new hair
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

Oh ya, and I uploaded a few new photos on our flickr page. Took me a few weeks to work up to this, but today Kea and I went to the hair salon together - Kea's first official (ie not by mom!) haircut.

Ahhhhh, a much better day today. We were productive in that we cleaned the house, chose paint colours for the outside of the house (essentially choosing which shade of beige to go with, as neutral is the buzz word when trying to sell. Or so we're told!), checked in on the progress of the Barth and arranged to store it for another week, and packed for our trip to Ottawa. And then we even managed to fit in a going away party for friends, which was a blast - though we met some really great people that we wish we would have met years before. They joined the large stream of people who have been telling us that we should check out Wakefield....we've heard it so many times now that we're planning a day trip out there during this trip just to have a look!!!

Anyways, we catch our flight tomorrow morning, and I'll let you know how the trip is going once we've arrived. We're VERY excited to see everyone, but once again we're left wondering how we're going to possibly fit it all in - foregoing sleep seems to be our favourite option!

So, you'll notice that I don't often blog while things are not going so great around here. It's so much more fun to post pretty photos and end every sentence in numerous, excited exclamation points. And you know, when the whole house is covered by a dark cloud and we're all very blah, it's hard to get myself typing much of anything. Not that anything major is going on around here, just one of those blah weeks, you know?
- Rye got hand, foot and mouth starting on Sunday night. It sounds really brutal, but actually we've been through this a few times already with the girls and there's not much to do but ride it out. It's just an intense period when the sores are at their worst - Ryland would scream and cry, and although nursing and his soother usually gets him through anything, he didn't want to have anything to do with them for 24-48 hours. Every time he would try to nurse, he would get really upset at the pain and the inability to nurse, and scream some more. Finally he'd exhaust himself into a dull, "Ow, ow, ow, ow" over and over again with his fingers in his mouth and then go to sleep. Broke my heart, but also completely exhausted us for a few days. (we're just thankful that this happened this week, meaning we'll be germ-free for our arrival in Ottawa. Fingers crossed!)
- The girls have been emotional wrecks all week, probably from lack of sleep and our increased stress, but I'm SO. SICK. OF. THEM. FIGHTING. EVERY. MOMENT. OF. THE. DAY.
- Of course, both of the above has meant that we've gotten very little of our long list of to-do's done during this week, which is always frustrating.
- I think I may finally be getting my period after a two year absence, and the hormones are wreaking havoc with my system.
- Today the house painters came over to take a look and give us an estimate, and we were rather shocked at the price. ugh.
- Our only reliable babysitters for all three kids went and had a baby and all of a sudden they're too busy to watch ours all day long. What the heck?!!!!!!!
- We. have. too. much. stuff. I feel like I'm drowning in it, yet feel totally lethargic when it comes to dealing with it. Overwhelmed a little bit?!
- To top it all off, I went today to colour photocopy Kea's party invitations, and they've changed the machine so that instead of paying for it all at the end with my debit card, I needed to pay with a pocketfull of dimes. WHO walks around with a pocketful of dimes? You know I'm tired when this moment makes me want to sit down and cry! I think I'm sending out emails this year to invite everyone to Kea's party - much better for the environment!

And now I'm going to take a long hot soak in the tub with a book and go to bed early. Packing for Ottawa can wait until tomorrow!

the new baby
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

And as promised, here is the photo of Nayt and Julia's beautiful new baby boy - they've named him Everest Arden, and so far everything seems to be going really well for them all! And I'm just thrilled to be able to snuggle a newborn without having to worry about waking up numerous times in the night!!!!!!!!

Our almost 8 year old (gasp gasp!)

Our almost 8 year old (gasp gasp!)
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

And here's a photo of Kea, growing ever-so-slowly into her mouth!!!! She had a great time at the folk festival this year, as she is old enough to have quite a bit of freedom in the fenced-in area. Most of the shows Jamie and I wanted to see were in the shade close to the kids area, so she would run back and forth doing her own thing and checking in with us when she was hungry or thirsty. And for us, it was really neat to see more glimpses of who she is without us right there beside her.

