July

July was a month of fun! Of course July started with the end of the Katrina visit, which I'm sure you read about. If not you can click here!
The very next week I turned thirty. Arrgh!
It was a fun day of hanging with my boys. We went shopping where the boys picked out things for my birthday dinner (aparently this isn't what you're meant to do when you live with people, it's probably actually considered rude... but I'm so used to throwing myself a party every year it was a hard habit to lose). The boys picked out: a #30 candle, pretty colourful candles, pink balloons and mickey mouse plates. hehe so thoughtful! They also wanted to get me angry bird napkins and a dora pinata...but the budget didn't stretch that far.
We then went to the water park. It was almost 30 degrees and super sunny! My first ever summer birthday! It was fun!
As we were leaving the water park to head home I ran the stroller into the gutter and the wheel fell off... it wasn't meant to do that. After a little bit of a cry, some panicked texts to Cristal & also some laughter when the boys asked me in all seriousness "Kaye, was that part of the plan? Because I don't think it was a good plan!" we headed home. I didn't trust the 3 wheeler stroller with the 2 year old in it, but it was still helpful for carrying the million swim related things, library books, shopping & diaper bag things, so J had to ride his balance bike...eek!

It is about 2km home from the water park & the trip included a steep hill, which was the point when J "needed a hug" (ie can you please carry me up the hill while you push the stroller in the crazy heat?). At the top of the hill E decided we needed to stop for a picnic "Kaye was this a good plan? Your plan wasn't a good plan when you broke the stroller, but this is a good plan". So cute! I was so blessed to spend the day with these kids!
Cristal and Ryan bought me Mary Poppins tickets!!!!!!!!!! And Cristal made me 4 layered chocolate cake! Mmmm so tasty!
My birthday was extra special by my friends & family who sent me/brought me/skyped me/facebooked me presents and special messages (and ate my birthday cake in front of me...thanks family :-) )! Thanks lovely people! I really have amazing people in my life!

The very next day I spent 6 hours on public transport - bus, train, bus, bus, ferry & bus to get to Victoria on Vancouver Island! I spent the afternoon in a zodiac boat on an orca whale tour. Oh my goodness! It was amazing! I have been on so many dolphin tours where you might see a dolphin in the distance (or none - remember that day Leah?), but this tour! Wow! There were so many orcas! One whale even did 3 full breaches in front of us which is very rare, he then bobbed up right next to our boat! Seriously he was like 3 metres away. And huge! I had goosebumps! (If only I was better at capturing whales on my camera...you will just have to see it for yourself!) |

I stayed on Vancouver Island with my relatives Jackee and Larry, who you may remember from Christmas. They also have a cute pup these days names Max.
It was so good to spend some more time with them! Jackee was a fabulous tour guide and showed me lots of fun things on the Island. We went to Fort Rodd Hill & Fisgard Lighthouse. Both of these are set up really well with interesting displays. The Lighthouse was super cute. & the Fort had a plotting room. I think every building should have a plotting room for plotting and scheming... mwhahaha. We spent that afternoon with Jackee's grandkids. It was fun to hang with Sydney again. She showed me...everything! ha I love that about little kids!
The next day we drove north with Jackee's grand-daughter and her friend. We visited Port Alberni & the amazing huge trees of Cathedral Grove. On the way back we stopped at Coombs, which is famous for its "goats on the roof" - a shop/restaurant/market that is famous for being covered in lawn and being home to a bunch of roof dwelling goats! Such a crazy sight! We ate a bit of lunch and bought presents for my boys. We also stopped at Nanaimo so we could eat Nanaimo bars!
It was a brief visit, 3 days, but it was lovely to spend time with them both, I am so grateful for their hospitality! And for the stash of craft supplies Jackee sent me home with! So many craft supplies! We will be in craft for the rest of the year & probably beyond then!


Back in Langley I had a few days on my own while the family was away.
One of these nights was Mary Poppins! I went with my fun friend Anita! It was brilliant!!! Oh I love that musical! And Anita bought me fancy dinner for my birthday at a restaurant that had tvs on the back of the toilet doors. (also I had cute stick on nail polish thanks to my twin)

The next day I hired a car and drove to America. It's not actually to far to drive to America and the trip should have taken less time then I spent on public transport getting to Victoria... but of course I got stuck at the border crossing for 2 hours. bleh!
The purpose of this trip was to catch up with Mrs Steen, who was my Year 11 English teacher back in 1998. She was an exchange teacher and one of the 5 most influential teachers of my school days. It was so lovely to spend time with her! We talked school and education and kids late into the night! Her and her husband were ridiculously hospitable, like chocolates on the pillow & parfait and beef tenderloins for breakfast!
She lives in the Yakima area which is in South East Washington State. The landscape was so different to the coastal rainforests! There weren't trees. The ground was brown and the weather was hot and dry. But it was beautiful! It was great to see the sights - like the mural town, the Yakama people's museum, the Mary Hill museum, the Stonehenge & we even popped over to Oregon so I could say "I've been to Oregon!"


