After months of living a devil-may-care lifestyle in the backwoods of England, the Clan has moved onto the next leg of the wacky adventure and are transported back to the unruly urban melting pot of Vancouver, Canada. Let's move closer to see what Daddy Michael, Mommy Vashti, Big Sister Maeve and Little sister Madigan are up to now...
So wahoo we did it! We actually made it out of the house and down to Departure Bay Beach! It was exactly the way I left it! Ahhh the memories! Michael and I had one of our very first dates there! Fortunately for everyone involved, I was less drunk this time!!
Maeve and Makenna seemed like they were having a blast! Maeve was covered in a very interesting sunscreen/sand concoction! She did not burn. I on the other hand, well, I didn't fare as well! I should have taken a picture of the totally random and unexplainable burn pattern on my legs! Basically, I think the sun and everyone within eyeshot, thought I should cover up my extremely white legs!! Instead I have this wicked splatter pattern! Oh well! Madigan who was mostly miserable, had a nice stroller nap while Makenna, Maeve and I hit the water! We were having a blast and I saw some smallish waves rolling in from the BC Ferry. We were wading out pretty deepish when the waves hit... wammo.. huge wave.. small wave gone... big wave splash! Good thing I was holding the girls... ok ok, it wasn't that bad.. it just splashed me enoug to make it look like I had Madigan's trademark pee pee accident! Ahh the laughing! Here is Madigan after she woke from her brief nap! Less miserable at least!
And this is what a hard day of beach playing gets me. Ahh sleep! They are so less challenging when they are sleeping! Lets pray that they sleep all night tonight! Hey.. there is a first for everything!
Ahhh life on the farm! We are all doing well here. There have been a few 'incidents' but everyone is alive and well! Ok, except for my Mom who has some sort of stomach bug. Boo for her. I'm making sure the girls and I are well hydrated and well rested. I do not want to break my 7 year non vomitus streak!
The girls are getting into all sorts of trouble around here. Boy are they dirty! Ahh farmlife! They seem to be having alot of fun and that is good news! Michael's milestone was today and he says we can come home anytime after tomorrow! We'll be on the 1:00 ferry on friday. We miss Daddy. I miss my partner. I miss the guy who keeps me sane! Michael is such a vital component in our family! Michael makes everything balance!! I, we miss you Daddy!
We think we are going to hit Departure Bay Beach with Ms Saige and Ms Makadoodledoo! Bathing suits are a must have and shovel & pails are the new flip flop! Hopefully I get some good pictures! Scrub a dub dub. One Goober in the... sink?
Tattoos and berry smoothie = one dirty little darling!
Maeve loves Makenna more than air!
Maeve the uber trendy sporting som stylish shades while hitting the participaction forest. Doing a little balancing and looking fantastic!
Maeve thinks there were beavers here. Surrounded by the forest, amidst nature, watching for cougars she still manages to do it all en pointe! Whatta girl that Maevie is!
I leave you with a little glimpse of Madigan's heritage! Listen closely!
Craig feels extra terrible (but that's ok, he sleeps here at work).
Love Michael (at work)
Monday, May 28, 2007
Hello! We are back on the Island babeh! My Mom's place is so great! We were barely out of the truck fresh from the ferry when, Maeve ran to hang out with Unkle Mike and Makenna. Maeve got here just in time to help them plant some corn! She was thrilled, she was less thrilled with Kayla the horse who likes to poop!
The girls are doing well. Madigan had a rough night last night. Scratch, make that Vashti had a rough night last night!! I'm doing good tho, nothing like kicking the kids outside to enjoy a backyard for a change! They seem to be having a blast. 3 dollars worth of miracle bubbles goes a long, long way!
Soo, with that I'm going to go slather on some more sunscreen on them and enjoy the day!
Totally random photo's of my newest look. I call it the "bitch". Anyone who has Michael on facebook knows the look. It is no "Blue Steele" but I'm working on it! I really just wanted to a get a picture of that bitch Erin. She look fantastic and I almost hate her for it! hahah ok ok, I am totally joking. Sometimes sarcasm/my humour doesn't translate on here well! I'm so happy Erin is looking so good and is so incredibly happy. She radiates happiness and its so good to see! I love you Erin!
