Z is for Zoo and Zelinko.
While we were back home BC we spent most of our time in Salmon Arm, we did take a couple road trips though and one was to the lower mainland where we got to visit with friends there, go to a couple of our favorite places and do a bit of shopping.
At the top of our list of things to do while we were home was to take a trip to the zoo. We had a wonderful time seeing the animals that we had known from when we lived there and went regularly and saw some new ones. Marin and Corban were on the go the whole time checking everything out. The view we saw most of Corban was his back as he was always ahead of us running to check out the next exhibit. Jeriah enjoyed his fist zoo trip too and was happy to look all around as we checked things out.
You'll notice a set of picture of Corban doing a dance towards the end of this slide show, totally cute!
On the note of meeting with friends, I basically sucked at remembering my camera to some of the visits we had and then when I did, I ended up with some pretty poopie (I have been hanging around Corban a lot) pictures. We did get together with Elizabeth, Anna, and Sarah and Elizabeth posted some pictures.
We met for a couple visit with our friends Natalie, Brianna & Kyle and Sarah, Dylan & Ryder. It was so nice to see them and neat to see Marin with her 2 little buddies again. :) Natalie took pictures and she even gave us some she printed before we left!
Thanks to all our friends for taking the time to visit with us while we were home! :)
The 1st of July was Canada's 143rd birthday and we, along with Granny & Grandpa went to check out the Canada day fun in Salmon Arm. The kids had fun getting their faces painted, playing games, sliding down bouncy castle slides, and Corban totally loved finger painting on the pick-up truck.
The 4th of July was my mom's 50th birthday and we threw her a Surprise party! It was a success, she had no idea and was totally surprised. It was a fun time with her family and friends, and lots and lots of yummy food.
This 3rd set of pictures is not about a birthday, but it is full of cute kids. :) Some include a fun time we had at the Liebich's place visiting with them and their kids.
We have been living in constant summer for 27 1/2 months now, it's either been nice pleasant summer (2009), like we had in Canada before we moved to KSA, the "winter" here in KSA or the summer (2010) weather we enjoyed while we were home visiting. The other summer we have had has been the stinking HOT, like you can't even sit outside in the shade doing absolutely nothing without sweating kind of weather. The humidity was really high this year after we arrived back to KSA from Canada and the temperatures would reach around 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in the sun in our backyard. All I have to say is AC is an amazing thing! The temperatures are starting to come down now though, "fall" is here. When I take Marin to school in the morning at about 7:40am, the temperature in the SUV (which is in the garage that has slight AC) is 28 degrees C instead of 32. The temperature in the backyard in the sun is only reaching about 35 to 40 degrees C and in the shade it is around 30 in the afternoon shade. These temperatures will all fall a bit more as "winter" comes. Thankfully though there is usually some kind of breeze, or wind, and that makes the temperatures bearable. That and the pool. :)
Anyways so... our summer back home in British Columbia... Some people have asked how it was being back home was it strange, did we have "culture shock", what did we notice most?
Green! Everything is so gloriously green, and lush and alive! I mean I knew that but having been in the desert for 10 1/2 months you really notice it. I also noticed sidewalks, nice even, smooth sidewalks, with sloped edges down to the road! And women, ha ha, that sounds odd. But I noticed women driving, and working at stores, and also unfortunately how inappropriately some dress, especially the young ones. We also noticed the incredible selection in the grocery stores, and how civil people drive, I may or may not have had to remind Ian a few times that he was driving in BC again, not Jeddah.
Okay so enough babbling...
If any of you are regular visors to blog you will have noticed that there was minimal posting over the summer. I wont bore you with why because I am sure you can all figure it out.
Our summer in BC was wonderful, full of visiting, little adventures, and family and friends.
We spent the first 5 days in the lower mainland at Dorothy's. Ian had a few meetings up at SFU, the kids and I got together with friends and we worked at getting over jetlag. Ian's parents met us at the airport and stayed with us at Dorothy's. It was a life saver having them with us and totally made getting over jetlag work. Jeriah slept with Ian & I, Corban slept with Grandpa, and Marin slept with Granny. That way the each adult only had to deal with one waking child. That and we kept our days full of activity.
While in the lower mainland we also had a visit with Great Granny Foulds. We defiantly missed not having Great Grandpa there, but we did enjoy seeing her of course and as usual she fed us yummy treats. :)
After our 5 days we drove to Salmon Arm, where we stayed with my parents. One of the first things we did was set up the bouncy castle that Granny & Grandpa had bought. It was set up at Oma & Opa's because they have a much bigger yard and after receiving the box G&G realized that the bouncy castle was far to big for their much smaller yard. :) Anyway Uncle Michael and Uncle Mark set it up with the kids and it was great fun all summer long.