When I got back to Canada it was so good to see my boys again! E didn't let go of me for the first hour! Oh I love those kids!
Here are few other highlights from July...

I went to the Creature Care open day - it's a place that cares for native animals that have been injured or orphaned. 
E drew this rainbow for me while they were on vacation.

I got cute new pyjama pants thanks to birthday money from mum and grandma! (and dad and pa)


I labelled all of the boys' toys. I get bored sometimes when I'm home alone.

The boys painted the cat masks I bought them at the goats on a roof store.
L's is half cheetah, half caracal (I had never heard of a caracal until this year. Thanks Wild Kratts)
E's is a "white tiger"
& J's is a "howling mouse" from a game the boys play on Cristal's phone.
Cute Cute Cute.













Cristal and Ryan had their 13th wedding anniversary so the boys and I decorated with lace (13th wedding anniversary = lace anniversary) and the boys made magnets. I love the pun L came up with! He is a tad Angry Birds obsessed...

We decorated the front window for the Olympics! (Katrina was there when we made the rings!)
Things that are hard to draw properly = maple leaves, stars. Our window was the prettiest in the whole street! (and also the only decorated one, pfft!)

Lots of bike rides!
It's been so fun to have all three boys off for summer holidays (it's less than 3 weeks till they go back to school). We have done a lot of bike riding! They are so good on their bikes. I can't believe how fast J is on that balance bike & I love that he needed to put it in the rack with his big brothers' bikes.

So there you have it. A post about things I did. Maybe you got bored, but it was fun for me to look back at the fun that was had. This year is going ridiculously fast! I can't believe I'll be home in 5 months. Well 5 months tomorrow. The days are even starting to get shorter again... today it was even dark by 9:15! that's crazy!

Anyway, keep in touch! I miss you!

That Time Katrina Came (part 2)

So. (if you haven't read part 1 this may not make as much sense... read it here if you want to)

After we saw bears we continued to Lake Louise! We ate dinner and I emailed Louise (because you have to when you're at Lake Louise) and we lamented a little about the fact we had to walk across the hallway to use the showers.

The next morning was LAKE LOUISE DAY! This is one of those places I have wanted to go ever since I knew it existed! It's sooo pretty! The silt from the glacier water gives it its blue colour which is gorgeous! We could've canoed for a ridiculous amount of money, but instead we took the advice of the hostel desk girl & did the 3.4km "walk to the Agnes Lake Teahouse" bahahaha! This is on the list of easy walks...ahem. It wasn't easy. We nearly died. Well not quite as much as I nearly died that time in Edmonton...but it was uphill the WHOLE way and at a high altitude. It was tricky. Other people on the walk had walking sticks (like ski poles really), hiking shoes, bear bells & water.
We didn't.
Silly Aussies!

Was it worth it? YES! On the way up we got absolutely gorgeous views of Lake Louise, saw a smaller version named Mirror Lake & then at the top we met Lake Agnes (sometimes Lake is at the start of the name and sometimes at the end... I don't know the rules about that). There was still snow and ice up there (and a chipmunk)!! We sat for a while, while we remembered how to breathe. Meanwhile some grannies powered past us to higher heights & some CRAZY Brits (I think they were Brits...but maybe I'm making that bit up) waded into the lake as promptly lost the feeling in their legs. Oh boys!



The teahouse up there gets one helicopter delivery per year, the rest of the supplies and the garbage are hiked up and down by the workers. Despite this they have a very large selection of teas (of which we had none). So if you happen to be in the area and would like a fancy tea...

After our descent back to Lake Louise, we drove to Moraine Lake. We had learnt the day before that a moraine is the mounds of dirt and debris that are formed by the force of a glacier. So maybe that's how this lake was formed... we only stopped there for a few minutes because it was really windy and a bit cold and our legs still felt a little bit like falling off after our tea house adventure and we also hadn't eaten lunch. It was REALLY pretty though! A different blue to Lake Louise... bluer I think, rather than the turquoise of Louise... it would've been nice to hang there a little longer, but we didn't.

We ate some lunch.

We ended the day with a drive to Banff for some Spaghetti & then hit our hostel in Canmore.
The hostel was nice, we even had secret curtains on our beds, so we could hide in our own little forts. We also had mountain views from our window! Arrgh I love the mountains!
The secret that we didn't know, though, was that the train line was directly behind our room. haha. Location, location, location!
We vibered John Lucas and skyped Simone... and thus ended that day.

