Some Cracknell Visits.

The highlights of our visits with Ryan's grandparents were the gifts of the grey 'cat' to Evelyn and a very cuddly brown teddy bear for Ethan. Evelyn named the cat 'Paws' and 'fed' it fruit loops and bought it a collar at the dollar store. She is very pleased with her new pet. We like that is will not need any vet care, food or brushing, will not get fleas, will never die and will not scratch the furniture or pee on the carpet.




Ethan was also given a new wardrobe of knitted items. He was so pleased! Socks from Great Grandma, two sweaters, slippers, and a knitted bear with blanket from Grandma. He was in knitted heaven! He calls his knitted bear "Hankie Bear" and really enjoys hugging him.

A surprise date

Ryan decided to plan our anniversary date for while we were in Victoria. He was very secretive and sneaky about it too! He headed downtown in the morning and told me to meet him outside the Bay on Government St at 4 pm. I asked what I should wear and he replied "It dosen't matter". So I decided to dress nicely, but not fancy and met him.

Ryan was in a completely different outfit to the one he left the house in. All new clothes, and not a bag or old item in sight. My first question after complimenting his choice of shirt had to be "Where are your clothes?" He refused to give me a satisfactory answer but told me we were going shopping for a dress for me. (Yipee!) He patiently waited while I tried on a few at a couple stores, then I settled on a purple/cranberry coloured one in a jersey knit that was casual enough to wear anytime (and nicely matched the necklace I had worn).

Next, we went to Paggliachi's for dinner. Oh! how we loved that bread. Their bread is one of the things we miss and crave most about Victoria. Our meals were very good too. Ryan's was WAY too spicey for me. I tried one noodle and felt my mouth burning. I had a salmon salad which was wonderful. It had avocado, artichoke hearts, (some of my favorite foods) and capers (which I had never tried before) . Yummy!

After dinner, I asked if he wanted to retreive his clothes from the ... locker? where he had them stored. (my only guess was he had rented one of the lockers in the mall for his bags) He declined and suggested a walk. We headed for the harbour and when we got to the Empress, he suggested we go inside. Finally, I figured out where his stuff was!

He had negotiated a very nice deal on a room and we were spending the night at the Empress! Our room overlooked a courtyard near the check-in desk. We had the 'bed and breakfast' deal which included breakfast for both of us for $10! (We saw the bill the next morning and our breakfast would have cost about $45!) He had bought a toothbrush and deoderant for me and had stocked the room with a bottle of wine chilling in some ice. I had a glass wine and we walked to watch a street performer at the harbour, then poked around some of the tourist stores.

The next morning, after a wonderful breakfast ( I had bananna bread french toast) we headed to Value Village then home.

It was a great way to celebrate 9 years of marrige.

Emily's 3rd Birthday

Ryan's Step-sister Jennifer's Daughter Emily turned 3 yrs old while we were out visiting. (So she'd be my Step-niece-in-law...? the kids step-cousin?) Regardless, Emily had a princess and pirate themed party. Evelyn and Ethan both wanted to be pirates.

By the time we left the party, Ethan and Austin had developed a cautious relationship. It was good to see them getting to know each other a bit. Evelyn again played the role of the dog during the girls make believe games. She was extactic that one of the guests brought their own, very well mannered dog to the party. Evelyn loved to walk it around on it's leash and pretend it was hers.

Butchart Gardens Fireworks

Ryan and I treated his Dad and Step-mom to an evening out at Butchart. The fireworks were very similar to the show we saw several years ago. Still very good though. We enjoyed the walk through the gardens and I tried my hand at photographing some blooms. My friend Sarah takes great flower pics, and she inspired me to keep trying. I really like the multicoloured cluster flower - whatever it's called!

A BBQ at Dawne and Karl's house

Ryan's sister Dawne and her partner Karl just became engaged to be married! We did not know he planned to ask her at the time of this party, but within 48 hrs of it, he had given her a family ring. We are SO excited for them and look forward to officially welcoming Karl into our family soon.

So all the Chidlow clan as well as Karls parents and a brother, and some of their friends went to Sooke to have a BBQ. The cousins played on the trampoline and treehouse, and the adults caught up on the past year.

It is really hard to get pictures of kids bouncing on a trampoline! They always look blurry! Evelyn decided she would be the dog when the girls played in the treehouse. She was pleased with her role and delighted in being naughty and being sent to the corner. The other girls were happy to have a playmate who was so willing to be bossed around. Evelyn was enjoying herself immensely, so I guess it was all good.

