Crater Lake

Unpacking and organizing the house continues, and while there is still lots to do, everyone seems to be adjusting to the new digs!

 We took a break from the unpacking and went to Lake Gaston for Memorial Day weekend to see Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom. Aunt Tracy, Uncle Stan, Casey, and Garrett were in town, and Aunt Kelly also joined us. The cousins had lots of fun together during the beautiful weekend. Garrett is beginning to crawl and roll and is very smiley and cute, he is going to be on the move when we see him again in a month. Lily, Jack and Casey jumped right into lake activities - they rode the hot dog and Gladiator multiple times. Lily spent most of the weekend in the lake, on the slide, the island, or just swimming/diving around with her lake friend Ainsley. Jack loved the slide, jumping in, and pretend fishing. The exciting news is that Lily got up on water skis for the the first time! She was definitely nervous but after a few attempts she popped right up. Jack also rode the kneeboard like a pro. Overall, it was a fun weekend with lots of activity, some relaxation, and great family time!

 On Monday, Lily and Jack went to breakfast with Grandpa Maurice and then went to a local park for some playtime. Later in the day friends Debbie, Bill, Fisher and Stuart came over for a BBQ which was a lot of fun.

Today Lily and Jack returned to school, where Jack enjoyed his last class with his favorite music teacher Ms. Jan. Grandma Gail picked the kids up from school and took the kids for the first time to our new neighborhood pool for Lily to be assessed for swim team and to practice. She made the regular swim team - the Sun Devils - (opposed to the Little Devils) so she was excited about that. She will have practice every day from 5-5:30, and Jack will get to enjoy the rest of the pool which has a great 2-3 foot shallow end. Lily also continues to take tennis on Thursdays at the neighborhood tennis courts which will continue for another few weeks.

 Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend!
Enjoy the pics and video!



Out for a ride with Aunt Tracy.  Check out that hair (on Jack).


Jumping in ...


A little lippy before a ride.


Lily working on her paddle board technique.


Ready for some fishing off the pontoon boat.


Up on skis for the first time.


The next run.


Jack on the knee board.


Casey and Jack off on a paddle boat ride with Aunt Kelly and Bodie.


Having a snack.


Drinking some lake water from the slip and slide.


Too much fun!


The happy gang and friend Ainsley ready for a ride.  They all look very excited!


Grandparents and the gang.

Moving Out

It has been a long time since our last post and there is a lot to report.  The last three weeks have been a blur or activities, packing, moving and packing.  I think we have all just been focusing on the "next" activity in order to make it through the craziness.

So in a nutshell ... here is the last three weeks ...

We packed up the old house and moved into the new house.

We started unpacking the new house ... a slow process but much progress has been made over the past few days.

Lily and Jack have finished up soccer for the season.  Both had a great time during the season and plan on continuing in the fall.

We had multiple visits from Grandpa Maurice and Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom who were all helpful in the move process.  Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom were movers assistants and helped transport Lily's fragile Barbie Dreamhouse and some Legos.  Grandpa Maurice came through a vacuum cleaner and took a nice walk with Lily this past weekend so they could explore the new neighborhood.  They made an interesting find nearby of a house with two real firetrucks ... I am sure we will be back to visit those with Jack in the next couple of days.

We had a chance to visit with Great Uncle Simon who was in town for a visit.

Marcy had strep throat for a few days - she did not feel well for an entire weekend and Mother's Day was very subdued this year.  We will try again next year!

This past weekend we had a great visit from Aunt Donna and Uncle Stephen who came down this weekend to help us unpack and visit.  They were house guests in a house of chaos but they really helped us bring order to the mess.  They helped us unpack multiple rooms - including many toys.  They helped us organize - the kitchen and garage and linen closet among others.  A patio set was purchased and put together!  Overall, a huge help and much appreciated working visit.

So since we are not all set up, we don't have all our pictures available.  Here are two and we hope to be up and running soon.


Grandpa Tom took this one of Lily, Marley, Maddy and Pierce on the last day at the bus stop while living in the old neighborhood.


Lily in front of the neighborhood fire trucks.


Jack watching Lily's soccer game.


Lily getting her medal after a successful season.

Hiatus

We will be back with more posts once the move is complete. There is just too much going on right now. Besides we managed not to take a single picture this week!

Rapper's Delight

Alright, so we never got to last week's post but here is a brief overview of the last two weeks.

Lots going on with new house and getting ready to vacate the old house. We had a couple of nice dinners with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom. We also had a couple of nice dinners with Grandpa Maurice who is back in town with Grandma Phyllis.

We had some soccer ... some play dates with friends ... lots of playoff hockey watching ... a hike in the woods ... two school performances (one by Lily and one by Jack) ... and I am sure a lot more but it is slipping my mind at this late hour.

Happy birthday wishes this week to Aunt Tracy and cousin Casey. Belated birthday wishes to Great Uncle Strpehn. Sorry we couldn't be there to celebrate with you!

We will endeavor to do better next week but here are some pictures and videos of each performance from last week ...


Ready to hike ... this walk kind of turned into a disaster as Jack melted down about four times. He kept falling because he insisted on running ... then he would blame someone else for his fall ...


Looking for bugs ... both kids wore their new camelbacks and managed to drink all of their water in about half an hour ...about half an hour ...


Looking for a walking stick ...


Working on an arts and crafts project from Chickadee magazine - thanks for the gift Great Uncle Simon and Great Aunt Ruby.


Legos, popcorn, a hockey game with a foam hockey stick hat ... a perfect rainy weekend day.


Jack standing on the coach for the thousandth time that afternoon.


Ready for his performance with his friend Oliver right in front.


Banging away ...


A picture of Lily taking a picture of Jack.


Lily's turn to perform with her class.


Heading up to the stage.

The show.

The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight

Late blog night ... so here are the highlights of the week.

Tuesday - Visit from Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom and a visit to the new house to get the lowdown on how things work from the current owner. We close on Friday and move in a month ... busy times.

Thursday - piano lessons for Lily.

Friday - movie night. Pizza and Hop.

Saturday - Lily had her first sleep over. Lily and Maddie went to the movies with their mothers - Mirror Mirror - and then the girls came back for a sleepover. The girls stayed up a little bit late but not too late! While they were out to dinner, Jack and I headed out for dinner and a round of mini golf. Everyone had a great time.

Sunday - Marcy whipped up a home made breakfast for the girls. Jack and I went out to run some errands and the girls played for a bit and had a lemonade stand. Can't say there were many customers but the effort was there. We finished Sunday up with soccer for both Lily and Jack and then headed over Grandpa Tom and Grandma Gail's house to celebrate Tom's birthday.

That's all for now. See you next week.


Ready for bed.


Sunday morning breakfast.


The stand.


The goodbye.


Lily and the purple hearts.


Jack warming up.


With the birthday boy.

On to the pics ...