The very next day we spent in Calgary. I have decided that Calgary is not my favourite place to drive. They have some weird rules and road lines and such that were new to me... we avoided (causing) two accidents.
We managed to find the Olympic Park from the 1984 Winter Olympics. Of course I don't remember these particular games, and Katrina was yet to be born, but this was the Olympics made famous by the Jamaican Bob Sled team (which you may remember from the movie Cool Runnings). We tried to find the Olympic Museum... but it seemed to be hiding, so we just got a photo in a bobsled and hopped back on the road with our pocket map.

Using our 5-by-10cm map Katrina managed to navigate us to downtown Calgary. In the spirit of Mindy's & my quest to see every fort in the world and because we had a voucher, we stopped at Fort Calgary. I think this is my favourite fort so far (sorry you weren't there Mindy). The displays were awesome! Such attention to detail. We got to dress up as mounties and paint plaster bison as part of an art installation! We found another Aussie bison for ours to be friends with.

We then decided we needed to get an animal fix, having not yet seen a moose (or a mousse :P) we headed to the Calgary Zoo.
Unfortunately there were no moose at the zoo.
We did see bears, prairie dogs, bison and these crazy animals called musk ox. Musk ox look a little bit like a skinny cow wearing a ridiculously huge furry coat. Ha I liked them.

I think mostly we then ate pizza and watched Big Bang Theory and Katrina wrote in her journal... maybe I would remember more about what we did if I had kept a journal.



The next day (it was Saturday, incase you're wondering) we ate Timmy's bagels for breakfast (we also did that a few other times...they are good!) & headed up to the Hot Springs. On the way we took a photo of the Fairmont Hotel, where my parents stayed in May...so fancy! The hot springs I swam in were mostly just a pool fed with warm spring water. It was nice! An old guy there had been in the water too long and was having heart palpitations. I think he survived.

Most of the day rained. But that was okay because we drove all day! We were going to stop at Johnston Canyon, but it was raining and we also didn't like the idea of walking having lost faith in Banff's rating of their "easy" hikes. Next time gadget.
We stopped at Emerald Lake, which was pretty. They even had flower baskets hanging from the bridges. Canada likes flower baskets.

We ate A&W. I have decided A&W have the best cheeseburgers.
Don't tell McDonald's I said that.
Eventually we arrived at Revelstoke!
We were so blessed, because Cristal and Ryan own a condo in a fancy hotel up there right on the ski fields & they liked us enough to let us stay. EVERYTHING was soooo fancy! I felt very under-dressed and didn't want to touch anything. It was all so pretty! And there was free lipbalm!

July 1st was CANADA DAY! Luckily we came prepared with our matching shirts and tattoos! Nothing was open in downtown Revelstoke so we had to eat Maccas pancakes!
The day was a driving day. Katrina even drove a bit! (there is video evidence somewhere)
We got home sometime in the afternoon & took a stroll through the trails with the dog. Eventually my boys got home! It was so lovely to see them again!!!! Oh I missed those kids. And they loved Katriny straight away.
When it got dark (at like 10pm) Katriny, Cristal and I played with the 70cm sparklers! Cos that's what you do on Canada day... well that's what I decided when I saw them.

Our final road trip day included returning Harold Henry to Vancouver. On the way we stopped at Maxim's bakery. Probably named after Katrina's nephew. Then we were shouted an amazing lunch by Sue, our principal, who just happened to be in Vancouver that day... as you do. It was lovely to catch up with her and hear the happenings of back home.
After lunch we drove around Stanley Park (it was raining) & were stopped by the traffic police and a convoy of buses. Apparently the Prime Minister was in town... I'm not sure why he needs 4 buses... but that was a bit exciting. It was more exciting later when we saw them again (well I did, Katriny was having ATM dramas and missed the whole event) at a major intersection downtown, where they stopped traffic in all directions with whistles and waving and motor bikes and pomp and drama. It was fun!!!

We also spent some time being tourists in Gastown. I found some cute artworks that I like and also fell over when I was crossing the road.

We public transported home and watched the Bachelorette while minding the boys (it was the one with the home visits).

Hmm is this post too long? Probably.

Ok quick summary of the rest of the week....
We minded the boys for the next few days. Our biggest adventure was a trip to Fort Langley - a 5 minute bus ride. The boys loved running around the fort. I love the way the workers just act like they live there and include the kids in activities they are doing - like weeding the garden and feeding the pigs. We bought Katrina her first ever Nanaimo bar and then walked down to the old railway station. A guy there gave us a personal, very animated, tour around the place even though it was not officially opening hours!

