What started out as a sunny morning turned into a drizzling day as we pulled up to the park and a full-on hail storm as we got out of the car. Serious picnic fail. So home we went with our food-filled basket to set up an indoor picnic on our living room floor. What can you do? Here’s hoping for some good picnic weather soon!
Category Archives: in photos
Little Helper
I have a feeling that washing dishes is the new doing laundry…
No one is allowed to do them without the help of a pint-sized assistant.
Spring Sunshine
We spent our morning in the house, and by the time the afternoon rolled around, we were more than ready to get out and enjoy the sunshine. We brought along some bubbles, some sidewalk chalk, and my camera and headed out into the front yard. Sometimes a little sunshine is just what you need.
Dish Deputy
Anyone who knows me well knows that dirty dishes are the bain of my existence. Give me a filthy toilet to clean, a closet to organize, or windows to wash, and I’ll do so happily if it means that I don’t have to wash dishes. I despise them. Yet, unlucky for me, we seem to have more dirty dishes than ever lately. And because we’re sans dishwasher in our little Vancouver rental house, I normally spend a couple of hours a day doing my dreaded chore. Partner that with a very busy toddler who loves to interact, sleeps lightly, and shares a wall with the kitchen, and saying that getting the dishes done daily is very difficult, is an understatement. So today, I decided to try something new… Having Gracen wash dishes with me! We filled up two sinks of sudsy water, pulled a chair over, filled her sink with plastic containers, and got at it.
Now let me tell you, accomplishing the task at hand was probably about 18 times harder than normal with a splash splashin’ munchkin by my side. Not only did I have to wash dishes at warp speed while strategically stacking them in a careful dish mountain, but I also had to keep Grae from drinking the soap water, yanking the clean dishes from the drying rack back into the water, and grabbing at dangerous kitchen utensils. Good grief. By the time we were done, our kitchen was nearly flooded, we were both soaked head to toe, Gracen had a heap of bubbles atop her head, and I had three new grey hairs atop mine. But you know what? They got done. There was no whining or pant pulling. And Miss G had a blast. And when it comes down to it, that’s all that really matters.
Shoping in the States
Today was Brad’s virtual Saturday, so we headed down to Bellingham for our monthly stock up and some fun. First, we hit up our two favourites, Trader Joe’s and Target for the essentials. Gracen was a champ about spending a couple of hours roaming up and down store isles and enjoyed riding around inside the shopping carts. Afterwards, she and Papa headed to the mall’s play area while I got in a full 45 minutes of clothes shopping by myself (a post-Grae first)! It was already past nap time, so we snuck in a quick lunch at the Chipotle knock-off, The Habenero Factory, and hit the road to do a few errands while G snoozed in her seat.
Gracen awoke from her nap to find that we were parked out front of this shop (hmmm…wonder whose stop this was…) and naturally, we had to get out of the car to investigate the big green guy. She wasn’t so sure of him at first, but she quickly warmed up to him and ended up giving him 5s, kissing his knees, and rubbing his rock hard abs. After all that, I’d say Miss G and The Hulk are good friends, wouldn’t you?
Tired and done with shopping, we headed back towards home when we decided to make an impromptu stop in White Rock. It was absolutely freezing by the ocean, but we layered up and headed towards the beach. Lucky for us, a train was making its way down the tracks as we got to the boardwalk. Grae watched closely as it nosily clunked on by, until it stopped. I mean, completely stopped, creating a barrier between us and the beach. We waited and watched until it finally started with a jolt, and continued along its path.
Gracen loved ‘Grizlee’, the bear statue and kissed his fur (she’s all about kissing things she likes right now) and rode on his back. We played on the grass, collected rocks, threw them in the ocean, and walked along the boardwalk until we were frozen solid and could no longer stand being out in the wind.
Once we got home, our little helper helped empty all of the grocery bags, we ate dinner, and it was bath time and bedtime for G after a long day.
Beach Afternoon
After a lazy morning at home, I knew we’d both enjoy getting out for the afternoon. So when Grae woke up from her nap and had had her quiet time, I asked her if she wanted to go to the beach. As soon as I said “beach”, she started signing ‘Rock! Rock!’ (we always collect rocks at the beach), then ‘Birdie!’ (we watch the crows and seagulls), followed by ‘Drink! Drink!’ (we often cross the street to get hot drinks at Starbucks). Smart little cookie. I took that as a yes. 
Lazy Sunday Morning
We had a wonderfully lazy morning today. We meant to get out of the house, but it simply didn’t happen. Instead, this did:
Peep toes.
Bingo dabbin’.
Apple sandwiches.
Tea party.
