A 9 year old??!! Where did the time go?

Summer portrait

I know, it's a studio pic, there will be more exciting summer pics soon. Just had to share it though!

California May 2011

We did a little road trip in May. The Honda Ridgeline is so comfy for the 4 of us there wasn't a single complaint about the amount of driving. Maybe just once, when Rylee asked "how long are we driving today?" Mark said "about 10 hours" and Rylee's reply was "awww...can't it just be 8?" A nice little lesson in Geography for the girls, driving through Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and California.

We stopped in Zion National Park Utah on the way to California and

did a hike in Kolob Canyons. http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/zion/kolob_canyons.htm

We then made our way to Disneyland by day 3 and some lovely WARMER weather for two fantastic days of rides in the theme parks and swimming in the hotel pool!

From there we drove North through the Central Valley with it's Orange Groves, garlic fields and other riches to Morgan Hill, near San Jose where we visited our friends Cory and Yada and their 3 totally cute kids - Maddy, Mikaylee and Tarin!

Day trips to Santa Cruz and Monterey included beaches, sand dunes, more rides and harbour seals. We said goodbye after a few days and made our way to Lake Tahoe via

Sequoia (Giant Redwoods) and Yosemite (granite cliffs and waterwalls) National Parks on the CA 49, a lovely twisty hiway through the mountains home to many historic California Gold Rush towns. Rain turned to snow in below average May temperatures and we drove through a blizzard on the Pass near Truckee, CA. Snow, ice and slush, mild by Canadian terms but enough to demand chaining up or 4x4.

Fortunately our condo at N. Lake Tahoe had a hot tub and heated outdoor pool to entertain the girls, a nice grill for Mark to BBQ for us, a movie theatre playing "Angry Birds, Rio" and a beach for skimming stones and biking. We had a fantastic 2 week holiday!

RollerSK8 party

We'd like to share a few pics from the day. A school pal had her 8th bday party today and we rollerbladed/skated to awesome club music, under the disco ball with glow sticks - how fun!!

Then later this evening we went to see the movie 'SOUL SURFER'

http://www.soulsurferthemovie.com/

with our friends Capri and Carmen. xox Sonia and Rylee

Halloween Happenings

Today our lovely girls were sooo excited to get into their Alice in Wonderland costumes for the school carnival. Rylee was the shrunken Alice, with bandage on arm from the Bandersnatch claw (her idea), but her fancy bottle with 'Drink Me' tag might have been the only clue that she was not Cinderella or a movie star. I think it's cute that one classmate was really interested in knowing how her hair grew so long overnight! Sonia was a little more recognizable and was inseparable from her friends Alice and the White Queen. Now tomorrow it's another party, and Saturday another and Sunday Trick or Treating.... too much fun. I'll be a witch for it all I am sure. Mark has a Franciscan Monk costume ready to itch him.

School photos 2010

Rather than order the chin-on-hand-shelf school pics this year, we ventured out in the nearby community of Bridgeland and took our own photos. There were many posed and smiling images of Sonia and Rylee in their autumn wardrobe, but these - the last of the evening were by far the best. Enjoy.

Summer 2010

It's time for BBQs, swimming lessons at the outdoor pool, library visits and birthday parties. The Calgary Stampede has begun, not sure if we'll get there or not with everything else going on.
The kids are enjoying some freedom in our schedule!