Isaac: 10 years old

Isaac turned 10 at the end of October. I can’t believe we have a kid in the double digits. For his party he invited some friends from school to go swimming with him, and then Gordon brought them back to our house after for snacks, cake, and presents. He wanted some type of oreo ice cream cake for his birthday, so we looked at a couple recipes and he chose which one he wanted. Thankfully it was much easier than last year’s masterpiece!

For his birthday, Gordon picked him up from school at lunch, and then went to get burgers. After that he took him to the axe-throwing/shooting range here and spent the afternoon doing all the macho stuff. We can’t have a birthday around here without McDs for supper, then after opening his presents, he promptly took his new LEGO sets to his room and built them for a couple hours. He was lucky enough to score an invite to a Halloween party that evening, so he and Mia were able to spend a few hours having fun with some friends. He got right to work finishing his LEGO the next day, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t even eat breakfast the next morning, so consumed was he with his construction. Granny was also here for his birthday which was special for him. He’s never had a birthday without her being there close to it to celebrate. Gordon also 90% finished his loft bed, enough that he could comfortably sleep in it. Gordon and Isaac actually designed it together. He had been bunking with Mia since we moved in 10 months ago, and when the time finally came for him to totally move into his own room there was some unexpected trepidation from both of them.

Isaac birthday interview
Favourite colour: red
Favourite food: pizza
Favourite movie: star wars
Favourite TV show: Simpsons
Favourite book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (he has all 17)
Favourite animal: budgie
Favourite activity: playing with Ace (our dog)
What are you scared of? Anything scary, being confined in small spaces
What do you want to be when you grow up? Dentist/ multi billionaire business owner
What superpower would you have? invisibility

Isaac’s in grade 5 this year, and is actually enjoying school (most years it’s a struggle). He’s made some friends in his class who are even more into Star Wars than he is, and it was so cute to see them at this birthday party discussing all the different LEGO sets and scenes. 

We are reading Harry Potter 6 together, and hope to be done by Christmas. He loves reading, and always has a book at the table. He especially loves encyclopedia type books, and retains so many facts. He loves learning about history and how things are made. On one of our really long road trips, Gordon asked me to do trivia with him to stave off boredom. We used to watch a lot of Jeopardy before kids were born. Trivia is something we both enjoy, as does Isaac. So I start asking Gordon what I think are some moderately challenging questions. Out of nowhere, Isaac starts yelling out the answers from the backseat. Sometimes quicker than Gordon. Sometimes Gordon and I had no clue what the answer even was. Then it became this contest of wits between Gordon and Isaac, and Gordon is quite the history buff. I even saved one of the questions Isaac answered just because I was so boggled about how he knew the answer.
“Formed in 1955, with which island was the organization known by the acronym EOKA associated?
Answer: Cyprus”

Isaac is maturing fast and I can count on him for a lot of things. When we had our big snow dump over the weekend, he was out at 9am on Saturday getting the shovels out from under the deck and shoveling it off. He will help walk Ace if asked, and enjoyed helping his dad mow the lawn over the summer. He enjoys the indoor chores much less, but will still vacuum, dust, or mop floors if I ask. He’s usually game to tag along for errands with his dad. We have a budget for costumes, and he used his allowance money to make up the difference for this one.

He loves computer games, and has caught on to all the strategy games Gordon has shown him. When he shows me his minecraft creations and all the thought he puts behind his various rooms, I’m always impressed at how he’s come up with ways to make things work.

Isaac loves to build things. If he has a new lego set to build, he will sacrifice eating, screen time, sleep to finish it. Then he will excitedly show me all the features and mechanics of what he’s built, and I pretend to have a clue what he’s talking about. His bedroom is full of lego sets he's built. I neglected to get a picture of the two he's built from this birthday... so last year's will have to do for now!

