SUMMER!

The sun has finally decided to come out and Vancouver has been a lovely place to be for the last week or so.  Squish and I just ventured up Vancouver Island to Royston, BC where my best pals have a cottage on the ocean. It is one of the best places on earth, I'm convinced. It was so fun to show Autumn the beach and collect shells and wild flowers with her. She is really becoming a little person and is just such a riot. She has added a few new words to her repertoire including: dog (gog) and birdie (buddy) and boat (butt). She spent much of our four days on the island pointing out the butts and buddies. Super cute. Here is a look at what we got up to...

Daddy wanted Autumn and I to document our roadtrip...So here's how it started :)

Mama got us to Horseshoe Bay in one piece!!

And we arrive at the beach...Someone is cranky that she has to wear her sun hat.

But soon gets distracted by the ocean and forgets that the hat is there...

Naked baby collecting shells.

I love her little bum.

<3

Look! Butt!!!!

The cutest face that you ever did see.

Auntie Carole teaches Autumn about the critters that live under the water.

Auntie Min buys Autumn some cute boots to explore in.

Posing with Uncle Shahn.

And Hobbes, the gog.

Oysters.

This is Autumn checking out a bald eagle fishing on the water.

And baby Lara was there too!

Pretty mama and her new little girl

Autumn and Lara in the pool.

See? I'm fine without my hat on!

 Clearly, we had fun :)

Lots has happened since our last post and we expect the next few weeks leading up to our big move to be equally action-packed. As I said earlier, we bought a car last week and have been slowly packing things up and purging things so that we won't be super loaded down for our big cross-country trek. We are hoping to ship some of our belongings as well but mostly, we have found ourselves to be purging...We have already had one garage sale and are hoping to squeeze another one in over the next couple of weeks. We are nervous but mainly excited to start a new life in Toronto and are looking forward to a week-long drive/camping adventure to kick it all off. Wish us luck!!

Anyway, I'm out of time and the Squish is going to need dinner soon, so I will leave you with a few more pictures and sign off. Love!

Little family's first helicopter ride!! (to Victoria)

Autumn meets the beautiful Satsuki MacNaughton

These two are dads. Crazy!

Satsuki <3

pals.

Autumn tries on Great-Grandpa Fred's jacket

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma

This cat is normally so shy!

It was very strange to see her laying down for a pat from the squish

...and allowing Autumn to put a hat on her...

Ferrying back to Vancouver.

We brought Grandma with us.

Feeding herself!

Celebrating Canada Day in red.

Squeaky clean after a nice bath.

Summer?

The breaks between posts are getting a little long, I know. I'm sorry! It's tough to post without an internet signal at home especially now that I'm a full-time working mama...It seems like free-time is especially hard to come by these days as well so sneaking away to a coffee shop to blog is not really an option. Anyway, I'm not complaining...This is just my new reality. We are currently in our fourth week with me back at work for 40+ hours per week and Teddy and Autumn are soldiering on without me at home from 5am-5pm Tuesday through Friday. It's been pretty hard for me to leave my little family at home for such long days but Teddy is so good with Squish and is a wonderful house-hubby so I feel confident that my baby is being well cared for and hugged and cuddled lots and lots. I always come home to a yummy dinner and find the two of them reading or playing or having a picnic in the back yard. Autumn is a big-time Daddy's girl and I'm pleased that they're getting to share some QT despite being super jealous that they're having way more fun than I am.

We are off to Victoria for the weekend and hoping to find a little car while we're there because we're MOVING TO TORONTO in August and we need a vehicle to adventure across the country in. If you're a Toronto friend, we are looking for a sweet two bedroom, dog-friendly suite in the Roncesvalles/Parkdale area. We'd be happy in High Park as well. If you hear of anything coming available in September, shoot me a line :) THANKS!

We're looking forward to some Grandma/Grandpa Kellogg time this weekend and hoping for some good luck in the vehicle-shopping department. No photos this post, but soon, I PROMISE! Hope everyone is doing great!

JUNE!!!!!

Hey Y'all!

I know it's been forever since I have blogged but there have been many changes going down in our world including our upstairs neighbours (with whom we shared internet) moving so we haven't been online and it's pretty tough to blog from my iphone...Y'know...Anyway, I've also been back at work full-time which has significantly minimized my free-time. BUSY DAYS! It's been crazy and tough but we're all transitioning well and Autumn and Daddy are really enjoying their QT. It's been okay, overall though I miss my little girl so much!!!

Though it's likely all in my head, she seems like she's growing up extra fast these days. I came home after my second full day back at work and Squish was full-on WALKING! She took her first steps several weeks ago but she is fully motoring now and I can't help but feel like I'm missing so much being away from her for 40+ hours per week. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not the first woman who has ever returned to work after having a baby.

My training for returning to work was in Calgary, so Squish, Teddy and I spent four days hanging out in Cowtown with Auntie Sass and Uncle D. Excellent times. It's so lovely to spend time with them, I wish they were still in Chilliwack. Having a baby really makes you realize how important family is. Sappy sap.

We also recently celebrated Great-Grandpa Fred's 87th birthday in Victoria and had a chance to spend some time with Auntie Kristi, Uncle Jeff, Uncle Rick, Auntie Dar, cousin Scott, Grandma and Grandpa Kellogg and Nana Stella. Autumn is so lucky to have such a big and amazing family. This was an extra special visit since we sadly lost Grandpa Fred yesterday evening around 6pm. We feel so grateful to have had an opportunity to say goodbye to him. He was a wonderful man who loved and cherished his family immensely. We will miss him very much. Thanks for all the laughs, love and the wisdom, Grandpa!

I promise that there will be a photo update soon. For now, here are a few recent ones.

walking like an old pro!

wrong way, squish!

yep, still bald.

silly hat, no pants lego party!