Week Three of Summer Vacation ~ The Week We Ate Out

Week three of summer vacation was a relaxing week. This summer we decided to create “The Great Park Challenge”. Our goal is to try out as many different parks and playgrounds as we can. This week we added two new parks to our repertoire.

Sunday we enjoyed a lovely lunch at our favourite Lebanese restaurant, Village Pita. We always enjoy the meat pies, fresh baked pita bread covered in savoury ground meats, grilled and folded in half. These are truly fantastic! The adults also enjoy the cheese pies and olives. There are always an interesting mix of people in the store to watch. It varies from young party boys who are hung over, the devoted who are heading to prayers, and the local office workers who love the cheap and delicious food. In the afternoon, the kids headed off to do some bike riding.

Monday was a quiet day spent hanging out around home in morning and then we had a late lunch with DaddyJ! There was great food, beer with floating berries and ice cream for the kids. What more could we ask for? After lunch it was time to do a bit of shopping to get CubJ ready for sleep away camp in a little more than a week.

Tuesday we tried out a new breakfast food restaurant, Cora. CubJ had and enormous waffle covered in strawberries and custard! SparkJ had a crepe filled with Nutella, bananas and whipped cream while I had an omelette rolled in crepe covered in hollandaise sauce. Our food was fantastic, the service good and a place we would recommend. We have often seen the line to get into Cora to be very long, by going at 1:30pm, we were able to walk right in. After all of that great food it was time to find a new park to try out! We found a great park at a nearby school. It has the all important climbing structure, with the added bonus of a second level. The kids were in heaven playing right up until it started to thunder!

Wednesday we returned to the same park for a longer session. There were many kids to play with, the weather was quite hot and sunny and we hung out for almost two hours. To cool off we headed out for some icy summer drinks at Starbucks and to pick up some sushi for dinner. It was a very a great day!

Thursday, we got to have lunch with AuntieCR! It was a great chance for CubJ to see her after a few years, and SparkJ’s to meet her. Both kids really enjoyed their time with AuntieCr and the yummy sushi at Sumo. The food great, the company fantastic and the service all right. After lunch we went to fresh park near our local pool. This park proves perfect as there are bike paths surrounding the playground, thus ensuring that both little campers are happy. CubJ enjoyed riding his bike in loops, over the grass and under the bridge. SparkJ hung out in the playground climbing, digging and trying out all of the slides.

Friday we enjoyed doing little other than watching the Stampede Parade on tv and doing a bit of journaling to capture the adventures of the week. In the afternoon it was time for the boys to get their hair cut. Another pre-sleep away camp to-do item ticked off of our list. The evening was spent quietly hanging out at home watching a movie.

We wrapped up the week with DaddyJ and CubJ playing a game of pick up cricket, a trip to Dim Sum and a rainy day trip to Lic’s for ice cream. It was the perfect day to get a nice summer time trip to Lic’s in without having to wait in the line that snakes out of the store! SparkJ had rainbow, CubJ had chocolate chip cookie dough, DaddyJ had Mac toffee, and I had neopolatian. With everyone’s belly stuffed we headed home before the rain started.

Week three was the eating out week. We tried out new places, caught up with family and enjoyed our favourite things.

It was a great week with lots of playing. May week four be just as much fun with Stampede and Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump on our calendar of events. May this post find you all well and enjoying your summer vacation!

Best Wishes Always,

MommyJ

Week 2 of Summer Vacation

Week two of summer vacation was a quieter and more relaxed week. We spent most of the week enjoying the great outdoors. The weather was gloriously nice, many bright sunny days and warm temperatures. In fact, it is officially summer, as we have turned on the AC.

We enjoyed a picnic and bike riding at Baker park on Tuesday. CubJ has learned to ride his bike well in a short period of time. SparkJ, is gaining confidence in riding her bike, but can occasionally find herself rolling backwards in slopes! LOL To wrap up our time at Baker Park we brought out the Cricket gear. The kids enjoyed playing catch, CubJ some batting and my shins did not take to many hits from errant throws.

