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Summer has felt so relaxing thus far. I feel so free with a much lighter work load. When I want to meet up with friends there is no rush to try squeeze in a quick visit after work but before I need to start on dinner. I can clean the whole house in one morning. I no longer need to plan play dates days in advance. I can hang out the laundry whenever I want to. I am able to pick berries and make jam on a weekday. (A luxurious lifestyle I know:) )

I’m starting to get accustomed to this relaxed lifestyle and am slightly worried September will be a shock to the system. I’ve been blessed to have some friends who aren’t working during the summer and we have lots of opportunities to hang out with our kiddies who are great friends too. September will be a little easier knowing they will be back to work as well and Leah will be able to hang out with her friends at our house during the day.

We visited Redwood Park on Friday with a few friends. We were the first to arrive so I got to enjoy some one on one time with Leah. She loved trying out all the equipment. She even wanted to try out the big slide by herself but got scared once she up to the top.

There is a big merry-go-around at the park that Leah enjoyed. She didn’t want to sit so I let her hold on to the pole instead.

Today we checked out the Tour de White Rock. We arrived just as most of the booths were shutting down and getting ready for the criterium. The criterium was thirty laps, a kilometre each, around the heart of White Rock. Leah sat and waited very patiently for the race to start. We picked out who were we going to cheer for and got Leah in on the clapping.

Leah got a little restless near the end of the race so Morgan walked her around a bit. I got into the race as the guy we were cheering for started off well, then petered out to last place but slowly made his way up to third place until the last corner where he was involved in a large pile up. He was okay and did make his way to the finish line once he got himself and his bike sorted out.

It was so nice to enjoy the outdoors and community with our whole family.

The hot weather has come and we are enjoying it as much as we can. Yesterday we visited with some friends at the water park. Leah loved meeting up with her buddies and running through the tunnel and around the water park…. until the water came on. We found a spot where water wasn’t spraying but was pooling before it went down the drain. She enjoyed pouring water into a container and then dumping it out again.

Leah’s highlight of the day was seeing Gabby. They haven’t seen each other for about a week and Leah definitely missed her.

Yesterday afternoon I finished blowing up Leah’s kiddie pool in the back yard and let them play with a little bit of water in it today. Leah had a blast. She hardly got wet, just like yesterday but that doesn’t take away from her fun. She loved watering my flowers with yogurt containers and using spice shakers from the pool to water the grass.

In ‘big girl’ news, Leah has had no nap for a few weeks now and potty training has started. I took away her nap as she was staying up later and later (past 9 pm on a regular basis) and waking her up early from her nap wasn’t helping her fall asleep earlier. It was a rough couple of weeks through the transition but she is faring much better now, going to bed at 7 (the earliest bedtime she has ever had). I’m hoping she will start to sleep in a little more but we will take it as it comes Most mornings she is up at 6:30 talking to herself and I get her up at 7.

Potty training is coming along slowly but she is making progress. I’m finding it difficult to be consistent as I still want to go out and about with her, which definitely requires a diaper. For now she is running around the back yard with just a dress so she can figure it all out and run to the potty when she feels the need to go.

We went to Crescent Park on Saturday morning with Morgan’s family. After about fifteen minutes in, I got distracted from the playground and took the two oldest to see the big equipment.

There were a few big machines on the side of the road for road building, all of which were pretty dirty looking. This big roller looked the cleanest and was the easiest to climb on so up they went.

It made Leah look so small.

Then off to the beach we went. Leah tested both her boots and rain pants ability to keep her dry.

She loved touching the sand and immediately going to wash her hands the second they got dirty.

Her boots and rain suit stood up pretty well but in the end she wanted them off.

Leah loved to play in the sand, smash other people’s sand castles, watch the kayakers and lean up against the big rock. Hopefully we can spend more time at the beach this summer soaking it all in.

We spent the morning of Canada Day with my Dad making and serving over 1200 pancakes at my mom’s work. Leah stood holding my hand while she watched me scoop strawberries and pour syrup on everyone’s pancakes. We faithfully did our job until my brother came. We hung out with Uncle Trevor for awhile until one of Leah’s best buddies showed up. We had fun showing them the animals, the fields and the scrumptious pies.

