We've had a fabulous Victoria Day weekend and I hope you did too!
It started off with a lively game of Killer Bunnies. When the carrots were all gone, Matt had 11 and I had nine. It went back and forth until we each were left with one bunny so we were on the edge of our seats anticipating which one had the winner carrot. Sadly for me, it was Matt but a wise auntie once said I win because I'm married to a winner. Yea me!
"Hiding" he says
Saturday was HAIRCUTS! The guys now have short hair. And Oakley's looks pretty good for the amount of squirming he does. After the hairs were all cleaned up, we took off to Thetis Lake park. It's a beautiful little lake nestled between Saanich and Langford with an abundance of wildflowers. There must have been at least 15 varieties we saw on our short walk. So beautiful. (Side note: the lyrics in this song are so true for me. Every single flower makes me think of my mama.) We brought a picnic lunch but let's be honest, once Oakley sees water, he's not really interested in much else. There was some chasing that happened throughout lunch but then he was able to splash around a bit - and fall in. Oops. There were quite a few people swimming too. After a bit, Matt took everything back to the car and we started our hike. There were lots of dogs at the park and Oakley was doing pretty well with them. He even let one come up close to him. It just so happened that that dog liked Oakley's stick and stole it from him. He was surprised and confused about the whole thing and guarded his precious sticks from every single dog we came in contact with after that. He might be a tad paranoid about dogs being stick thieves now. It was quite humorous.
The flower pictures on here are just a glimpse of the ones we saw
TINY
I love his face!
Scariest moment of the day - letting Matt take this picture. It doesn't look it but this was very close to the edge and a long long drop.
I caught a kiss. ;)
Maple leaf!
Yes, bigger than my head. Awesome. Feeling patriotic
We told Oakley to hold it up to show Daddy and this is what we got. :)
So beautiful!
Sunday, we spent the morning at church and I was reminded that I need to love everyone around me as Christ does. He truly is the perfect example. The afternoon (or early evening) brought a return trip to Goldstream Park but this time there was no rain and we actually made it to the waterfall. It was magnificent! The tunnel to get to the waterfall was very different from the last time we were there.
This was end of March
This is what it looked like on Sunday. Photo credit http://www.victoria-bc-vacation-paradise.com/goldstream.html
It turns out, the majority of the water goes underground but with the spring runoff, it's too much for the underground stream. And, flip flops were not the best footwear for this little stroll. Lots of rocks and uneven ground. My feet were killing me the next two days. But, now we know. :) I loved showing the waterfall to Emmett. That little one just takes in everything when we go on our walks...everything that is tall that is. He can't see low down due to the Boba carrier. You can just see him watching and taking the sights in and I love it so much. He seemed pretty awed by the waterfall too. I think I'm passing on my love of waterfalls to both boys. I could have stayed there all day just watching the water pour over the edge and mist down into the valley.
We brought some snacky dinnerish food to munch on after and Emmett got a break from the Boba. You get to see pictures of him on a hike day that are more than just his cute little head. :) And the drive home brought some unexpected adventures. The highway out there has a concrete divide so we had to head northwest and the road kept going and going with no sign of places to turn around. We joked about being forced to drive up to Duncan before we could go home. Finally, we found a no through road that connected to the highway and Matt decided to drive down it because no through roads should be just a little ways, right? Wrong. We were on it for quite awhile before I asked if we could just turn around so we could get Oakley to bed. Then, we saw some sweet little bunnies. This always makes me SO excited. Wild rabbits in Alberta look like this:
Do you see the cuteness?? I almost die from the cute fluffy softness of them every time I see one! Matt laughed at my reaction. I just can't help it. SO cute! People buy these in pet stores and they are just running around wild on the island. Then, to finish off the unexpected, we saw four deer in the grassy area of a cloverleaf merging onto Pat Bay highway. Oakley talked about the bunnies and the deer the rest of the night and into the next day. :)
Those eyes
Oakley with flip flop and bun in hand
Cutest!