Wednesday, we headed back to the park with DaddyJ for the triple play. Again, CubJ showed off continuing improvement in his speed and control on his bike. SparkJ was a little slower than the day before as a result of a topple. Next, it was time for some skateboarding in the common. SparkJ is starting to gain some confidence, she is now able to get on,off and roll without assistance! We hold out hope that she may soon start to propel herself on her own. CubJ did not spend too much time on his board as he is really enjoying biking. For the third instalment of fun, we played a little bit of Cricket.

My bowling (pitching) is improving, CubJ is getting better at tracking the bowl for batting, and SparkJ throw is a work in progress. The highlight of our Cricket time was DaddyJ’s batting. It was a comedic scene of him using far too small equipment! The distance the balls traveled varied wildly and gave us all a number of belly aching laughs. Thankfully the kids kept their helmets on as one of the errant balls bounced off of CubJ’s head!

That evening was the wrap up of the Sparks year. SparkJ showed us a number of fun games she had learned, sang some new songs and generally had a fun time hanging out with her friends. We look forward to seeing our leaders and their baby in the fall. Thanks for a great year Leaders C and J!

Happy Canada Day 2010! This year we spent a relaxing Canada Day on a playground tour of the nearby Rockies. Our tour started out with a stop in Canmore. While we were on our way to Beamer’s Coffee for “cinnamon buns the size of a baby’s head”, we caught some of the Canada Day Parade. Conveniently, by sitting at the window seats in the cafe, we were able to watch the parade while snacking to our hearts content. It was an ideal way to watch a parade.

After Beamers we headed to the Millennium Park to play at the playground. There were many Canada Day celebratory activities going on in the park. We played to the beat of the marching band. May families were also taking the opportunity to play in the cooler weather. We enjoyed ourselves for nearly an hour until it became a bit too crowded for comfort. To avoid the growing crowds, we headed on to Banff. While there we toured two different parks, ate lunch at Earls and made a trip to our favourite store. The kids ranked it as one of their best Canada Days!

We wrapped up the week with a trip to Peter’s Drive In, a first for the kids and a visit to Calaway Park. The kids were shocked at the sheer size of the milk shakes at Peter’s. Once they saw the size of the cups, it became instantly clear why we had recommended that they share a shake. I think that they enjoyed their trip and will ask to go back later in the summer. Calaway Park with Daddy was a great time. They ran into a classmate of SparkJ and her older brother while in line for the mini-roller-coaster. This worked out perfectly, he bigger boys rode the big rides while the girls enjoyed the smaller rides together. DaddyJ was thrilled to avoid a trip on the Vomit Comet! Thanks K and Q for the chance to hang out.

Week two of summer vacation was a good one, we hope that this is an indication of what it to come in week three! We hope that you too are enjoying a wonderful summer vacation and look forward to hearing all about it. Best Wishes for summer fun to you all ~ MommyJ

Week One of Summer Vacation

Greetings and salutations!

What a first week of summer vacation it has been! There have been many activities, a trip, and visits with three sets of cousins. Wow, what a great start to the summer.

Our week started out with a trip up to Edmonton on Saturday, after the weather was miraculously nice enough for a Cricket practice! We arrived and headed over to Grandma's for a fantastic tea spread. She had port cured sausage, old cheddar, strawberries, cherries, cookies, squares and crackers. We enjoyed our tea in the +25 on her patio which she has all decked out for summer living. Ironically SparkJ the smallest, took the lounger, where upon Grandma gave her sips of tea. Too funny!

Then we were off to meet The 4A's for AuntieA's birthday dinner. It was a complete blast, as we had two side by side booths. In the fashion of most family meals in my childhood the kids ate together. They all enjoyed not having us directly supervising. CubJ did a good job of being in charge, ensuring that SparkJ ate enough and Cousin N stayed sitting! At one point the girls scolded AuntieA and me for being at their table. After dinner we hit the park for a bit. All in all it was a great chance to visit.

Sunday, the kids let DaddyJ and me sleep in until 9 which was very nice considering we were each sleeping with one of them. We had a lazy breakfast before heading to the mall for a round of mini golf. Then we caught up with Grandma and took in Toy Story 3. We all enjoyed the movie which was surprisingly good for a third instalment! After the movie it was time for the Father's Day slash Grandma's birthday dinner and kids sleeping over at her house celebrations.