After eating pancakes for breakfast and lunch, we headed over to a huge celebration at Cloverdale Park. We had to park a fair ways away and Leah wasn’t overly impressed. We found a kid’s area for them to play along with the band. It took awhile for her to warm up on the drums but when she finally came around, she had fun. It started raining pretty hard after that so we left and finished our afternoon at home.

Who would have thought it would rain on Canada Day? Summer sure has arrived now though and we plan to make the most of it.

Some things we have been up to in the past week…

…hanging out and the occasional snack picnic at the park

…since we hang out at the playground so much I decided to have some fun with the camera. Can you see what it says?

…gave a special Father’s Day card to an awesome daddy.

…shaking a water, oil and food colouring mixture to see it separate again.

…visiting the animals at Grandma’s work. Leah wavered between excitement and apprehension.

…eating burgers at Father’s Day lunch. Leah would take a big bite, getting her hands dirty in the process and then wipe then with a napkin, repeating the process over and over again.

…dragging her half inflated pool inside the kitchen so she can take a nap in it while I wasn’t watching her for five minutes. We are trying to phase out nap time as Leah is staying up later and later at night.

…punching down the bread while kneading the dough.

On Saturday Auntie Andrea came by for a nice visit. Once Leah woke up from her nap, we headed off to Redwood Park. It seemed like such a shame to drive on such a beautiful day but the park is so beautiful it is worth it. It feels like you are so far removed from city life.

We walked the trails taking breaks to watch beautiful brides and their entourages taking pictures, to smell a great Scout barbecue, to eat some snack, to pick some buttercups and to give kisses.

There is also a great playground area that Leah and Auntie Andrea had fun on as well.

I’m so glad Leah has such great aunts and uncles that live near us. She loves to be around all of them as do I.

Leah loves to watch almost anything that is moving with bugs being no exception. An ant or wood bug can keep her amused (until it starts charging her which leads to desperate cries for help) for quite awhile until it disappears between the cracks in the sidewalk or into the grass.

Leah definitely has strong opinions on her footwear and hats. She also has an opinion about her clothes I pick for her on any given morning but she doesn’t get any choice there. She has a love/hate relationship with her boots, thinks her shoes are okay and adores her sandals. Here she is rocking her rebel look with her snazzy wheels. At Grandma Fran’s house she had a blast trying on lots of fancy hats while twirling her pretty dress.

I can assure you I didn’t raise her this way. Growing up I picked the first clean thing out of my closet and wore it. Running shoes went with almost every outfit. I think Leah might be a little more choosy than I was growing up. At least I will have someone to help me dress stylish when I’m old.

Checking out the buttercups. Leah has learned she can pick the dandelions and buttercups from the park but my garden is off limits to little hands (and feet too).

I have very few pictures of Leah and I even though I take tons of pictures of her and her friends on a regular basis. I need to start to take pictures of Leah with everyone she loves to spend time with and not just her friends. When Leah looks back on all the pictures of her, I want her to see the love her grandparents and parents have for her and the fun memories. Here is the classic self portrait.

Leah loves puddle jumping when she gets the chance. We walked further along the path by the duck ponds then we normally go and found two large puddles. Leah and her friends had a blast jumping and running between the puddles. When we walked a friend home yesterday and the puddles had evaporated Leah was so sad that they were gone.

Once the rain stopped this morning, I suited up the kiddies and we set out to jump in the puddles. Everyone had a blast and I enjoyed watching the action and their delight.

She looks so much older with a ponytail bobbing as she walks. I’m sure this new hairstyle won’t be commonplace until her hair grows a bit more but it is a nice change every once in awhile.

I’ve started taking our sand toys to the park so the kids have more to do besides the playground equipment. Even though the bark mulch isn’t ideal for our sand molds, the kids still love to do then and don’t see any difference. Whether I use the bus, car or turtle mold, it still looks just like a small pile of mulch but they love it.

Leah insisted on wearing her winter jacket even though it wasn’t that cold. These days I let her make some choices herself, even if I don’t think they are the wisest of decisions. With matters of defiance and the like though, I don’t back down and she has to deal with the consequences.

I take the kids down to the park a lot and we have been watching a group of ducklings grow. It is amazing how fast they start to look all grown up. This past week I noticed a new group of brave ducklings that we will get to watch grow. They are so cute.