We also went on a number of nature walks over the summer to enjoy the green, the first of which was to the nature tails along the lake near the wharf (click for a virtual tour).
Finishing off this set of pictures below is a picture of our first visit with our friends Sarah & Andrew. They also have 3 kids, even though we don't see each other much, it is so easy to just pick up where we left off, the kids also get along well and as usual it was wonderful to see them.
This is from our visit at GG Foulds', Marin was playing with the dog, and having a great time, her giggle is my favorite part. :)
I have had this post in the works now for a while, it is all about our move from the lower mainland to Salmon Arm and our 5 weeks there before moving here to KSA. On June 27th my mom arrived in Burnaby to help us move from our rental to Salmon Arm. She helped us pack, watched the kids while we ran out to do last minuet banking and appointments, cleaned and drove with the kids and I to Salmon Arm, while Ian took the U-haul. (Thank you Mom!) On June 30th Ian and his friend Mike loaded up the U-haul (Thank you Mike!) and the van and we were on our way to Salmon Arm. We arrived there in time for supper, Ian took longer to arrive though, he had to wait to have our rental inspected so he drove in at about 8:30pm. We were staying at my parents house, and they had moved the 2 vehicles out of their very large double garage in the barn, also we pretty much took over half the house with all our sorting and packing and what not (Thank you Mom & Dad!) and that is were Ian, Michael, and Mark emptied the U-haul into. (Thank you brothers!) From July 1st to 23rd our days were filled with sorting through our stuff deciding what we we would ship over to KSA, while the left overs would stay behind for my bothers to lay claim to. Once we had decided what was coming with us we had to sort through it to figure out what was being sent via air freight and was would be going sea freight. We had certain weight allowance for each, less weight for air freight so we had to weigh stuff and figure out what we could to wait longer for and what we wanted to come sooner rather than later. During this time Ian also had to take a quick trip back to SFU to finish up a few things there. There was also my 10 year high school reunion, meetings with lawyers and accountants, a shopping/banking trip to Kelowna for Ian and I, a blogger meet up with Elizabeth and Sarah and their kiddos, time spent with Granny & Grandpa, and finally on July 22nd the movers came to load up our 2 shipments. While Ian and I were busy doing those less than kid friendly things Marin and Corban hung out with Oma, Opa, Uncle Michael, Blair, and Uncle Mark. (Thank you for watching the kids!) They also set up a pool in the front yard that was very much enjoyed. :) Here is a shwack of pictures from that time.
From July 24th to 30th our time was filled with a trip to Williams Lake to visit with (Great) Granny & Grandpa Phillips, and attending Heidi's 3rd Birthday party where we also got a chance to say good bye to Dave & Kristy and Joel & Karey. We also spent a morning at the water park with Granny & Grandpa. One of those afternoons Oma also made up a batch of oliebollen for Marin and Corban. If you know anything about oliebollen then you will know that they are a traditional dutch New Year's eve treat but since we are not going to be in Canada for New Years she made them in July for the kids so they wouldn't miss out. :) Here are some pictures to go with this chunk of time.
From July 31st to Aug 4 our days included a trip to Vernon to visit (Great, great) Auntie Marjorie & Uncle Don's, a whole afternoon at the Enderby river beach, and good bye dinner at my cousin Lynda's with Chris & Dylan and Auntie Aneda & Uncle John. On Aug 4th we had a final dinner with my parents and brothers, and Ian's parents at their house. And pictures to go with some of these times too, unfortunately for some of them I had forgotten the camera. :(
Then on Aug 5th for the last time in a long time we loaded up the van (fuller than usual) and made the trip from Salmon Arm to the coast. Along the way we stopped in at (Great) Granny & Grandpa Foulds place to say good bye, and then it was on to the airport where we would be staying the night in the airport hotel. That night Dorothy, (and her sister) Maryanne and Brian met us for dinner and took our van back with them to Dorothy's house, where it stayed for about a week until Ian's parents came down for a visit and took it back to Salmon Arm with them. (Thank you all so much for doing that!) So there you have it.
I am going back in time with these pictures. From June 21st to 25th, Ian was in London again and during that time the kids and I had 3 farewell playdates. On Monday we went out to my friend Mandy's, she and I used to work together before Marin was born. Marin had a fun time playing with her girls Kenzi and Ava, and it was nice to catch up with Mandy.