 We ate cranberries and bought the boys pin wheels (it was just a pin wheel kind of day).

On our last night of fun together we had dinner with the lovely Snellgroves...who of course happened to be in Vancouver this week too... seriously, everyone was in Vancouver that week!

It was sad to drop Katriny at the airport after such a fun visit!
Thanks so much for spending your school holidays over here Katriny & for coming on a crazy adventure with me! You are amazing (and really good at pretend scared faces)

That Time Katrina Came (part 1)

So. Today is the last day of July... so it's about time I wrote about the time Katrina came to visit in June. Arghh! I'm sorry for the lateness. I have had computer dramas, and have also been busy holidaying (more on that in another month or two...or hopefully sooner!). Okay, let's begin...

Way back at the end of June, Lovely Katrina came to visit! I still can't believe she travelled all this way to hang out for 11 days. We definitely made the most of our 11 days.

Around 8am I fetched her from the airport, within the next few hours she had a fantastic introduction to Vancouver's public transport system as we made our way to Grouse Mountain via train, ferry & bus. We made it just in time for our Ziplining adventure! It was a lot of fun zipping across valleys. The views up there were incredible. Such a great start to our adventure.
The bus dropped us at the Capilano Suspension Bridge on the way back down the mountain. Wow this place is busier in summer! When I went in winter I was the only person on the cliff walk, but at this time of the year wow! There are people by the bus-load arriving constantly! It was pretty though, and fun walking through the tree tops.
We ate poutine for dinner (for you twin) at a place where you can buy a $100 hot dog (if you call 12 hours in advance). We ended the day watching the Bachelorette... back when I was sure Jef with one f was not going to be around much longer.


The next day we met Harold Henry the Hyundai (which you prounounce hun-day over here) who joined us for our road trip! We stopped at White Spot for lunch in Kamloops & got to Valemount by dinner time, clocking up nearly 700kms... which was more than I had driven in the previous 6 months. We B&B'ed it in Valemount. It was a super cute little town, with really wide roads, a giant cup, a really cool sign & surrounded on 4 sides by mountains! I think they had 2 ATMs, but no one had eftpos (mostly because they don't know what 'eftpos' is in Canada, but they also didn't have 'debit' which is the same thing). And they were having a water issue because of the flooding, so we had to drink bottled water.

The B&B owners cooked us up a big English breakfast. Mmmm!
We did alot the next day. Alot Alot Alot.
We started by trying to see Mount Robson, which is apparently really impressive... but it was hiding behind cloud cover, so we took photos in front of the poster on the wall.
We then crossed into Alberta & entered Jasper National Park (warning: this costs money). We found the Maligne Canyon and were awestruck! The canyon is so deep & the water moves so fast. As with most of the things we saw that day, photos don't do it justice! On our way back into town we saw some...animals. We couldn't decide if they were deer or moose... they weren't. They were elk.
After lunch we headed down the Icefields Parkway. I am fairly sure Katrina got sick of me getting excited every time I spotted a mountain. You have not seen mountains until you have been on that road! They are HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE! And beautiful!

We stopped off at the Athabasca Falls. Wow! Again! Wow! The falls move so fast! It's like a mini Niagara Falls, but less touristy & you can get closer to the falls (without paying money I mean). We walked down through the old channel that the river used to use before it carved a new path. Water is so powerful!

We forgot to change our clock forward an hour when we reached Alberta, so when we got to the Columbia Icefields at 3:45 it was actually quarter to five... luckily we weren't too late for a trip onto a glacier! We road in one of those bus things with the big wheels (I forget what they are called) down onto the Athabasca Glacier. It was cold...we didn't dress warm enough for this adventure. It was amazing to be standing on it though! AND I tasted the glacier water... my fingers almost fell off, but I can say I tasted glacier water.


Just as we had given up all hope of seeing anymore wildlife beside the road (we had seen the elk, another elk and some sheep/goats (it's really hard to tell the difference between sheep and goats here)) we spotted a convoy parked on the side of the highway... and there was a little grizzly bear! Sooo cute! I wanted to hug him! After he wandered off we started to drive on, but there were cars pulled over another few hundred metres up the road... yep another bear! It was a black bear this time, with a cute little cub! It was crazy to be so close to bears! Real bears!!

Ok... I need to pause here because I am taking the boys on an adventure in the morning (we're going to Science World AND catching a train from there into the city for lunch...don't tell them though because it's a surprise! At the moment they think we are going to the ballet & then robbing a bank...long story) and I need to sleep... but feel a little bit updated, part 2 coming...sometime! I already have the photos ready to upload!

A Few Fun Things

Hello again my neglected blog!

Next week Katriny is going to be here and we are heading on a grand adventure to the mountains. So before that has already happened, I need to update you on the last few months.

