May Long Getaway

We spent the May long weekend on the island. We packed up the car Friday morning, picked up Gramma on the way to the ferry and went to visit family and friends!

The ferry ride was quite a luxury at first but they got quite bored after the initial excitement. We spend the first two nights with Jon's sister and brother in law. The girls LOVE them and we don't get to see them as much as we'd like.

We took the girls bowling for the first time. So fun and they loved it. Livi especially. I definitely see us doing that again in the near future.

On Sunday we left Lisa and Tony's mom's house, where we where staying, and headed towards the other side of the island to where Jon grew up! Before getting to our B&B, we stopped for lunch at the Keno's where Sofie got to meet Aiden's Mom and Dad! They were paved the road for our own adoption and for that we love them dearly!

For dinner we were invited to dinner at a family from Jon's old church too. It was quite the exciting experience since they have 7 boys and 2 girls between the ages of 17 and 4 months old. Their youngest was born the same day that Evie was. It was so interesting seeing how such a large family operates. Each child had such a different interest. While one would ask me questions about my iPhone, another asked be about Evie's schedule. 

A friend of Jon's from high school let us stay at her mom's B&B which worked out so perfectly for us. One room was decorated like a cave and Livi LOVED that :) It was peaceful and relaxing with very comfortable beds!

On the Monday we headed out to the far west coast of the island where we spent the afternoon at the beach. It was a glorious. It was so much fun for all of us. We bundled up because it was cold but as soon as Sofie realized there was water out there, she took off running towards it. So perfect. She walked with such purpose. I thought she would stop when she got closer but the tide was coming in and she was eager to meet it! ...

I had to run in after her. Eventually I gave up and embraced my wet water babes. Secretly, I had hoped that this would happen and brought extra clothes just in case :) Sofie ended up being knocked over by a wave and got a face full. Livi thought it was the funniest thing to be getting wet in our clothes and running away from the waves. Evie stayed bundled up in the sling with Jon. It was a perfect afternoon. 

On the way home to the ferry we had to stop for a walk in the old growth rainforest, despite the downpour the night before and the TOMS shoes we were all wearing. Gramma ended up staying with the littles on the outskirts while Jon and I took Livi through the short roundabout walk quickly, looking for ferries of course. 

A tradition from when Jon was a child was stopping for ice cream at a place by the hwy. Dad would almost always stop whenever we came home for a visit and we intend to continue that tradition! It's TRADITION! We had to stop despite being cold from our walk.

It was a very successful weekend. There was minimal tantrums from the girls, although you could tell when it was the end of the trip. I'm so happy we got to make such wonderful memories this weekend :)

Mother's Day - Late

Posts are few and far between these days! Too busy with life. This is my belated Mother's Day post...

I love being a mom. It is blessing. It is teaching. It is tiring. It is hilarious. It is self-less. It is heart-breaking.

Being a mom is hard. Being a mom to little children is really hard. Being a mom to a child with a developmental disability and behaviour challenges is really difficult some times.

Dinner!

Mother's Day celebrations were lovely but had its real life, hard moments too. On the Sunday, Jon made us lobster mac'n cheese for dinner, which was delicious! He even went out to get a live lobster. At church there was Starbucks coffee and Cobbs scones, plus I came home to clean floors and dishes! At preschool on the Friday, the kids had made me pictures of their moms. We had to guess which ones were our child's. Livi's was easy because it was the only one that had curly hair take up most of the page. They gave us a lotion hand massage, a slide show that told us their favourite thing to do with us. Livi's was cuddling with me on the couch and colouring (I don't generally colour with her but apparently I should start!) And Sofie's was Mommy tickles! So appropriate.

The hard part was Sofie's behaviour. Party days are difficult for Sofie. Her school routine is interrupted and all the parents come, so it is rather overstimulating for Sofie. She doesn't have the luxury then of getting time to transition in to participating like she normally would. We don't expect everyone to wait for her... so she generally whines, a lot! The parents are pretty normal about it and either smile or ignore it but I found it hard to take this time. It was an extended Party Day, that much worse for Sofie, and Livi deserved my attention too. I did the best I could but felt it wasn't good enough. I know these situations will happen and they will get better, but I found it really disheartening this year. Hoping next year goes smoother.

I did get to go on a big girl date for sushi and salmon sashimi with my big girl. Salmon Sashimi is our favorite :) It was really fun actually. I need to do special date like that with her more often!

I love being a mom... especially to these three girls. Sometimes it is lonely and I let myself go in to the part of myself where I feel uncertain. Then, I look at how awesome my girls are, giggling to each other and wanting me to join in, and I am fulfilled.