He’s started judo back up this September (we took a break after the move), and is working towards his green belt. He was asked to do competitive swimming by the swim club here after a swimming lessons session, but decided he wanted to try basketball instead. He’s very competitive and us all about the win. I take credit for those genes…

If you know Isaac, you know he has a comment and opinion about everything, along with a constant need to question or challenge what is asked. We are trying to hone this quality so he understands that while it’s good to share our thoughts and think critically, not every situation warrants a quip or challenge.  But sometimes he pulls the funniest one liners out of nowhere. He was looking over my shoulder when I came across a picture of Gordon and I 13 years ago. He said “wow mum, you were a lot cuter then! Now look at you! Look at your hair!” Apparently mom buns aren’t cute. Another time Isaac was telling Mia how you got to the top of the Calgary Tower (he had been with my mum last year). “Well you can ride the elevator or go up the stairs. I rode the elevator. I could have gone up the stairs but I was with Granny, and you know, she’s old.” My mum and I were actually training for a half marathon then, so I think she could have managed the stairs haha.

You would also know that Isaac has this weird charismatic ability to convince people of things. He missed his picture day because he was sick, but he still managed to go home with a picture. I asked him how he managed that and he replies “Oh, I just had a conversation with the principal”. Legitimately no idea how he managed it. One time he was trying to convince his sisters to choose meatballs over meatloaf for dinner and he says “Meatloaf is just meat, but shaped like banana bread!”

He’s pretty good about taking on a challenge and backpacked this summer with Gordon’s parents in the mountains. They hiked in the ballpark of 60-70km. The kicker was we hadn’t planned on Isaac going, so he didn’t really have any proper hiking shoes/warm coat. But we explained what the expectations were (carrying his pack, eating whatever was offered, no complaining). He did it, and I have the most wonderful pictures of him conquering mountains because of it. He admitted he missed my cooking while he was gone. Best compliment ever.

He also tried dirtbiking for the first time this year. And while the neuro nurse in me is less than thrilled, he has a healthy dose of self preservation, and it’s something he and Gordon can enjoy doing together.

Isaac used to be such a difficult kid to get to bed. Then all of a sudden the last few months he has decided that early bedtime is the way to go. 830 is his target time to be ready, and then normally I read Harry Potter to him for 10 minutes. It’s been so nice having more than one kid actually be cooperative at bedtime (Scarlett also likes going to bed at a decent time).

Isaac likes being a big brother. He and Mia definitely have the most battles, and he does like to rile them all up. But he does like teaching them, playing with them (on his terms of course), and has an especial soft spot for his baby sister who he has nicknamed “beany boo” or “beaner”. 

We love this kid and can't believe it was a decade since he made us parents.

Lily Grace: 15-18 months

 Our sweet girl is already halfway to being 2. 

She weighed in at 21lbs at her 18 month shots, and both height and weight are in the 25-30th percentiles. 

She is sporting quite the mullett right now, and her hair is very wispy and fine. I can't bring myself to give her a haircut though 😂

Lily only has 6 teeth. I'm 99.99% sure that all the other kids had way more teeth than that at her age. At least one set of molars in any case.

She loves to read books. She will happily pull out every book on every shelf and flip through her little mountain. She will bring anyone a book who is around and say "book? book?". Her favourites right now are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do You See?", "Where is the Green Sheep?", and "Shark in the Park". Basically anything with animals is a favourite. And she knows and loves to do ALL the noises. She has a weird shark obsession right now-loves books and songs about sharks, and walks around saying "shark, shark, shark" but any sharks in the form of stuffies or bath toys terrify her. 

She says quite a few words- too many to list. If she sees something she recognizes in a book, she'll point it out (like pizza, balls, ducks...) She has started putting some words together like "baby shark", "I see you", and "open water please". She says thank you after you give her anything, and also have she gives you anything.

Her favourite foods are chocolate of any variety, waffles, noodles, and yogurt.

Lily loves our puppy Ace, and is always sneaking him extra bits of kibble while saying "Acey fooo?" She loves to take him on walks.