In the last 2 months and 2 days...

- I have continued to look after three super cute boys (& also sometimes, like today, the girls across the street). They are so fun! I really love hanging with them!
Mr Almost 8 can talk about animals, angry birds or lemmings (remember that game from the early 90s? yep I got them addicted) endlessly. Like literally endlessly.
It's been fun to watch him play baseball this season. His team made it to the grand final & came in as the silver medalists. Sport here seems pretty intense - for baseball he would usually have 2 practices and 2 games a week, sometimes more & in hockey season he even has 6am practices. Is that normal at a 7 year old level? I'm not a mum so maybe it is, just seems like a lot.

Mr 5 is getting ready for Kindy. He has 2 weeks left of pre-school and then starts Kindergarten in September. I'm so impressed with the preschool he goes to. The stuff he gets taught there is amazing! Preschool here is half-days & Kindergarten used to be too - this September will be the first time all BC schools have full-day kindy! It's interesting to see parents' reactions to that, when it's been normal at home for...well I don't know how long, longer than my life.
A few weeks ago E and I went on an adventure to the Vancouver Aquarium & Grouse Mountain for the day. It was so fun! I mean I went to the same places with my family and really enjoyed it, but when you have a five year old who is so excited to see frogs and fish and hagfish (look these up. they are grossssss!) that he can't stop bouncing, it makes the day feel like Christmas! I even surprised him with a trip on the Miniature train & lunch at Subway. Best. Nanny. Ever. ha not really. but it was so fun! 

Mr 2 is learning to use the potty. It's exciting times.
He is super smart. It amazes me the connections he makes between things! (Which of course I can't think of any off the top of my head... but just trust me) He has a crazy big vocabulary & so much energy. He is also super cute. If you ask him how old he is he will tell you he's 5. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's one of the big boys. He is learning to ride on one of those balance bikes. Sooo cute! He is pretty fast when he's focused. The problem with being two, though, is that life is never about the destination, but rather the journey. (not always a problem, unless you have a deadline, dinner to cook, 2 big brothers waiting or it's raining) Any flower, leaf, bug, sign, car, drain, um those metal box things that have cables in them, puppy, person, driveway, piece of garbage or other interesting thing must be stopped for, admired & discussed before moving on (and there seems to be no rushing this process).

Other things of significance:

Mum, Dad and Lauren stopped by a month a go (a month tomorrow actually). It was really lovely to see them & spend some time in Vancouver with them!
We checked out Gastown and Chinatown, went to Grouse Mountain to see the bears & the view of Vancouver, visited the belugas at the aquarium (& Jack the Harbour Porpoise. He is my favourite).
We spent a day in Langley, so I could show off where I live & the Fort. And my families got to meet.
Mum & dad are heaps more posh these days after their Fairmont, 5 star treatment adventure. I hope they are coping back in normal life.

After mum and dad left, Lauren and I spent a few more days in downtown, we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge & did the seawall bike ride around Stanley Park. The weather was strangely really good while they were here! It was so nice to explore Canada with them all!

I went to Seattle.
I got to hang with the lovely Mindy again for a weekend. I'm sad that Mindy is moving to Mexico, because it's been so fun to have someone to visit in Seattle! We watched Men in Black 1 & 3. Ate at a drive IN restaurant (oh that was fun!). Got our toe nails painted really pretty (mine still look cute!), saw a waterfall & watched a baseball game! America was REALLY American that weekend, it was Memorial Day weekend. They were even more patriotic than usual. AND at the baseball game they actually sang "take me out to the ball game!" ha! I seriously felt like I was in a movie that weekend!
I guess I may have to pop down to Mexico before I go home...

Aunty Nel & Uncle Pete came to visit.
Last weekend Aunty Nel & Uncle Pete were driving through Langley so they popped by for some Tim Bits and Nanaimo bars (& weird vanilla flavoured coffee I found in the cupboard) on their way past. It was so good to catch up with them and hear about their adventure to the far north!

It's Birthday Month.
As a countdown to turning 30 (eeeeek!) my twin and I are celebrating the thirty days between our birthdays with thirty presents! It was so exciting to get a really pretty box of presents in the post (or mail as they say here... people think it's weird when I say post. but I like saying post. like when I say "you got a message!" and they say "you mean a text?" um yes, it means the same thing.)! I get to open a present a day! The boys are really helpful with this. I like that they say "Kaye, it's day 4 today! Which means it's 26 days till your birthday!" (fyi it's actually day 7 today) See, inbuilt birthday countdown! Also fyi I am not turning 30 until it's July 9 in Canada. This was part of my sneaky plan for getting an extra day (well 17 hours) of being 29. It doesn't quite make up for being away from my friends on my birthday though. I was sad about that the other day. But I am in Canada! Oh I like Canada! AND I have a twin. If you are going to turn 30 it's best to have a twin so that you can celebrate together even when you are far away!