Maeve soaking her feeties for a little Saturday Mani/Pedi! My apologies but you will have to tilt your head. I can't for the life of me figure out how to rotate a picture using mom's tools!* I only know my own and I don't have the patience to figure it out!
*[Michael the editor's note: I fixed it.]
PS from Michael: Since I'm in the guts of this blog fixing the picture of Maeve, I'll take this opportunity to get some sympathy. I have a huge deadline this Wednesday so while the rest of the fam gets a "vacation" on the island I get to work. Yes, poor me.
Hey gang. Short blog today or its bound to be peppered with bitterness. Michael has been working late all week and I am miserable. Not many nice things to say. Anyhoo, another week of this is expected in the forecast. Hopefully my mood improves.
Here are the girls, so gorgeous and pretty and of such opposite temperments! I love them even tho they do infact drive me crazy! Last night I was talking on the phone to Melanie Snagg when I had to 'direct' Maeve. She was putting her feet in the water table on the balconey.. so I start some big long speech that contains, "Maeve don't put your feet in the water table" and she comes back with,"wah, wah, wah."(sarcastic of course) I could barely contain my own laughter and poor Mel almost went into labour trying to figure out if it was ok to laugh or not! I'm just lucky she is a smart kid and didn't say, "blah blah blah" which is probably all she heard coming out of my mouth! Or maybe it was like the Peanuts teacher, "wonh wohn wohn, wah wohn won woooon." Either way its hard not to laugh when your child does something naughty, but so very funny!
Howdy gang! So I've been negligent in my daily blogging. My life is moving so fast it is frightening! The girls are great. Michael has been working pretty late these days. boo... no overtime too... sucks! Maeve is beautiful even when she is sad. My girls are so lovely!
Yesterday I took the girls to Douglas park to play before Madigan and I hit the Dr's office. Michael was going to take Maeve but I thought I'd save some gas. I parked at Douglas park, got the girls out and playing. Madigan had 2 successful potty visits before I decided to go green. Since I only had the single stroller, it meant one of my two was going to be back packed. The smart money is on carrying Madigan and strolling Maeve.. soo this is what I did! Had a great Dr's visit, well I did. Madigan didn't fare so well. 3 pokes for my poor little baby. One in each arm and one in her thigh. Oh how life doth suck. Madigan gave Dr Miller (who is wonderful) the stink eye and we left. Bad news is, Madigan was due for a nap and deserved one for being poked. That means I had to carry Miss I can't Walk I'm too slow. All the way back UP the hills. Oh going green.. damn you!!!!
Yes that really is me looking really that fabulous. Hey, don't hate the player... hate the game.... hahahah ok, so I look like a dork, I really dig my new 8$ sunglasses! Mel Troyer doesn't really care for HUGE sunglasses, but she said if she did like them then these ones were ok! Some endorsement :) I think I would still have gotten them even if she was honest and said they look like poop on me!!!
Today was a school day and I met another Mommy. Her name is Ashling. I told her with names like ours, we were destined for friendship! Ashling, Elaine and I had a fantastic chat about lice... *shudder* Anyhoo, its nice to meet nice Mommies. After school we walked up to a new park. Pretty cool.. cept for the junkies that I forced to move along. The girls had lots of fun and now are crashed out in the buggy... ahhh sleeping... so good for me! And this was my favorite pic of the day!
While you out there are enjoying a lovely long weekend, we are back to work. Michael has a big deadline so he and Master Craig McHardworker are busy busy back at work. Boo for us. We will just turn a regular weekend into a long weekend at some point. So Lets see, since I've been gone.... I can see for the first time.. no wait, thats not it... Brief recap of the last few days. Friday Team Kwan D'Eon, Team Monkey's little Dunca and Clan Mussellam hit 2nd Beach for some fun in the.... overcast! Hahaha thats ok it was a great day out. If the bathrooms were closer it would have been much nicer. I can't even count the times I had to haul buns to the bathroom so Madigan didn't have an accident! Melanie Snagg looks fantastic! I can't believe she only has a few weeks left til she meets her little boy! Ang as usual, looks great and so do the boys! They made a seriously awesome sandcastle then "Kong'ed" it! Ahh boys!!