She is still a mischief maker, but now is much more helpful at cleaning up than she used to be. She has a penchant for hiding things in cupboards and drawers, so we try not to leave anything we want to find again where she can reach it. Once I went to check on my order in Amazon. It said there were 99 items in my cart. So I clicked on my cart wondering what the heck was going on. There were 331 green tshirts that said "Don't Call Me Richard" in my cart, for a total of $8900. At first I thought it was someone hacking my account, but was confused about why they would order that and why they wouldn't have checked out. Lily had had my phone earlier and had managed to unlock it somehow, but I was still skeptical it was her. Until a few days later I caught her trying to order 46 aquariums. Thankfully she hasn't figured out how to proceed to the checkout yet. 

The picture below was taken after she stripped herself naked, climbed into her sister's suitcase full of clean clothes (packed for a trip), and peed in it.

Lily is super affectionate. She loves climbing on you for random hugs and kisses, loves to sit on your lap and snuggle, is so happy to greet you whenever anyone walks through the door. She is probably my most lovey baby.  

Has an obsession with shoes, sunglasses, and wearing random articles of clothing on her head.

She only likes to shower in our walk in shower. And is generally not a fan of being surrounded by water. Tubs, lakes, and pools are only tolerated. She does like water if she can dip her hands in it or it's 
"sprinkling".

She loves to play at the park and will always try and get out of the stroller if we are passing one.

We all adore miss Lily or "beanie boo" has her brother calls her.

Summer 2022

 After two COVID summers, this summer felt jam packed with never ending activity. Normally we would have spent our time making a bucket list of Edmonton spray parks to go to, but since GP only has 2, we had to find different things to add to our bucket list. We did almost all of them! This post took me weeks to finish trying to remember all the things we did and sort through photos. Choosing which photos to include is the hardest part- we had so many good ones!

July

-my mum came up the day after school was out to spend time with us and we checked out Muskoseepi spray park

-my sister, brother in law and dad came up two days later to visit for the first time since we moved after Christmas

-Isaac and Mia went back with my parents to Calgary and spent the week with Granny and Grampy

Calgary adventures (Isaac and Mia)

-indoor playground

-new Minions movie

-Calgary Tower and riding the C-train

-Calaway Park

-Prairie Winds outdoor pool

The little girls and I went to the library, the indoor playground, and spent a few days playing outside in the sprinkler while the older kids were gone.

 

-we packed up for our trip to Sicamous with Gordon's family and spent two days making our way there

-my mum met up with my mother in law to hand off Isaac and Mia, so they could drive with my in laws to Sicamous

-it was Ace's first road trip and he did great

-we stayed in a hotel in Valemount overnight to break up the 10.5 hour trip

-we stopped in Clearwater on our way to Sicamous and hiked to some falls

Sicamous adventures (the BEST weather we could have asked for)

-meeting our newest niece/cousin Ella

-Sicamous family beach

-kayaking

-D Dutchmen farm

-Salmon Arm waterslides

-all the ice cream

-meeting up with my best friend and her kids for a lake day at Paddlewheel park in Vernon

-bubbles with cousins

-playing pool (and besting Gordon in 2/3 games)

-Enchanted Forest, Lily was obsessed with all the little houses

-Gordon, Isaac, and Mia ziplining

-board games

-boating/tubing, Mia being our daredevil wanted all the thrill rides and was flipped multiple times. I promised Scarlett and Brooklyn they would go on a nice gentle ride, because they were terrified of falling off. But it was so gentle the front end of the tube dipped (not having enough speed to stay above water), and they had to bail because the tube started being pulled under... Actually Gordon had to rip them off, because they were hanging on for dear life.

-celebrating Brooklyn's 4th birthday with ice cream and cupcakes

-latenight bonfire to close out an amazing week

In an impromptu decision, we left Isaac with my in laws who were about to embark on a multi day backpacking trip doing the Rockwall hike/Pedley Pass. Isaac decided he wanted to go with them. We mentally prepped him that he would be eating food he might not like, that he would be carrying his own pack, and that there would be no complaining. Although I wasn't there, all reports and pictures said he was a champ, covering in the ball park of more than 60km over the course of several days. True to his promise to us, he ate the food, carried his pack, and didn't complain. His one wish he told me, when I spoke to him on the phone after the third day, was that oatmeal would have more flavour. I was extremely proud of him putting his mind to that goal and accomplishing it.