So that's a wrap up of the last few months... It is nearly half way day. Argh I can't believe how fast this year is going!!!!
I miss you guys!

Also. Do you like my photo montages? I can't take credit for all the pictures. I stole a few from mum, Lauren & my twin.

The Slackness of Kaye

So I have been reminded a number of times that I am the slackest blogger ever.
I mostly think I don't have anything new and interesting to write... even though I am having the most fun... and then 7 more weeks have passed and it feels weird to write about things that have just happened (like the story of the nanny who garborated the seven year old's tooth after dinner tonight...Argh!) when I have missed the last few months. Hmm.

Which brings us to here.

So I've decided I will just ramble about things & hopefully it will take us somewhere & my loyal readers will get their Canada fix & at least briefly feel like I am keeping in touch! Argh I didn't think I would be this bad at this keeping in touch thing, it's actually something I thought I was good at... ahem, let's begin.

Our story today begins in Canada, where it is actually Spring! I don't think Spring has ever really meant much to me...sure some flowers bloom and such, but it has never really seemed like a big deal to me until this year (I am not actually the gardening type, which may have something to do with it). Well Canada knows how to do Spring.


Winter was lovely here. Snow. Snow capped mountains in the distance. Good hot chocolate weather and such. But as soon as Spring arrived "BAM!" from those dead looking plants came billions of different colours! (and they are colours over here, not colors, which is nice because I'm quite partial to the 'u')
Sooo much prettiness! It makes me so happy to walk to school in the mornings past the cherry blossoms and daffodils and tulips and... other flowers (sorry mum, that's the extent of my flower knowledge). Ahh! So pretty!
I realised today that my twin and I painted a reminder of Canada on my bedroom wall before I even came! Who knew their were so many cherry blossom trees here?! (If you knew, why were you with-holding this information from me? hmm it's ok, I've enjoyed the surprise. Ok I did warn you there would be rambling).

So nannying continues to be fun! The boys are...well there's not just one adjective to write here. I really like them. It's fun to get to hang with them every day & I love their different personalities. They definitely require a lot of energy from me...which somedays I have, and somedays... not so much. The two older boys love crafting with me, so I try to make sure we have some sort of craftiness happening each week. Maybe I'll do a separate post about that (do you trust me? I wouldn't either). They all love playing outside & reading books... we love the "Don't let the Pigeon..." books at the moment and wrote our own this week. I've also made sure to include a bunch of Mem Fox in our reading & Mr two loves finding that green sheep "he's RIGHT THERE!"

They are typical boys who love potty talk and wrestling, as long as they aren't the one who gets hurt. Hockey season is over, so now we've got Baseball & Spring Hockey (no 6am practices)...aswell as skating lessons, school, preschool etc. Definitely busy! Baseball uniforms are so cute.

The nanny who was living across the road was a kiwi (well she still is a kiwi, she just isn't there anymore). It was fun to have someone so close to hang with on the weekends and nights off! It was good to have someone to be a tourist and swap kid & crazy canada stories with. But alas Europe called her & off she went. Since she's been gone I've picked up a few days (well one past tense, but a few more future tense) minding the girls she looked after. Oh life is so different on that side of the street! So much pink and ponies and such!

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I've also picked up work on Friday mornings for the church I go to with the family. Basically I help supervise the 3-5 year old kids for 2 hours while the women's group is happening. And I get paid! When does that happen at a church? This church has about 7 million kids. not quite. But there are a lot. Though today there were only 10 in our group. But usually...

So, I've realised I have no idea what is happening in the rest of the world apart from snippets I catch on facebook. It's sort of sad that this is my source of news. I watched the news the other day at Mindy's and actually felt a bit sick. There were so many horrible things. But I think it was just a normal amount of horrible things. It's scary that that can become normal when I watch the news everyday. I don't want the news to not bother me. I don't know if that makes sense, but I did warn you (rambling).

Oh yeh. Easter. Easter here is in Spring! Which is really cool! And actually a bit more meaningful in a way... like the whole new life, coming back to life from the dead thing (see my spring paragraph above).
I went to Mindy's for Easter. In America. I actually got really excited when we crossed the border on the way down (it was not as exciting on the way back after a 70 minute wait in the line!).
It was so fun to hang with Mindy & her siblings & her friend & her friend's hedgehogs. I HELD A BABY HEDGEHOG. I think this may make it in the 'top twenty things of kaye's trip' list. Sooo Cute!
Other highlights of the weekend at Mindy's: becoming addicted to the show Psych, playing Candyland, shopping at an American grocery store (oh the fun things that they have!), eating froyo, going to UW, eating froyo again a few hours later, a city-wide Easter egg hunt for grown-ups (we came 4th! woohoo!), holding a hedgehog (oh wait, I said that one already), church, eating muddy-buddies & an Easter lunch that started with coffee tasting, scones (pronounced like Scone the place) & vegetables, followed by pavlova, then beef... a few hours later. I love hanging with Mindy!