On Wednesday Rachel came to us with her 3 boys Max, Marty and Jaxon. The weather was great so we went out exploring the SFU campus. The kids enjoyed searching for the fish in the pond, playing back at our place together, and as always it was lovely chatting with Rachel.
Wednesday we went to Natalie, Brianna and Kyle's place and Sarah, Dylan and Ryder came too. Natalie, Sarah and I met at a playgroup when Marin, Brianna & Dylan were 14-18 months old. Natalie had put together a little party for us and had even booked the common room in her apartment building and brought over loads of toys and food so the kids had lots of space to run around and play and us moms had plenty to eat. :) It was sad to say goodbye to them, and to see the kids give each other one last goodbye hug.
L to R: Myself, Natalie and Sarah.
Thanks to you all for one last visit, we hope to see you in the coming years when we are back for visits!
On Saturday the kids and I had an adventure of sorts, I say it that way because it started out bad, but ended really well. One of the things that I was hoping to do before moving away was meet Jay, she and I have been reading each others blogs for almost 2 years, she also lives in the lower mainland so we live reasonably close, a whole lot closer than we will come next month! Ian was away for 5 days over the weekend in KSA for another faculty meeting and as it turned out Jay's husband was also gone on a work trip the same weekend. It was great because it gave us both something to do for the day to keep our minds off missing our men. Anyway the plan was for us to meet at Centennial Park in Ladner at 11am. According to Google maps it was an hour drive, I printed off the directions and the kids and I were out the door with all our gear for the day and a picnic lunch by 9:40am, plenty of time, or so I figured. The first 1/3rd of our trip was easy I had driven that way before, but then Google failed me! It had not accounted yet for some recent construction at a very major point of our trip and I was unaware of this. I followed what the instructions said but with the new road way system that is now in place I was sent down the wrong road with no way of getting back. The road I was on I had driven before, not lots but it was a little familiar. I watched for cross roads and when I got the opportunity I pulled over and got out the 10+ year old map book we have in the van. I found where I was and had a general idea of where I needed to head to get to where we were meeting Jay. So off we went. We drove for a while longer and still I was not seeing the roads that I new would get me to where I needed to be. We pulled over again this time to ask for directions, Corban had thankfully fallen asleep and Marin was doing awesome. The man that helped us ended up giving us bum directions and again I knew I was going the wrong way when the road signs began to tell me I was heading to Seattle! (Sorry Belky I was not prepared to come visit you, we had no passports with us!) So we pulled over, we were in White Rock. I pulled out the map book found where I was and called Jay to tell her we were going to be late and ask if she new how we could get to where we needed to be, she was not super familiar with where I was but pointed me in the right direction. Corban woke up at this point and I gave both of them a cookie and kept going. Marin had been talking with me pretty much the whole time and when we got lost that became the main topic of conversation. She was worried, but told me it was okay, that we could just go home. Poor girl, she did so well the whole time, she kept me from freaking out. We pulled over again a ways down the road to ask for more direction, this time they were really good ones! We were finally on a road that was part of my directions. Marin at this point announced that "It sure is nice to be going the right direction!" So on we went, we took the correct exit and followed the instructions, that then failed me again! I did what they told me to do I stayed right like it said I should. I even said to myself "stay right I write with my right hand." But as I went down that road I just new it was wrong, and I was right. I turned around again and went back to where I had made the "wrong" turn, I called Jay and I told her the land marks I was near and she thankfully new exactly where I was! She then stayed on the phone with me for a bit and got me on right track again. As we drove along I was talking with the kids telling them what road we were looking for next and whatnot, Marin was helping me she called herself my "lookout". We were looking to turn down 12th St. I was telling them the street names/numbers as we passed them, I then heard her say. "Where is that sneaky little 12th st.?!" We finally got to the park only to realize that Google failed me AGAIN! It brought us to the park but to the pedestrian entrance at a dead end road! There was no parking lot in sight! What the heck! So I called Jay again and she told me that there were signs for another park a little ways back that is right beside Centennial Park and that that is where the parking lots are. So back we drove. Finally, we arrived and I parked the van and finally, we got out of the van, an hour later then we were supposed to arrive. Marin and Corban did SO well, I was and still am super impressed that they were as content as they were. Jay and Ariel came over to meet us and we headed to the beach. We had our lunch and then the kids enjoyed some play time together in the sand. They got along really well and Ariel got a preview as to what having a little brother will be like. :) Jay is expecting #2, a little boy, 2 month before I am due. Us moms had a great time chatting about a variety of things and snapping pictures of the kids.
We attempted a "nice" photo of the 3 of them and it worked pretty well. In this picture they were clapping, Corban had a rock in his hand and when he clapped it fell out, they all looked to see it fall between his legs and he of course had to get it back.
