We celebrated C over the weekend !  He doesn't want us to fuss but his family and I like to fuss over him.  3 days of excellent tasty food really put me in a food coma though.  We had ice cream for brunch on Sat.  The kids had 2 each !!!!!!!  sugar high !!!!  Then we had dinner at his parents with amazing dishes made by his mom and 2 sisters.  His dad did all the bbqing and deep frying.  It was a total family affair.  After our meal together, we sang the birthday song with Jules dancing to the tune, Bee blowing out the candles too early and C cutting and serving us cake !  It was delicioso !

Sunday was dinner with just our little family of 4 at C's favorite Greek restaurant.  Baby Love fell asleep on the ride there, leaving us 3 with a peaceful and enjoyable dinner !  We're not complaining :)  We did have a few  interruptions from Bee, who wants C to help decorate her Fluttershy's (My Little Pony) long hair during our meal but it was fine.  His patience and attentiveness with the girls are admirable.  I have very little patience for kiddies stuff like that, feed the dolls, comb their hair, decorate them, pretend they talk to each other, etc.  I'm better at craft, physical activities/games with the girls.  At least between us two we got the kids covered :D

After dinner we sat in our backyard and enjoy the last glow of the sun.  We really like being in our back yard.  Our garden is very fruitful this year, plenty of tomatoes, herbs, and cucumbers.  The carrots and beets are growing bigger by the day.  The highlight for me must be the figs !  The tree yield about 30 this year with about 50 that didn't get ripened.  Next summer is going to be a promising one !!!

the girls love playing with this slimy creature !

Monday came, C's actual birth date.  My mom suggested a dinner for him and my side of family.  She bought some huge prawns and let me do what I wish with them.  I lightly seasoned them with seasoning salt then brushed them with olive oil, garlic and rosemary then throw them on the bbq. They were heavenly delicious.  Baby love devoured 3 skewers on top of other fixings !  A record !

This weekend, we discovered C has a slight lactose intolerance.  It just happened.  In past couple of months, he noticed that after eating anything dairy they don't sit well in his tummy.  Poor thing because he loves cheese.

So for C's special day, I wanted to get him a cake, a dairy free cake.  I hope it's just the dairy and nothing else...we might have to go vegan !!!  Oh man.  I so don't want to.  Any who, since I work near Whole Food I thought I ask them if they have any dairy free cake and lo and behold, they have 1 chocolate one available.  I quickly napped it up and carried it home.

After dinner we sang the happy song to C !  Our girls and I were very excited to eat cake.  I want to know what dairy free chocolate cake tastes like.  They helped him blow out the candles and we proceed to cake cutting and eating.  It was chocolatey yummy tasty !  Very rich creamy chocolate taste and it doesn't taste like it lacks anything at all, like milk or butter.  I wonder what they substituted them with because the icing was heavenly.  Bee ate all her icing and asked to have mine !

I made a card for C and Bee made him a card and a box of gifts (little paper stuff she cut up and folded).  I wanted to get him shoes but all my searches have left me empty handed.  There's none I found that I think he would like (he's a picky one, that man).  I will have to delay my gift.

Another day, another cake, another year older.  We celebrate and cherish C.  My prayer for him this year is for the Lord to guide him and bless the work of his hands. Amen.

 

All Bee wants to wear recently is dress !!!  She picks out a dress everyday for school and some she repeats 3 days in a row.  I don't know what to make of it as she's a girl after all and I did buy her A LOT of dresses.  I just didn't think she would want to wear them everyday but every day she did.  She has shorts on underneath though :)  I see way too many kid's underwear (not intentionally of course) and I don't want mine to be one of them.  

 

Spent our 11th year anniversary with these kiddos.  We had a party at home with our friends the night before and today is just us 4.  We ate all our favorite food, wander around Steveston, ate some more then call it a day !  A perfect well spent day.  

We love being in the outdoor !  Camping is our must do every summer.  Lovebug went on her first camping trip when she was only 6 months old.  I brought along an Ergo carrier and a walker so I can be hands free.  We had such a great time.  If you plan to go with a baby, a playpen and a carrier is a must have.  Carrier is great for walk and hike, and the playpen is great for baby to nap or crawl around in at the campsite, freeing you up to do your own things.

The second thing that's dreadful while at camp is MOSQUITOES (first is Out House !!!!).  Them blood suckers love young meat :-(  If you're bringing baby and young kids, it's good to invest in a tent that's has a net room attached or buy a standalone net tent (bug tent).  You can get those spray on stuff but if it can be avoided it's better as they're not good on kids.

Here on the west coast, I like camping in Golden Ears and Sasquatch provincial parks.  They have beautiful lakes, lots of green spaces, are not too far from the city but far enough that cell phone doesn't work !  Booking has to be done 3 months in advance and they are usually all booked up during the first hour that registration is open.  The campground has some first come/first serve sites but it's a shoot in the dark.  I wouldn't attempt it with the kids along.  Reason is they will be too excited and if we can't secure a site then they will be disappointed then whined over it and we'll hear it the whole way back home.

