Pandemic Christmas 2020.

For the first time EVER we spent Christmas at home without seeing my parents, in-laws or friends. These were the headlines in Dec 2020, the song, "I'll be home for Christmas" has new meaning... now we are literally home with no one else coming inside or even sitting in our yard...

All the usual Christmas festivities like Van Dusen Gardens, Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge, the Peak of Christmas at Grouse Mountain, Santa Clause Parade, Heritage Christsmas at Burnaby Village musuem are all cancelled. Some malls are still having pictures with Santa but there's no sitting on Santa's lap, you have to sit in a different chair 6 feet away from Santa or through the powers of Photoshop, kids are being magically placed onto Santa's lap.

Our Christmas plans had to be cancelled just like everyone else's. We could not go to Enderby and spend Christmas Eve to Boxing Day at the farm like we have for the last decade and half. We couldn't go to Big White and spend Dec 26 to New Years with my family at AirBnB 'Fun House". This was all very devastating. So much of Christmas is traditions and yes I admit I was sulking and pouting for awhile but then we tried to make Christmas at home the most memorable we could. We started with making our annual Christmas card to commemorate all the Lysol, hand sanitizer and toilet paper hoarding that was 2020

I was happy we could still do our daily "Advent Adventures" we do each yeaer. Each day from Dec 1st til Christmas, the kids take out two cards from the advent pockets, one card has a story from the Jesus Story Book bible and the other has a fun activity. We decorated the Christmas tree, baked sugar cookies, played board games, watched The Grinch, danced with strobe lights in the kitchen and on Christmas Eve, the kids slept under the Christmas tree...

Traditionally my sister takes the kids for a day and makes Gingerbread houses with them but due to the restrictions this year, Auntie Rainbee dropped off a bunch of activities with cute little messages wrapped with ribbon in scrolls for the kids to open up...

The kids enjoyed their first ever socially-distanced, Zoom Gingerbread House date with their auntie.

The kids were so happy to wake up in the living room under the tree and their stockings...

A little inside joke: we have seen the ad for Fisherman Friends a million times when we watch the Amazing Race as a family - we have collectively decided that is the most annoying commercial ever so we got an amazing reaction from the kids when they unwrapped those cough drops in their Christmas stockings

We couldn't see Grandpa and Grandma on Christmas but we were able to send some glad tidings on Zoom and the kids showed off the Gingerbread house they had made.

We had a socially distanced, Zoom Christmas dinner with my parents, my sister and her room-mate. It was the easiest Christmas dinner ever - no one spent hours in the kitchen this year. We even played Scattergories on Zoom after dinner which worked better than I had imagined. Yay technology!  

On Boxing Day, we went up to Mount Seymour and skied in style...Lil Bro wore his Christmas PJs and Big Sis wore my ugly Christmas elf sweater. 

Since we couldn't go to Big White or Whistler, we decided to explore a local ski resort we had never been to called Sasquatch and it turned out to be way better than expected. We had amazing powder both days we skied there. 

The condo we rented was pretty rustic and we had a few unexpected surprises like the previous person leaving a plastic container inside the oven and I didn't check inside before preheating the oven which led to melting plastic and the smoke alarm going off multiple times as I ran around the condo trying to open windows and find where the smoke alarm was so I could fan like a maniac but once the alarm stopped and we got the wood fireplace going, we enjoyed our books with the windows open with just a hint of burning plastic in the air. 

After the first night in the rustic condo, we spent the second night after we skied at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort. The kids enjoyed swimming in the outdoor pools and we were so pleased to discover the hot tub was still open.

The first meal of 2021 was delicious - eggs benny and Belgium waffles with strawberries

We registered the kids for the 1km Resolution Run which of course ended up being a virtual run. Since we were at Harrison, we planned the 1km lap around the Harrison lagoon. The kids were so excited to start the year off with a race...

On your marks, get set, GO!

congratulatory handshake and prize ceremony with Daddy

So that's a wrap on 2020. Probably the most difficult and unexpected year we have had but admist the disappointment and frustrations of this year, we have learned that this family can do hard things so bring on 2021. Let's get through this together...

Twas the night before Christmas hike

'Twas the night before Christmas, when our family set out

To ascend Mt Seymour, we followed the route

With poles, crampons, and whistles we climbed up the hill

With toques, mittens and down jackets to fight off the chill

We never stopped moving as we climbed higher

Singing carols as if we were 'round the campfire

The path was icy and the mountain was steep

We detoured off path and the snow was so deep

We saw ravens and birds and a hungry Whisky Jack

Perched on Nallie's hand and enjoyed a wee snack 

Close to the summit, the winds blew uncontrolled

Probably not the place you'd find a 7 or 9 year old 

But we were so close we could see the very top

The kids were ambitious and didn't want to stop

They climbed on all fours it was so steep 

We could see the very top of Mystery Peak

At the summit was a moment of great celebration

We had climbed up 1407 meters of elevation

We took pictures as the winds blew wild

Each parent holding one happy child 

Then we began the descent back down

We wanted to be quick, there was no one around 

Racing down with Daddy as our guide

Taking every opportunity to sit down and slide

The sun was setting as we hiked along

The kids still chirping their Christmas songs

We made it back to the truck and we drove out of sight

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night !

