Playdate at Liam's

Today we went to my friend Terry's place for a playdate. Terry's husband, Gerald, built this great playhouse for their son, Liam. It even has the same address as their house, with a "B" at the end. It's tall enough for me to stand in and there is even a set of stairs and a small loft inside! A perfect little house!

Girly girl

Today we went to my aunt's 70th birthday party - Holly took her new pink purse and "lipstick". When I put some lipstick before having a picture taken, Holly had to do her lipstick too - she's borrowing my mirror - definitely a girly girl!

Another birthday dinner!

This is the last of the birthday celebrations (I think) - not that I'm complaining - a birthday month sounds good to me!

Outside Horizon's on Burnaby Mountain - one of my favourite spots and also the same place where Paul and I got married.














We had a great time - we always end up talking and talking (this time for over 4 hours!). It was great having no kids around so we could concentrate on each other and just catch up. Thanks to my friends, Susan, Janet and Helen for a great evening . . . which didn't end after dinner - I drove Helen back to her place and we ended up talking for another 2 1/2 hours in the car! In total, Helen and I spent 8 hours together tonight - talking the whole time of course!

Fab 40's

Today I met up with a couple of friends from high school that I still keep in touch with. We all turned 40 recently, in February, March and April. Dorothy, myself, and Charlene.

When I look back at those high school photos, I think we're better now than then! I'm glad that I still have friends from way back then - we've seen each other go through all of life's new adventures and Charlene is getting married this year (for the first time), so the adventures continue - we were joking about meeting for lunch when we're all 80!

Renovation

We started renovating our house last August and after the long winter (rainy AND cold), we've started up again. Today I came home from work to find our kitchen nook had been removed and my kitchen exposed to the outside world!

View of the house from the back yard. That's one of my kitchen cupboards there on the left side of the picture, where the nook used to be - all the stucco from the back has been removed as well - hard to imagine that outside wall will actually be part of our new family room!














Jim, our contractor, Paul and Laci, who came over for dinner and to watch the hockey game (supervising!). You can see dinner in the crock pot on the counter, too - it was very strange to have no outside wall there!














Holly taking a photo with her camera - since I was taking photos for our renovation album, she decided to get in on the action as well!

Easter

For Easter, we were planning on heading to Queen's Park for the Easter festivities, but it was a cold, rainy day, so we decided to skip it. Maybe next year the weather will be better! We went over to my grandparents' house a bit early so we could have an Easter egg hunt before dinner.

My mom and Aunt Ivy had not only hidden a lot of eggs around the house, but also created bunny prints outside! Holly was very intrigued by the footprints that started by the grass in the back yard, and came around the house, up the front steps and even into the house!

Mommy Bunny & Holly Bunny!

















Looking for (and finding!) eggs hidden in all sorts of places. One that made her laugh was an "egg in the fruit bowl - that's funny!".














Part way through the hunt . . . . .



















Finally done - her stash!

Birthday party

Today was Cassie's 4th birthday party. Holly had fun at the gymnastics place where the party was held. . . . .

Monkey hanging from the bars. . .



















In the foam pit. . .














Swinging from the rope and jumping off!














The birthday cake - entirely edible except for Tinkerbell's wings!



















Cassie's friends and cousins. . . including 3 girls from Toronto who happen to be daughters of someone I went to law school with - Danielle, Mimi's sister - what a small world!












Cassie's mom, Mimi and little sister Mackenzie, with the birthday girl.

Deas Island

Today I had the day off so we all got to spend the day together - we decided to go to Deas Island Regional Park. Holly took her bike and had fun riding around - she rode her bike and walked part of the time on the trail we chose. At the end, we had lunch at one of the picnic tables - and just finished when it started to sprinkle rain!














We saw a bald eagle flying around - there it is taking a rest in the tree.














On the trail - and doing a great job balancing on 2 wheels!














I think this is the first time I've ever see a beaver dam in person!














Skunk cabbage - smelly!

Doodlebops!

Tonight we went to the Doodlebops concert! We know Britney was in town last night, but our performers didn't leave the stage during the show (except during intermission!).

We had dinner downtown and then walked to the theatre. On the way, we passed this bull sculpture that has been here for a few years. Holly has seen it before, but last time we walked by, she wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole and refused to go anywhere near it - this time she actually agreed to sit on it!














Waiting for the concert to start . . .














Holly had a great time - she sang the songs she knew from the TV show and danced, too. The cast is different from the "real" show and I didn't think they were as good - nothing is never as good as the original - but none of the kids in the audience seemed to mind. Holly also got to see her friends, Sarah, Cassie, Mackenzie, Ben, Hugh and Callum there.

Easter cupcakes

Holly had fun helping me decorate these cupcakes for Easter - she's taking some to daycare tomorrow. I borrowed the bunny decorating tips from a recipe I found online (where the cupcakes are actually made with beets! - I'll have to try the actual cupcake recipe sometime to see how beet cupcakes taste!).