Today was Miss G’s first birthday party back in Canada and she was thrilled that a) it meant she got to finally see one of the friends she’s missed terribly while away, b) that it was princess-themed and involved art, and c) that it gave us the perfect excuse to create a ‘princessy’ gift.
Mmm… Homemade fruit leather. One of our favourite treats! I’ll admit that it took me a while to delve into the world of making our own at first, but once I realized that it doesn’t require any special equipment and it’s pretty much as easy as making a fruit sauce, I was hooked. It’s a great way to use up overripe fruit and it makes for a perfect sugary fruit snack alternative in lunch boxes too!
This little ‘love from home’ family photo book has come in handy in so many situations. While I originally made it to help Miss G cope with heading back to Kuwait after a particularly lovely summer filled with family and friends, she’s held it close during all kinds of potentially difficult transition and separation periods – while I’ve been in Dubai for the weekend, while Brad’s been out of country for conferences, while missing her cousins back in home in Canada, while having troubles falling falling asleep, or after a bad dream – it’s provided her some comfort.
I’m not sure what’s taken me so long to come up with this variation of chia pudding, but goodness gracious… Am I ever glad I finally got here. We’ve been chia pudding fans for a long time now and Grae still absolutely loves it, so make it chocolate flavoured and she’s in heaven.
Call me crazy, but I’m sincerely looking forward to packing school lunches for Miss G. Although she’ll only be attending Kindergarten half time, we’ve discussed whether to pick her up before lunchtime or after, and we’ve decided that picking her up after lunch might make for a better transition. We’ll see how things go of course and re-evaluate a few weeks in, but that’s the plan for now at least.
Although I’m not sure it can be considered a real ‘first day’, Miss G and I attended her very first Kindergartn session today. It was more of a meeting for all Kindergarten parents and students than anything, but we’d counted down, talked it up, and taken our first day photos, so the first official day it was {in our minds anyways}. ☺
Until today, we really didn’t know what Grae would be doing Kindergarten wise… It’s a whole thing, but because we were in Kuwait last year and didn’t know what part of the city we’d be living in this year, we weren’t able to register her in a school during the usual November to January registration period… We were late to say the least.
With the rain pouring down this afternoon and Brad out for the evening, Miss G and I decided to bake a batch of delicious cookies just before dinnertime (oops). Miss G, the little chocolate lover that she is, requested chocolate chip and was more than happy to go with dark chocolate chunk cookies with walnuts. Now, I must say… These are definitely not the healthiest cookies we’ve ever made {hello, butter and coconut sugar!}, but they are absolutely delicious. In the past, we stuck to coconut oil as our go-to fat and really only did small amounts of local honey and pure maple syrup {as well as dates and other fruits} to sweeten our baking, but now that Miss G is 5 {eek!}, I’ve definitely become more lax with the ingredients I’m willing to use in our homemade baked goods and treats. That being said, these cookies are made with 100% wholewheat flour {something I’m not yet willing to compromise on} and use a super dark organic fair-trade chocolate bar cut into chunks instead of regular chocolate chips, so they’re definitely on the better-for-you side when compared to traditional chocolate chip cookies.
Since making the decision to move back home to Canada {and Vancouver in particular}, Miss G has talked regularly about how exciting it will be to be able to visit the Vancouver Aquarium again. We were members before leaving for our second stint in Kuwait and visited regularly when she was wee, so it didn’t surprise me when she requested a trip to the aquarium in celebration of her fifth birthday.
{image via}
Call us crazy, but this weekend {after only having been in Vancouver for two days}, we left our new house heaped full of boxes and bins, packed up the vehicle, and headed out on a weekend get away to Harrison Hot Springs. It had been years since I last visited, and Brad and Grae had never been, so we were all excited to check it out and spend the weekend just the three of us. Armed with the basics, we made our way out to Springs RV Resort… an absolutely stunning luxury RV retreat just an hour and a half from the city and just a few minutes away from Harrison Lake.
It’s no secret that we’re big music lovers in our house… If we’re at home, it can pretty much be guaranteed that there’s some sort of music on. Sometimes it’s the radio, sometimes it’s ‘adult’ music, and sometimes it’s kids’ music – so long as it’s not the ‘drive mama crazy’ variety. ☺
Now that we’re back in Canada and plan to be here for a while, one thing I really want to help Miss G learn is our cell phone numbers. We still haven’t decided whether or not she’ll go to traditional kindergarten next year, but even if she doesn’t, I think it’s a valuable thing to know.
Though this afternoon’s squirt gun painting wasn’t planned, a monstrous hour and 45 minute clean-up after quiet play time didn’t leave us much time before dinner, so we ditched our other {more involved} painting plans and tried something super simple and quick to set up!
Oh my goodness… We’ve totally been on a popsicle making streak. We can’t seem to help it. It’s summer and summer requires a freezer stocked with delicious frozen treats… Right?? Currently, we’ve got polka dotted blueberry lemonade pops, chocolate avocado pudding fudgesicles, fresh fruit freeze pops, and these beautiful chunky fruit popsicles in our freezer and they’re all delicious!
It goes without saying that being back in Canada means a need for some new play dough kits! {Obviously.} And since we’ve been in the land of beige for the last 10 months, what better way to celebrate being back in Canada than with a colourful Canadian wilderness play dough set?