Saturday we hiked from our place to trout lake for the farmer's market! It was gorgeous.. then... booo rain.. fortunately Mommy was prepared for such vancouverness. So we played thru a bit of the rain at one playground. Got the girls in their bubble and walked through the rain to playground #2! Madigan had a few accidents in the excitement but hey, this is why it is called potty training! We cracked out the chalk and the girls tagged the wooden playground! Maeve very ironically drew a climber on the climber.. funny girl! Michael and Madigan had a nice soothing swing too! Today we are just kicking it at home. Organizing and tidying up. Here are the girls playing in their room this morning! I moved some of their furniture around trying to get the best layout for optimal play area!
The rest of the pics are of the girls enjoying a very special treat from Mel Snagg. They LOVED it! Thanks Mel!
Ok, this is so cute! Madigan wanted a backpack for her baby! Maeve of course will have the same!!
Now back to a time where Maeve wasn't being cute at all! We have these sort of give and takes a few times a day! The grunting sound you might hear is Danica,my sister the videographer, trying not to laugh as the scene unfolds! Enjoy!
Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of blogging. We came back from the Island on sunday for mother's day and I haven't blogged since saturday! For shame!! haha.. This is what Michael did while we were gone, note the smiles and happiness.. er.. i mean sadness and the rather obvious sorrow for not having one's wife and children with him! Poor guy.
On Monday we hit the Vancouver Children's Festival with team Kwan D'Eon! It was great! The kids did well and Madigan even peed on a porta potty potty! Here are the girls dancing at Bob's & LoLo a very cool children's musical group.
We are all well and good here. Maeve is back in school just in time to pick up a potentially awesome case of lice! Yahoo! When I picked her up today they handed me a leaflet saying that someone in her class has a case. Finger's crossed she doesn't get it. I know it isn't a dirty thing, but it comes with such a heavy negative connotation.. ya know what I mean? Maeve had a great day at school tho, it was her friend Jessica's birthday! Everyone got a cupcake and some bubbles! Great gift idea those little bottles of wedding bubbles. Right now Maeve is playing with her petshop animals in her old skool fisher price house. She is also currently chasing down a bug that has flown into the house. If only you could hear her saying, "here buggy buggy, here buggy buggy.. bugggggggy!" Funny girl, can't wait to see what she does when it actually comes close to her! Madigan is currently sleeping off a rather long and loud tantrum that lasted from our park to our apartment. Sweet! Nothing like seeing your adorable baby twisting and writhing while screaming like you are pulling off her skin.. ahh this is the life!! On a happier note, Madigan no longer wears diapers during the day! I love summer! Best time to parent train or "potty train" of year! We do have at least a daily accident but she is doing amazing.. rather I am! hahah
Here is a pic of the love.. this isn't wrestling, just hugging!
Big big congratulations to Craig, Roan and Hilary! Little Halen Decker McEwen was born yesterday after a stunning 54 minutes of labour!! My god, Hilary was born to give birth! They are all doing well and were on their way home when I last spoke to Hilary! Yay Team McEwen! On other unrelated news, life on the farm is.... farmtastic? The girls LOVE it here during the daytime. Night time seems to be a little challenging for Madigan who was up ALL night as tho she had reverted back to some sort of infant nursing schedule! I so thought we were weaning. Oh well... Big Robin brought me a coffee and donuts as a consolation prize for winning the award for; " Child up all night with AMAZING vocal range"
Yesterday Danica, the girls and I all went to Swy A Lana Lagoon. I haven't been there in EONS! As it turns out Civic arena is a thing of the past. Yes yes, I do recall you all telling me but I didn't believve you until I saw it myself!!
Well happy hump day to you all out there! Poor Michael, no hump day again! Why you ask? Because the girls and I are over at "The Farm". We hopped on the ferry yesterday and my Mom picked us up! Wahoo, we are having a BLAST! I have been trying to cash in on a little Saige love but so far its a no go! God that baby is so cute, I could almost lean over and bite her! Lindsay has been keeping me company today and Maeve and Makenna are playing SO nicely! Madigan and the Mommy toilet training is going pretty well too! Both of my children (who were up until at least 10 last night) absolutely and totally crashed out due to exhaustion by 8:15. BEAUTIFUL! My Mom who loves me has bought a plethera of gossip rags and we are chillaxing and making fun of Big Robin. Ahh this is the life bitches!!