Hmm what else what else.
Walmart!
Creme Egg McFlurries!
Red Robin! (the restaurant...though may I did see some robins today, I'm not sure, they were a bit far... does Canada have robins? Maybe I should look that up before I make statements like "I saw some robins today..." meh. You can do the research yourself... let's leave it at 'I may or may not have seen some robins today')

Ok. I am going to find some pictures now for my visual friends.
I will try and blog soon.
And I apologise again for my slackness.
And I would also like to add an apology for my dodgy grammar & rambling. Actually I warned you about the rambling.
And also sorry about the photos. I really wish there was an easier way to put photos in a blog and make them look pretty, not just slapped on the page...but at least they are all up the right way this time.
I hope things are going well in your world!

SO HOW IS IT GOING? (dedicated to Lisa and her enthusiastic questioning)

 Hi Everyone,
So... as of tomorrow I've lived here for 4 weeks! Wow that has gone fast!

I am living with a really lovely family! The three boys I am nannying are 7, 4 and 2 (well 2 tomorrow). The kids are really cute, very active, super clever and lots of fun. The parents are so nice! I have seriously been so blessed to be put with such a great group of people!

Ok... where to start...

About Where I Live:
Canada is so pretty! The first day I moved here there was snow! I really should have taken photos that day, because the snow didn't last. It was so pretty though! It was even cold enough to use outside as extra fridge/freezer room. ha

It has either warmed up since then, or I've just got used to the cold. (it has only snowed once since... so maybe it is actually warmer). The area I live in has really beautiful big houses that look like a cute suburb straight out of the movies!

I also have mountain views from the end of the street! Oh such an amazing view!!!!! I don't think I will get tired of massive mountains in the distance.

Look at these cool big trees! I can't wait to see them in Spring... and Autumn!!! wow!

It does happen to rain here a lot... feels a bit like home really! haha
Oh it's such a pretty country! I like it here!

About what I've done so far:
Well for a week and a half I had the house to myself while the family were holidaying. It was such a great opportunity to get to know the town (and house), join the library, get a bank card, work out the crazy bus system, hang out with Mindy, meet some fun French nannies, hang out in Vancouver a bit (it's so far away by public transport! bleh!) and look at mountains.

Since they got back I have been the boys' nanny for 2 weeks! The schedule changes a bit each week depending on the parents' work, but basically the 7 year old goes to school, the 4 year old spends 3 afternoons at preschool and 2 at skate lessons and the 2 year old is potty training (oh the fun!).

I like to try and have a little something planned to do with the boys (2 and 4 year old) each morning... and with the rain we haven't been able to do much outside play yet. So... we've painted, pasta-printed, made pasta necklaces, baked lamingtons, valentines cupcakes & banana muffins, bubble-painted, visited the library, accidentally ended up at toddler gym (it was actually really fun!) and 'sewed' these cute 'secret-note' envelopes for valentines day (I got to have the paper one because Mr 4 decided it was important to make the dog a proper one...but mine got to have the REALLY BIG glitter circle so that makes it ok :)  haha).

We've also read close to a million stories (I can quote 'Tiny Little Fly' word for word, which comes in handy when trying to entertain a 2 year old while waiting at school in the rain...and also when heads get in the way of the pages while you're trying to read) and watched 'gummy bear' sooooo many times I have dreams about that green bear!

Hmm ok. I need to sleep, but I will continue to update you soon. :)

PS orange cheese actually does taste good, despite being orange.

The People Along the Way

So. (I realise I start alot of posts like this... sorry)
I left Australia 51 days ago.
Because I'm feeling a little bit friendless today (I guess that's what happens when you have a stay at home day) (also I very much know I have tons of friends...they just happen to not be in Langley) I thought I would write this post to remind myself about the amazing people I have met in the last month and a half.

Each of these people has added colour to my adventure and really made it the fun trip that it is! I am seriously amazed at the fun and beautiful people I have met! Oh I hope I don't forget anyone...


