January 4-5

Ending the first week of the new year it was so nice to have it be on a high note – in the mail – Ken’s renewed passport! Now we just have to wait for the separate mailing of his old one. AND the even BIGGER news, the one I teased you all with at the end of 2012… Ken went in to sign the paperwork to finalize his employment as a lead programmer! Definitely an answer to our prayers, though a bit of a nervy thing for me. Ken has not worked outside of the home since right after Trinity was born! It is going to be quite the adjustment!

While Ken was gone Emanuel and Gavin set up to watch one of the movies Gammie sent us – Planet Dinosaur! They really enjoyed it… I think they watched almost 4 hours before becoming bored. So of course we had to draw pictures of their favourite parts… Gavin for his journal and Emanuel his dinosaur binder!

Watching the dinosaurs

The movie

Illustrations from the movie

Life seems, right lately… now don’t get me wrong, I personally am lonely and it is no simple task to keep the boys occupied and learning with stuff in storage and items downsized drastically… but we are where we need to be. That has become glaringly clear with how happy Ken is, with the kids’ interactions with their American family members… with how we are figuring things out. Now this is NOT forever, but for NOW and NOW we need to be HERE. I am just working to really wrap my head around that.

Trinity and Echo gaming together

We had some time of creativity as well… Emanuel made us long necked dinosaurs out of Lego.

LEGOS

And then Echo forced the issue and got Nana and Baba out to see the snow creations in the back… She was determined to spend a little time in the snow. There was the completed structure.

Taking Nana to the backyard

Gavin and the igloo

And one they have just started with the block makers Ken and I picked up at Target recently. 

First layer down

Our Saturday was rather fun… it is the first one of January so Ken and his dad took the boys to their Home Depot free crafting activity. This time they made BIRD HOUSES! So along with the houses they also gained their newest pin for their aprons! Talk about proud boys.

The finished houses

My proud crafty boys

The boys even shared their Home Depot popcorn with the girls!

In the afternoon Ken and I had the opportunity to take just Emanuel and Trinity on a field trip to United Noodles… an Asian grocery. We were on the hunt for anything Japanese, well anything Asian and interesting. Sadly they did NOT have any Bento Boxes but Emanuel picked out some lovely chopsticks.

Fishy chopsticks

Trinity picked out Jelly straws… which were… squishy…

Jelly Straws

We also picked up some interesting chips, more of my noodles and some ideas of bowls and soup spoons that when we get our own home I am so going back for. The lovely ones you eat won tons with. Which has Ken interested in learning how to make our own won tons from scratch! So not finding a Bento Box was ok because we DID find treats and chopsticks and a place to come back to and hunt for hidden gems again! Ken of course came home and immediately hunted down a Chinese bakery… butter explosion buns were NOT to be had where we were. So, our next expedition will be there!

Very garlic-y

Of course the twins took our time away to play Skylanders… we are starting to majorly cut back their time on there now that the new toy has worn off a little bit. So a special day for all of the kids pretty much!

On a special field trip

July 15

What is the best way to have one last bash with good friends before everything changes? Well… if you have kids a trip to the best zoo in the province is definitely a way to go! And, on top of that, allowed us to use up our zoo bucks (a Christmas gift from Kathy and the only way we would have been able to make it to this particular zoo). We even convinced Esther to join us in the fun!

Waiting on the rest of our group

So after we made it into the zoo itself and the Bleau family caught up with us it was time to see the newest attraction at the zoo (and one you would remember from the LAST time I went to this zoo with just Kathy and the girls)… the penguins! This time the line up was short so we went INTO the exhibit where you get us really close to all the penguins they have. It was noisy and splashy and the kids LOVED IT! 

My big kids

Close up and personal

Out from behind the camera… it was not an overly warm day which was PERFECT for zoo visiting.

Don’t forget the peacock who was right at the front entrance… on the way back he was showing off ALL his tail feathers… so we got the best display ever!

Checking out his reflection

Purty

Even with 5 adults it was a bit like herding kittens but we managed quite nicely. With so many little and not so little boys we HAD TO run through the new dinosaur exhibit. So much excitement running here and there with Darryl at the front of the pack egging them on! 

What a group!

