Neala the Licker

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Neala has turned into a licker.  She licks everything she can get her hands on.  She usually licks her food before she eats it, but she will also lick things that don't need to be and shouldn't be licked...such as large chunks of dirty snow.  I am really bad at getting the pictures off of our camera (which is why this is my third blog post of the day), but as Casey and I were looking through the pictures from the last couple of weeks, we were cracking up at the photos that caught Neala licking things.  Just thought we would share the entertainment.

Neala tasting her pumpkin at the pumpkin farm

Neala taking a bite out of mommy's pumpkin

Gotta taste the insides too!

Licking the wooden fish at the Witch's Cauldron at Boo Town

Vancouver Island

I wanted to share some pictures from our trip to Victoria, British Columbia and Vancouver Island.  I think I took about 600 pictures (probably half of that at Butchart Gardens alone), so this is just a sampling.  We had such a great time and were lucky to have my mom and Scott meet us there for the fun-filled week.  The weather was gorgeous for the first half of our trip, but then the clouds and rain set in which was much needed as they evidently hadn't had any rain in like two months.  So, here are some highlights from our trip...

 

 

 

Brogan got to graffiti the wall at our favorite breakfast place...Cup of Joe's

The real reason we made the trip...Casey ran his first marathon!!!  Looks pretty good for only having about 1k left!  He finished in 3:46!!!  Way to go Casey!!!

Brogan made friends with a street artist on the harbour who taught him some robot moves

View of the gorge from our gorge cruise

Neala in front of a big fallen tree on our hike to China Beach

China Beach overlooking the Juan de Fuca Strait...USA on the other side

Exploring the rocky China Beach

MeMa and Brogan hanging out in a tree cave

Sunken Garden at Butchart Garden...so beautiful!!!

Casey and I overlooking the Sunken Garden

Brogan and Neala on the fake carousel horse.  Neala liked this version much better than the real, moving version!

Brogan was fascinated by all the totem poles!!!  The thunderbirds were his favorite.  This one was at Butchart Gardens, but we also saw a ton at the Royal BC Museum...including one house post totem pole that we need at our house that roughly translated to "House In Which People Must Shout to be Heard".  I loved learning about the First Nation culture in the area.

This was my favorite part of Butchart Gardens...this long wall of huge colorful flowers (which I can't remember the names).  Almost every flower had a couple bees hard at work pollenating...so Brogan wouldn't get anywhere near.

Family photo in front of one of the fountains at Butchart Gardens

We had some of the best (and most expensive) fish and chips at a little stand at Fisherman's Wharf and Brogan got to feed the harbour seals.  I was a Nervous Nancy with my kids standing that close to the water with no railing!

 Brogan standing in the tree roots of a huge uprooted tree at Cathedral Grove just outside of Parksville

Little Qualicum Falls just outside of the Parksville/Qualicum area.  We also visited Englishman River Falls.

Ducks at Beacon Hill Park surrounding Brogan...I think they are used to being fed!  What a beautiful park!!!

We made the cold, windy walk down to Ogden Point

Neala enjoying the cockroach house at the Victoria Bug Zoo (you can see one of the cockroaches walking down the path on the far left...HUGE!!!)

Brogan in front of the ant farm at the Victoria Bug Zoo...it also wrapped around to the other side of the room.

Casey, Brogan, and Neala petting starfish and sea anemones at the petting tank at the aquarium in Sidney.

Sidney Harbour...and a very cute town!

A glimpse back at fall...



It seemed like fall didn't last long this year.  It was nice and warm around Brogan's birthday and then all of a sudden the temperatures started to drop along with the leaves.  We managed to rake leaves once before our trip to Victoria and the first snow fall.  The kids had a great time playing in the leaves (or destroying our work).  Note the shorts and t-shirts!

 



 

CHEESE!!!

So much fun throwing the leaves around!

