The boys' first Canadians game

The boys went to their first Vancouver Canadians baseball game! Laura and Jason were selling tickets as a fundraiser for their softball team so the whole Terry family headed out for an evening at the ball park. The boys had fun but the game didn't really hold their attention. (Unfortunately, I don't know if it held a lot of people's attention - the Canadians were not playing very well.) But they loved eating peanuts out of the shell - that kept their attention for quite a while! Daniel wanted to learn a little bit about the game and I tried to explain, not very successfully! I think their favourite part of the game was when Aunty Gloria managed to get them a free thing of ice cream!

We only lasted about an hour into the game before they got antsy. But it was fun. The evening was sunny and warm, we ate lots of yummy junk food and watched a little bit of baseball. Pretty successful evening, if you ask me!

PNE!

It's hard to believe it's PNE time again! Summer is almost over. :( The boys and I met up with my family to take in a bit of the sights and activities of the PNE. Unfortunately, James had to work and couldn't meet up with us. But he and I are taking the boys back to the PNE next Friday so they can see the Doodlebops (a rockband for toddlers)! So I'm sure we'll have more pictures then.

We met up with Gramma and Grampa first and went straight to the barns to see all the farm animals. Adam was, of course, thrilled with all the animals and Daniel really enjoyed it, too. The first thing we saw was the chicken and pig that we take the boys' picture with every year. It's becoming a tradition! I don't know how long that chicken and pig have been around - definitely since James worked at the PNE 13 or so years ago, possibly since we were kids!

Next we saw the baby chicks, always a popular spot in the barns. Adam just kept gently touching them and saying, "Baby, baby." I'm sure he would have loved to take some home!

There was a new thing in the barns this year. The kids got to go through the steps of how farmers farm and harvest their meat and veggies and all the steps it takes to get those things to the grocery store. First, they had to wear their aprons and go plant some carrot seeds.

Next, they went to the hen house and collected an egg to put in their basket. Then next stop was the cows' barn where they got to milk a cow.

Next, they had to drive their tractors around the field. They spent most of the time crashing into each other!

Their carrots grew! They had to pick one of the carrots to take to the store.

They then traded in all their goods and received a pretend dollar to trade in at the grocery store. They both got some dried fruit, which Daniel loved and Adam said was bleh.

Next stop was the bee hives. Adam made sure to tell us all many times that there were bees there. "Bee! Bee! Bee!"

After the barns, we wandered around outside and came to the CTV news booth. You can stand against a blue screen and get your picture put on an image of the news studio, many of the CTV shows or, new this year, at an Olympic venue. The boys both chose the Olympics. I think the final products turned out really cute!

Our ski jumper, Daniel:

Our Olympian, Adam. Adam had to wear the huge Perry's Prospects t-shirt because his shirt was the same colour as the blue screen. He would have just been a floating head otherwise!

Next was the street parade, where kids could meet up with a whole bunch of different mascots. Adam was not impressed and didn't want to go near them. Daniel was the same way last year. This year, he was a little braver. He started by just giving all the mascots a high five but, by the end, he gave a hug to a Care Bear and to Garfield.

The next stop was the Armed Forces area. The boys loved the rescue boat and thought it was a bouncy house!

And they got to sit in a fighter jet!

Finally, it was time for dinner (mmm...PNE food!) and on to the Superdog show. We had to get there kind of early to get good seats but Aunty Laura and Uncle Jason went to get mini doughnuts for everyone (you have to get mini doughnuts at the PNE!). Uncle Neil hung out with us, though.

The boys got a little antsy, so we went down to the floor where the Superdogs would race and perform. Our little Superdogs had some good dance moves on the winner's podium!

After a bit more waiting, it was time for the show to start. It's hard not to smile when you're cheering all those cute Superdogs on!

Adam and Mommy:

Daniel with Aunty Laura and Uncle Jason:

Adam with Uncle Neil. Look, that's almost a smile on Uncle Neil's face!

Storytime

I thought this was pretty cute! Unfortunately, I ran out of room on our camera card, so you only get to hear part of the story. They wouldn't read it again for me! Maybe I'll try again another day.

Adam's friends party

Lucky Adam, he got to celebrate his birthday for about a week this year! We had his friends party and he had a great time. Unfortunately, the weather didn't really cooperate but we managed to have ten kids and their parents in our little house! (We did get out onto the back deck for a while but the bees came out, so we had to head back inside.) But, even with all the little ones running around, it wasn't too crazy here.