                                       

While Isaac was trekking mountain passes, the girls and I had a few mini adventures at home. Gordon took B bowling for her bday date, and I took Scarlett to a movie for her belated bday outing. We visited Down to Earth farm and saw all the animals there, and B had a tea party with a few friends to celebrate her bday.

August 

We were only home for about 2 weeks before needing to head back to BC to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday and finally bring Isaac home (between time with both sets of Grandparents and Sicamous, he'd been gone for 5 weeks).

Cranbrook adventures

-jumping on the trampline with cousins 

-being able to visit with lots of my extended family at my Grandma's 80th birthday celebration

-beach time at Jim Smith Lake

-frozen yogurt

-kids (minus Lily) campout with Grandma and Grandpa at Wasa Lake for 4 nights

-Fort Steele

-Kimberley fish hatchery

-cooking dinner for my grandparents and playing a 3 hour domino game

On our way back from BC we stayed at my parents in Calgary overnight and had a mini bday dinner for my dad and B as they share the same birthday. We left Scarlett and B in Calgary and brought the older two plus Lily home.

Calgary adventures (Scarlett and Brooklyn)

-indoor playground with cousins (Charlie and Georgia)

-Prairie winds

-at home spa day

-Calgary zoo with cousins

-cousin Charlie's birthday party

One of the places the older kids and I visited while the little girls were away was the Phillip Currie Dinosaur Museum. It was really neat, and Isaac and Mia even got to do a guided tour of the paleontology lab! Gordon also took them to the outdoor pool for the first time.

My mum brought the little girls back, and stayed with us a for a week. Isaac and Mia were at a day camp every day, and they were able to go swimming a few times at the Eastlink and spent their last day at Muskoseepi all day. We met up with them and all went to the outdoor pool after, as the little girls had never been. She took the kids shopping and to the park, and was just a big help like always when she's here. The kids were sad to say bye to her. That weekend, Mia and Scarlett's friends from school in Edmonton came up for a surprise visit. We met up at he Reach Centre, and as mom's had kept it a total secret from the kids until we got there. Mia asked me if she was dreaming. Such a fun little reunion for our kids (minus Lily trying to escape to the entrance in order to try everyone's shoes on a bazillion times). 

I had promised the kids we would visit Edmonton and go to their favourite spray park (Broadmoor Lake in Sherwood Park). So even after driving over 4000kms in the span of a month, I drove solo with the 5 kids to Edmonton and stayed with my sister and brother in law for two nights. We were lucky enough to visit with good friends all morning, and then have great weather for the spray park with more friends in the afternoon. We finished the day off with a weiner roast and s'mores with my sister and brother in law at Lion's park. We headed home early the next day as the forecast wasn't cooperating for us to do anything exciting.

We had a relaxing few days before school started up and I was even brave enough to do tie dye with the 4 kids solo during one of Lily's naps (messy crafts are my kryptonite). Isaac and Mia wore their shirts on the first day of school. We celebrated end of summer vacation with slurpees and a trip to the park.

Gordon's parents came up Labour Day weekend to stay the week and help with all the transitions while I picked up a few more shifts at work. We are so blessed to have such great parents that are always willing to help us out when they're here. I know Ace especially loved all his long walks.We checked out Saskatoon Lake Provincial Park, and walked some trails, as well as Red Willow Falls-Isaac and Mia were even brave enough to jump in the falls after Gordon did it. I'm sure we will revisit both of those spots next year. We also went to a block party at our dental clinic with bouncy castles and face painting. 

Our summer sure felt packed (in a good way) this year, and we actually got through almost all the things on our bucket list, with a few saved for next year when Lily is a bit older.