Claire & Rhys are still very much into dinosaurs. We couldn’t drive to Medicine Hat from Calgary without stopping for a night in Drumheller to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Drumheller also has a skatepark so of course we went there to.
My Mom & Dad met us in Drumheller and we had a lot of fun!
When we returned from Africa late 2013 one of the first things on our list to do was get out to Alberta to visit with my family. We had not visited as family since 2010 so long overdue!
We flew Victoria > Vancouver > Calgary. My cousin Leah lives in Calgary with her family and they opened up their house to us for a night so we could get in a visit before we departed the next day to Drumheller.
We were all lucky this summer that Jimmy could stay home with the kids and they could have some fun mellow adventures together. Claire & Rhys still had plenty of summer camps lined up throughout the summer to keep them busy as they love activities. One of our favorite camps was Pedalheads!
It was a summer biking camp that was a week long camp with half days. Claire and Rhys received new bikes at the end of the school year that were a big step up from their balance bikes. Pedalheads summer camp taught them how to ride their bikes safely and with no training wheels- yahoo! It was a success and they can now ride their big kid bikes pretty well. The last day of the camp was a dress-up princess/ pirate party and bike rodeo. All the parents watched, video-taped, clapped and hooted as each kid rode through an obstacle course. Great fun! We will definitely sign up again next summer.
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We have never camped as a family before and the kids were eager to give it a try so as a soft run we camped out on Wendy & Chris’ property in Sooke. Obviously the kids loved it and Jimmy & I survived the night so looks like we will try a real camping trip next summer 🙂
We had a big picnic, spent time at Sooke potholes and had loads of leisure time reading in the sunshine, and visiting the chickens. Jimmy even entered a local skateboard contest where he did really well and won some skate goods.
We always enjoy our time with Wendy, Chris and Senna and this was yet another fun get-together.
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The stream down from Chris & Wendy’s little hobby farm:
Chris cooking some yummy ribs!
Claire & Rhys sleepy heads:
Canada Day this year was on a very hot and sunny day. Perfect for the Millers to meet up with family and spend the day at Fort Rod Hill & Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site. There is quite a gathering at Fort Rodd Hill every year on Canada Day with activities for kids, people dressed in historical clothing, a gun salute, and a giant birthday cake for Canada.
We packed a picnic and enjoyed ourselves in the sunshine and walking around the ocean front property.
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The kids had an amazing year in Kindergarten! They met loads of new friends and learned so much. Amazing that the school year is wrapping up. We are all looking forward to a great summer break 🙂
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First day of Kindergarten!
Last day of Kindergarten!
Claire was in ballet this past school year. In June she performed in her very first ballet recital. The production was amazing. It was a story told with all the various ballet classes playing different parts. She did so great and had a lot of support as our extended Miller family joined us for both shows- Thanks Wendy, Senna & Debbie! Claire may have been the most excited about being a turtle and being allowed to wear make-up 😉
rehearsal break
post show flower bouquet:
Come and enjoy our full-year ballet program students perform in this original ballet.
Suitable for ages 3+
Children wreak havoc on their mother during a typical day at the beach. As the day comes to an end a terrible storm suddenly rolls in. A sorcerous from the deep sea creates chaos for the beachgoers and four sisters are swept into the depths of the ocean. A mermaid rescues them from the sorcerous and promises to show them back to shore, but under one condition; the children must look into her magical mirror to witness their less-than-admirable behavior towards their mother earlier in the day. Once the children show remorse for their actions and promise to work towards mending the relationship with their mother, she rewards them with inviting them to dance with the underwater creatures before returning them to the beach.
Easter is one of the Miller’s favorite holidays. As “grown ups” we get to live vicariously through the kids’ hyper excitement (chocolate fueled, no doubt). This year we did some fun crafts leading up to the big egg hunt -making paper bag animals, dying eggs, etc. Dying eggs was a first for us and we had a lot of fun making it happen. The kids also participated in an Easter baking class to keep things fun.
When it came time for the big Easter egg hunt, we hunted in our yard way earlier than desired because Claire and Rhys’ hype could not be contained. We sometimes call Rhys ‘Roo-roo the Rooster’ for good reason…he wakes us all up everyday around 6am! We made a special breakie early on Easter morning. By 8:15am all the eggs were found and we were forced to explain why portioning/rationing one’s sweets is a virtuous goal.
We ended our long weekend with a great visit with old friends and we finally met their new baby boy!
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