When I recently learned about Over the Loom (thank you, Little Miss Mama!), it was love at first sight. The online boutique is stocked full of gorgeous {and affordable!} children’s clothes that have the perfect amount of vintage charm, and to be honest, that was enough for me. What I didn’t know at the time though, is that Over the Loom is a Vancouver-based shop run by a local mama of two little girls. Her dream has always been to open a children’s clothing shop, and with a lot of hard work and an eye for hand-selecting gorgeous pieces, she’s making her dream a reality. Learning that made me fall in love with the shop all over again… I love supporting local businesses, and when they’re run by hardworking goal-oriented mamas? Well that’s even more amazing!
Knowing there was absolutely no way I couldn’t support Over the Loom, I settled in on the couch, cup of tea in hand, and began to narrow down my favourites pieces. Hah – narrowing them down was a near impossibility! After reviewing and whittling my selections several times, I think I was left with 9 or 10 very favourite pieces. Oy. After a couple days’ thought and the help of both Brad and Grae, I managed to narrow it down to just my very favourite top 5 pieces. Here they are…
A going away gift. We have the very sweetest friends.
Progress…
All of the toys, books, games, and puzzles Gracen will have in Kuwait are in these two bins.
2 a.m. and finally feeling good enough about the progress made to go to sleep before picking up the moving truck the next morning.
Loading day.
Nearly finished.
A sad final dinner in her 2nd home… A towel as a picnic blanket, a bento box for a plate, a spoon borrowed from the downstairs tenants, not a vegetable in sight.
Farewell, little house.
Halfway through the 6 hour drive back to the Okanagan.
An hour away from our destination and dinner is served… In a car seat. Sardined between bins.
The last time we got a passport for Miss G, she was just a couple of weeks old and so sleepy that our biggest challenge was waking her up in order to get a photo with her eyes open. We literally tried waking her for 45 minutes before the photographer suggested the {somewhat cruel} method of gently wiping her face with a cool, wet cloth. It worked, and with some seriously stealthy propping and holding, we got the photo we needed. 
Today we took our little fish to one of our very favourite summer spots in the city… Maple Grove Outdoor Pool. Gracen seriously loves this place. The pool’s fairly shallow, so there are lots of areas where she can easily wade around without assistance, there’s a little slide which she zooms down on repeat, and there’s a island in the middle of the deeper end for her to jump off of. We also love the fact that it’s surrounded by grassy areas and big trees and there’s a playground just outside of the gates. It’s the perfect spot to escape to when our house is 32 degrees and we need to cool down, asap. I’m guessing we’ll be visiting a lot during the month of July.
We arrived early and the farm was already bustling with visitors. We got our buckets weighed, put down our loonie deposit for a wagon, and headed out to the furthest corner of the strawberry patch. 
The berries were plentiful and our buckets filled quickly, though strawberry picking isn’t easy work. It was hot (really hot) out and by the time we were about halfway through our hour and a half long picking session, Grae and I gave up on crouching and full-on sat down in the strawberry field (slightly less glamourous, but oh so much more comfy!)
While my little helper was interested in berry picking and very patient about it all, she didn’t so much want to pick the strawberries herself. She did pick a few here and there, but sitting beside you while you filled her bucket for her was much more her style. That and sneaking a semi-clean strawberry into her mouth every once and a while…
With two extra-large sand pails full of ripe strawberries, we decided to have them weighed, pay for them, and check out the rest of the farm.
First stop – the 
Next up, we visited the 
After a quick stop to see the animals out back (there weren’t that many and the enclosures didn’t really allow for easy petting, but G enjoyed it anyways), we stopped to take a couple of photos along the raspberry bushes. By this time, we were all hot, sweaty, and tired, and Gracen was feeling straight up silly. For one reason or another, she decided that the only way she’d have her photo taken was if her tongue was out, and by that time, I really didn’t blame her. Sometimes joining the crazy is just more fun. ☺
Gracen has been very anxiously awaiting this day since 
Surprisingly, the much talked about seal slide was not the hit of the day today… Instead, she was all about this much larger, much faster turtle slide over in the deeper end of the pool. The truth of the matter is that she loved this slide so much that very little swimming actually took place – it was simply slide after slide after slide for pretty much our entire visit, which was totally fine with me. Watching the anticipation as she climbed the steps and the absolute joy as she sped down and splashed into the water melted my heart and filled me with pride. I’m so, so glad our little lady loves water as much as she does.
The only slight downside to our morning was that it was chilly. Very chilly, in fact. Despite the fact that the pool is heated and it truly was a beautiful day, the wind off of the ocean sucked away the warmth and made you shiver the moment your shoulders left the water. And while Grae didn’t seem bothered in the least by it, at a certain point we knew it was time to get out, dry off, and warm up.
But that won’t stop us from returning very soon – Miss G’s already asking when that’ll be!
Enjoying a bread treat and the view.
A kid-operated water feature – a playground favourite!
“Mama, I’m following the water!”
Searching for fish.
One of our very favourite rainy day spots, the 
There’s no doubt that I’m a huge fan of kid-friendly cafés and restaurants. And though a great kid’s menu is a good start, in my opinion, a kid’s play corner of some sort sets a restaurant apart from the rest when it comes to family-friendliness. Needless to say, when I heard that 
The next thing I noticed was the kid’s menu. Grae and I normally share a dish when we’re out for a meal (partly because one dish is plenty of food for both of us, and partly because usual kid’s menus are filled with deep-fried junk and processed white carbs), but with a menu that includes meals made with wholewheat, organic, and locally-sourced ingredients, I was more than happy to let Miss G order something of her own. She picked the margarita pizza on a wholewheat honey rosemary crust, then was off to play. 
The play area, which is right in front of the big open window at the front of the restaurant, was well stocked with a play kitchen and pretend food, a workshop filled with plastic tools, wooden toys and puzzles, board books, mega blocks, and art supplies. The best part, however, is that it’s fully enclosed. No escaping kids here.
Gracen’s food arrived in no time at all, and she dove in immediately. After polishing off her third piece, she paused for a moment and I assumed she’d had her fill. When I went to wipe off her hands and face, she looked at me confused and said, “But Mama, I still have more!” The girl ate six pieces. SIX. 
My food was just as good. I ordered the red wine braised organic chicken panini and it was delish. And the green salad? It included dried blueberries, pine nuts, and wild rice. Yum.
After lunch, the kiddos got back to playing while us mamas finished our meals and got to visit a little bit (not easily done when out to lunch with a bunch of toddlers at a normal restaurant). 
Another day at the beach. Because it’s too gorgeous to be anywhere else. 
With days as gorgeous as today, there’s no choice but to soak it all in. It was a morning of sand and sunshine at Spanish Banks for us today.
Saturdays don’t come better than this.
This photo reminds me of so many of the things we adore about Vancouver. The outdoors, art, blossoms, mountains, Queen E Park… It’s a lovely combination.