July 11

I have some of the best friends and family… seriously! And again, they surprise us! This time with Holly (my sister in law of course) up and planning a mini birthday party for our Echo (August 13). Since we are not going to be local for her actual day she decided this was one birthday that she, James and Jimmie we NOT going to miss out on! 

Just for Echo!

The boys’ comfy bed

The showing off of the fish

Add to the fun Jimmie’s Gammie (Holly’s mom) up from Texas and some presents for all of us and it was AMAZING. But first there was hellos. catching up, hugs, cuddles and play time.

Gammie braiding hair

Then a walk to 7-11 for their special free 7.11 oz slurpee day – JULY 11, 7 11… Of course I had to get a bigger one but still… slurpees for ALL!

Free slurpees?

Of course we want those!

Gotta hold hands on the walk back

Yum!

And THEN it was time for the party fun. CUPCAKES… made by aunty, with purple icing and a candle and singing and everything. Of course we stripped the birthday girl down to her skivvies and she had to have her own cupcake. It was so much fun!!! Thank you Holly SO MUCH! It meant the world to have a birthday party for our baby with you as well!

Happy EARLY birthday Echo!

We received some lovely gifts from our family, and I even got some wonderful hugs from my not so baby brother. 

I got a hug too!

It was hard to say good bye to them once again. We HAD TO get a group shot of course.

Hugs

Cousins

And just like that our family was reunited! What a crowd we are!!! It is just too bad that it was ROASTING out and we couldn’t really go and play in the park with Jimmie. BUT we could stop at Victoria’s on the way home to have dinner with her, Karyn and Lauralee! With the kitties too!

Hello Kitty

We love you

Supper!

And after supper… well the splash park of course! Where else does the Reinsch-Johnson family go to beat the heat??? And with friends it is ALWAYS better…

Splish

Splash

Spray

Fun!

The girls

Though there was a shoe break…

Shoes!

Drying off

And then another good bye before the drive back to Sharon’s and the knowledge that there was still almost half a week to go before the weekend and MORE activity… SERIOUSLY!!

And Magnus the kitty as well!

Our morning may have been rushed with Ken having to drop us off at mom’s and run but we made our afternoon count. As soon as Ken headed out to get Darryl I got to work weeding through what we had left at mom’s and packing for our newest adventure – spending time with the Bleau family! Sharon and Darryl were sweet enough to open their home to us and the use of their landline so we could get a firmer grasp on our plans for the future and sort out all the little bumps that could come along the way. We are so blessed with the family we have created out of our dear friends. 

Making Trinity a special Canada Day shirt

Too cute

I got done as much as I could before we headed off to enjoy our time celebrating Canada’s birth as a nation. Sharon had to take the kids to a birthday party so we got our bits and bobs into the house there and then took the kids off for a special treat – lunch IN McDonalds. Definitely NOT relaxing for Mommy and Daddy but so much fun for our kiddos. Usually we only get drive through.

FOOD

After lunch it was time to meet up and see what is going on at the local museum. The answer – quite a bit! We started with the train! Of course, we ALL had to ride on it. Ken was nominated to go in the caboose with the bulk of the kids while Sharon and I took the next car with my girls. It was bumpy but fun and a reasonable price per person with Echo free. 

Tickets

Most of our group

Me and my baby

Waiting

Very Canadian

With Aunty Sharon

Caboose

All the kids piled in

Our next stop was a walk through the local museum. Short but varied enough to keep the kids interested.

Museum

Train

Very cool

Sharon took 7 of the kids to the bouncy castles to allow Ken, Echo and myself the opportunity to check out some of the independent buildings. Specifically the church and the school. 

Church

School

Thought this was coo

A bouncy castle

After all that sun and fun it was time to head back to the house for supper… but first stopping for SLURPEES!! YAY!! Oh how I love slurpees…

Dinner was homemade hamburgers cooked on the grill by Ken. (Assembled by Sharon) 8 kids and 3 adults was so much fun! That evening when all the kids were in bed (early) we watched the fireworks from a window in Sharon’s bedroom… so much better than being out with mosquitoes! All in all a great way to celebrate Canada Day!

Daddy and baby

Cute AND Canadian

JUNE 29/30th… catching up slowly but surely!!

The best remedy for a difficult move, stressful past few months and frustrating future? Super downsizing! That’s right… out with the old and NO in with the new! With the happy added bonus of emptying (or at least making great headway on) Kristen and Fydo’s garage which allows them to have a happier vehicle living IN its accustomed home. Now, this was a WHOLE weekend affair with us starting on FRIDAY! 

Our intimidating starting point

We were up and out the door as early as possible to get to town and get started. Kristen (the sweetheart) was able to take the day off and work with us to keep the process as quick as possible. There was a lifetime and a half to go through and we had to have it done by the end of Saturday (as of course Sunday was CANADA DAY AND Ken had to drive Darryl to the airport so we had to be back in town for that). It was a rather overwhelming prospect. So the best way to deal was to just jump right in.

She was adamant that she HAD TO sit in the chair at least for a few minutes

What amazed me by the end of the first day was the amount of stuff that was going garage sale and dump. I honestly am surprised at everything we keep around. There was so much that was old, not useful or perfect for someone else. So the end goal is to help others with our excess. 

We were MUCH more organized day 2, day one was just GET THROUGH IT!

Napping with Fat Sheep

At Aunty Karyn's

Of course none of this would have been possible without Karyn to be in charge of Echo and Trinity and their napping needs and Kristen and Fydo and SEAN for their help, vehicles and smiling faces. Add to that pizza, giggling over silly possessions and sunburns and it was a good 2 days. Saturday started a little slower with sunburns and exhaustion foremost in the minds of all. BUT we managed…

Uncle Sean!!

Saying good bye to our last wedding decoration

Thank you Sean for the loan of your truck to move things to the dump!!

Echo and Karyn took a nap break or two and I made sure ALL the kids got their OWN slurpee… Echo included… though she shared with Karyn (just to be nice of course).

Slurpees

We even managed a few pre-garage sale (thank you again so much Kristen and Fydo for hosting that!!) sales… passersby who saw something on the right side of the driveway and were like HEY I want that!!! Very convenient. And lots of inquisitive individuals who were very excited to come back when we WERE ready to sell. We stayed overnight one more night last minute so Ken could finish off what he needed to do and help with some of the garage sale set up but we HAD TO be back in town for Darryl to be picked up for his ride to the airport… and for us to celebrate Canada Day with the Bleau family!!

We found some favourite things right off the bat too - like this much fought over stroller (kept)

WINGS

Asleep