Monday while DaddyJ was at work, we had some fun in Galaxyland, caught up with The A’s after Cousin L was done school and then had dinner with Grandma. It was a quiet evening but very enjoyable.

Thursday we got to catch up with our Cousins who are visiting from Kazakhstan! The kids were all very excited to see each other. For something different, we went bowling at Chinook. Auntie L, Cousin R and Cousin C all seemed remarkably wide awake for 4 in the afternoon considering the 12 hour time change. We all had a great time bowling with our fashionable shoes. When we were all done, had celebrated several +100 scores and worked up an appetite we went out for dinner.

Saturday proved to be another nice day. After having gotten in some batting practice earlier in the week, CubJ had a great time at Cricket. Later that afternoon, the kids got to catch up with instalment three of the cousins as CubJ went to Star Wars in Concert with Auntie C and Cousins N & D. He really enjoyed hearing the orchestras perform the music, seeing the movie clips on the big screens and having the man who did C3PO’s voice narrate.

As if loud music and Star Wars were not enough, it was then time to wrap up week one with more time with the Kazakh cousins. The Boys headed to laser tag and Wendy’s while the Girls went for dinner at Earls. Everyone enjoyed themselves greatly before ending the night having a sleep over with the Cousins. On Sunday morning DaddyJ and I woke up without the kids for a second time in a week. It has been an exciting week for everyone.

In very exciting news, we now have a brand new baby cousin in the family! Baby S was born on June 11th, to our dear Aunties EQ and A. We are looking forward to meeting our newest cousin Silvia from N.B. and our catching up with our Calgary Cousins soon on our "The J's Cousin Extravaganza 2010".

We look forward to more fun as the summer goes on, all be it, most likely not as much fun in so few days as this week has been!
Best Wishes to you all,

MommyJ

Goodbye 2009/10 and the Spoils of a Good School Year!

Good Bye Grade 3 and Kindergarten!

Well, happy news, both kids are moving on to the next grade! They have both successfully completed all of the requirements of their years and will be moving on to Grade Four and Grade One. Wow! Pleasantly, the school now offers a second round of pictures where the kids are in their 'vesti choix' or casual clothes. Look at how big my babies are getting:

Next year will be an exciting one for both of them. SparkJ will take on much more serious learning with a huge focus on having all of the grade one students reading before Christmas. After going to all day kindergarten, I am sure she will be up to at least part of the challenge. I know that CubJ is looking forward to not being the only one with homework.... Speaking of homework for CubJ, next year he will begin studying Spanish. It is not a super intensive introduction this year, rather it is presented at the level that most of his non-immersion peers will begin French. It should prove exciting for all.

The rewards for having a successful year at school included: many books, journals, pencil cases with gel pens for journaling, Lego (big shock I know), Zhu Zhu pets (mini robotic hamsters) and skate boards!

Great work littleJ's, enjoy your treats!

xoxox Mommy & Daddy

Skiing for Spark J and Graduation!

I have no idea where the time has gone!

Our sweet SparkJ has graduated from Kindergarten! What a year she has had enjoying meeting new friends, learning more french and getting into the life of a full-day schooler. My favourite quote from her this year has been that what she best likes about school is "Learning to speak French in full sentences, (I know you're thinking how sweet, how nice...) so I can speak more French than my brother!"

We were so lucky to have such a wonderful Kindergarten teacher for SparkJ. MadameG was a perfect fit for her. She kept her interested, entertained and always happy to come to school! Thank you for a great year MadameG.

In down loading the pictures from her end of the year Graduation, I came across the pictures of her class going skiing in January.

Oh what a fun year it has been:

Spring Break in Kelowna

For the first time in almost two years we headed back to Kelowna for a little Spring Break fun! The kids love the waterslide at the hotel best of all , while the adults love the spoils of the trip. It was a great chance to get out of town....

CubJ is working towards earning his photography badge and snapped most of these momento photos. While in Kelowna, we enjoyed visiting many vineyards, snaping pictures, watersliding, looking for Oggo Pogo, going to Planet Bee and trying out some diffent restaurants at dinner each night. While our drive home was made longer by waiting for avalanch blasting, our stop for ice cream helped to balance it all out.

