Minions

July's parent-child date was me & Kaleb (look how tall he is!).

We decided to go see the movie Minions and to get some ice cream at Marble Slab after.  Noé had been with her friend Zaynab and they were planning on going to the movies earlier.  When we arrived at the theater we found that they were going to be watching the same showing as us!  Zaynab's parents took her home when the movie ended, so Noé got to crash our ice cream date.  The more the merrier!

To the Beach!

Ottawa is a great city when it comes to parks and pools!  However, with only 2 months of summer and 6 months of winter all of the pools are indoor.  It makes sense, but in the summer we want to be out in the sunshine!  Luckily for us, we live only 2 minutes from the beach.  (Of course, I wish it was a beach on the ocean, but we're content with our beach on the river.)

 

We spend many hours here.  I rest with my feet up, the kids play in the sand and water, and Ali has even taken great naps while at the beach.

 

"Take a picture of my silly face, Mom!"

 

The sandcastle engineer, just like his dad.

   

Let's build a waterfall.

 

Little Miss woke up from her nap.

 

Swimsuit time!

 

So fun to have a sister.

 

Ali enjoyed taking a dip...

 

...but she liked playing in the sand too (and eating it!).

 

Siblings make great friends.

 

I love these little beach bums so much!

Walking the Winds

Since Leonard and I were both going to turn 40 this year, we thought we'd celebrate by crossing an item off our bucket list by going on a hot air balloon ride.

 

We met at the University grounds so early that the moon was still up.

 

Trying out our new camera we were able to get this close-up!  (And we could have zoomed in further, we just couldn't keep the camera steady.  We'll have to try again someday with our tri-pod.)

 

We were travelling with one pilot, and 10 other basket-mates.  There was also a single ground crew man who helped us get the balloon filled, then followed us with the big van on our journey.

 

These 2 couples shared our side of the basket with us.

 

Our pilot and the other 6 passengers.

 

Hot air balloon flying is a crazy sensation, because there is NO sensation of movement.  We couldn't even feel the lift off, just all of a sudden I looked down and we were no longer on the ground.  We truly felt like we were just walking the winds.

 

I like this pic that Len took of me taking a pic of the sleepy city below.

 

I felt like Peter Pan (or maybe Wendy, ha!) flying over the roof tops of London.

 

The new Lansdowne Park area was under our flight path.

 

We couldn't get a shot of the inflated balloon, because as soon as it was filled we had to hurry and jump in the basket before it lifted off.  Also, as soon as we touched down it started deflating before we were even out of the basket.  I am so glad I was able to capture this lovely reflection though!

 

Len had to fly a paper airplane out of the basket, silly goose!  We also travelled by a helium balloon that lost its way.

 

We were aiming for a soccer field to land in, but missed it by a little.

  

We touched down in a field of wildflowers and a few of the guys (including Len) were asked to jump out and then guide the balloon over to the soccer field.

 

Time to jump out.

 

We had the best time and would love to do it again.  Although, I'd rather fly like this super cool green bee someday!

#239

I have enjoyed living in Canada, Taiwan, and England, but America will always be my home!

 

American-born Kaleb

 

American-born Noé

 

Canadian-born Leonard

 

Canadian-born Hiram

 

Canadian-born Ali

 

Taiwanese-born Gavin

 

Taiwanese-born Teague 

 

We headed down to Lake Placid, New York to join the festivities for America's 239th birthday.  Right as we arrived it POURED down rain again!  We drove around Mirror Lake a few times and then it cleared up.  It was still a little too chilly for us to take a dip in the lake, so the kids played at the playground instead.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

It started raining again, so we took shelter at our favorite Pizzeria- Bazzi's.  We had a table right at the window so when the rain stopped again and the parade started we could watch it while we ate.  After dinner we walked up their charming Main Street.  Of course, we had to visit their Christmas store and buy some yummy fudge for dessert!  We so badly wanted to watch the fireworks over the water that night, but they weren't going to start until 9:30.  With a 3 1/2 hour drive home and church the next morning we didn't think it was the best idea.  Next year we've got to plan to stay the night in town!

Happy birthday America!

#148

We had planned on joining the local festivities at the Navan fair to celebrate Canada's 148th birthday.  Mother Nature had another plan and it POURED down rain!  We still had a fun day at home playing Wii Sing, Ticket to Ride, watching Saints and Soldiers, and eating ice cream to celebrate reading scriptures for every day in June.

It's always fun for Len and I to spend time with our wonder twins...

 

 ...three musketeers...

 

...and messy princess!

Happy birthday Canada!

Sunshine

Noé and I went up to the church to re-do the bulletin boards in the Relief Society room.

"Scatter sunshine all along your way...

...cheer and bless and brighten every passing day."

"There is sunshine in my soul today!"