Monday, April 28, 2014

Keeping Busy....

The past several days have been fueled with various events and activities.   A fair bit of time was spent with Easton, Brie and their parents.  

Jeanette did get out with her friends for bowling and games nights while I joined our regular men's foursome for golf.  We have resumed our weekly golfing rounds.  How nice that is!
Easton working the numbers and letters on our refrigerator.
Easton came over for some visits but we cut his folks a break on Saturday night.  Easton was here for a sleepover while his folks tended to some domestic chores.  We had a great time.
Nana is assisting Easton with some colouring using wax crayons.
One fun outing saw Jeanette, Ginette, Brie and Easton visit a local nursery that is well known for its 'Thomas The Train' and model railways.  It is a very cool spot for a little fella who is enamoured with 'Thomas The Train' - a popular kids TV cartoon.
He could not believe he was standing next to 'Thomas The Train'.
To take a ride on the train with his mom was like icing on a cake.

The owner of this nursery has always had a passion for model trains.  The set up - indoors and out - is quite a draw for like minded enthusiasts.  Easton was really taken with these rolling trains.
Our local food store - the one we prefer to support - was holding a car show this past Saturday.  Trevor and Easton met Jeanette and I there for some outdoor grilled foods and a walk around the hot rods and other antique cars. 

Easton liked this green coloured modified antique.
While they were at the car show, I was with my 'Open Mike' group in White Rock for an unusual Saturday morning coffee before riding back for home and meeting up with Jeanette, Easton, Brie and their dad at the car show.  Good fun!
When Easton spotted me with the motorcycle, he was quick to rush over for a greeting.
Jeanette with Brie..
Trevor then drove over to our home and left Easton with us before heading back home with baby Brie.  We got Easton out on his little bicycle and headed for the local outdoor park. 
At only two years of age, it's impressive to watch Easton handle this little bike so well.
At the park, it was time to run around, slide, crawl and climb all over the play are and then run off on the playing fields.
We're not sure if we wore Easton out or he wore us out but the outdoor air was refreshing and invigorating.
Back at our home, the play mat and play toys came out and we spent a fair bit of time playing in the sun room.

Mr. Curious had to find a small chair and get up to see what his Nana was up to.
There was no arguing when it came time for bed.  Easton was tired and he welcomed hitting the pillows.  He slept till near 7:00 am Sunday morning.  
Ginette and Brie came by for dinner on Sunday evening while Trevor kept busy with office work at home.
Following a late afternoon dinner, our kids left back for home and we settled in for a quiet Sunday evening.

And there you have it!   Our lives, these past several days, revolved around family and grand kids.  Oh sure.....we did other things too.....but those activities paled in comparison to the fun things we did with grand kids and our kids.

Thanks for dropping by.



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Family Visit and a Well Shared Meal

