To the Ocean!

The week following our other 2 family reunions we packed up into our very full van and headed out to Vancouver Island.  It was quite the adventure to travel with 6 kids, including a 2 month old and a 2 year old.  One we hope to not replicate. Our kids are not the kind that sleep well in the car.  In our total of about 34+ hours of driving Baylor took a total of 2 half hour naps from which he woke up crying and exhausted for another hour or more.  We also had someone on soother duty at all times as baby Deakin doesn't like his carseat any more then his brother. So he needed to be fed every 2 hours the whole trip.  Again, an adventure, travelling was exhausting.

Here we are at Rogers Pass.  This amazing mountain view is so clear and still it looks like it can't be real, even when viewing it with your eyes.  It is so beautiful!  Especially when we get to share it with these lovely little people!

We had our first night on the island staying with our cousins to participate in Vienna's baptism.  We were very grateful to stay with them and be there for that very special day.  It was such a lovely time.  I guess my only picture that day is of my cute boy enjoying many hours out in the dirt.  This boys paradise, endless time with a dump truck and digger. So cute!

Our next leg of our journey took us to Parksville.  We stayed in this lovely house that was just across from the ocean.  We could hear the waves and see little peeks of it. It was just a short walk to this lovely rocky beach that we had a great time exploring.  The boys favorite was to throw rocks into the water, they could do that indefinitely.  The girls loved exploring the sea artifacts washed up, like jellyfish and pieces of crab exoskeletons. We often did these walks as pajama walks, which is so fun, in the morning before we get going, or a treat before bed.  We love pajama walks, especially along the ocean!

One of the highlights for Baylor was the eating of Blackberries.  He had handfulls all the time along our walks.  There were big patches of blackberry bushes and the kids would bring plastic cups to collect them.  We could not give this boy enough of them.  His little face is just so intent on them, his little mouth covered in juices.  I love it.

We had a little excursion to the Goats on the Roof Market.  It was a fun place to go and we enjoyed a little taste of seafood here.

Gainor Reunion

Our next reunion was the Gainor reunion. This one was very special as we were able to spend a lot of time with this sweet girl!  This was our first opportunity to meet our cousin, Parker Bird.  It was so fun to have her!  We were able to have her come to play for the day, for a sleepover, to church with us and into our primary class.  I wanted her to remember me and kept asking her who I was, so that she would know I am her Auntie Kamille.  She is so sweet and such a joy!  We really adore her and hope that she will come again soon!

One funny thing with Parker, on Sunday morning when we were eating breakfast before church, I asked Parker what she wanted for breakfast.  I asked if she wants cereal, to which she replied "Some kids like cereal."  So I poured her some cereal and she then told me that she is not one of the kids that likes cereal.  It was funny!

Dawsyn and Parker were really good friends.  Dawsyn loves to look after little people and was especially good with her little cousin.

Kyndal sure won over Parker when she read her a stack of books one evening.  Parker would just ask to be with her cousin, this referred to any of the girls that played so much with her.  It was marvelous!

We went on a little hike in the Kananaskis.  We loved to visit with our Sieg cousins.  We talked homeschooling, moving and many other things.  We had a really fun time.

We went on a little hike in the Kananaskis.  We loved to visit with our Sieg cousins.  We talked homeschooling, moving and many other things.  We had a really fun time.

We had an amazing day at the beach at Lake Bonavista one day.  This was such a fun day with swimming, splashing, jumping off the dock and taking our different kinds of boats.  It was so lovely! We also enjoyed some mini golf, a day at Heritage Park and a great BBQ at our house. We even had our baby blessing this weekend and felt very grateful to have so much family around to be a part of this special day for our baby Deakin! We really loved having family here and getting to know them better and the great visits that we had!

Here is our great group!  I will list off all the names so that I don't get mixed up with who is who later. Back row: Paul and Marshall, Kamille and Deakin, Marshall, Miranda, Rhiannon, Joseph, Kacy, Uncle Grant, Caroline, Aunt Allison, Brandon, Aunt Deirdre, Todd and Baylor, Lauren and Maggie.  Middle row: Renee, Uncle Nigel, Elliette, Kyndal, Thomas. Front Row: Sharan, Mark and Parker, Ian, Ella and Dawsyn, Katie, Matthew.

Selman Reunion!

We had a fun filled summer with 3 family reunions back-to-back.  The first was with the Selman's. We stayed at a beautiful lodge overlooking Payne Lake. We had great activities, food and especially visiting.  My favorite was watching all of these cousins together and staying up for a games night.

We did have a cake for Baylor as his actual 2nd birthday happened during this reunion.  He is a very cute 2 year old!

Our girls having some wrestling time with their cousins!  Dawsyn and Elliette wrestling with Lydia and Maverick.

Dawsyn had been begging for a haircut for a long time.  She was very happy to have Heather cut her hair!

I love this group of all of the young cousins together!  We have Baylor (2), Brooklyn (2), Caeleb (5), Sterling (4), Liam (2), Marshall (4), Elva (3) and Maverick (3).  They had such a great time together and these boys ran around playing and kicking balls.  It was such a lovely weekend!