It's that time of year! Jordy has "Stepped Up" to Kindergarten and will be in Stacey's class at CHSC this fall! Mommy and Cygni came to school on Step Up Day to show our support and hang out in Jordan's new class and meet his new teacher. Turns out that Stacey is Newfie, just like Nanny & Papa Charlie! She is even from Bishop's Falls, the next town over from Nanny's hometown! In the photo above, Stacey is holding the mic to Jordan to say his name; kind of a big deal, as Jordan never speaks out loud in a big group like this was, but he finally did it on Step Up Day! We are very proud of him for coming out of his shell even that little bit!
Cygni and Jordan have bananas at snack time!
While we were in Stacey's class, RBC came by with a donation to CHSC so we got to get in on the photo-op
On June 26th, the last day of school, we all said good bye to favourite teachers for the summer,
and got some hugs from Lisa and Helen, thanks for a good year!
And Jordy got a couple gifts in return! Lisa and Helen gave Jordan a photo album of some great pre-school moments at CHSC and an apron, with his name, as he helped to write it, embroidered on!
Then the kids all ate smoothie pops made by one of the classes before it was time for the big end-of-year talent show....
Some kids read a story, some sang, and one fellow even rode his scooter around! Jordan blew bubbles to Jennifer Gasoi's "I'm a Bubble." With a little help from his family of course! As we said above, Jordan is not much for public performance, but we are incredibly proud of him just for going up to the mic and saying, "My name is Jordan. I'm going to blow some bubbles." And then doing it!
A few days after the last day of school it was Canada Day! Mom and Dad felt that Jordy is finally at an age where he can handle staying up late to see fireworks, so Mommy and Jordan went to Port Coquitlam's Castle Park to partake of the Canada Day festivities. We had a grand time listening and dancing to music, blowing bubbles, eating mini-donuts and then for the piece de resistance, the pyrotechnics! We were pretty sure he would love them, and were not disappointed, he was transfixed!
He loved the big booms and then would put his hands out as if to catch the falling sparkles! This was very fun for Mommy to see him experiencing for the first time. And then when it was all over, he was amazingly patient waiting in the throngs of people to board the shuttle home. Thank you Jordan for a fun night!
Then, the next morning, guess what we did? We got in the car and drove to our favourite little hotel on our favourite little beach: The Bella Villa on Osoyoos Lake! We're determined to make this an annual pilgrimage. The kids love it and so do we. Cygni is happy to play in the sand and splash in the shoreline and you can hardly get Jordy out of the water at all, and of course, we love it for more than sentimental reasons as well! We got in some good R&R and look forward to going back next year! Who's in?
The view from our room
Jordan has always loved being in the water. Last year he wore the same yellow ring and spent most of his time jumping in the lake from the floating dock. This year he took it to a whole new level. He would wriggle the ring around his tummy and then proceed to swim everywhere! He uses his own doggy paddle technique but towards the end he was trying to emulate Daddy's breaststroke. The great part about Osoyoos lake is that it's very shallow, even 50 meters out, Jordan can still stand up. This is great for learning because he knows that if he makes a mistake swimming, he will be able to stand. Mom and Dad even got confident enough to let him swim and jump in by himself while they sat on the beach...and watched closely. This break from the lake was a necessity, really, because Jordan would be yelling "I want to swim in the lake!" by 8:00am which, yes, means that Mommy or Daddy were in the lake by 8:30am each day. Osoyoos lake is known for being the warmest lake in Canada, but try telling that to certain sensitive body parts at 8:30am! Typically Jordan would stay in for almost three hours, until it was time to get lunch or till he was bursting to go potty! All this early morning swimming meant that a nap was a MUST for the Little Dumer; the one day we didn't give him a nap after swimming lead to a complete meltdown at a local restaurant. We didn't make that mistake again. Other than that, things were great. Jordan would usually go back in the lake for round 2 from 2:30 to 5:00. We got lucky with the weather; it was quite warm (33C/92F) but it always clouded over in the afternoon so the warm air wasn't combined with blazing sun. Of course, both Little Dumers were covered in sunblock but Jordan still got lots of sun...his skin is almost as dark as Mommy's!
Water babies!
We got some glorious sunsets!
Mom & Dad managed to squeeze in a few visits to local wineries, these photos are of the amazing view at Burrowing Owl Estate in Osoyoos. It's tough touring with kids, but between being realistic (one, MAYBE two wineries max per day) and perfecting our tag-team technique (one parent hangs out in the car or outside with the kids to keep them from causing mayhem, while the other parent tastes wine, then switch!) we managed to experience a few different wineries and bring home a decent haul of vino!
Cygni liked the water, but more than anything she liked playing at sandcastles and cooking in the sand,
and of course, snuggling with Daddy.
More lovely sunsets!
Mommy's sillhouette against Lake Osoyoos
We got a gander at The Spotted Lake, which Mommy always thinks is cool to see. The "spots" are caused by minerals present in the water and the lake is sacred to the Okanagan Nation for its healing properties. Right now it's tough to get a good look at, but the signage indicates that an interpretive centre is being planned for the future.
Chris' family tradition was to go to mini-golf and get an ice cream at night. The Little Dumers aren't quite ready for a crowded mini-golf course... but we still get the ice cream! Jordy still prefers BLUE (bubble gum in this case) while Cygni will try other things like this birthday cake flavoured scoop! For those interested: Dad likes Tiger and Mom gets Peanut Butter Chocolate.
On our way home, we drove north along Lake Okanagan and made a couple of stops at wineries along the way. Unfortunately we were delayed by a rock-slide on Highway 97, just outside of Summerland! The road was reduced to single-lane alternating traffic so we were stuck at a snail's pace for about an hour. We hear from the news that there were two injuries and two vehicles were damaged, thankfully there have been no fatalities reported. Once we got through the slide, we'd like to say it was smooth sailing, but then we narrowly missed two multi-vehicle accidents on Highway 1 an hour from home. It was sheer luck, that we decided to make a pit stop and rather than get back on the highway the way we came, we took a slightly longer back route which allowed us to glimpse the huge back-up on the freeway, so we quickly changed routes and took Highway 9 through Harrison and onto Lougheed Highway, a longer but more scenic route, and despite getting home later than planned, we were happy for the enchanting detour. It's nice to see new things in your own backyard sometimes!
Rockslide on Hwy 97
Treats for Mommy & Daddy!
Our 2014 Osoyoos Trip was a success, everyone found some fun and enjoyment and we can hardly wait to return. In Jordan's words, "I want to go on vacation again!"
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