I love all the neat trees we've been able to see, and I love Oakley
Monday was a beautiful day on the island. I think the high that was forecasted was 19 degrees celsius but it felt a lot warmer. We went the furthest southwest I've ever been to Aylard Farm beach in East Sooke Park. New favourite beach. It has these huge black rock clusters here and there and beautiful sand. There was sand castle building, digging of holes, lots of throwing wet sand in the air, splashing, munching and snoozing (for Emmett and me). We stayed for a good five hours and surprisingly, Oakley didn't complain about leaving. He was totally fine. That is a different type of tired than what we usually experience on these day trips. Nice, though. I hope it happens more often. :)
I love mothers. I love that I have the privilege to be a mother. I love my dear sweet mother. And I love this cartoon:
I had a fantastic Mother's day. My boys "sweetly" woke me up early to wish me a happy Mother's Day. Good thing they're cute. :) Matt brought in some gifts shortly after six. They got me a cute little watering can, some mums (good one, Matt) and a Mother's Day journal (replacement of cards - each year you add something to it, a picture, drawing, one day little messages from the kids and then they are all in one place). Loved it! Then we got to talk to Rachel in Finland! So exciting that my sister-in-law will be home SO soon. I got to talk to my mama two of my sisters at the same time and send them all my love. At church, they handed out African violets to all the mothers and the primary sang. I walked in late but I always love hearing those little children sing. Then, I walked into Relief Society to the tantalizing scent of fresh fruit, along with some squares and hummus and pitas. So sweet. I love our ward! Matt made dinner for us. We went to the fish market in Sidney the day before and picked up a red rockfish and some prawns so Matt cooked them up and it was pretty good. Fish is still and iffy thing for me but the prawns were to die for. So tasty. Mm-mmm! Our family walk was a return trip to Elk Lake but we went to a different beach path. It was just a lovely stroll. I love being "mama" to my two, sweet sons. I couldn't ask for better kids. They make each day and all the craziness of motherhood worth it. What did YOU do for Mother's Day? I'm always looking for new ideas for family traditions. I'd love to here what makes your Mother's Day special.
We've been having beautiful weather this last week which the boys and I enjoyed in the afternoons but then the weekend hit. It was a rainy weekend and Matt was sad because our weekends are our adventure time. I had it in my mind that we would just spend the morning at the pool and come back for naps. Matt really wanted to get out and as it was just a little sprinkle, he suggested we do another hike in Gowlland Tod park. Boy, am I glad he did! It was such a lovely walk down Cascade trail.
It was a lot steeper than the Mckenzie Bight hike but that's what makes the beautiful waterfalls. I wasn't expecting them to be as magnificent as they were. The first one we came to, was just a little one and I was happy. I love waterfalls. And am easily pleased. When we came to the bigger ones, I just looked and took it all in. Heavenly Father sure knows how to make some exquisite things. And I am grateful that I am able to enjoy so many of them.
The rain started coming down more and more so we stopped under the branches of a large cedar for some cover and had a snack. It was then that I realized that Emmett needed to eat. We were close to the beach so I hurried down the trail with the umbrella and found a dryish piece of rock in a secluded spot of beach to feed him. Check that off my list of things I've done - nursing on a rock. After that, I returned to the boys to provide cover from the rain. We really need to get another umbrella one of these days. We look really silly trying to fit four people under one regular size umbrella. :)
Cascade trail leads down to Mckenzie Bight as well, but on the other side than the previous trail we took a few weeks back. This time, we explored the beach on the south of the creek and the tide was really far out. We found oyster shells, mussels, lots of baby crabs and I found the smallest hermit crab I have ever seen! So little. There were also two seals swimming out in the bight when we first got to the beach. It was fun to watch them for awhile and show them to Oakley. We probably spent about 15 minutes down by the water and Oakley was very wet when we headed out. The decision was made to go back on the other trail as it was shorter and more gradual. Done and done. And I think there was some inspiration there because the rain continued to pick up and those steep sections on Cascade trail would have been pretty treacherous.
A little ways up the slope, Oakley asked Matt to carry him on his shoulders and within 5 minutes, he was nodding off and eventually fell asleep up there. It was funny watching him jerk to keep himself up, which makes me sound like a bad mom, but he never fell off. And I was watching as much as I possibly could while hiking up big hills. It was so sweet seeing him snuggled up on his dad's shoulders. I love my boys! We tuckered him out so much that by the time we actually got to the car and put him in his car seat, he didn't wake up, which is a big deal for him. We all loved the walk. There are so many splendidly beautiful places to see.
While the boys napped, Matt and I were productive and tidied up the office so there is a floor again. We also finally organized the dresser and chest of drawers. We did a swap but up until yesterday, each of us still had clothes in the one that the other was supposed to be using so there were clothes in random places all over the house. It felt so good to be productive.
On Friday, we told Oakley that we could go swimming the next day. He was so excited that the first thing he said to me Saturday morning was "Swim?". The deal was made that if he had a nap (you know, because he woke up when we got home and figured that's all the sleep he needed - not true, little man), we'd go swimming when he woke up. After looking at the schedule, we found that there was this one half hour right in the middle of public swim that was adult only. Who does that? Anyways, that meant that to make it worth our while, we needed to go after dinner. He was so so excited to go and talked about it all through dinner and the whole car ride there. What a great rainy day activity.
Today was the rainiest day. No hikes today. We did however go on a nice drive through the forest and down by the ocean. It went for quite awhile though and by the time we started back for home, I was hangry. Ask Matt. Yeesh. The nursing mother really does need her food. :) So, even though it rained most of the weekend, we still had some grand adventures.
Goofy boys
Oakley wouldn't take his eyes off the waterfall.
A snail I found
The hermit crab is right by the tip of my finger. Tiny!
If you compare to this post, you can see the tide is way lower
