The forgotten year? Part 3 July - trip to PEI

This year, VERY spontaneously, we took a trip to PEI. It was my first time driving out there with Maelie all by ourselves. We knew we could stop along the way if we found the trip too tiring but there is something about just getting to destination... so we did it all in one shot.

We visited the Dunes, the beach and more beaches. Maelie really enjoyed herself with her cousins and Aunt Jo. It was always very fun and challenging to get a pic of all the kids!

Jo & her love of selfies!!

Cavendish is a must of course! It was quite windy and cold the day we went.

There was a musical show downtown that mixed entertainment and history. It was quite interesting. (oh... and free!)

One more pic with all the kids! :)

Maelie and Lucas, the quirky teens! They get along well in this season of life!

Says it all :)

A few days during the week Lucas had activities, so we went out with the younger boys. Maelie discovered that these 2 don't quite understand that you have to wait your turn at mini golf LOL. fastest. game. ever.

Picture when we visited the preserve company.

The butterfly gardens... so beautiful!

If the kids can Dab....

So can the mamas!

Maelie was a little bit shocked at how cold the water was! BBBrrrrrrrr!!!

Aunt & niece love.

Fisherman's wharf lunch is probably what motivated Maelie to become vegetarian....! She didn't realize that out here, they serve lobster in one piece.

Such a beautiful peaceful evening at a quiet beach...

Jo made a fire and the kids roasted marshmallows! Zackaroo was probably hoping someone would share...!!

We had such a nice, spontaneous trip! I am hoping that we get to do this more often!! Bill stayed behind as he was working.... which in a way was a blessing because he took very good care of my garden!!

The forgotten year? part 2 May-July

What would a year be without crafting and bake sales!?! Maelie had a band thing at school once again, so I worked on a few items for the bake sale. I love making stuff as it is a creative outlet for me. It reminds me of when I was young and my mom made bake sale items for us as well :)

 

 

A coworker picked up these mini marshamallows when she went to the states this winter. They don't carry them in Canada. It allowed me to make some little smores!

Loved these frog cupcakes made with pretzels and a cookie. And of course big eye balls!

A few other cupcake ideas.

These are my hockey pucks (as my boss calls them). They are chocolate covered cookies. I hava molds for every season but also plain ones... and I added a flower to those.

Smarties 1 X 8 bags. A bulk store nearby had all the smarties colors individually. This was perfect for seasonal products! I just found out that they don't carry the individual colors anymore.. so sad!

I told Bill what I wanted as a garden and so he figured it all out for me :) Worked countless hours so that I could grow him some veggies! What a trooper!!

Maelie fell in love with this swan!

At the end of June, we took a couple of Maelie's friends with us to Omega Park. I had won a pass for 4 by howling like of wolf to the tune of a popular song on the radio... not one of my best memories! LOL especially when my boss walked in that morning and admitted he heard it all!

Maelie is trying to get the goat to understand how a selfie works... :)

Smile girlies! :)

More action shots on the garden growing! Various kinds of lettuce, and Kale... broccoli towards the back

Tomatoes? Why yes! 22 plants of tomatoes later.....

The guardian of the garden. Or sun worshipper. not sure which applies more.

Once grade 8 is done, all the kids are invited to go on a cruise. They soend a few hours dancing and having fun, all dressed up. My little beautiful baby! not so much of a baby anymore! Lucky me though, she will ALWAYS me MY baby :)

Here she is with a couple of her friends :)

Summer vacay begins...! Action shot!

We'll miss this little guy and his family when they move away!

This is a beautiful pic of my baby :) We were out for a quick photo session by the beach close to sunset. The lighting gave her a beautiful aura :)

Oh boy... there is a part 3?

The forgotten year? part 1 , January - May 2016

Wow, I looked back at my blog and realize that 2016 was the forgotten year in our lives!! Maybe it's time for a recap? and to get this blog active again? I think that when I look back and read the stories over the years, it makes me sad to think that I won't have these stories for Maelie's teen years. It doesn't help that I have to check with her now to see if I can post things. By the time she is older and asks for stories about her teen years, I may have forgotten them due to the lack of journaling!

Looking back through the pics I have... we visited the Cat Café. How lovely to hang out with these gorgeous kitties and then go home to an allergen-free space. I love cats and wish I could have a few, but all three of us have allergies to some degree.

Look at this face!

Maelie has taken interest in taking lots of pics, and then choosing one for her profile pic on her phone. So we have random photo shoots. Sometimes it takes 100 shots for her to like one. Usually, the ones I like best, she hates... so it's quite entertaining. (in a shoot me now kind of way sometimes LOL)

Warm winter day :)

Ah! yes! Peluche is still a part of our lives occasionally :)

As the snow melts, the basketball comes out!

This was taken by the water on a street that was completely revamped in the past year! It's truly a gorgeous place to go for a walk.

Easter came along and we had a nice Easter dinner at Sonia, Patrick and Naomie's place. Melissa was still here at the time, too.

Teenagers are not all that serious! :)

Sonia got these cupcakes from a parent at the school where she worked. They were so adorable!

2016 also brought us a few final pics on the trampoline! We got rid of it this year to make room for my gardens! and because all professionals we saw for Maelie's feet and back advised us that it was not a good idea for her to jump on a trampoline ... Maelie thinks I just made excuses so I could have the yard to myself for gardening.

April also brought along Maelie's 14th bday!

Happy birthday Baby Boo!

We were so excited this year for Musicmakers! Sandrine was part of it for the first time. Kathleen wasn't able to make it out to see her, but we were there to capture the special moment! :) Kath and I would have never imagined when we met at age 6 that our daughters would be part of the same musical show!!

Naomie turned 17 this year! OMG! We celebrated at a Sushi restaurant. We reminisced about all the years the girls spent together so far. We brought a picture album with hundreds of pics of Maelie and Naomie to offer her. Their family was moving to Toronto summer 2016, so we thought it was a timely gift.

Gardening time! Even if we still see snow outside in April, I still had a few things growing inside! :)

Hello there!

May... what I LOVE about May is the tulip festival! We missed it last year so I was determined not to miss it this year. We had Peluche with us that weekend so we brought him along.

 

Tulips and baby girls are beautiful :)

This pic made me laugh. I asked Maelie to smell the flowers. I took a few pics and this one was the best ones. The other ones were of her gagging on the smell! LOL

I will create another post for the rest of the year :)