone was able to come.

We hope to see everyone again at the wedding at Christmas!

Play Dough Art

This is a beach scene made entirely out of play dough (and one toothpick). Auntie Shannon came over one day and Rachael and Kaitlyn and Sharon helped her make it. We've got an umbrella, towel, shovel, pail, swimmers, inner tube, dolphin, shells, and sea weed.

All I Want For Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth!

Well, she's only lost one front tooth, but it's a long way till Christmas and the other tooth is wiggly already!

The toothless grin will look so cute when she's a flower girl at Christmas! Yay! Uncle Brian and Auntie Andree are getting married!

What A Bunch Of Cuties!

These pics were taken at the zoo, but they're not your typical zoo shot!

It's a Zoo Out There!

Every year we take the kids to the zoo and this year was no different.

The first stop was the lion and tiger feeding. We got there early so we got front row seats!

Up close and personal!

The kids had a blast, though we didn't see as many animals as in previous years. They were hiding or something.

We did finally get to see Larry the Cucumber's Cebus!!! (Actually, they're Zebus, but close enough!) And there were even three of them, just like the song!

Rachael was cruising around in style with little sister Kaitlyn pulling her chariot!

Finger Licking Good

Since strawberry picking was such a hit with my girls we decided to try raspberry picking, too. Their cousins came along so that made it fun.Raspberries are finger-licking good! Ok, I know that slogan is generally reserved for grease-globs known as fried chicken, but it works here, too! Not to mention tastes sooo much better! Even if the fingers are caked with dirt!Kaitlyn really got into raspberry picking, going up on Amanda's shoulders to get the really good ones, really high up. And then she decided to share them with Amanda. I don't think Amanda really appreciated them on her nose, but hey, it made a great pic!
What two words best describe a two-and-a-half year old just returning from the berry field?

MISS MESS!!!

Canada Day

O Canada! This year we went with friends and family to the Canada day festivities and had a ball! The weather was nice and hot, unlike last year's chilly holiday.

The kids had fun jumping in bouncy-things (what are they called, anyway?) and making all sorts of crafty creations.Mad-hatters Rachael, Nicole and Amanda show off their stylin' new fashion head-gear.

The most fun was had at the Build-A-Box centre. With a framer and an electrician leading the crew we knew it would be a masterpiece. The 30 sq ft model home comes complete with 2 stories, a tower, fireplace and chimney, a dormer window, retro green shag carpet (looks an awful lot like grass!) and a quaint front porch to welcome your guests.

It's all yours if the price is right!

My Nieces

All of my blogs are about my daughters, but I have some pretty great nieces, too.

So I decided they should be in my blog, too!

Amanda Joycelyn

Nicole Joy

Plus this way I can show off some more of my scrapbooking!

First Saturday of Summer

The first Saturday of Summer was HOT!!! So we decided after last year's horrible summer we had to head straight to the beach!

We brought cousin Coli with us cuz things are always more fun when you've got cousins to play with.

Blowing bubbles in the water.

Oh no! Quick sand! Coli's shrinking!

Future's so bright you gotta wear shades!

Strawberry Picking

My sister-in-law told me my blog needed updating so I should come strawberry picking with her and take some cute pics! So here they are!

My kids actually had fun picking strawberries with their big cousins. Rachael even said she wanted to stay and pick longer, after her cousins left. But then it wasn't nearly as fun when they weren't there.

Next they want to go raspberry picking, too!

A Trip To China???

Well, almost. Rachael and Kaitlyn's cousins went and brought back some souveniers!

Kaitlyn

Rachael

Nicole

Amanda