We went walking in the tide pools, and it was fun to watch the kids enjoy them. After some more time playing in the sand Jay and Ariel took us to see the "secret garden". It is this beautiful garden that one of the local people has created in a public easement behind his property, it is open daily for people to walk through and enjoy. The kids thought is was a pretty neat place, Jay and I enjoyed all the flowers too. :)
The 3 kiddos in the garden.
After our time in the garden it was 4pm and time to head for home. Jay said she would lead me out of the area and told me were to turn off to get me to a road I knew would get me home, we figure my Google maps instructions were useless so between the 2 of us we got me and the kids home. The trip home was smooth sailing and it only took one hour. So that was our adventure. Thanks for meeting us Jay and Ariel and showing a beautiful new park, for waiting and extra hour for us and for helping us get home again. we had a great time with you both. :)
Our little boy had a wonderful birthday weekend! We have decided that on years where there is no February 29th that we will celebrate Corban's birthday as a family on February 28th because to us he is a "February baby", he was born in February after all. We will have his party with friends on what ever day closest to 28th works out best. On leap years though we will have a big birthday bash on February 29th. That being said this is how all the birthday fun went down this year... On February 26th Granny came over for dinner and to give Corban's his gifts. Both she and Grandpa had come down the day before, but when they woke up in the morning Grandpa had come down with a really bad cold. Not wanting to pass that on to all of us he decided that he would not come over, which was too bad that he missed out on the fun, but we are thankful to have not caught his cold. We took pictures though so he could at least see Corban opening his gifts.
On the 28th we spent a lovely family day together, we had a yummy waffle breakfast and then put together a picnic lunch (which we ate in the back of the van it was a little to chilly outside for an outdoor picnic) and went to the zoo. We had a house showing that afternoon so we thought it would be a fun thing to do and it would get us out of the house for the showing. Corban loved the zoo and was really into seeing all the animals. Once we arrived home Ian and the kids played while I put dinner together. After dinner we gave Corban his gifts from the 3 of us.
On March 1st we had a party with family and friends for him. We were joined by (Uncle) Michael & Blair, Dorothy, Heather, Maddie & Chelsea, Sarah, Dylan & Ryder, and Ian's cousins Paul and Joel. Corban had a great time and totally soaked up all the attention, he is such a little goof and he put on a good show. :) It was fun to see him enjoying himself. Michael & Blair stayed for dinner, lasagna, which Michael had made and brought with, thank you it was tasty and very nice to not have to cook. Then after an early bath we all visited with Oma & Opa and (Uncle) Mark via a video Skype call and Corban opened his gifts that he got from them.
So that was our sweet boy's 1st birthday celebrations, thank you everyone for joining us and for all the wonderful gifts you gave him. :)
This year Marin, the lucky girl, had 2 birthday parties. We celebrated her birthday in Salmon Arm on January 11th with family and friends there and then again at home on January 18th with family and friends here.
2 parties obviously calls for 2 cakes! Cake #1
Cake #2
2 parties also means 2 sets of pictures, and 2 sets of guests. Oma and Opa hosted the first party, a BIG thank you to them! :) At party #1 we were joined by Granny & Grandpa, (Great) Uncle John & (Great) Auntie Aneda, Lynda (my cousin) and her son Dylan, the Liebichs (Dave, Kristy, Heidi & Peter), (Uncle) Mark and of course Oma & Opa. Pictures from party #1
Party #2 was at our house, and many of our friends were kind enough to come help us celebrate. Our guests included Dorothy, the Davis Family (Mike, Heather, Maddie & Chelsea), the Zalinko family (Paul, Rachel, Max, Marty & Jaxon), the Tam family (Brandon, Natalie & Brianna), part of the Kwan family (Sarah, Dylan & Ryder), and (Uncle) Michael & (his girlfriend) Blair. Pictures from party #2
And of course what is a birthday party without singing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl. Singing "Happy Birthday" #1
Singing "Happy Birthday" #2
Thank you everyone for coming and celebrating Marin's birthday with us!
So I had said I wanted to share all the pictures from our time in Salmon Arm before September ended, wishful thinking on my part! Anyway I had planed to do multiple posts and blah, blah, but there just isn't time for that so I took Rachel great idea and put them all into a slide show. Marin had so much fun playing outside at Oma & Opa, seeing all the animals and playing with "Myyyy Uncle Michael and myyyy Uncle Mark" as she calls them. (If you want the show to pause so you can read the captions just put your mouse over the picture, or to see the pictures bigger click on "View All Images" below)
