Dog days of summer?

So Mark and I decided that it was time that Kian got out of diapers last weekend. Kian, Julean and I went off to Walmart and Kian got to pick out his big-boy underwear - Tigger. Great! He gave us a bit of a hard time putting them on the first time but after making a few deals he has been wearing them everyday without too much trouble.

Saturday afternoon the boys had a birthday party to go to and Kian went off for the first time in his big-boy underwear. We had a couple accidents which was alright. One at the party and the other in the shopping cart at the grocery store.... Sunday we put our big-boy underwear back on and headed off to the the Bobby-Bob store (that's Home Depot to all who don't speak "Kian"). After playing on the tractors for a while we decided to visit Auntie Nay. We had an accident there so the underwear and shorts came off and he was running around naked. After the accident, Mia (the dog) decided to lock everyone out of the house. While she was doing that Kian came running up to me to tell me that he had gone poop in the yard. Great.... Now I have to find the kid poop between the dog poop. We did find it and we were going to flush it when Renee finally managed to get into the house and Mia came bolting out. Unfortunately Mia saw the poop before anyone else could catch her and did what all dogs love to do - ate it. Lovely....

Monday was accident free, so to speak. Kian didn't pee in his underwear, but only pees and poops outside.... Great, now I have my very own dog to pick up afterward in the yard.... He is very consistent that when he has to go he goes bolting outside from whatever he is doing. Unfortunately I don't think that is going to be socially acceptable once we get out of our own yard. I'm a bit concerned that when we go to Seattle this coming weekend that we are going to have to explain somethings to people, maybe at the zoo.

So far we have been accident free for three days and I'm enjoying not having to change any poopy diapers other than Julean's - who at the moment is eating 3 CUPS of blueberries a DAY! You always swear that when you have kids you aren't going to talk about poop!

Hornby Island

(Since I didn't get to actually posting anything from Canada Day and 4th of July I decided to just skip it and continue with our vacation post.)

I'm on vacation!

We had our first family vacation as an entire family! We decided to rent a house and cottage on Hornby Island with our friends Shauna and Joa and their kids, Jacob and Eli, for a week. Hornby is located about 3 hours north of Victoria in the Straits of Georgia. It is a beautiful, virtually undisturbed, island full of forests and beaches. (www.hornbyisland.com) It is supposed to be one of the only places close by where you can swim in the ocean and the water is "warm". I would beg to differ, but the water was warm on the top 6 inches or so, if you count that as "swimming". The kids didn't seem to notice the temperature of the water and we couldn't have asked for a nicer week. The weather was beautiful and sunny and warm everyday.

Kian and Julean playing on a log

The island is so small that you get to know it within a few hours. There is only one store and a couple coffee "shops" and clothing "stores". The "shops" and "stores", with the exception of the Co-op, are mostly just huts that have been erected. There is a great market that is open twice a week and a fruit stand that is open during the weekend. If you are going to Hornby to "shop" you will need to go somewhere else! The beaches are great and each one has completely different rock formations than the next. Some are sand and go on for miles and others are limestone with fantastic tidal pools to play in. Others are rock that has been cemented together by glaciers. Really interesting to see. The kids loved to play on all the beaches.

Julean and Kian playing with a log

Julean in the water

I can't say that we did all that much while we were there. We did hike in the provincial parks and definitely played on the beaches. We saw lots of eagles and otters and some baby seals. The tidal pools were fantastic for the kids to play in and catch crabs, starfish and other sea stuff. The adults actually got to talk after the kids went to bed and even got a few card and bocce games in. The island is beautiful, but I think after a week the family was ready to go home. The kids really do miss their routines and there things.

Next we are off for the long weekend to camp in Seattle. Should be a blast! Kian is looking forward to the zoo.

P.S. If anyone is wondering how Kian's tooth-pulling went, it went really well. He was a model patient and extremely good. He had no pain what so ever and didn't need any pain killers.

Now for a TON of photos!

Eagles outside out place

Bath time!

Starfish

Kian and Jacob at Tribute Bay

Julean making a sand castle

Kian and daddy helping him

Otters playing at Helliwell Park

Helliwell Provincial Park

Helliwell Park

Crab with a clam in its claws

Joa and I at Grassy Point (or as my mother calls this photo "Moses points out the way"!)

Everyone at Grassy Point

Grassy Point

Joa and Jacob at Grassy Point

Joa and Jacob at Grassy Point

Julean (8 months)

Kian and Jacob at Big Tribune beach

Kian. Jacob and Eli at Big Tribune beach

Log at Big Tribune

Kian at Ford Cove

Kian in a tidal pool at Ford Cove

Sunset at Grassy Point

Sunset at Grassy Point