She gained a lot of confidence on the rock-climbing wall, making it up to the top many times. She would stop to help a toddler up who had tripped, and when she saw people sewing she confidently went up to join them. I'm not sure how or when it happened, but Kea is also now a hula hooping pro. At one point I saw her twirling two around her waist at once, and she can also move the hoops up and down from her knees to her neck - wow!

Two stories that cracked Jamie and I up from this weekend - 1) Kea was selected to go up front during a magic trick, where she had to stand on one leg, hold a pole with a spinning plate in one hand and keep her index finger of the other hand in the air so that the magician could place a spinning ball on top of that. There was a lot of buildup to the moment, and Kea stood up there in that awkward position for a long time, and managed to do all three at the same time. Then at the end, instead of just walking off the stage, Kea decided to cartwheel her way off the stage, adding her own bit to the show!!!!! Amazing little bit of self-confidence there!

2) During the Sat. evening concert the kids got a bit bored, so they decided to go around and collect garbage and throw it in the garbage cans. (huh?!!!!) Then someone gave them a bit of money for taking their garbage, so that inspired them to keep going with it! They spent a full 3 hours collecting garbage and recycling from different peoples' blankets, and then they would also bring back peoples' plates for the $2 refund. The first time Kea put the $2 in the donation box ("Well, I already had a toonie, so I didn't need another one" Uh, okay then!), but the second plate she thought she might keep the toonie. However, when she arrived there were other people returning their plates, and the volunteer announced very loudly, "Oh, here's this little girl back. Check out what SHE does with HER toonie. Here you go, here's your toonie - what are you going to do with it?" and Kea felt that she should probably put that one in the donation box as well - a bit of social pressure there!! Not that it mattered too much, by the end of the evening, even after donating easily half of their earnings, the kids earned about $20.

Surfer Dude, Hornby Island

Surfer Dude, Hornby Island
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

So, here's a few of our photos from a long weekend on Hornby Island. It really is paradise there - and it helps that we had gorgeous sunshine every day, so could just roll out of bed and head to the beach! Tribune Bay is amazing, with lots of rocky surfaces on the sides to climb around, pools of heated water for the kids to play in and flat surfaces for us to lay on. Then in the middle, it's white sand beaches, and the water stays shallow for miles meaning it's safe for the kids to play in fairly independently AND it is surprisingly warm for ocean waters!!!!!

Ryland was obsessed with all the different surfboards, and would spend hours practicing his surfing techniques! He's got the hair for it, and a surprising amount of surfer shirts, so he might as well go for it!

(by the way, so many of my photos of Rye these days look like this - as the second he sees a camera in my hand, he looks to the ground and refuses to look up again!!!! How aggravating is that?!!!!!!)

Surfer Dad!

Surfer Dad!
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

Our almost five year old

Our almost five year old
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

Windswept trees, Hornby Island

Windswept trees, Hornby Island
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

Lone kayaker, Hornby Island

Lone kayaker, Hornby Island
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

We made it back from Hornby Island, where we could have easily stayed for a lifetime - eating great food, spending our days on the beaches, skim-boarding, swimming in the ocean and visiting with friends. A fabulous holiday. I'll upload photos soon.

Oh, and our neighbours Julia and Nayt gave birth to a beautiful baby boy lastnight, waiting until our return before going into labour so that we could provide support and meet him shortly after birth! How thoughtful of them! I'll upload photos soon.

Kea lost ANOTHER tooth while we were gone, I think she's up to 8 teeth lost now. The tooth faerie was left scrambling as she usually leaves charms for the bracelet but hadn't thought to bring them on this trip. So a small pair of earrings were a lovely surprise the next morning. I love the way almost 8-year-old mouths look, full of holes and enormous teeth! I'll upload photos soon.