Below are some pictures of us at Alouette Lake campground in Golden Ears.  We went in a group of 6 families !  Our site unfortunately have no shower so to keep cool and clean we go in the lake each day :-)  The kids had such a blast running around in the wood, climbing on tree stumps, swimming, boating and digging in the sand.  Us parents get to relax, eat, sit around, enjoy each other's companies and enjoy nature.  When we were there it was during fire banned time so we had lanterns & candles going at night, played charade and attempted to roast marshmallows on the candles.  Lots of laughter all around.  Camping is such a great time to bond.

Getting ready to go to the lake

Fish watching !  C caught some small fishes for the kids to look at (we released them after)

Getting ready for soccer !

Worse part of camp !  Out house !  Glad I brought mask along.



C emailed me at work and asked if I'm working Friday.  I told him I'm off and he told me he's going to take a day off work to take me out on an all day date !  I must say I was surprise and like always, a butterfly fleeting feeling in my tummy :)  I get happy at the thought of him.  Even though I see him every day and sleep next to him every night, every time we're meeting up or going somewhere together, I get this excited, nervous, anxious, happy feeling at the pit of my belly.  If I was meeting him for lunch I would scan the crowd and my heart just soar when I see him.  I don't know why, that's just how I feel.  Some people asked me how I maintained it, and honestly I don't know !!!  Perhaps we just spend a lot of time talking and being in each other's presence !  One of those, the longer we're together the deeper our love grow.  So sappy I know !  you can go vomit if you want :)  It's not like we don't have hardship, we do, but we often talk it out.  No hidden feeling or agenda or anything.  Full disclosure all.the.time.  We are very protected of us and our family so we don't let anything "off" go unnoticed. 

 



Hours spent talking at a quaint coffee/general store.  I love the old feeling/look of  this place, le Marche St. George.

This picture show my happy place in my house !  It's not a room or a space, just a table with all my favorite stuff on it.  Every time I walk by it, I can't help but smile and feel flooded with joy.  It's beautiful, the picture of my family drawn by Bee, the kids pictures, and my favorite flowers !  It takes so little to make me happy.

excited for school !

Lovebug's ecstatic that her sister is home from school

Bee started pre-school last week.  It was a stressful time for the both of us.  She doesn't like to be there and I'm constantly on the verge of wanting to run over and hold her and take her home with me.  She keeps on telling me how much she loves me and "I love your hair mommy !  I want to stay with your hair".  I have no idea what she's trying to convey...or not.  She might just simply want to be with my hair (???)....I don't understand.....

Bee did so well on the first day.  I took her to school and she quickly waved goodbye.  I must admit I was a bit disappointed that she's so quick to rid of me.  So lingering hug, speed kisses...nothing.  I even wondered why other moms keep on talking about first day of school and how their kids cry and all.  HA, my girl is so good.  I bragged about her to all those who asked.

When the 2nd day came, it all just goes downhill from then on til today :(  She didn't want to come in, she keeps on wiping her eyes from tears, she asks me to take her home with me, she screams, she fight to get out from the arms of the teacher......  She doesn't understand why I can't stay there with her forever.  It was heart breaking my friends, for both her and I.

Seeing Bee's tears pooling around her eyes when I dropped her off today shattered my heart.  I never knew dropping off kid at school can be this difficult.  I hear about it all the time.  I'm sure I scoffed at it many of times too.  Like, you're just dropping off a kid, what's the big deal ?  It's a HUGE deal.  For Bee it's a new learning curve, unfamiliar place, unfamiliar faces, new routines, new structures, new everything.  For me, it's the sadness of the realization she's her growing up, becoming independent, growing out of "home" care.  Then there's the anxiety of "is she happy?", how well would she adapt to the new environment, would she make new friends, does she like the activities there, are the teachers kind/patience/supportive ?  It's a mix bowl of emotions that I'm still trying to sort out and accept. 

Did I cry when I drop her off on her first day ?  No.  But I did feel this overwhelming sadness when I left the school.  Like a part of me is ripped away from me and I'm feeling the missing piece.  My baby is growing up.  She's no longer a baby.  She's going to be going to school from now on for the next 13 years.  When I call home at lunch, she won't be on the other line babbling to me about her day and asking if she can come to work with me :(  I'm so going to miss my mid day talk with her.  She's becoming a little girl.  I do want her to grow up and spread her wings but another part of me also want her to remain my baby.  It's complicated, this parenting business. 

Today is my last vacation day (took a week off to ease Bee into school) so I wanted to do something sweet for Bee.  She love cake and icing (mostly icing :) so I baked her a chocolate cake, cut into squares and decorated them with pink icing.  It was yummy, not too sweet at all.  Bee was excited and wanted a tea party.  I told her maybe we'll just have pink lemonade because it's really hot today.  She had two squares, ate all the icing and finished 60% of the cake.  She never finish the cake.  It's ok !  that's what I'm here for, finishing off her left overs.  I also permit myself to one square :)  There's 1/2 cup of butter in the icing and if I have to divide up the total icing to each square, one square has about 1 teaspoon of butter !!!  Until I'm more active, I have to watch out for my fat intake  :(

I also realized that I can't just take any day off and take her out or have an impromptu garden party.....she has a set schedule to follow.  I wonder if she even need to attend pre-school...plenty of kids are home until kindergarten :)  I know I know, she's not a baby no more, and I can't baby her forever....but when I think of her, she's my baby, forever my baby.