Look Who's Standing!

Emily has decided she would like to take in the world from a different vantage point. This is one of her first times pulling fully up to stand earlier this week. She loves standing at the fridge as it is the perfect height and there are a lot of things to get in to like a big box of peaches from the Okanagan.

This is only two days later and she has started to do a few sideways steps, hold on with one hand, or even try to go without hands. She is still a bit unsteady coming down so we have had to be on guard spotting her from behind.

Other new tricks include climbing on everything and trying to climb into the drawers, pulling everything out of cupboards or drawers and crawling all the way up the stairs. She is quickly moving from a baby to a toddler!

The Sunshine Coast

Here we are on the Ferry from the Vancouver area to the Sunshine Coast. Everyone liked the scenic ride, and the kids were delighted to discover there was a play area right on the boat.

Everyone wonders how we manage with 3 kids in the Passat. It is a tight squeeze, but there is constant entertainment for Emily with her brothers on either side of her. Here they are enjoying some delicious Terra bread brought from Vancouver. Bruce is the master packer to fit in all of our luggage in the car. I really should have gotten a car shot with the kayak and 2 bikes on the roof for you to get the full effect of how we are travelling.

Here is a photo of the house we stayed in and the rocky beach at low tide. If you look really closely Bruce is with Emily in the distance. We were right on Sargaent Bay, between Half Moon Bay and Sechelt, perfectly situated for kayaking and beachcombing. We spent just under a week here and then were able visit Chilliwack and Harrison Hot Springs to celebrate a family wedding. A perfect finale to our vacation!

Andrew's favorite beach discovery was the abundant supply of starfish.

The kids liked playing in the house and here Andrew is crawling along with Emily, pretending to be a puppy.

Bedtime stories atop the bunk bed were a special treat. Matthew requested "Tubby and the Lantern", one of my childhood favorites, just about every night.

We found out Emily was quite a good hiker, though technically she didn't touch ground with her feet, on an 8 km round trip hike to the Skookumchuck rapids.

The terrain and distance was no problem for Matthew. Andrew walked the trickier parts, but we did push him in a stroller on the easier terrain. Both boys were delighted by Ginger Cookies and Chocolate milk from the bakery at the end of the trail.

Here are the rapids for those who have not made it to see them yet.

Vancouver

We had a super fun week in Vancouver taking in the beach, local attractions, and eating so much good food. We were lucky to have some terrific visits with family and friends, though there is never enough time in the day with 3 kids to attend to. We even had people to take photos of all of us together, so here is a shot of us near Science World. Of course it is hard to get 5 people looking at the camera at the same time!

Andrew had the view of a fish in a tank at the Aquarium.

Matthew had a turn pretending to be a vet at one of the Aquarium's new hands on exhibits.

Feeding the ducks and Geese at Granville Island was a lot of fun for the boys.

They loved playing at the Granville Island spray park.

The Granville Island boat sandbox was a hit with all three children, and kept them busy for hours. They also had lots of sand play time on the beach near our place.

We all had a good time on a False Creek Water Taxi ride. Mind Your Head Emily!

Andrew got to try out being a turtle at Science World.

Matthew loved learning more about Science in a very interactive way!

Around in August

Here are the boys at the Creative Kids Museum yesterday. Matthew had done a day camp called "Viva Australia!" exploring the music, dance, visual art and theatre of one of our favorite places. He made some crafts including a rainstick and a rock adorned with dot painting. I wonder if somewhere across Australia this summer you'd be able to find a "Viva Canada!" camp!

The guys are working together on the watersprayer at the spraypark in Drumheller after a morning of looking at dinosaurs at the museum.

Matthew is smitten with the IPod, and tries to listen to it whenever he can. Of course at times while listening to it he may try to pull a school bus with the cord. He is truly half way between the teen years and preschool years !

Here is a nice shot of Andrew on the train at Heritage Park. He has become more of a train guy as of late.

Andrew also enjoys all the rides like the swings, the Whip and of course the Ferris Wheel.

Here is Emily at almost 10 months, stuck in the stroller again... some things never change.

Emily has started to be a real crawler now on her hands and knees. After a while she can resort to some commando crawling still, but is doing a big girl crawl for the most part.

Emily's favorite new trick is clapping up a storm. She delights in drawing everyone into the fun and gets quite the chorus going when everyone joins in the clapping with her.

This is likely the last update until after our next holiday, so check in again sometime in the last week of August for more photos.

Back in Calgary

This week we are back in Calgary. I am finally catching up on a few things...like updating the blog. If you are just checking in make sure you check out the last two entries for July which I also just posted to see some of our holiday photos.

We were lucky to go to a friend's Blue's Clues birthday party on the weekend. Here is Emily dressed up for the party.

Andrew liked going for a ride.

Matthew was having fun on the trampoline.

This week the boys are both in camp. Matthew is in a full dayAdventure Sports camp doing swimming, karate, rock climbing, camping skills and the like. Andrew is trying out a preschool arts camp. We are looking forward to taking in lots of fun local attractions on the long weekend coming up.