But for now, we're gearing up for a fun weekend chock full of the Vancouver Folk Festival!!!! Yaaaaay, so exciting - but also exhausting. So this afternoon we're creating salads galore, stocking up on snack foods, freezing juice boxes and ordering sushi for dinner tonight.....we'll be there all weekend and I'll try to do some photo uploading once we've recovered from it!

In the meantime, I have a wee bit of a mission for all you people who are good at this sort of thing - Jamie and I are in the midst of creating a website/blog for our upcoming adventures, and we need a title for it. A friend suggested finding a great quote that we can have on our opening page, then taking a couple of words from said quote as our name. Great, I love it! Now we just need to find the PERFECT quote. And that's where you come in! Sum up our life and our family and our travels and our passions in a quote! Please! The winner receives our undying love and perhaps a slobbery, raspberry-filled kiss from our toddler!!!!!!!!

Happy weekending to all of you! xo

What do you mean 'Bed head'?
Originally uploaded by pettipasnolan

Check out this awesome hairdo - I have been in love with our nephew Cameron's hair since the moment he was born, it has always been such a great statement! He strikes me as a rather quiet, thoughtful, subdued child and yet he can't help but make a grande statement with such wild hairdoes. I love it!!!!

Can you believe that one year ago the kids and I were in Ottawa, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new baby? The year has gone by so quickly. And since we are heading to Hornby Island and won't be at our computer on the date, I thought I would wish Cam a HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY on July 15th a few days early! Eat lots of cake for us, we can't wait to see you soon!!!!!! xoxoxoxxo

nayt
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

This is Nayt. He lives across the street and three doors down from us. His wife Julia is in the background, and as you can see, she is due any day now with their first child. Jamie and I have been having so much fun, reliving the exciting days of our first pregnancy, handing over all sorts of baby equipment that we're decluttering, and passing on whatever bits of advice we hope will be useful.
I love this photo, as it really sums up Nayt to our family. He has been doing a bunch of childcare for us, and the kids absolutely love him. Especially Tiegan, who seems to glob onto any friendly male figure she can find. If my sister Clare comes over to visit alone, Tiegan wonders how long "Uncle Alex's wife" is going to stay. When Nayt needs to pick up Ryland, he gets a huge cold shoulder from Tiegan. And the other day, as the kids were all over at Nayt's house watching a movie, Tiegan wondered if 'that pregnant lady' had gone home yet. And I think that at times Julia finds it hard to compete with the sweetness of a full-hearted four year old!!!!!! I suppose we should start preparing Tiegan now for the arrival of a new babe to steal Nayt's heart.....

life is full.....

hammock
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

Hello! Just checking in to say that we're still here, still thinking up all sorts of things to write about as we drive somewhere, or while kayaking, or putting the kids to bed - but whenever I actually sit down at the computer I have very little time and feel so tired/uninspired that I usually don't get around to blogging. Hence my long silences. We've been busy this month.....
- Re-siding our house
- Traveling down to Seattle for a few days, to visit with mom, go to the zoo, wander the pier and for Jamie to work a bunch for the MH office down there
- Camping on the sunshine coast for 4 nights, swimming in the ocean every day, kayaking along the coastline, traveling to Lund to wander around and getting eaten alive by bugs
- Jamie, my 'non-working' husband has been logging 10-37 hours a week from home
- We've been finishing up the inside of the house a little, and purging, purging, purging
- I took a day-long course on natural dyes, am continuing with piano lessons every second week and also started a photography class for the summer
- Picnics with friends, birthday parties at pools and children's classes at Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre
- Enjoying episodes of "Weeds" and "Arrested Development"
- Took the kids strawberry picking, then made ice-cream and strawberry/rhubarb jam with them

Not to mention, every-day life with three young ones..........and can you believe that we give ourselves a hard time about not doing enough. I think we need to learn the fine art of doing less and being kinder to ourselves! Perhaps during the second month of time off work?!!!!

Now off to put the kidlets to bed and get ready for our massage night! Keeps me sane........