Nothing beats family/friends get togethers. The Easter weekend offered just that opportunity.  Tie in a super Easter dinner and we were batting 100.  Our home came alive with with the sounds of the young and the not so young.
Two year old Easton heard that his Nana had set up a fun Easter Egg hunt.
Brie is a bit too young to understand all the fuss but she did observe what a family get together can be like.  She came dressed for the occasion.  Beautiful little girl she is!  We were missing Owen in person (his folks too) but Face Time took care of that.
Two month old Brie.
Basting the ham before starting the Easter Egg hunt.
It was not long before Easton and his folks got into the Easter egg hunt.  He was read the clues and had to go looking for the stash.  He did really well.....especially when he figured out that one stash was sitting on one of our motorcycles.  To his surprise, there was a little motorcycle there too.  He quickly forgot about chocolate and focused on the prized little two wheel toy.
Mom helping Easton with the clues.
Dad (Trevor) kept Brie involved in the action.....and she seemed to take in all of the fun. 
By the time the Easter egg hunt was over, Trevor's mom (Sandi) and his grand mother, Cleo were at our door.  They were some of our Easter guests.
Easton's maternal great grandmother arrives.
Brie and Easton did not lack for attention.  It seemed everyone's focus was on them.  Brie was coddled by everyone and it's always fun to watch adults get down on play mats to play cars with Easton. 
We Face Timed our Alberta family.  Easton is hanging on the little motorcycle toy he found during the Easter egg hunt.
At a pre-arranged time, we Face Timed Deni, Courtney and Owen who were with Jeanette's mom, along with other family members, enjoying a lively Easter dinner that Darlene (one of Jeanette's sisters) had planned.
Through Face Time, Jeanette's mom (cuddling with Owen) could see all the action at our home.
Jeanette's sister, Deb, along with husband Bob,  drove mom to Darlene and Toms' country home for the Alberta Easter dinner.  That is where Deni, Courtney and Owen drove to as well.  Face Timing connected our group, here in Langley, BC, with the Alberta group.  Great fun.
Jeanette's sisters with mom:  L-R  Darlene, Mom, Georgina and Deb.
Owen looked dapper in his cute summer time outfit.  I especially loved the debonair hat he was sporting.
Courtney, Owen and Deni
Everyone got the chance to Face Time and while all of that fun chatter was happening, Trevor chose to take Easton for his very first hot tub experience.
Easton's first time in the hot tub.
"Hey....this is fun...."
While Dad and Easton were enjoying the warm water, Jeanette was enjoying a short break with the food preparation to cuddle Brie.
Brie was exactly two months old on Easter Sunday
Our custom of giving each grandchild a new golf set was not forgotten on Brie.
When Easton was born, he was delivered a nice junior golf set.  That was two years ago.  A recent blog from Palm Springs had Jeanette and I present baby Owen with his golf set.  Now back home, it was Brie's turn to receive her golf set. That is three junior golf sets in our family.  I look forward to exposing our grand kids to the game of golf.
Golf is a game of honesty, integrity, friendship, mental toughness, precision and humility.  It is our belief that exposing our grand kids to the game - whether they choose to play it in their adult life or not - is good foundation in their development.  Exposing them is our only objective.  Should they choose a different sport(s) to focus on later in their development is completely fine. Our goal - not unlike any other sport - is simply to offer the exposure.
Jeanette brought out a pretty dress that Ginette wore as a baby.
Talk about nostalgia.  Jeanette had wanted to present Brie with a pretty baby dress that her mom had worn when she was a baby.  It was not long before Brie had the dress on and the cameras were busy taking numerous photographs. 

That beautiful little dress was a gift from my oldest sister, Rhea, who passed away from breast cancer, 20 years ago.  She loved gifting clothing and this dress has special significance.  A beautiful bracelet that she had bought for Ginette, all of those years ago, is now Brie's.  Very touching....!
Lovely bracelet for a little girl.
Brie looks as cute as her mom did in an earlier time.
Fun aside, our friends, Lorne and Mariette, rang the doorbell and once we had spent a good amount of time visiting, the chef called everyone to the table and our wonderful Easter dinner commenced.
And what a lovely meal it was.  Jeanette is a master in the kitchen.  Everything was incredibly good!
L-R  Ginette, Jeanette, Mariette and Lorne.
We gave thanks for the opportunity to get together to share this special holiday and to also share it with our Alberta family through Face Time.  What a great connection that was.
L-R  Mariette, Lorne, Me, Trevor's mom (Sandi), Trevor's Grandmother (Cleo), Trevor and Ginette.
Jeanette took the time and effort to prepare some awesome deviled eggs.  What a creative specimen of food that was.  We dug in!
Well decorated deviled eggs
Easton is devouring his deviled egg.
Suffice it to say that our Easter was shared with people we care about, and to spend it visiting and sharing a truly good meal is hard to top.  We are truly blessed.

Thanks for dropping in.




Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter!

