time on the island part one

every year we spend a few...maybe a few more than a few...days with my mom on the island. i'm pretty sure she waits with anticipation for us to come...and then for us to go home. we make her do the impossible, but she is joins us for every adventure, in fact she plans them herself.

day by day this is what it looks like to spend ten days with my mom.

saturday

we arrived in the early afternoon with enough time to have lunch with my grandparents and great uncle frank. lunch is always my favorite at this house, cheese biscuits, pickles, and tuna buns. we sat outside and played police man, dragging my 6"4 grandfather off to jail for being bad and then ran around the backyard trying to escape said man by crawling under the fence by the potted plants around the patio...my heart soon settled and we continued playing police man.

sunday

the beach called us by name. we walked the long trail by sitting lady falls to wittys beach. that's home for me, a place with many memories and stories. we packed a lunch and after playing, some of us ate like queens while others swatted bees, made sure plates were full and everyone was happy. we built sand castles, hunted for crabs, found a massive crab, played kitty in the sand, found out that my oldest would rather live with her nana, made (a bit of) fun of my mom, laughed pretty hard about it, continued building the sand castle, later jumped on the castle and then eventually, much later, we began our journey home.

monday

my mom took the girls "back to school" shopping. i thought about it later, really it is such a blessing to have someone in your life who cares enough to offer help in a small way (huge really), like offering to help you buy your kids some new fall clothes. a blessing. we couldn't do that on our own, at least not the way my mom provides. for that i want to say thank you. thank you for taking care of my kids in a manner that seems to excite you, for providing something simple yet so necessary. i think it is a quality that i saw come out in you more than ever before. you care for others, you protect them, you offer others care in a way that is far more than deserved.

tuesday

the museum. i had this idea in my head ever since we took the preschool group to the fort langley historical museum, and i was so excited about the potential to take the girls to the royal british columbia museum. so we went. with mouths opened wide and an exclamation of "wow" at the entrance to every exhibit we explored the museum. we took the girls to the imax show of "born to be wild" and sat with eyes glued to every moment...and hands full of crackers. it was amazing and beautiful. we explored the rest of the museum and sailed with captain george vancouver, panned for gold during the gold rush, visited the old town and sat to wait for the train. we discovered sea life from a submarine and experienced the ice age with a rather scary mammoth. kinda looking forward to the next time we can go.

wednesday

fort rod hill. one of those places that the girls can run, that they can learn (i think, i hope), that we can explore. we traveled here with our steady and true fort rod hill gang. this year we were able to watch a navel ship come into port from the light house, and it seemed to make the experience even more real. we explored the underground tunnels and maybe even preformed an act or two, maybe this was my highlight. we picked up beach rocks and shells and the girls were taught to collect things from their auntie shan.

the next few days and adventures are yet to come...

going back

i need to go back in time. there are some events that have yet to be recorded and i have a moment, right now, in the computer/pantry/storage room to take a minute and remember. lets start back in august. august long weekend actually.

what started out as a potential preschool campout at miss diane's lake turned into something else completely. and however painful some of the experiences were that others walked through around this time, i am thankful for the opportunities it gave us as friends and community to draw closer together, to support and encourage one another, to love and be loved by others. this for me was a turning point in our friendships. to see how greatly they cared for one another, to see the thanks that could find no words yet was written across faces, these were the moments that solidified my love. i don't easily say that i love someone, i find it a word that is passed so often it lacks any meaning. i am not one to go there, unless i mean it. if i tell you i love, know that it is true. know that it is a process, grown and tried, it is not just a word to me, it is not something you say to one you merely like, it has power and substance. and so, i began to love these women, their hearts, characters, joys and hurts. it is something that i hope our girls will find in friends one day, friends who stand by, pick up the slack and encourage one another to live better than they are.

all in all, the weekend was not something that needed to happen the way we thought it would. it couldn't. in the meantime, those lovely neighbors of ours, the kellers, invited us to return to the cabin at shuswap with them. and so we did. there was every family member there, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, other friends...and we just slid in as if we were supposed to be there. we were even close to winning the beanbag competition...well sort of. the captain took the girls on tube rides, we slept in the tent, we swam in the lake, ate like kings and queens, played cribbage (i did fairly well if i do say so myself...matt rode my coat tails), and laughed pretty hard alongside some really wonderful people. it was a blessing to be apart of their family (again) for the weekend.

chelly, penelope and i behind the boat scott, sophie and matt our dear friends, crazy but dear before the weekend was over, we headed back to langley, packed up the van for one last camp out and made our way to miss diane's lake with the daveys. we had a fire, sat together telling stories until too late and then woke to beautiful sunshine. we spent the day at the lake, swimming, running, having slurpees (a first for the girls) and just enjoying each other. we read in the shade of the trees on a blanket, it couldn't get much more perfect. the boys headed back to work on a deck and we joined them shortly after to have dinner together. this people mean the world to me, their kindness is one to strive after.

back home, we tucked the girls into bed and gave much thanks for the blessings we have received in life. really, we couldn't ask for much more.

two wheels

kind of a big day for us yesterday, sophie learned to ride a two wheeled bike.

she has been cruising for about a year now on a push bike, with her little radio in her basket she takes off down the the paths around the university. this summer, her friends came over and her buddy charlee was on a two wheeler...with peddles. it had not even really entered my mind to change it up to a peddle bike. the girls and i were on the island, and scott bought a new bike. after dinner last night we went to the laundry room which was hiding her bike. at first she was so excited, then seeing the peddles, she hesitated a little, "mom, i don't know if i can do peddles" we encouraged her to try. outside she was a little anxious, eyes on the ground and a little wobbly. i had scott run to the end of the path, i told her to keep her eyes on her daddy, she looked up, put her feet on the peddles and has not stopped riding since. she cruised around the "loop" where four students were playing sand volleyball, knowing us, they stopped their game and cheered on sophie as she rode past...are you kidding, what kid gets the encouragement of so many others. we came inside and she ran to look for chelly and emily who came outside to watch. then matt came home and took her out for a five minute bike date, just the two of them, they cruised the pathways of trinity western. it was a sweet night, reminded me of just how much i have to be thankful for, especially living here.

this morning, we rode again...she rang her bell and asked students to get out of her way...fearless really, not sure i would ask a whole gang of dudes, to move for me. penny rode with the radio this morning, first time, and sang her little heart out. the girls were taken to the cafeteria for popsicles by their buddy julia. and we start another year, so blessed.

dreams and reality

we have just come home from ten days on the island...ten intensive and full of adventure days. you think that maybe, just maybe the girls would want to sit, take a deep breath, play quietly with toys...well maybe you dream. instead i was just called into their room like this, "mom, mom, you have to come here" followed by an exuberant out burst of laughter. i pretty much ran...i know these girls a little too well. "look mom, pennys gummy got stuck up there." i look up, and attached to her doll house on top of her dresser is a gummy, stuck and wet looking. "how did it get up there girls?" i asked. "we threw it mom, first it got stuck on the ceiling, then we got it up there." said with much excitement, "see mom, look how we do it," the wet gummy is licked and then hurled from her hand to attach itself to some unsuspecting object in her room, insert massive outburst of laughter. "girls, you shouldn't throw your gummies, that's not okay" this is my reaction as i try not to giggle. "okay mom, we won't." i walk out, they quickly close the door behind me and all i hear is screams of joy and laughter...i have just returned from pulling a gummy off the ceiling...what the...?