2 Birthdays and a Bon Voyage!

Tonight we went over to my aunt and uncles to celebrate Lai's 28th birthday. She had her favourite: birthday pie!



















Holly and Lai - super cute with a rare ponytail in her hair!














All the in-town cousins: Steve, Ho, Owen, Paolo, Elle, Paul, Alison, Lai, Holly, Me and Elle's friend Jutes.














We also celebrated Steve's birthday, which is in a few days.














Owen clapping for Daddy!



















Family portrait.















And we also had a good luck cake for Ho, who is heading to Boston for dental school very soon. What a dessert extravaganza!

English relatives

Paul's Uncle Geoffrey and Aunt Sylvia came to visit his parents for a few weeks. We took them to the airport to head home. We didn't get to spend much time with them, but are hoping to see them again soon - when we take Holly to England for a visit!

Last day of Junior Kindergarten!

On the last day of school, everyone participates in the Report Card Ceremony. The teachers said really nice things about their class and then about each individual student!














Holly receiving her report card - official graduation from JK!



















After the ceremony, the kids returned to their classes. Ms. Nadia gave each of the kids a portfolio with some of their artwork from the year as well as a "cookbook", some keepsakes and a present!














Holly really had fun in this class and we're really happy with her introduction to school. I'm sure she'll miss the kids that aren't coming back next year!

On the couch: Ariana, Ms. Nadia, Sienna, Mehr, Holly
Seated: Gabe, Cassie, Sam, Karl, Cole.
Missing are Katie and Aryn.

Sports Day

Holly's first Sports Day! We were lucky to have such a great day!



















All the JK kids had fun and collected ribbons at each of their events - they got pick whatever colour ribbon they wanted!

Pajama Day!

Today was pajama day in the JK Class! They had fun wearing the pj's to school. Holly had been talking about it since seeing one of the older classes do it a couple of months ago. They had lots of treats like watching a movie and having popcorn today!

Happy Birthday Ms. Nadia!

Ms. Nadia celebrated her 40th birthday while we were at camp. Some of the moms decided to get her a cake and have a surprise "party" at the end of the the day today. She was surprised!

JDRF Walk

We went on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk today. Holly's friend Claire was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes last year and we wanted to support her and her family on their quest to raise funds for research to find a cure!

Holly & Claire with Bob Brown Bear, the mascot for the Vancouver Canadians baseball team.














A friend, with Sean (Claire's brother), Claire and Holly - and Fin, the Vancouver Canucks' mascot.



















The kids were happy after having breakfast (and despite a slight drizzle)!














Holly got her face painted - she decided on the ladybug.















The Claire's Bears Team.

Camp - Last Day

Today was our last day at camp - the girls decided it would be fun to wear their pj's to breakfast.

































Funny girls!



















Cute girls!














Holly surprised me by sleeping in the top bunk the entire time we were at camp. Paul wasn't able to make it out so I thought she'd want to sleep with me on the bottom, which was a double, but she headed up the first night and slept there happily! I think maybe it was because she saw Cassie and Maia head up to sleep in their bunks!

Camp - Day 3

This morning the group made some letters by lying on the floor with a partner - here are Holly and Sienna being an . . . (can you guess?!) - yes, the letter L!














Next is a V!



















This is a great shot of the shoe rack outside the dorm building - the Charis Camp wanted us to take our shoes off before we went inside . . .














It was a bit rainy today, so we had indoor climbing instead of tackling the big outdoor structure.



















Holly had fun - each student got 3 turns to try going up and Holly made it about half-way.



















Too bad today also turned out to be our swimming day - but it was fun because the pool was heated! That is until we had to get out!!!














Everyone (students, teachers, and parents) had fun.














I had Mehr and Holly with me because Mehr's parents decided not to come in.














Sienna underwater!














Holly had a lot of fun - which she always does in the pool!














Here she is straddling the tube and pretending she's driving her car!














Having fun with Sienna!














This afternoon, the kids collaborated and made up a dance to represent their group "Water".

Camp - Day 2

Our first activity of the day was learning to dance the merengue with Ms. Celis. Holly and Mehr had fun dancing together!














Later on, we went on a nature walk with Mr. Bouchard. We walked crossed a creek on a wooden bridge and looked at the moss and other things with small microscopic glasses.














After lunch, the group had clay time behind the dining room building.



















I'm not exactly sure what Holly is making . . .



















. . . but she's proud of it!



















Posing with Sienna and Mehr - this might be a foreshadowing of the future in about 8 years if they all head to summer camp together!














Chilling before the next activity with Isabella and Cassie.














Mackenzie also joins in - she'll be an Urban Academy student next year!















This was a fun game after dinner - some of the teachers, Board members and older students dressed up as strange animals . . . the kids had to chase the animals and capture them by joining hands so the animal was trapped. They then walked them back to the "zoo" where the capture was recorded to see which team captured the most animals!