Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Flurry of Posts

So of course, I have done what I always promise myself I won't do -- I haven't taken anything off my camera in ages and so now you're about to get hit with a flurry of photos, likely not in any particular order. 
Eek.  But everyone loves pictures, so I hope you'll forgive.  Click on any of them to view them in a larger format.

First up, some oldies:

Anna and I at camp, early days.  See -- there was a reason I dyed my hair blonde all those years. 
 It was a need to get back to my "roots". (groan)


Andrea, a double threat.  Captain from an early age and a fashion maven.

Old skool camp styles.

Me, in the largest diaper known to man. 
My parents were expecting big things? 
My real reason for loving this photo -- my grandpa in the back, totally relaxing. 

Granparents Rice.


Anna roasting marshmallows with her younger sister an alien-being.

Me, doing what I love:  Gorging myself. 
(Note: I hope my baby's head is significantly smaller than my melon in this picture)
In the running for the best photo of all time.  A. Gail and U. Craig.  Classic.

A pic with bad lighting.  Cousin Daniel with....
Cousin Simon?  Andrea? 
My apologies to both of you for not bring overly sure.


And then on to Whistler:

Anna and I decided that January sucks and we should therefore go somewhere fun for a weekend.  Whistler it was.  Great snow and Erin being there made it a pretty easy choice. 

The view from our room.  Tried Priceline for days, came up empty handed;
ended up with a sweet deal from the Whistler website. 

It's funny.  I look like I had few glasses of wine in this picture. 
Wishful thinking.
 This kid better appreciate the sacrifices I'm already making. 


Because Ty is cruel and basically kicks puppies,
we continued on with our dog-sitting, as opposed to dog owning.
This is Max.
He is not as innocent as he looks.


 This is what I saw every morning when I opened my eyes.

He is, at this very moment, plotting where to pee next.


On family day weekend we went to Brock and Katie's wedding. 
Now, I don't know Katie all that well, but I can say this:  what a beautiful, gracious, and well-spoken bride.  Love was really all around.


And THEN we headed to Hawaii for some relaxin'.  We reunited with old friends the Peaks' and we made new friends: Kyla, Mike and wee Avery.

This is Ben.  He is wondering who crashed his Hawaiian vacation and why she is pointing a camera lens at him.

And this is Avery.  This is the child that they are referring to when they wrote "The Happiest Baby on the Block".  She would look like she was going to start crying and then she'd be all like -- ha ha - gotcha!  I'm just going to sit here and giggle.

Hawaii is this beautiful.

Ty spent a great majority of his time in this position.


 Perfect child #1.

 Perfect Child #2.







 I know.  It is seriously annoying how perfect Hawaii is.



 This was the best "action shot" Ty could give me.  On a better note for him, he did beat me at Tennis.  Twice.*

*note:  I'm pregnant.

 Ben, concentrating on solving world hunger.  Peaks, a few beers in.


 New friends.  Amazing peeps.  Another reason why all people I like should move to Winnipeg. 
We could hang out more.



Just practicing up for St. Patty's day.


 So this is the thing about Maui: there are whales EVERYWHERE.  You almost become a bit nonchalant about them.  It's like deer at the lake but way cooler.


Yes, please.

Deliciousness.



4 months pregnant with Barry.
And yes, it's true.  My torso is far longer than my legs. 
I hope for more favourable proportions for Barry.

Good Advice

Be a good listener, don't just wait your turn to talk.
Sing along, but only if you know the words.
Offer to carry her bag, every time.
Eat more vegetables.
Jump (or dive) in the lake.  Often.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Signs from the Universe

My hairdryer started on fire this morning.  Mid-dry.  I was a quarter of the way through.

I gathered my hair into a loose pony, effortlessly creating a wind-blown, just-stepped-off-a-motorcycle look.  Or so I thought, until I caught a glance of my reflection in a window as I walked to the courthouse.  Shockingly, I looked like I had blow-dried a quarter of my hair (the front quarter) and then simply thrown in the towel.

That's a super hot look, especially when you have court first thing in the morning.

This is clearly a sign from the universe that the weather needs to be warmer so we can all revert to our non-blow drying ways.

Hear that, universe???

Sunday, January 9, 2011

I'm lucky...

...that I have friends and family that made my holidays really, really special.

It all started in early December when the girls took a little trip to Ten Spa for some wine, chatting, pedicures and manicures.  No question, this needs to be a tradition.

Then, after we got all prettied up, we headed to Es and Mark's for engagement toasts. 


Cute face Rob.

Hot. 

Skip to the week of December 15th -- Ty and I got our act together and put up our tree.  This happened much later than I would have liked, but man, December is fun because it's so BUSY.  And there's a lesson here for me:  everything does not need to happen on a schedule. 
Clare and Anna came home for the holidays and practiced their Christmas card pose for 2011.

Ty got in the swing of it.

After spending a Christmas eve full of love with Ty's mom's side of the family, we trekked to Kenora on Christmas morn.  And what a morning.  Beautiful blue skies.
Anna looks super happy with her new gift.  She got me a watch (orange) and I got her a watch (red).  Did I mention that having a sister like Andrea makes me lucky?  And happy?

 
You have no idea how difficult it is to take a decent picture of my family. 
My father actually thinks he's smiling here.

He still thinks he's smiling.

A few days after Christmas, An, Ty and I hiked across the foot bridge to Coney Island for a little exploring.
Always love winter pictures of the ice road (as opposed to summer pictures of the ice road, obviously).



An -- helping to make sure no building fell over on that particular day.

Ty in the background: "can we please go get an egg mcmuffin now?" (note:  we didn't allow Ty to fulfill this bizarre craving.  we made him a healthly alternative)
Bet you think this is the same picture as above, right?  Nope.  End of hike picture -- check out the sun.
January 2.  Stopped in West Hawk, met Nat and Ry and headed to Falcon for a cross-country ski and some really great live music at Falcon Resort. 

I'm so lucky to have friends that are friends AND family.

Oh K-city, I love you at all times of the year.