Part of me thinks that fall took place in Saskatoon while we were vacationing in Victoria that first week of October because when we came home it was quite chilly.  We managed to find one farm that still offered pumpkin picking (although the picking was from a giant pumpkin-filled shed) and joined our friends the Dechkas to pick out the perfect Halloween pumpkins.

Baby Adalynn (just a couple weeks old), Neala, Izz, Lil, and Brogan at the pumpkin farm

And it's not Halloween without a trip to Dutch Grower's Pumpkin Maze!  (Brogan missed out on a school field trip to the Pumpkin Maze while we were in Victoria, but I didn't have the heart to tell him.)  We met up with the Dechkas again to partake in the maze.  Brogan and Izz had a great time in the maze, but Lil and Neala were a bit hesitant.  OK, Neala wasn't having it at all!  But Neala did have fun climbing on the straw bales and running around in the areas that were off limits...go figure.

Brogan the Devil and Izz as Minnie Mouse in the maze

Izz, Lil, Neala, and Brogan with Baby Adalynn the pumpkin up front

Cargill had a family bowling night (costumes encouraged)...Canadian 5-pin bowling.  The balls reminded me of bocce balls and were perfect sized for the kids.  I was very thankful for the bumpers because that seemed to be the only way I could knock down more than one pin.  The kids had a blast...it was all we could do to keep Neala from continuously throwing the ball down the lane.  It was very hard for her to wait her turn, but she managed to bowl 8 frames before she decided she would rather run around the bowling alley and into the lounge.  But Neala had a blast bowling with her friend Allie, and Brogan was asking to do it again before we even left.  Definitely something we might have to do again this winter when it's 40 below!

Daddy helping Neala roll her ball down the dinosaur slide (note the cute bowling shoes!!!)

Brogan and his goofy camera smile and Neala impatiently waiting her turn (couldn't help but share this one)

Brogan's bowling release...both hands up...I laughed every time!!!

We bought three big pumpkins to carve this year, and Brogan promised to help even though he cried over touching the guts last year.  Casey and I were both surprised that he dug right in this year!  Yea!!!  And we were NOT surprised that Neala did not hesitate to dig in!  I'm pretty sure she cleaned out the entire inside of my pumpkin and helped Casey with a lot of his too.  The first thing she did was look inside and then take a bite of the pumpkin.  She also taste-tested every piece of pumpkin that she pulled out of Casey's pumpkin and said "yuck".  (We have a great video of this on Facebook!)  Neala is going through a licking stage that might get it's own blog post!

Brogan putting on a gross face for the camera while cleaning out his pumpkin

Neala helping mommy clean out her pumpkin

Brogan helping daddy with his pumpkin

We decided to check out Boo Town at the Western Development Museum this year.  The kids had fun, but it was kind of a bust.  Long lines to do the kids activities and they nickel and dime (or quarter and loonie) you to death...after already paying full admission prices.  I think the highlight of the evening was a Singing with Sylvia show that the kids got to enjoy while I stood in line for popcorn for a half hour.

Kids at the Boo Town train station

Snow came a little earlier than desired this year and although the temperatures had been hovering around the freezing point, it did not melt away before Halloween night. Trick or treating was a bit frigid...between 16-18 F...so the kids had to bundle up.  Brogan had his snow pants and winter coat on under his devil costume and Neala had several layers under hers.  We decided to go trick or treating as a family for a half hour or so in our neighborhood to give Neala her first trick or treating experience...she was a hoot!  We went to our neighbors house first, and when she answered the door, Neala just walked right in to their house!  How embarassing!  We stayed a little closer to her after that.  A couple houses later, we noticed that when she would say "trick or treat" she was following it up with "smell my feet".  I guess after listening to Casey and I telling Brogan that he was forgetting that line of the song fifty times at dinner, it stuck in her head.  Thankfully, I don't think anyone realized what she was saying.  After a quick trick or treating in our neighborhood, Casey and Brogan met up with the Dechka family to trick or treat in their area.  One of their neighbors had a haunted house in their backyard...but Brogan wasn't scared!   

