Into my "early" 30's

On Tuesday I turned 31 years old! For some reason that is starting to sound old to me...I am now in my "early" 30's!! And is was a wonderful day...
I woke up and took Gabby downstairs to turn on a movie so that I could go back to bed. I went around the corner and Jeff was sitting on the couch with Meggie. I was shocked to see him home of course on a Tuesday morning! He said happy birthday and that we needed to get going because he had a busy day planned. What a sweet husband I have:)He had arranged for our friends to watch the kids for the day. We dropped them off and then headed downtown to a small cafe for breakfast. We had such yummy breakfast bagels and found a spot on the lake to have our bagels. It was SO nice to be just him and I and hang out and talk without other distractions! We had a blast:)
Then we just walked around downtown and we took lots of pictures! It was a beautiful day outside and we live in such a beautiful place, so we took advantage of it.
Jeff had told me while we were eating breakfast that he is going to take me to the lululemon store and buy me an outfit!! I was so excited. But, if you know me you know how cheap I am and how NOT cheap lululemon clothes are. Jeff insisted that I get an outfit and that it was my birthday and he wanted to do this for me! Again such a great hubby!! So off we went...I got a hoodie and some pants and I love them.Then we walked back to the van and went back to our friends house to feed Marty. The kids did great with our friends and I am so thankful for friends like these that would do this for us! It is such a blessing to me.
After feeding Marty we drove across the lake to Mission Hill Winery and we were going to do a wine tour there. The one we wanted to do was all booked up and so we headed down the road to Quails Gate Winery. We got in on the tour there and had a little bite to eat there. It is such a beautiful place over looking the lake! Then it was time to head back to our friends place to pick up the kids.
We picked up some pizza for dinner and then worked around the house for a bit. I had a busy day planned before Jeff surprised me. I had lots of chores to do that day. But, I ended up having a much more fun day!! I came home to tons of phone messages and emails. I am so thankful to have so many wonderful friends and family and I feel so loved.I am beyond blessed to have Jeff as my husband, for he makes me feel so special and loved and beautiful!! He is an amazing husband and daddy and I am forever thankful that God gave him to me.So needless to say, I had such a great 31st birthday!!

In other news, Marty started to crawl last week!!! He is only 6 months old and I can hardly believe it. He is growing up way too fast. I looked in the girls baby books and they both started crawling at 9 months old...so, he is definitely early for us. He get around pretty fast now too and we have shut the gate on the stairs now.


He continues to be the happiest baby I have ever met!! Always giving us smiles and just easy going with everything. I am so in love with him:)Marty and I hanging out...Jeff filled up the hot tub again and we are just keeping it warm right now about 90 degrees...so it feels like a warm pool and the kids love it!!And today, we are so excited because Kirsten and Malcolm are coming for a visit!! We are so looking forward to having a few days with them. I just wish they lived closer so we could see them more often.

Camping in the rain...

We had a great vacation camping at the Shuswap this past week! We went with 2 other families and we had 6 adults and 7 kids and some other friends joined us one day as well. We had a blast even though the weather didn't cooperate with us. It rained pretty much the whole time:(
The campsite...We borrowed Jeff's parents truck and camper and our friends had a tent trailer and a 5th wheel. The 5th wheel was huge and it was great to be able to have a warm and dry place to hang out. It even had a TV and DVD player and that came in handy for the kids.
It was great to have the truck and camper to have a warm and dry place to sleep. The kids slept really well. It would take a little longer than usual to get them to fall asleep(about an hour), but then they slept right through to the morning. Marty slept in his bassinet on the bed with us. After the first night, Jeff set up the tent outside and he slept in the tent the rest of the time. He found the camper a little clausterphobic(sp?) and stuffy with all 5 of us in it!
The tent was also used as a play area for the kids...Enjoying s'mores on the BBQ...Each family took turns making a breakfast and a dinner and we had such yummy food!! That's always a fun part of camping. The first night we had BBQ Salmon, the next night Spaghetti and then the last night we had feta burgers!! And, of course, we had snacks galore. Each night we would feed the kids dinner and then put them to bed and then the adults would have dinner. It was SO great to have adult conversation. We are truly blessed with great friends!!We drank lots of tea and coffee to try and stay warm!We brought along Jen and Isaac's boat, but we didn't get to use it too much. The boys went water skiing in the rain a few times and the kids and I managed to get in one boat ride on the last day.The one day, the moms and most of the kids headed into town to get a few things. We didn't think that it would be so cold the whole time. We definitely didn't bring enough warm clothes for that. We will know better for next time!
On Saturday, our friends Karen and Tyson and their kids joined us. The kids had fun playing together and we enjoyed having them for dinner and the evening!

Two sweet little boys...We were all SO tired when it was time to go home! Bas and Kristi had our girls in their mini van because we had the truck which only had enough room for Marty and us. I feel asleep laying against Marty carseat on the way home. When we got home, Jeff had a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. We were definitely not used to staying up so late at night. We usually got to bed around midnight every night and then the kids were up about 6:30am!!! That is SO not enough sleep for me.
In other news...Marty turned 6 months old on Monday!! I know I say this often, but I can not believe how fast the time goes. It makes me a little sad to see my baby growing up. We fed him rice cereal for the first time on Monday and he loved it!! A few times, he looked a little disgusted with the cereal, but still continued to eat it. My parents came over for dinner and I made cupcakes to celebrate his 6 month birthday:)Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!!

2 little monkeys...

I can't believe it is August already! Summer is going to be over soon and it feels like it has just begun. We have been enjoying the beautiful summer weather! We have spent quite a bit of time at my parents pool at their new place. Megan is getting more and more comfortable in the water every time we go there. Gabby is doing great with the water too, we just have to let her sit on the stairs for a few minutes to get comfortable and then we bring her in with us.Last week, we went to a new park not far from our house. They recently built a new climbing thing made with cables. The kids loved to climb around on there...and Jeff and I had to go to the top as well. We were amazed at how brave the girls were...our 2 little monkeys!Sorry Marty, you have to ride in a pink stroller...but, you do have 2 sisters!!It was such a warm evening and the kids loved to be outside. Marty went on the baby swing for the first time and I think he liked it!
Jeff made us a yummy breakfast on Saturday morning. Bacon and eggs made on the BBQ!! We ate outside on the deck and enjoyed the warm summer morning. Then Megan, my mom and I went shopping. It was a little "date" with Megan and she loved it! It's always special to spend time with the kids one on one.
Yesterday, after the kids woke up from their naps we went to our friends family cabin on Wood Lake. It is a beautiful little place!
Isaac and Jen have a ski boat and they keep it at the cabin for part of the summer. The girls got to go on their first ski boat ride and they loved it. Jeff even attempted to get up on the wakeboard, but he gave up after a while of trying:( We are going camping this week and I'm sure he will try again and I'm going to try to water ski, although it has been about 8 years since I last skied.Here's Marty and Gavin hanging out together...they are only 3 months apart! I'm sure they will be great friends.The dads and all the kids...Basil and the 3 youngest ones...
It was great to be together with our friends and just relax! We are going camping this week with these same families and we are so excited. I'm sure it will be busy with all the kids, but lots of fun!! I will write all about our camping adventures when we get back.

Oh, and a little update on Gabby's potty training. She is doing awesome!! She even went poop on the potty this morning without telling me. Her and Meggie were playing and she just went to the potty. I was so proud of her! And yesterday at the cabin she pooped a couple of times too. She has been telling us when she needs to go and sometimes if it has been a little while I will just put her on the potty and she goes. So far so good!!