Hilarious hair.
Magazine reading.
St. Paddy’s Day
Today Grae and I had a busy day filled with all things green. It started out with a happy little munchkin waking up extra early and extra hungry, so we got to it and prepared a green breakfast.
Finding something green to wear was a bit of a challenge as this little lady has very little green in her closet, but it was nothing a ridiculously big green bow couldn’t fix. It was so adorable in fact, that we ended up having a little impromptu St. Patty’s Day photo shoot.
The weather forecast called for a rainy, snowy morning, but by 9:30, neither had made an appearance so we packed up our things and headed down to Granville Island to get some fresh air and do some exploring. We picked up our usual Granville Island treats (Terra Bread cheese flutes for G and a coffee for Mama) and headed to the playground where Gracen played in sand, slid on repeat, and made some friends.
Afterwards we headed back to the Public Market area and visited the birds, boats, and performers like usual. 
Apparently Grae was pooped after a crisp morning outdoors because she was out like a light after just a minute in the car.
After a great nap, I prepared lunch while Gracen begged for pieces of green onion below me. I ended up giving her a whole green onion and the little monkey was pleased as punch, headed to the living room with it, and chowed down. Luckily she saved enough room for our green lunch.
The afternoon turned out to be beautiful too, so we took advantage of it and headed outside to do some art. Grae was beyond excited to use bingo dabbers (sadly, we didn’t have green, so we ended up with blue and rainbow coloured shamrocks, but oh well…) and dug the sidewalk chalk as usual.
By late afternoon, G had worked up an appetite, so we whipped up a quick green smoothie to hit the spot.
Shortly after, it was time for our last green meal of the day. Of course this little monkey carefully picked out and ate each pine nut and avocado chunk before eating anything else.
Gracen’s second St. Patrick’s Day… Whew! How things have changed in a quick year. Just take a look at my chubby-cheeked, spiky-haired little munchkin last year.
Sunset Centre Play Gym
It’s Friday, and true to our old routine, we headed up to Sunset Community Centre’s play gym. It was a bit of an interesting day (a father decided to inform a mother nursing her 6 month old baby – with a cover no less – that it was inappropriate to breastfeed her child in public…yikes…poor guy sure knows how to get a group of predominately stay-at-home-mamas riled up!), but Grae had a wonderful time none the less. Here are a few photos from our visit:
Baby jail.
Teetering.
Dancing and twirling in the centre circle.
Stacking.
Visiting her pony friend (this was taken just after she planted a kiss on his nose).
Mama’s Model
I finally got my Etsy shop set up the other day and slowly started adding items to it last night.
I’m so very lucky to have a mini model who’s as cooperative and patient as she is.
Car-less Craziness
Today Bradley took the vehicle to work, which left my little adventurer and I car-less for the first time ever. Of course there were a couple of walks in between bouts of rain, the usual stories, and some favourite games, but not having wheels definitely sparked some silliness… Just check these out:
In the backyard caw-ing at crows.
Buckling Quatchi for safety.
Attempting to walk in Mama’s shoes.
Bottoms up while smelling the flowers.
Hanging out in the dryer.
Hahaha! Hopefully it’s business as usual tomorrow.
“Smile”
I don’t know how on earth this came about, but a little while back Gracen started making the most hilarious scrunched up face whenever I’d say “Grae, can you show Mama your smile?” while taking her photo… Let’s hope it’s a quick stage.
Little Poser
This morning I asked Gracen if she’d stand by the tree and let me take her picture… She immediately marched over, put her hands in her pockets, and made this face. Goodness gracious! Is this her new go-to pose?! Please say it isn’t so.
Silly Sticker Girl
Grae found this scrap piece of paper on the table this morning and immediately swiped it. She got the stickers our mail lady had given her yesterday, plopped her nearly-naked self down on the floor, and got to work.
(Don’t ask about the outfit… Panties, socks, and a hat seem to be the only necessary clothing items nowadays. This look is also often paired with just one purple sneaker or pink gumboot. And don’t you dare offer to help her put on the other one. She certainly doesn’t want that.)
Peeling and sticking stickers is serious business and this was the first time Grae was really able to do it all by herself.
The second her last sticker hit the paper, she jumped up, ran to her room paper in hand, and held it up to the wall above her pillows. I asked if she wanted me to stick it up in that spot and she nodded her head with utmost certainty. I have a feeling that framing Monday’s finger paint project has given her the idea that all artwork immediately gets plastered to her walls.
On Top of the World
Papa getting off work early + picking him up at the Canada Line station + stopping at a new park on the way home = Pretty much the best thing ever in Miss G’s books