Cowichan Bay

We headed up to Cowichan Bay with Richard and Ruth (Nana-Ruth and Grandad to the kids) to check out this tiny little village. It is a revived logging town that saw it's heyday about 60 yrs ago. Now, it's collection of brightly coloured wood clad buildings house small restaraunts, art shops, an icecream parlour and a boat building shop and museum. All this is nestled (or you could say clinging) to the edge of the bay between the old island highway and the water. I think more of the village is on piles and jetties than is on solid land! The colours and closeness adds to the charm of the village.

I enjoyed the boat museum and workshop. There were some neat exhibits and some beautiful examples of wood boat building. The Ice Cream shop was pretty nice too! I had 'chai tea' icecream. It was DELICIOUS!

I thougth we had forgotten our camera at 'home' so my only pics are from Ruth's camera. On returning home, we discovered the camera tucked very deeply under one of the seats of the car - so we had it all along! Argh!

Galey Farms and Corn Maze

We visited Galey Farms with my Mom. It was a HOT day, and the farm seemed even hotter, and the corn maze seemed even hotter still. The animals were lounging in the shade and reluctant to move. We enjoyed ourselves despite the heat and wandered through the maze, rode the little train, checked out the little town and played on the swings.

Tea at the White Heather Tea Room

This year, Ryan and I felt that Evelyn was old enough to go for tea with me. We decided to invite Evelyn's Auntie Dawne and her niece Mackenzie to come with us. Dawne ended up treating us to tea, though I intended to be the one treating.

The pink bolero sweater was a gift made for Evelyn by her Grandma.


Mackenzie and Evelyn met last summer and got along well. Throughout the year, Evelyn set aside some trading cards she had collected to give as a gift for Mackenzie. She was very excited to see her again, and go to tea, and go to Auntie Dawnes house for a sleepover with Mackenzie after. Mackenzie became a big sister the day of the tea. Her new stepmom had a little girl early that morning. The girls are almost the same age, but Mackenzie is quite petite, a trait inherited from both her parents.

Evelyn dressed up in a new dress that Ryan bought for her when he was in Phoenix last spring. She brought her china doll that was given to her by 'Nana Ruth' and put a bow in the dolls hair that matched her own.












The girls drank iced tea out of their china cups, while Dawne and I enjoyed a pot of Little Boy Blue herbal tea and Earl Grey, respectively. The food, as usual, was wonderful. The girls, however, ate little. I guess the presentation was too fancy for them-their loss!

After, we went for a short walk in Oak Bay, then picked up Ryan and Ethan downtown. They had their own little date while we were at tea. Ryan took Ethan on a Double Decker (Victoria Transit) bus, then they poked around town and looked in some comic book stores before ending up at the inner harbour to see the boats.

Goldstream park, this year and last

We have taken the kids for a walk at Goldstream park the past two years. There is one fallen and cut tree that makes for a neat portrait setting. I think we will make pictures at that tree a tradition for as long as we can. This years pic is on the left, last years is on the right.

Ethan HAD to carry around an assortment of leaves and twigs while we were walking. They both found the 'helicopter' seed pods entertaining. We stopped in at the nature centre for a while. Evelyn made friends with a little girl there and they had a good time exploring all the exhibits there. Throughout the whole trip, whenever an oppertunity to make new friends occured, both kids were SO excited that they could make new friends. K-A once described Evelyn as 'gregarious' which means "seeks out social interaction" ( had to look up the meaning) I think that description fits her very well. Unfortunately, not many other kids share that attitude. More often than not, our kids are totally shut down by the new friends they were so excited to meet. But, they just keep on trying.

Taking it easy in Victoria

We left a very wet and cool Alberta behind us and spent a month in Sunny, Hot and DRY British Columbia. Bit of a switch, eh!?

In between visits, the kids went to the park, rode on the lawn tractor, and hung out. We learned from past visits that they really need the downtime and when we try to book more than one visit in the day, they get cranky and we get stressed. So, we took it easy and paced ourselves for a marathon rather than a sprint.

A helicopter ride in the mountains

Ryan surprised me on the way out to Victoria by saying I could take the kids on a helicopter ride. We stopped in 3 Valley Gap, just west of Revelstoke. Ethan loved the whole experience and wanted to go 'faster' and 'higher' the whole time. Evelyn was very nervous at the beginning, but by the end, she loved it too. This was my first time in a helicopter, and I really enjoyed it. I liked how it just lifted up so gently, and we were flying. It was a quick tour around the valley, and the helicopter itself was very small. We could feel every wind gust and it reminded me of being on a swaying gondola at a ski hill.

After the ride, we had lunch and then drove on to the J's house for supper.