These are the spoils of our trip! Please note the cool violin shaped bottle of Diva's Delight Late Harvest Ehrenfelser that CubJ picked out for the 'cool shape'! Well, wine appreciation starts with small steps.

Thank you for the great Spring Break adventure LittleJ's and DaddyJ.

xoxox,
MommyJ

Winter Cub's Camp

As is tradition, DaddyJ and CubJ headed off to Winter Camp with the pack! Thankfully, the weather was not too cold or windy while they spent two days and nights at camp. It was very exciting for CubJ to get to spend a second night at camp, while not so much DaddyJ! I think it took him a whole week to recover from the lack of sleep, lol.

The boys all had a great deal of fun working on hiking, games, shelter building, fire building and badge work. While more hot chocolate would be useful for the next winter camp, all in all the food was great, the kids had fun and I bet even DaddyJ had a few good laughs! Here are the pictures of the fun:

Here is looking forward to summer camp in June!

Spark J

This year the BabyJ joined Spark's, the little girls version of Girl Guides after she turned 5. She is greatly enjoying the opportunity to experience the fun she has always seen her brother having with Boy Scouts!

Her troup is fantastic. The leadership team is a Mother-Daughter duo with years of experience as Grandma is the Guides leader! Three generations of woman working together to ensure the girls love Guiding as much as they do.

Spark J is working hard, selling cookies, earning badges and enjoying the opportunity to meet new people on her weekly adventure!

Here are the pictures of her investiture:

Many happy days to you SparkJ! Yummy cookies here we come.....

Vancouver 2010

Vancouver 2010

Last weekend we were lucky enough to head out Vancouver to take in some Olympic hockey!

I have been lucky enough to have traveled many different places in the world. This travel has helped me realize that I am one of the luckiest people in the world to live in Canada, and that it is but for the grace of God that I have been born in Canada. My travels to China to see the family home helped me truly understand that so many of our families have made difficult sacrifices to allow the dream of future generations to be Canadian, to have this amazing life in such a wonderful country!

My pride in being a Canadian, has been something that I have always tried to instil in the kids. The opportunity to go to Vancouver and see so many other people who are so proud of being a Canadian was AWESOME. The kids had the chance to make memories that I hope will last them a lifetime. I hope that they will be able to carry some of this pride with them all of their lives!

After a quick flight to Vancouver we headed down to Canada Hockey Place to see team Canada’s women play Slovakia. The atmosphere was electric! The sea of Canadian jerseys, the pride in our team, the amazing skill of the players and the joy in being there made for one of the best hockey games of our lives. While the score of 18 – 0 is controversial and its impact of woman’s hockey around the world, I can honestly tell you from being there that it score was not run up with malice. The Canadian woman played well, they scored often and that is what we expect at the Olympics. No one expects any other Olympic athlete to let up when they are ahead of their competition. GO CANADA GO

Sunday was Chinese New Year’s! To celebrate our family heritage we headed to the Imperial for dim sum after visiting the Olympic flame! The flame is beautiful. We were able to get some nice pictures of the flame and did not think twice about the fences protecting it. Imagine our surprise later in the week when we heard so many complaints about the access! Then again, maybe we were just happy to get there and see the flame; it is an opportunity of a lifetime.

We really enjoyed the festivities in downtown Vancouver. Seeing the skating rink in Robson Square, was fantastic for the kids after seeing it on television so many times. There are so many interesting things to see from artwork to buskers, it is truly a 24hr party in the streets. All of the people we encountered were so happy, helpful, joyous and filled with pride in their countries.

Then we were off to UBC Thunderbird Arena to watch Russia play Finland. The Russian fans at the game were hilarious! As the next hosts of the winter Olympics they already have their mascot and a strong presence in Vancouver. They had their drummer at the game to keep the Russian fans cheering, in fact BabyJ got in on cheering, Russ-see-yah, Russ-see-yah, with the Russian children behind us. What an awesome experience for the kids to see such pride in another country, a closer hockey game and such strong and powerful female hockey players!

Finland and Russia

Our time in Vancouver was fantastic! The Olympics are being run very well, we found things to go very smoothly considering the massive numbers of people at each event and there seemed to be people willing to help at every turn. Go CANADA, great job VANOC, congratulations to every athlete who has made it to Vancouver and especially to all of the Canadian athletes!

