Malcolm be Turtle

Malcolm's favorite part of the aquarium was dressing up in the turtle suit ... OK, so he couldn't have cared less, but the rest of us sure enjoyed it!
A group shot as we walked through Stanley Park on the way back to the car.
 

Aquarium

We went into the Vancouver Aquarium on Tuesday, and the girls' favorite part was the seal pup hospital. Olivia especially had a hard time parting with the baby seal that she "rescued."
They enjoyed dressing up in the doctor aprons.

And a butterfly landed right on top of Dobby's hat. I had to take a picture for the girls to see, because he had Malcolm in the Snugli, so he couldn't bend over far enough for them to look. 

Giving back to God

Malcolm's dedication was this past Sunday. We wanted to do it when some of Dobby's family was here visiting, so now that his sister Shelley and niece Dayna are here, it was the right time. Our worship pastor and friend Lyndon did the dedication.
After church we had a little BBQ celebration with Mom & Dad, Greg & Becky & Noah, Ron & Viv & Dan & Ben, and of course Shelley & Dayna.
The picnic-ers.
Noah showing Malcolm some toys, while Liv eats her corn.

 

Cousins

Here are the girls playing with the two cousins that are closest to them in age - Noah (1 1/2) and Dayna (20). The girls have LOVED having Dayna here; she plays with them, reads to them, buys them presents...what's not to love? She's reliving her childhood here (or perhaps she hasn't left it yet?), playing Barbies, easy-bake, helping the girls dress up for fashion shows. Olivia enjoying one of her presents - a Nemo kite.
Dayna and Malcolm having a heart-to-heart.
 

Fun With Hair!

Malcolm really enjoyed trying Olivia's neck pillow out...he's kind of unsure how the whole thing works, but he sure thinks it's fun!

Sabrina saw Daddy, Grandpa, and Olivia getting haircuts from Grandma, so she thought she should get in on the action. This is her first haircut ( and it was difficult to save the hair for her baby book with the wind blowing outside!)

Malcolm helping me do the laundry.

 

More Visitors

This weekend (actually, Monday and Tuesday), Stefan and Rene stayed with us, so we got to have a good visit, and an interesting experience together at Fatburger. Let's just say, the service was so bad that we now have vouchers for 4 free meals there. It shouldn't really take 45 minutes to make a hamburger, should it? Anyways, here we all are in front of the restaurant... ..and a shot of the boys.
 

The Gymnast

Olivia has decided that she wants to do gymnastics this year instead of dancing, so this week she has been going to a gymnastics camp, to make sure she really enjoys it before we sign her up for a whole year. (She does, and we did) She really surprised me with how brave she's being, and she hasn't refused to try anything. Rene came along on tuesday morning, and took some pictures for us. After the three of us left, Sabrina was sad that she hadn't come along, so the rest of them walked down to the gym (very handy that it's just at the bottom of our hill), so Sabrina got to try out some of the equipment too.


 

Of course, Sabrina wanted to get in on the action, so she tried out the rings...
...and the bars, with Malcolm as her spotter. 

Jesus lives here....and Uncle Ron

So, the girls have had some foam bath toys for a long time that stick to the side of the tub; fun, but starting to show signs of being constantly wet (ie: moldy). So, we threw them away and went in search of some new bath toys. Among the treasures we found were these fish from a dollar store. Olivia chose, of course, the orange one, and named it Nemo. Sabrina chose, of course the green one, and named it......Uncle Ron! Perhaps it reminds her of him in some way (?), or maybe it's because Auntie Viv was with us when we bought it, but whatever the reason, she thought of the name by herself. Another thing that Sabrina has thought of by herself for some unknown reason is to put Malcolm's burp cloth on his head, then put his hat on top and announce, "Malcolm be Jesus!" We can't figure out if it's supposed to be long hair, or if it's like dressing the shepherds up with towels on their heads for a Christmas pageant.... anyways, he makes a cute little Jesus!
 

Fun Stuff

We've decided to try to make some money marketing a new kind of excercise video. You've all heard of Mommy and Baby Yoga .... let us introduce The Jolly Jumper Workout. When Malcolm gets bored with jumping in the doorway, he is usually happy to stay in his jumper if we will carry it around with him in it. You can do curls, squats, whatever kind of workout you like as long as he's moving. You can see from his face how much he enjoys this! Here is Noah showing his nurturing side, carrying Dora in a snugli. Only he didn't call her Dora, he called her Oma. When the girls are playing with their dolls, he wants to get in on it, and their babies' names are Emma and Ella, so I guess Oma sounds closer than Dora!
Sabrina entertaining her brother - he just loves to hang out with his sisters; in this case, literally hanging!

 

Growing Boy

We've done this with each of the kids - take a picture on each of their month birthdays for the first year. Malcolm is growing nicely! It looks in these pictures like he's got a dark tan in month 3 and 4 - really it's just the flash reflecting off his big belly! (He does have a bit of color on his arms and legs from incidental sun exposure - impossible to keep him totally out of the sun with two little adventurers to keep up with.) 

Busy Weekend

Wow, did we do a lot of stuff this weekend, and it's not even over yet. Dobby's best friend from Birch Hills (now from Edmonton), Darren, and his girlfriend Amy came to visit us. They arrived on Thursday, and as of Wednesday, she wasn't just his girlfriend anymore, but his fiancee! This was the first time we had met Amy, and we all had a great time together.

On Friday we went to the zoo, and then to Birchwood Dairy for ice cream. Then Dobby entertained our company while the kids and I went to Hatzic Lake to see Chris and Julene Uganezc and their kids Tehya and Paeton. They are missionaries in Indonesia, back in Canada for her brothers wedding, and Friday was the only time we could see them. Olivia and Tehya were good friends before they left, so we thought it was important that they have a chance to play together again.

Then on Saturday, we all went to Hayward Lake to hang out on the beach. Malcolm does not care for the beach. The rest of us enjoyed it though - Dobby and I enjoyed it in shifts. Then home for a BBQ, put the kids to bed, and we taught Darren and Amy to play Settlers. Darren beat us. Beginners luck.

Today they left to do some more visiting in Chilliwack and on the Island, and we went to the Abbotsford Agrifair. Pancake breakfast with way too much syrup, lots of farm animals, dogs racing (flyball races), some rides, and racing pigs. Tomorrow Dobby's going golfing, while the kids and I go shopping. Probably no interesting pictures will come of those activities, so here are some pics from the rest of our weekend.

Some very happy mooses.

The newly engaged couple on the zoo train; or as Dobby referred to it in this picture, the love train.

In this picture it is back to the zoo train...actually these girls do love each other, so call it whatever you like!

 

The girls and Darren check out the camels.
Olivia poses with a donkey (she could have touched it, but our girls aren't much into touching strange animals - they just like to look).
Me and the girls with the white Wapati.
Taking a break, Malcolm gets to stretch out after being in the Snugli all morning. He actually loves the Snugli, and can hang out in it all day without complaining (as long as he gets feeding breaks, of course!)