Echo with a favourite aunty

Strike a pose

The leader of the pack

That left Sharon, Esther, Echo and myself to bring up the rear. With the aunties more than willing to walk the baby. Note that miss Echo went through MULTIPLE costume changes during our 3 hours at the zoo… for some reason zoo and walking and all that means pee through ALL your clothes!

Miss Esther

After dinosaurs it was time to see more animals. And a variety of those there was to see!!!

Zebra

Emanuel was amazed that there were so many types of animals in the “same box”

Gorilla

Add in a bathroom break in the African exhibit.

VERY necessary

And a play break at the playground…

Birdies at the park and super close

With her god mommy

Baby and the Beasts

We managed to visit my favourite exhibit – the butterfly one. And with less kids in the zoo it was MUCH calmer which meant better pictures of butterflies at rest! I will share more of my favourites in a separate entry. 

A 5 day old moth

So many on one bush!

After the butterflies it was time for Emanuel’s most requested ELEPHANTS!

Emanuel and his super special pose

We took a photo together here our last trip to this zoo together… when Emanuel was less than a year old!!!

Riding the stone elephants

And then after a few wrong turns… the baby tiger was out for show! 

Baby tiger AWWW

With the tigers our crew was done in and it was time to head back home. Of course with a stop off half way to see Karyn, collect passports (yup EARLY) and have lunch at Quiznos. YUM!

We took up 3 tables!

Hungry and tired

Definitely a day to remember. And I have the souvenir penguin to add to all of that! I am so glad that I got the chance to take our kids there and with such good friends too boot!

Siblings of the heart

July 2nd and 3rd

And so goes the days one after another… well this week was different! With Darryl off to California and back again for the week and Sharon at loose ends we volunteered up our company. The kids were beyond excited as that meant THREE kids to play with along with their toys and electronics. For me it was a chance to relax, hang out and with Sharon’s amazing selection – WATCH MOVIES! She has the comfiest movie watching bed EVER! 

Self sufficient for breakfast

And the best news of all – we FINALLY managed to coordinate with our facilitator and he (with wife in tow) were able to meet us at the Bleau family’s house and do our end of year assessment. It was actually rather a pleasant surprise to see everything spread out on the table. With how our last 6+ months have been from the extended move to Echo’s heart surgery and everything in-between we actually accomplished a lot! We had more than he could look through in the time allotted and he was very pleased with our progress. We talked about the upcoming year and how we want to homeschool. The verdict? Well, we need to school the REINSCH-JOHNSON way… the way that works best for our family regardless of what others think or say or do. After all, what is the most important is that it WORKS, that there is PROGRESS and that we are HAPPY. I think I can do that!!! And with our sort through I found ideas, items I had forgotten about and things to pass on to other families that would find better use for it. 

6+ months of work

The facilitator was a little later than scheduled so we overlapped our next exciting visit – Karyn and Victoria here for the afternoon. As Canada Day fell on a weekend some people had Friday off, others Monday (some chose). The timing was perfect as Ken and I had to run out and get passport photos done of myself and the girls (the boys’ are still good, time to get ducks in a line). So instead of all 5 kids sitting and waiting at Walmart the boys went out to the park that is a few blocks from Sharon’s to run out some of that excess energy. 

Local park

So much fun

And some fun in the backyard

Our next adventure was a government/travel inspired one. Time to get/renew the 3 passports we are lacking (thank goodness the boys’ are all still good). So there was forms to fill… a drive to make and a rather surprisingly SHORT wait at the passport office in the city. So of course I had to take pictures… apparently you are only allowed to take them facing North and South! The nice guard told us AND gave the kids flags! So learn something new every day!

Yup, that flag is RIGHT in front of Gavin's face

We also took pictures of the arch that marks the start of China time. The kids recognized the country of origin right off the bat. Proof of our China units taking root in the mind. 

The arch

Plaque

What else to do in the city.. stop and get my favourite red pepper dip to go with pitas we bought at H&W… 

Out front of the produce store

Pitas and dip

And then a quick stop off at Bulk Barn!

Bulk Barn

And then back to the Bleau house and the fun times with kids. It feels good to have lots of kids for our kids to play with and a friend to watch movies with… and watch movies we will!!!

Emma and the girls