Hahaha here are the girls in action. We brought the girls to my Mom's work today. Oh heads up all you bitches, I know you read this so start admitting it by commenting! I now have faces to go with all your names and I'm eagerly awaiting your witty comments..Felix, you know I'm talking to you!
Today my sister Danica took her drivers test and PASSED!!! I am so proud of her! She has been doing such a good job practicing all the time and she did it.. she did it... she did it.. YEAH! Dink, I love you and I'm super proud!
Hallo faithful readers! Yesterday was a short blog day. I'm doing my best to get our Jakers... oh and Sara and Brad too... over to the Wet Coast!!!
Today, Tuesday, finds us in a whole heap of cute!
The plan was to head out to a drop in at Trout Lake Community Center. Sadly, it isn't going to happen! I do have dinner in Auntie Erin's crock pot tho. Its been in there since 9 am! Unfortch, I just realized now at 10:30 that it wasn't even plugged in!! hahah what a tool i am! Oh well, at least I found out before dinner time!
sooooo we are homebound for at least the am.. hopefully Madigan will nap!
Here are some shots of Papa George's visit this weekend! Oh and some naked hockey shots!!
OOOOOh lala what a day what a day! Soooo.. this morning was pretty slow going because someone (Madigan) thought that a 5am wake up call was in order. It wasn't. Much screaming later, sleeping was back on the agenda. We all got up around 8:30. Late breakfast with the girls and then decided to get ready to get rolling. Dressed, washed, teeth brushed, hair did... great Madigan wants to have a nap at 11am. Yay for naps boo for timing. We had planned to meet the Kwan D'Eons to kick it until around 3pm. The 3pm marked Madigan's first attempt at going to work with Daddy. I KNOW how awesome! Anyhoo I digress... so, Madigan goes down for about an hour which was good because in that time I made a fantastic lunch! Wake up, kids fed, re washed/brushed./hair did and away we go to meet the Kwan D'Eon clan at our fave park under the Cambie St. bridge!
Sun is shining, kids are GREAT! Milo and Theo are gorgeous as ever! Fun times had, chalk was broken out.. Maeve was shown how Milo makes 'guys'. Look at this Milo, you are totally famous! Thanks for letting me host your youtube debut!! Then Mommies decide on coffee time! Ahhh Coffee was had, and we continued on to Dorothy Lam park. Very nice park, unfortch it was also pretty busy. No big whoop tho, nothing major. The kids all did well except sand chucker Madigan who had to sit in the stroller while we talked about things that can and can't be thrown! Some more playing and then I sense some pre meltdown symptoms... theirs not mine for a change!!!
I put both kids in the stroller.. yes BOTH those lardies in one stroller despite the warning label ON the stroller advising not to! They both had to go in because I had to haul ass back to the car so I didn't get towed!! Please attempt to ignore the rather large 3 1/2 year old with a SOOTHER in her mouth! hahah I get them in the car and phone Michael to cancel our drop off Madigan at work day because I deem her too tired. Michael sounds all dissappointed so after discussing we decide, sure lets give it a try!
We decide to have Michael keep BOTH girls and he brought me upstairs to have a look at his work place. For as far as the eye can see, there are these gorgeous girls SURROUNDING Michael's work station! Harumph! Then I hear squeals and oohs and ahhs... yes EVERYONE is in love with the girls! Two of these adorable ladies that Michael works with have brought in their puppies so the level of cute is nearly intoxicating! Much love, good girls ZERO work done... ahhhh friday!
As a side note, I got to have coffee with my friend Mel and do a little Robson window shopping... add friday Daddy and girl work day as another reason why Michael is fantastic! Not to mention the girls who are so polite, so well behaved and it is agreed by Michaels workmates that they are just an absolute joy to be around!!!
After we get home from the day's excitement, there is more excitement in store for me. Besides the above pictures of Madigan attempting some sort of bird bath action on the balconey.
Anna has left a voice mail. Seems she is thinking about flying in to visit us instead of the co camping expedition. I of course toss down everything and call her back.. get this, SHE IS COMING ....AND....SHE IS GOING TO STAY AT OUR PLACE AND HAVE A GIRLS NIGHT OUT 'CANUCK' STYLE!! Ok, hopefully we wont lose anything at this Ladies night.. you heard it.. so girls if you are near and dear, mark it down that June 26 is ladies night and we are going to party like it is 1999!!
