Another Fun Day In The Yard!

Papa Ray is so great to help his son, Casey, in the yard. I guess that includes giving these little friends a ride now and then. Thank you Grandpa Ray for being such a wonderful helper! You're the best!

More Cute Words - I love their speech development!

Yesterday Rachael (the nanny) texted me and told me what Ruby said when she went to get her up from sleeping. "No, No, No. Gamma Julee, please!" (I love it!) For several months Ruby has been calling herself "Self". Now she calls herself "Uby". This morning Kristin had on some cute sandal-type shoes and Ruby said "Uby's shoes!" (no, honey, they are Mommy's shoes). Then Ruby pointed to a necklace that Kristin was wearing and said "Uby's?" (no honey, Mommy's). I think Kristin will need to put a padlock on her bedroom door when Ruby is older or she will find her stuff borrowed on a regular basis. However, even though Ruby will call herself "Uby", when you ask her what her name is she very clearly says "Ruby Jones". Go figure?????? Carson is now saying "Good morning", very clearly. But, he doesn't always get the timing right. Kristin arrived home from work and he said "Good morning Mommy!"

Mother's Day

We spent Mother's Day at Bill's brother's house in Bellevue. Kristin and family had driven up the night before and spent the night. Her cousin Megan was there with her family too. It was a house-full of family. Bill and I drove over Sun. morning and Katharine came too. When Kristin wasn't looking, I gave the twins their first "little weenie" at brunch! Boy did they like it! Kristin walks in and says "what are they eating?" I'm sure there will be more little weenies in their lives, but not for a while. She feeds them very healthy food! Carson loved cousin Emma's garbage truck. He played with it for hours. I guess I need to find one for him for his birthday next month! (By the way, the binkies are in their mouths because they didn't sleep real well in a new environment and were really cranky on Mother's Day morning. Normally they know to leave the binks in their cribs, but I guess it became necessary for everyone's peace and quiet!)

Emma has so many fun toys at her Nana and Papa's house. Thanks for sharing!

Bye Bye! Let's play another time.

Vancouver, BC

Coming into Vancouver, BC at 5:15 AM

There was already one cruise ship that had just docked before us, and one coming in behind us. It was a very busy place when everyone was going through customs!

There must have been several dozen planes coming and going while we waited to disembark. This was taken from our veranda.

Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC

I had never been to the Butchart Gardens and I was in awe! It is open 365 days a year, but I think God gave us the best day of all. Even the bus driver said May was the best month, and it was a gorgeous day. (the day before it had rained!) We spent 2 hours looking at everything we could and taking pictures of the flowers and surroundings. (click on the photos to enlarge).

This is where the Butchart family lived! Talk about a "green thumb"!

Even the garbage recepticles had flowers growing on top!

Cruising

Several months ago my sister-in-law, Stephanie asked me if I would go with her on a cruise (all expenses paid!). It was a re-positioning cruise where they are bringing the ships up to this area from San Diego for the Alaska summer cruise season. She got a super deal, so I said YES! Little did either of us know, it would be perfect timing for me to get away and spend time relaxing and not thinking about the difficult things in my life (with the death of my mother). We flew into San Diego and cruised up the coast to Victoria, BC where we spent the day and then on to Vancouver, BC where we disembarked. The first night I could hardly sleep from the rocking and rolling of the ship. I wasn't nauseated, but just couldn't sleep with all the movement. The next morning we awoke to 8-12 foot waves with winds at 45 knots. It was the worst Stephanie has ever seen it, and she has taken numerous cruises all over the world. MANY people were seasick. Neither of us got ill. I even took part in a ping pong tournament on that day and it was like trying to play after too many beers! We were all laughing at how hard it was to even stand up, let alone, try and play ping pong! (no I didn't win!)

Good Bye Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma

On April 7, 2010 my Mother, Georgia Lee, went to heaven. My cousin, Cindy, and I were with her when she very peacefully left with Jesus. I had never experienced anything like that before, and I can now say I really have a better understanding of the "PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING". God gave me that peace as I said good bye to Mom.

Big Brother Reading to Sissy

Ruby's New Crocs!

Kristin got some crocs shoes today for the kids. Aren't they cute? The band-aid is from this weekend when Ru took a face-plant into some rocks!

Fun Ruby-isms.

Ruby's speech reminds me so much of Kristin at this age. When Kristin was 22 months old we were house parents to 120 college students at Gordon College. Kristin was around people all the time and I think that is why her speech acquisition was so rapid. Lots of things crack me up about Ruby's speech, but here are a few that stand out............ 1) "Cute boots". She wanted to wear the cute boots on library day. Already a fashion princess (just like her mommy). Nanny Rachael told me that one day when they were at library time Ruby was going around the room to each of the children saying, "cute shoes", "cute shoes", and pointing to their shoes. Then she skipped one child (I think they didn't have on cute shoes, and Ruby knew it!) We will have to work on etiquette. 2) I went into the bathroom and heard Ruby at the door trying to get in. I told her that Grandma was going potty. Next thing I hear is Ruby running through the house saying "Gama Julee potty. Gama Julee potty". (just what I need -- a town crier!) 3) Nanny Rachael heard Ruby say to Carson "Settle down wild thing!" 4) When Ru is excited about something she says "Oh Boy!" 5) Ruby already knows that she is one. (just ask her). Kristin told her once that in June she would be two. So when asked how old she is Ruby said "I'm one". And how old will you be in June "Two!" 6) Ruby is rapidly approaching her two-ness which can mean a lot of things. One is independence, so when Ruby wants to do something by herself she will say very emphatically "SELF!" "SELF!" 7) Carson has a word he made up that is so cute. He calls water "watie". When he wants his bottle of water he has combined the two words and calls it "bottie". 8) "D is for Daddy"

Fun With A Big Box

What could be more fun than coloring a BIG box? This box provided hours of fun for these guys. They colored inside and outside the box. I love the one with Ruby on her tummy coloring the back of the box.