Auntie Jan Day

Today we had a playdate at Jericho beach with the Jericho Outrigger moms and kids with Auntie Jan. She is one of our paddlers who absolutely loves all kids and is really great with them. We've been talking about getting together for about a year, but it took Auntie Jan to get us organized!

Auntie Jan with Ceilidh, Holly (hiding behind a tree) Connor (who celebrated his birthday yesterday with a Thomas the Train theme, hence the outfit), Ocean, Kalen and Rory (who has the same birthday as Holly, but one year later).















Moms and kids:
Cathy & Ceilidh, Miranda & Holly, Denise & Kalen & Emily, Shannon & Ocean, Isabelle & Connor, Sheri & Rory, Janet & Nathan (who ran away because he didn't want his picture taken) and Auntie Jan.













Auntie Jan opening a surprise gift from all of us - with some help!



















Relaxing on the grass with Lillian & Alison who arrived just after we took our group shot.

Wedding day

Today was Holly & Pierre's wedding day!

Holly rarely let me put clips in her hair or ponytails, but I'd been talking to her about having "pretty hair" to match her pretty flower girl dress and she agreed! Before we left home, I used the curling iron on her hair, but she said "no curls" before I even finished going all the way around. She did let me put a few clips in her hair to try, but wanted them out before we left home. We took the hair clips & the dress to Brock House before getting her ready. You can see the little scabs on her nose from the fall in the park - but Winnie, a makeup artist helps cover them up later.



















Dancing in the hallway with Daddy.....



















Checking herself out in the mirror in the bride's room (which we renamed the flower girl's room!).....



















Flower girl Holly and Ring bearer Nicholas.



















Playing together while waiting for the bride...














Ready to carry the rings.....














Beautiful bride Holly.



















Nicholas' dad Alex and Paul - each carrying their child's "props". The flowers for Holly (called a kiss ball) were pretty heavy (about 2 lbs).














Holly and her Uncle David (her mom's brother) - he walked her down the aisle.
















Waiting for the bride.....














The official walk down the aisle.....



















It was rainy at home when we left, but as we approached Vancouver, we noticed the roads were not wet. It didn't rain here in the morning and it held out for the entire ceremony and pictures. It didn't start raining until the bridal party arrived at the hotel later in the evening for the reception! A great shot of the bridesmaids with the mountains in the background. Holly knew all their names by the end of the day - they were all really great with her and she kept asking me "Mommy, where are the girls gone?" when they left the head table at the reception to help the bride change, etc.














Watching the ceremony with her Princess purse - which has her "lipstick" in it (a Disney princess lip balm).



















I do's and exchanging of rings.....



















Holly and Jacqueline, the maid of honour.














Karen, Stephanie, Corinna, Jacqueline,
Nicholas and Holly.



















Bride and groom, flower girl and ring bearer with their parents, and Nicholas' little brother Owen.














Holly and Mommy.



















Holly changed into her Chinese outfit when Holly was getting ready for the Chinese tea ceremony.

Tired little girl

Holly had a little nap while we drove Paul to his office to get some paperwork before driving him to the airport. He had to go out of town for work, so he missed the reception.

Wedding reception

In the bride's room before heading into the reception for dinner.



















The bride and groom each led a Chinese lion into the reception hall before dinner. We were treated to a lion dance - but the photos I took were either too far away or blurry!

We had a really nice buffet dinner and little Holly was great.

A quick shot with Alex before leaving the reception.














One last shot of the 2 Holly's before leaving. Little Holly didn't seem at all tired, but she fell asleep on the way home - that was about 10:50pm and she'd been up since 8:30am with a short 1 hour nap in the car. She's definitely a party girl! I was really proud of her today.

Flower girl gift

Holly posing with her gift from Holly & Pierre for being their flower girl. She can't wait to open it and put everything in the bag to take to the wedding tomorrow!

Wedding rehearsal

Today we went to the rehearsal for Holly & Pierre's wedding.

Nicholas (the ring bearer) and Holly getting some instructions from the marriage commissioner.














Practising walking down the aisle..... and even holding hands! Holly is holding her "flowers" that Daddy gave her to practice with.














The bridesmaids and maid of honour: Stephanie, Karen, Corinna, Candice & Jacqueline.














A really cute statue outside of Brock House, where the ceremony is going to take place.

At the park

Today we met our friends at the park - it's been a while since so many of us got together. These were all friends we had met at Baby Talk when the kids were just babies - around 3 months old! There was Andrea with Ben & little Holly, Mimi with Cassie-Anne & Mackenzie, Miranda with Holly, and Noriko with Isabelle & Simon.

The two monkeys who see each other quite often ran off to play together - hanging like monkeys on the jungle gym! Just before we left, Holly got bumped into by a little boy and did a face-plant onto the concrete! I'm glad I didn't actually witness it happen - poor girl had huge scrapes on both knees, her left elbow, palm of her right hand, and her nose, upper lip and forehead (which I didn't see until we went swimming because it was hidden by her bangs)! My first thought was - oh no, it's Holly's wedding on Saturday and my Holly is the flower girl - what about the photos?!


















On the train: Mackenzie, Cassie-Anne, Holly and Ben.














Isabelle and Mackenzie.

Retirement!

Today was my mom's last day of work - ever! We had a retirement dinner for her at the Chinese restaurant where Holly had her red egg party (Flamingo House). The food was excellent and we got to have our favourite dessert - baked tapioca pudding!



















Tai-Kong and Holly's "Brown Bear".