Back to School Photo Shoot

September is a time that brings mixed emotions to our family as we say goodbye to sleeping in (well me sleeping in as Mich deals with the kids in the early hours of the day . . . thanks Mich), living day to day with little timetable except the internal clocks of our stomachs, and spending time together as a family sharing in our experiences and creating long lasting memories.
September also brings with it the "New Year".  Since becoming a teacher, I have always felt that September signified a new year in my life, anxiously waiting to find out whose class the kids will be in at school, meeting and beginning a ten month journey with my students, soccer and hockey starting up, earlier bedtimes and mornings, packing lunches in new lunch kits, organizing schedules, and creating a plan of attack to get everyone where they need to be on time.  This is the chaos of September!!
As we have begun to prepare ourselves for the first day of school, Tatum invited us over to take some back to school photos at their place.  So we got the kids dressed in their school outfits for their photo shoot . . . lets just say that our kids are definitely not shy in front of the camera.  Thanks again Adam for the amazing pictures!

schwartzchronicles 

schwartzchronicles

schwartzchronicles

schwartzchronicles

schwartzchronicles

schwartzchronicles

schwartzchronicles

schwartzchronicles

schwartzchronicles

Lynn Canyon

What?  Back to back trips to the North Shore!  Yes, two days in a row we decided to head up to the North Shore, but this time we decided to make our way to Lynn Canyon.  I can't remember the last time I was there or even if I have ever been up there . . . so we kept an open mind and decided to go with the flow and figure out where to go once we arrived.  To be honest I was a little surprised as to how busy it was . . . but what was I expecting as we headed up there on the long weekend.  If you know Mich, she does not like taking kids on suspension bridges (our kids didn't even know that they could go out on the Ferry deck when we go to Victoria) so I was impressed that she agreed to go.  The kids had a blast rock hopping up the creek, wading in the water, and playing fetch as Emma would throw sticks into the stream for the boys to get.

Mich has got a tight grip on Emma

The water was chilly!

Rock hopping around the creek.

Ahoy There Matey!

The kids are very lucky to have such loving grandparents that will do anything and everything for them, even if it means spoiling them from time to time.  When Ji-chan and Ba-chan visited us in West Bank they noticed that many of the kids there had a rubber dinghy to play in, so what else would be the first thing that they would do when they got into town?  Well, buy the kids a rubber dinghy of course!  Since then the kids have been bugging us to go boating and test out their paddling skills.  We met up with one of Michelle's friends at Cates Park in North Vancouver, which has become another place that we all would revisit in the future.  It was great to reconnect with Andrea's family and catch up on things as well as hang out at the beach looking for sea creatures and paddling around.

Thanks Ji-chan and Ba-chan

This is like seeing the Ogopogo . . . Mich is in the water . . . well kind of!  Even Emma helped row the boat.

Just call me King as the kids paddled me around . . . all I needed was a latte in my hand.

As we were saying good bye to our friends, we heard Emma calling us and this is what she found.  Beach combing for crabs, sea stars and shells.  Since we have spent so much time around the water this summer the kids have become very confident swimming and picking up everything that they see.

It is always great to be introduced to another place that we can visit as a family - a great beach and a fun playground.

2012 Family Olympics

I love when the kids come up with an idea that they just want to do . . . I am not sure if the Summer Olympics had something to do with this one or the fact that Josh is going into grade three and this will be his first year to participate in the District's Track and Field Meet.  As we drove past Minoru Josh and Jamie wanted to go and practice running around the track.  Our first event was the 400 m and the contestants were in Lane #1 Josh, Lane #2 Jamie, Lane #3 Michelle, and in Lane #4 Emma.  Josh was so proud that he beat his mother around the track.  Jamie was close behind and Emma did a great job stopping only a couple of times.  Our second event was the 100 m dash.  Michelle managed to redeem herself by beating Josh by just a hair.  In the second heat, I raced against Jamie who can really move for a little guy . . . look out Usain Bolt!  Our final event for the day was the long jump.  I loved how Emma wanted to do everything her big brothers were doing at the track.

We are going to have to work on Emma's long jumping technique.

Look out below!!!

I think they get their vertical jumping abilities from me.  They are vertically challenged because of Mich . . . and me!!

99 Cents of Fun

The kids were heading off to Janice's house for their End of the Summer BBQ where our kids get to hang out and play with the older kids that come.  They love it!  This year, Michelle was planning some fun games to play which included blowing bubbles.  So how else should we spend an hour of our day?  . . . practicing and learning how to blow bubbles.  These are the little things in our day that I love doing as a family . . . being silly and being together.

Mich was like totally getting back to her Valley Girl roots, chomping on gum and showing the kids some of her bubble gum tricks!

For what ever reason Jamie learned how to not only whistle at an early age, but also how to blow bubbles.

Josh learned very quickly how to blow bubbles . . . some were more successful than others!

Emma loved how mommy would blow her a bubble and she could pop it in her mouth.

Hey I made the blog.  I feel like Wilson who is Tim's neighbour from the TV show Tool Time

Don't ask me why I included this photo of me.

Take 175 of this shot and this is as good as it gets.  Bubbles deflating, gum being spit out, bubbles not blown when the timer went off . . . hey at least we didn't have to worry about everyone smiling!!

Giddy Up!

Over the last few years we have been taking the kids to the Richmond Nature Park to ride the horses when they come.  This is one of those things that we don't have any connections to so we like to go and give the kids the chance to ride a horse.  Although the ride is relatively short, the kids enjoy it all the same.  This year - Josh rode Apache, Jamie rode Filla, and Emma rode Shiloh.

No Emma does not have a black eye!  As the kids were waiting for the horses to arrive they got their faces painted by some volunteers.  Emma wanted a dog painted on her . . . we did not think that they would try to make her into a dog.  

Josh was a little unsure if he wanted to ride the horses this year as he felt that the horses were too slow . . . he wanted them to gallop around the park.  Josh enjoyed the ride around the park.

"Come on Buddy . . . Lets go Man Tracker!"