A few of the kids were a little hesitant to come into the busy house. Here's Adam encouraging his little friend, Dev, to come in and play.

This is Adam and his little friend, Talia, and her mom, Michelle, learning their letters! Gotta start young. :)

The big boys, Daniel, Luke and Carson, playing with cars.

Adam, Fina and Daniel "just having a snack" (as Daniel informed us). We ended up having to move the chips because I think they ate the equivalent of their entire lunch in chips!

The boys of the party - at least the ones that braved the bees that were outside.


Come on! It's time for cake!


Adam's cake, made by Mommy. We almost had a cake disaster that morning, though. I couldn't find a part of my icing piping bag and couldn't decorate the cake. James could see that I would never forgive myself if I couldn't even write "Happy Birthday" on Adam's cake so he literally ran (and sped) all the way to the grocery store and bought me a tube of decorating icing and the green sprinkles. Not bad, considering it was decorated about 15 minutes before the party started! (The animals were strategically place by Daniel and Adam.)

Adam loved blowing out his candle, but did need a little help from his big brother.

Most of the kids (missing one because she was in the bathroom).

This boy loves his chocolate!

Present opening!

Adam loved this card from Auntie Lauren. He went around and made the puppet "bite" every single person at the party!

He also took his job of handing out goodie bags very seriously.

Adam had a great time at his party and was completely worn out by the time it ended. Thank you everyone for coming and for his wonderful gifts. He's a lucky boy to have so many great friends.

Sunday - Adam's birthday party

Sunday afternoon, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Campbell came over and we had a little birthday party for Adam. First, we started out with some quality reading time with the great-grandparents.

Next, it was time for presents! Adam was so excited and really started to get the idea of what birthdays are all about. Grandma had bought some little party hats for the boys and they got to work on the gifts. Adam loved his puppy puppet and cowboys that Grandma and Grandpa got him, the turtle bank from Great-Grandma and Grandpa (and especially loved putting his loonies into the bank - he's his father's son!) and his water toys from Uncle Duncan. (I think Daniel loved it all, too!)

It was really special that Adam got to spend a bit of birthday time with his relatives since it's not easy for everyone to travel down to the coast all the time. Thank you again for a wonderful visit. Next time we travel up to the Okanagan, there will be five of us!

Saturday - wedding reception

Saturday afternoon we headed over to the Rowe "estate" in Okanagan Falls for the wedding reception of James' cousin Mike and his new wife, Josee-Anne. They were married in Quebec a few weeks ago but had a casual and very fun reception for those who couldn't make the trip to the wedding. This was definitely a fun reception. The bride and groom played their own music while walking down the "aisle." Uncle Steve played the minister and they made humourous vows to each other. Then they climbed into a rowboat on Skaha Lake and jumped into the lake in their tux and wedding gown!


The guests attended the reception in their bathing suits. Why not, when the setting looks like this?

James and Adam enjoyed the view.

Daddy and Uncle Duncan thought it would be a good idea to teach Adam how to roll down the hill.

And what wedding reception would be complete without a slip 'n' slide?

After the dinner, Daniel and his cousin Rylen were still hungry, I guess, since they raided Great-Grandma's garden and found themselves some zucchini. I can't believe these two picky eaters ate those zucchinis raw!

Daniel made sure to tell GG that she's a great gardener and he enjoyed the veggies!

The rest of the evening was spent dancing, playing with cousins and eating cake. We left the party still going strong at 9:00 but the boys just couldn't party any longer. The sun, heat, water and play just wore us all out!

Saturday - picking cherries and water park

After our day at Dinotown, the drive to Summerland went very well. We arrived around dinnertime and had a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa Rowe in the evening. Saturday morning came and the boys were, of course, awake bright and early. So Grandma and Grandpa took them out to the neighbours' orchard to pick some cherries. Daniel was a huge fan of the cherries. He would happily have eaten them all day. Adam is more like his mom - not a huge fruit-lover. But he loved picking the cherries and feeding them to other people!

After pigging out on cherries :), we drove into Penticton to meet up with Great-Grandma and Grandpa Campbell. We took them to the Skaha Beach water park, where Daniel and Great-Grandpa appreciated the cool water. Adam, as usual, wasn't thrilled with the water and he was quite happy chasing the ducks with Great-Grandpa and going to the playground with Great-Grandma.

We took them to lunch at Wendy's afterwards. It was a short but fun visit since we had a Rowe family gathering that afternoon. But we knew we were getting together the next day for Adam's birthday and would have a more lengthy visit with them then.