Snippets

Conversation at dinner Friday night:
Mike: “Ethan, why aren’t you using your fork to eat your rice?”
Ethan: “Oh, Daddy, that’s just the way I roll.”

Best moment from the movie Mamma Mia:
Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth in Abba-wear singing Waterloo. Priceless; I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard.

Best family time:
Having the four cousins playing happily together at the fort in Fort Langley, at the playground, at lunch, at Granville Island, at another playground, at the boat, on the stairs, in the market, in the backyard, in the basement, at the dinner table, watching a movie, with their Pokemon cards, playing Shark Bingo... just enjoying time together. They are all so different but they have so much fun together.

New favourite indoor play place:
Captain Kid’s indoor play centre. Lots of climbing around areas, slides, and foam-padded walls. The kids had perma-grins – they just loved it!

Funny laundry story:
My mom confessed to Briana that she had accidentally washed one of Liam’s Pokemon cards and had to throw it away. She did NOT tell Liam. Briana confessed to us that she had accidentally washed a whole BINDER of Pokemon cards once. Over 150 of them! She just dumped the whole laundry basket in and turned it on. Did she not HEAR the clunking? Too funny. She had to spread out all the cards, peel them out of their plastic sleeves, and put books on them to dry them flat.

Romance Languages:
Take five Italians and one Canadian who also speaks French and some Spanish, and you have yourself a conversation. They spoke in Italian and I could follow along just fine. When it came my turn to talk, I could use a mixture of English, Spanish and a little French, and they could understand me just fine. What a fun night!

God:
Ethan swears this is a statue of God and demanded he get a picture taken with God. Is it God – or Sir James Douglas, first governor of British Columbia? You decide.

Annual Family Activity we should definitely continue:
The annual Lehn/Passmore/Cunha/Clark Redwood Park picnic. The kids have such a great time running around the park and it is so peaceful and beautiful there. The adults relax with food and blankets and get a chance to chat. This year, we added a couple of Michauds too so next year we’ll be a five-family affair. Lots of fun.

Humiliating moment of the week:Bowling a 106 at Sandcastle Lanes. With bumpers on the lanes. I barely beat Ethan and Jack, but was beaten by Nola (age 6) and Hudson (age 3). And of course Carla whipped my butt. It was supposed to be Adults vs. Kids, but I couldn’t carry my end of the adult score and the kids smoked us. I don’t know if Carla will bowl with us again. I should have realized I was in trouble when they strolled in wearing matching bowling shirts.

Activity I wish I had found in winter:
Perler Beads. The boys LOVE this and the first question out of their mouth in the morning is "can we bead after breakfast?" They didn't even ask to play Wii on Friday - all they wanted to do was bead.