Lighting of the pumpkins on Halloween

Horrible but funny picture of the kids who are so excited to be having their picture taken before going trick or treating

Winter seems to be in full effect now.  Two days after Halloween, we got about 4 more inches of snow.  Let the winter fun begin!!!

Brogan is 5!!!

I can't believe my baby just turned 5 years old!!! It really doesn't seem like that long ago when I was holding my brand new little guy in the hospital.  Time never seemed to go by this fast before we had kids!

Brogan had 4 birthday parties this year...did I mention he is spoiled rotten???  We just got back from a 3-week long trip to Missouri...one week in Nevada with the McHughs and two weeks with the Johnstons and Bergers in St. Louis.

We had a great visit in Nevada (and Casey got to hang out with us while we were there too!). We got to celebrate lots of birthdays...Robin (40!!! What a great party!), Sydnie, and Brogan.  Neala got a little birthday love too since we probably won't see most of the McHughs again until Robin's wedding in June.  It was a very relaxing week on the farm.  We didn't see much of Brogan since he was running with his cousins all week...they had a blast!

Brogan was VERY excited to get his Alien Autopsy toy from Aunt Robin and Devin!!!

Casey had to leave us for shutdown at the plant after our stint in Nevada, and therefore didn't get to join in on any of the fun in St. Louis. I don't think I've ever been so busy in my life!  I'm pretty sure we had an activity planned every day:  Suson Park, St. Louis Zoo, Botanical Gardens, St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Game, Six Flags, Magic House, Busch Stadium Tour, Monkey Joe's, and the St. Louis Arch.  Brogan got to see several movies...ParaNorman, Men in Black III, and Ice Age: Continental Drift.  And of course, he had a birthday party!!! (I don't have a lot of pictures from our time in St. Louis as I couldn't figure out how to download pictures off of PePa's camera, but I do havea few from MeMa's camera to share...none of the birthday party though.)

Brogan and Neala in the Oval Office...at the Magic House

Enjoying the view from the top of the Arch

Going up!!!

Brogan and Neala watching TV in and on (respectively) a box

We came home just in time for the real deal.  We got together with a few friends on Brogan's actual birthday at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo.  It was a beautiful day and some of the animals were very active.  We had snacks and cupcakes at the park, and the kids had a blast playing.  I got some great pictures of the kids!

Chilly morning!

Quick!  Take a picture!  They're loving on each other!

The bears were very active!

Neala trying so badly to touch the chickens

Cupcake time!

What a mess!  But at least it wasn't on the dress! :)

We of course had a little family present opening followed by dinner at Montana's where they slapped some big moose antlers on Brogan and sang happy birthday.  Brogan enjoyed it, but it freaked Neala out a bit.

Brogan and his latest craze...Ninja Turtles!

Brogan being saranaded in moose antlers

Brogan had his first "big kid" party at Wilson's on the 8th...a PIRATE party!  There were a total of 9 kids...mostly from his preschool class last year.  They got to bounce in the bouncy houses for an hour and a half and then had a pizza party with cake and slushies.  While the kids ate, we dressed them up with pirate bandanas and eye patches.  Afterwards, they got foam pirate swords...and that's when things got crazy!!!  Casey managed a few group photos before full blown pirate war exploded on the driving range!  I'm pretty sure they all had a good time.  Brogan got lots of great presents and everyone got to take home a treasure chest full of loot...chocolate loonies and toonies, necklaces, ring pops, and pirate rings.  I expected to be completely pooped out afterwards, but the kids and party all went great!  He may be allowed to have a kid party again next year! :)

Brogan in action

Bouncing!!!

ARRGHHH!!!

Mommy dressed up too

Yummy cake!

Best group shot we got before...

PIRATE WAR!!!  Every man for himself!

A big thanks to everyone that helped us celebrate Brogan's birthday!!! I think this is one that he will remember for a long time!