In LA: Bec & Bree. Bec & Bree were the only other non-asian people on our tour, and actually they were from Australia AND they had just spent a year being nannies over here (well in the US). I really appreciated spending 3 days with these girls because they had so many stories about the good, the bad and the ugly of being nannies, but they both really enjoyed their experience. AND Bec was only a year younger than me, which was nice, because most nannies are 18-22ish & I had been feeling a tad old. It was a great way to start the adventure. (also they were lots of fun and even like posing for crazy pictures with us)

Then we met our distant cousins who we didn't know existed until recently! They live in Solvang, where our tour happened to stop for and hour or so, so they took us for a dutch lunch! It was so lovely to meet them! I wish we had longer to spend in their cute town and getting to know them!



On the plane to Vancouver: I got to sit next to an unaccompanied minor (the flight attendant even came and briefed me about assisting him off the plane if there was an emergency). He was a sweet 12 year old kid from Mexico.

The Immigration people at Vancouver Airport were not my friends.

When I got off the train at Vancouver a girl helped me drag my suitcases up the stairs (yep no lifts). Thank you stranger!
I had to change trains and getting to the other train was an awkward experience - through a shopping centre, up and down stairs (um Canada, this is not practical). By the time I got to the other train I was sobbing a little bit. A girl, Christina grabbed one of my bags and helped me on to the right train. She also got off at the same place as me and even dropped me at my hostel! How nice is that! Also her mini had a name. But I forget what it was. It was nearly as cute as Albert.

At the hostel I shared a room with Anna from Russia. She had trained as a teacher and was now studying in Vancouver. It was really lovely to have someone to share school stories with, as well as fears, challenges and exciting things about the adventures we were starting.


Next I went to Vancouver Island. Jackee and Larry were super lovely and took me in for a week. Jackee is a distant relative that I didn't know existed until a few months ago. It was great to celebrate Christmas with 'family' and I was quite spoilt!


Then it was off to Seattle to hang with Mindy who I had never met. She was the perfect hostess and took me to so many fun places! Mindy is super lovely and I'm glad she lives not too far away, even if it is in another country! But we do have a mission to see every fort in the world now! (we've seen 2 so far...and the year is still young :) )


Back in Vancouver I was put in a room with a Taiwanese girl. I can't remember her name, but she was quite sweet. Her whole goal in coming to Canada was to see the Aurora Borealis (this is also secretly my dream... I hope I get the opportunity!). She was waiting for the perfect day so she could hop on a bus for 36 hours to go north to see it. It was fun to chat with her. She had been to Australia and it was fun to hear about my country from another's perspective. She also loved my Perry the Platypus and got so excited later in the week when I was put back in the same room and she spotted Perry on my bed. Cute cute.

Between my two stays in room 15 with the afore mentioned girl I spent 4 days in Whistler. In Whistler I happened to be in the same room as an Aussie. Ok that's not so weird at Whistler... I think Whistler is an Australian state. But this particular girl, Carmela, was a teacher. At a Christian School. In Sydney! It still amazes me! It was so cool to have someone to ski with (ok, so she was actually good at skiing and I had forgotten how...so we didn't ski together too much), travel with, have lunch with, chat with & even ice skate with granny frames with!


On the way home from Whistler Amy Adams sat next to me. Not really, but her identical canadian twin did. (Amy Adams is a movie star who happens to be in Enchanted which has my favourite movie scene in it - where everyone bursts into song and dance) This particular Amy Adams was heaps of fun and a lawyer and a cheese lover. It was the funnest trip home from Whistler I have ever been on (yes and also the only one).

Hmm Edmonton... I didn't really make many friends there. But the people I chatted to were super lovely. Like Jenna on the Legislature tour who went out of her way to welcome me to Edmonton & the guys waiting for the streetcar with me.

In Toronto there were some nice girls in my dorm from England (there were also some girls who didn't sleep... I am never sharing in an 8 people dorm again. ever! Sorry getting off topic).
I had lunch with a self-proclaimed Sheldon Cooper - um he films chemical reactions.
And on the Niagara Falls tour I met the German stunt double of my lovely Kristie-Lee friend. She was just as lovely. It was fun to be around someone else who got excited about the way the mist made artistic ice sculptures on lamp posts and fences!

Back in Vancouver for my last 2 nights I was sharing a room with Claire from England. We went adventuring through Gastown and Robson St in search of shoes and party clothes. It was a fun day!

Which brings me to last week.. no wait 13 days ago, boy that's gone fast!
I moved in with the family I am going to nanny for... and I love them already. The boys are super cute and smart and fun! And the parents are lovely! Oh I like it here.

Well that was probably a boring list for anyone that's not me. But it was nice to re-cap on all the lovely people I have met so far & made me feel less all alone (cue violins! haha).



*** My blogs and photos don't seem to mix. so sorry the photos aren't in good spots and that there aren't more. I have spent over 40 minutes just trying to put the pictures in. grrr.