Enjoying the interactive street art!

The Olympic Rings from our hotel at night!

Imagine our final surprise in seeing BabyJ on the CTV news last night as part of a clip From Steven Brunt about "What these Games mean to Canada" and then finding out she is the link picture on the CTV website to video clip! http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/index.html?assetid=c77be4cf-cadc-4b7e-a095-b22d4b1ec96f  Our Canadian BabyJ shows her pride! GO CANADA GO!

BabyJ walking on Robson on Monday Morning!

Arriving in Grand Cayman and Christmas Eve Submarine Trip

As has become a family custom, we once again headed off to celebrate Christmas and BabyJ's birthday this year. In the past 8 years our Christmases have been spent in China (01), Home (02), Cayman (03), Home (04), Cayman (05 & 06), Cancun (07), and Home (08)! It is a wonderful chance to get away as a small family unit and truly spend the time together. As each year passes, we are able to try and see new things. While the adventures may get more exciting, the very best part is being with my family! Here is the lowdown on this year's Christmas Vacation:

December 22, 2009 we headed off for Grand Cayman via Toronto. Thankfully with all of the cold weather and associated flight delays we had an overnight in Toronto. After a slightly delayed arrival we were off to the Toronto Marriott and a festive dinner to celebrate the beginning of our vaction!

Arriving in Grand Cayman

In the morning we were up early and off to the airport for our flight to the island. From the moment we had Grand Cayman in our sights from the airplane windows, it felt like home, as though the time since we were last there was but a heartbeat! As soon as we got to the hotel we quickly headed out to the beach to make the most of the afternoon.

We played on the beach until the sun had set. Everyone had a great time getting our beach time rolling in the waves of fun! For dinner we hit our often dreamed about Chicken Chicken for roasted chicken and Caribbean cornbread.

Christmas Eve 2009 & Submarine Trip

Christmas Eve CubJ, BabyJ and I headed off for an Atlantis Submarine tour. While we were on our tour we enjoyed seeing the blue sights, several different types of coral, tropical fish, turtles, stingrays and a 2km drop off!

While riding the boat out to the sub we were able to watch DaddyJ turn green looking at us on the rocking boat, see some the the cruise ships and enjoy the coast line.

Normally this is an adventure that DaddyJ takes with the kids. This is the first year that I have been on the sub ride, and the first year both kids have gone together. It was a very interesting trip for me. I enjoyed how everything turned blue due to a lack of the waves of light being able to penetrate the water, how our red shirts looked gray, and of course the sushi menu, aka fish identification cards. It made me want to learn to scuba!

We wrapped up our interesting time in town with a fun lunch looking out over the harbour. Our server/bartender was from Vancouver and showed us a neat new trick for those drink umbrellas. At our restaurant they serve several different drinks relating to hurricanes, complete with representations of what an umbrella looks like after a hurricane. Needless to say we all had a good laugh and will never look at one the little drink umbrella's same way again!

After some fun on the beach we were off to one of our favourite restaurants, Cimboco. DaddyJ ate a full festive dinner of turkey, pork, stuffing, potatoes etc! The kids enjoyed their favourites, grilled cheese and pizza for CubJ and Mommy. Most of all, the kids enjoyed making pizza dough creations which were baked in the wood fired oven.

Christmas Day 2009 Grand Cayman Island

We woke up early on Christmas morning and started the day by opening presents! As always, Santa managed to find us all in Grand Cayman to fill our stockings. This year Cayman Santa even gave the kids some presents himself before our annual Christmas Day brunch.

After stuffing ourselves like the proverbial Christmas turkey, we headed off to the beach for a busy day of checking out the waves, the fish in the manmade coral reef off shore, and sand castle building.

All of that having fun had us ready for an early evening. In the hopes of keeping it simple we headed to the hotel lobby lounge for a light supper. Little did we know what a hit the tapas menu would be with BabyJ and CubJ. Our poor server nearly lost his hand as the kids dove into the calamari and shrimp before the plate was on the table! Thankfully, their ability to converse in French with our server seemed to redeem their barbaric caveman like ways.