It is Easter Sunday as I write this short blog post.  There has not been much to report of late.  It seems we are rolling back into routine and, at times, it leaves little fodder for blogging.

Several family and friends will be joining us for Easter dinner today.  Most will arrive by mid-afternoon.  We are looking forward to that.  Jeanette has been busy with preparations.  The 'piece de résistence' will be when we 'Face Time' our Alberta family members who will be celebrating Easter with Jeanette's mom.  We've set up a time to chat and share our collective Easter wishes.  We'll also get to see baby Owen and his mom and dad too.  Hard to beat that!

Replacing the batteries in Easton's pretend toy phone.
Easton was over a few times during the week and on one of those days, his toy cell phone was not operating properly.  Jeanette came to the rescue by suggesting that the batteries were likely dying.  Well, upon inspection, that's what was wrong.  New batteries fixed the problem.  Easton was back to chatting in his imaginary world.
Watching cartoons online.
There is a great series of cartoons available online that really speak to Easton.  They are so well done and include all the songs that we learned as kids too.  When he comes over, we find ourselves upstairs and on line for between 45 minutes to an hour.  The cartoons are so well done and are ideally suited to his age group.
Following cartoons is the time to dress up and head outdoors to ride his little bicycle.  He truly loves his birthday gift.  And he also can balance it well.
Jeanette headed out to White Rock, on Friday afternoon, to meet Mariette for a nice afternoon walk in Blackie's Spit along the sea.  They had not seen or chatted with each other for quite some time so there was some catching up to do.
Along Blackie's Spit in Crescent Beach, BC.
So, that covers things from here, for now.  There will be photos and more to write about following today's Easter dinner.

Thanks for dropping by.....and.....we wish you  a Happy, Happy Easter.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Rain...RV Detailed and Stored....Taxes....

The slug line above sums up the past couple of days.  

Although Monday was set aside to ready the tax file for our accountant, the weather forecasters called for a bright and sunny day. Clouds and rain were possible for Tuesday.  Given that scenario, I opted to defer working on the tax file and spent all of Monday on the 5th wheel. Tuesday would be dedicated to income tax stuff.  Priorities, right?
Giving the roof a good scrubbing.
The roof turned out great.  The sand, dust and staining, from several months in the desert, were washed away.
By 9:00 am Monday morning, I was busy with the arduous task of cleaning the 5th wheel inside and out.  The roof was the first job.  The photographer and inspector was busy too. I had not realized the large number of photos she took but I did get one photo of her sneaking up to the RV roof for inspection. 

Jeanette was also busy washing the RV bedding, towels and more.  She removed several food stuffs back to the house too.
Jeanette is giving her seal of approval.....I think!!!!
Once the roof and the top of all slide outs were cleaned, I worked on the body.  Often changing the hot water and suds led to a mighty fine clean up.
A major job but one I enjoy doing.  Seeing the results of a clean and shiny rig is always pleasing to me.
Taking a break for lunch - once the entire outside clean up was done - I reviewed my list of small RV maintenance jobs that needed attention.  I got to that with gusto, in the early afternoon, where I spent a good couple of hours vacuuming every possible indoor nook and cranny. The floor and rugs look new again!

Tuesday morning was dedicated to dealing with our income tax file. With the documents now in order, the package will be delivered to our accountant on Wednesday.  One more job done!  For our American friends, our Canadian taxes must be filed by April 30th ~ unlike April 15th for US citizens.
Pushed back and locked up in our side yard.  Sitting ready for the next adventure.
Early morning Wednesday morning rain.
With drizzle being the order of the day (Wednesday), I will deliver the income tax documents to our accountant before completing a short list of errands.  A wet day is a perfect one to manage those tasks.
Rain is why we have these beautiful spring plants growing in our neighbourhood.
Easton is coming to hang out with us today while his mom busies herself with other important tasks.  We always look forward to having our little 'bonhomme' (French for little man) visit.

That covers things from here for now.

Thanks for dropping in.