Spring Done Sprung!

My apologies!  I know I haven't blogged in ages, but we have been busy around here.  I'm so backlogged that I can't even really write a whole lot to accompany the slew of photos I am going to post.  I think I am just going to have to be satisfied with a few wordy captions here and there!  So here we go....

The last time I posted was in early February.  We had an AMAZINGLY mild and sunny February! The weather was one of the reasons we didn't blog; we were just too busy playing outside.

We did a little bird nest spotting!

And took a couple of picturesque drives, below is the daytime moon 

over part of the Golden Ears range

 Jordan got to enjoy his first cup of coffee with Dad

 And Cygni took a little time out to sniff the early bloomers

 Check out our little Valentines....

The OTHER reason why we didn't blog a whole lot in February is that we were all sick...  a LOT!
Jordan missed so much school in February due to illness.  I could swear we were sick more days than we were healthy between Christmas and March!  One bout of nasty coughing just after Valentine's Day landing me at the ER with Jordy at 3am.  Turns out is was yet another case of croup gone wild.  You may recall another time croup brought us to the ER four years ago!  The Doc had Jordan on the nebulizer for a steroid to calm the inflammation and we left at about 6 am.  Not fun!

We were able to get a little fresh air for a few days, do a little exploring and play with Nolan...

...But then we all got sick AGAIN literally days later!

But just when I thought we may never be well again, our nasal passages cleared and we could carry on a conversation without coughing.  We were even afforded yet more sunny days to enjoy in a healthy state.  We played around in Stanley Park, building sandcastles and splashing at the beach and then hitting up the playground.

 I call this "Anatomy of a Splash"

Wow, adequate lung capacity for tree climbing!

And have a look at these little daredevils!

When Spring Break rolled around, Chris and I decided that we needed a little change of scenery.  So, much  like last year, we booked a cabin for a couple of days.  This year we stayed at a Family owned place near Cultus Lake, about a hour drive East of us, near Chilliwack.  

The place we stayed was the Forest Echoes Cabins 

and the name of our unit was Heron Cabin, 

but I quickly re-dubbed it The Ladybug Cabin, because of an abundance of these!

We didn't have the driest weather, but there were enough breaks to go out and play a bit, 

and even wander around the lake shore tossing in rocks, or in Jordy's case boulders!

The kiddos were simply excited to sleep in a different house and have a little break.  

It did us all a bit of good!

Of course, a few weekends ago we partook of the Easter Festivities.  I had a great time lending a hand again this year at CHSC's egg hunt.  The Thursday before the Easter weekend, I got to stuff eggs and help Mr. Bunny to hide them, it was a lot of fun!  Cygni and Jordan were among the first to collect their allotted number of eggs.

After the hunt, we headed to Dad's work to get our photo with THE Bunny himself!

Then on Good Friday, we coloured eggs with Cousin Isabella.

It does appear that despite numerous threats to the contrary over naughty behaviour,

The Bunny did deliver some goodies in the end. 

What a NICE fellow!

Though not quite as much as last year, I have to admit.  So be good, boys and girls!

There were also some treats from Grandfolks and Aunties and Uncles.  Thanks everyone!

Of course, at this point the Dumaresq Egg Hunt has become an annual tradition!  So we invited Cousin Isabella and the neighbour kids Bianca and Daniel to join The Little Dumers in hunting eggs. These kids are getting pretty sharp though, not sure what we are going to have to do to take it up a notch next year, as our back yard isn't very big....  Still, everyone found some eggs and had a grand time.  We even served brunch and mimosas then had a big Ham Feast later that evening as well!  It was a great Easter!

We got lucky and enjoyed a gorgeous sun-drenched Easter Sunday! 

It was even (dare I say it?) warm in the sunlight!

Easter Monday was a workday for Dad, but Jordy had school off, so we needed to find something fun to do.  And fortunately the Mum of one of Jordy's school-mates texted me to see if we could get together.  I am so glad we did because we had a great time at the Burnaby Miniature Railway, where we went on TWO rides on the mini-locomotives.  We then played at the park for a little while, and I took Jordy and Cygni for their first ever root beer floats!  We chased all that that with another big Ham dinner at our friend Cindi's house.  That's Nolan's Mommy.  They were out of town for Easter, so we had a belated Easter Feast there, slash birthday, slash retirement party for our mutual family friend Naomi.  The kids do not really understand the concept of retirement, but I think they are happy to celebrate it with her anyhow, because it means they will get to see more of Naomi, whom they adore because she loves to play!  Unlike Mom and Dad who are nearly always too tired. Congratulations and Happy Birthday, Naomi!

 I just had to include this selfie because it cracks me up!

Five Pin Bowling with the kids!

 A few weekends ago, we went to a birthday party at the bowling alley and both kids were much more fun about this activity than they had been before.  Jordy has enjoyed himself so much that he said he now wanted to have his birthday party there too.  Thank goodness because it is much more reasonable a proposition than his original idea of Chuck E. Cheese's!  At any rate, my experience with the kids at that party, showed me that bowling could now be safely considered a fun family outing.  So we took them out the the local bowling alley today!  And Jordan beat us all!