Pumpkin nostalgia.

Earlier in October, the kids were invited to a Covid friendly birthday playdate at the pumpkin patch. 

I think Covid and the months of limited social contact has made the kids appreciate a simple play date so much more. They were so excited to run around the pumpkin patch and willingly posing for pictures at every photo set-up. The fields were so mucky - like knee-deep slop - but they all had rain boots and didn't care. The boys found a pumpkin in the corn field and had a great game of muddy pumpkin soccer.

Between the pumpkin patch and the gorgeous Dalia fields, there was no shortage of picture perfect shots and I had the cutest models

And of course after you bring home the perfect pumpkin you have to carve it. The kids were so excited about the idea of pumpkin carving. 

Emphasis on the word idea. When it came to actually scooping up the inside of the pumpkin they realized it is rather unglamorous.

Cue the priceless expressions.

The actual pumpkins did turn out pretty great though.

And then came Halloween. Yee-haw. 

Covid Halloween meant lots of people had bowls outside of their house, handing out goody bags with tongs or the kid's favorite were the houses that had a candy chute. There was no shortage of sweets.

I love that the kids still get excited about going to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, and planning matching costumes. I wonder how many years we have left of this before they think they are too old for this. It didn't seem too long ago when they were at the pumpkin patch for the first time...

These pumpkins are growing up too fast. Still working on some way to freeze time so the years go by slower but until then, I better just  take it all in and enjoy it.

Letter to my 7 year old.

Dear Noey,  

You just turned 7, how did that happen so fast? We just went to Whistler for the weekend of your birthday and just did your 7 year old birthday interview video

Right now, your favorite things are Lego, Playmobil, and playing with stuffed animals with your big sister. You guys just made a sign that says "Fur Salon" and used scissors to trim the hair off your stuffed animals. Your stuffed monkey looks a bit hacked up right now, I think he'll be coming back to the Fur Salon to get a better fur cut. Unless you are building Lego or reading Geronimo Stilton books, you can't stop moving. You love soccer, biking, hiking, and skiing. You are super competitive and you hate losing. You have matured since your epic toddler tantrums but you still have big emotions. That's OK. That is the way God made you. You never feels things just neutrally, when you are happy, you are  ecstatic and cackling with laughter, when you are upset, you are full on gasping sobs and when you don't get your way, it is Defcon 1 of melodramatic devastation. But within minutes, you can recover from your sorrowful sobs and cracking ridiculous jokes that make no sense or are so lame, the whole family is howling with laughter. 

You are an extrovert and don't like being alone. Like ever.  You rather play dolls with your sister than be by yourself. You like having someone around you all the time, even if you are playing by yourself. You won't go to a different floor of the house if everyone else is on a different floor. You don't watch many movies because you are scared of a lot of things and you worry it might give you bad dreams. You ask a million questions a day and your go-to answer when we explain something is "Got it".....unless I am asking you to play piano, then you don't respond with "Got it" and usually melt into a puddle of whiny tears. Hopefully when you're older you will appreciate having musical ability and it is worth this wretched battle. 

You don't sleep in like your sister does. I am glad that after the two years of your existence, you decided to at least sleep through the night. You must of got the memo from me that I didn't wasn't going to make it much longer on 2-3 hour chunks of sleep every night. Thanks for that. I feel much more sane than when you were a toddler. Bedtime still consists of a 101 steps. After we tuck you into bed, it's quiet for about ten minutes and then come the string of other questions and requests ranging from, "I don't know what to do", "I think I have growing pains", "I don't know which stuffy to sleep with" (maybe because there are like bajillion in your bed) and "Can you get my bunny?" You went through this weird phase of needing your beloved stuffed bunny to be ice-cold at bedtime. You would put your bunny in the freezer in the morning and we would have to bring it to you at bedtime holding just the tag so our hands didn't make it too hot on the way upstairs. Seriously. The hoops we jump through just to get you to go to sleep my child.  But on the upside, my favourite part of the last few months during covid and having no schedules is that you can tell time on your Gro Clock and you come over after 7:00 am and we snuggle while your sister sleeps past 9:00 am.

You are sensitive and you care a lot about the people in your life. You give the most affectionate hugs. When you were younger, we would call them 'bowling ball' hugs because you would run to me from across the room and leap into my arms and wrap your legs around me. If I wasn't ready, it would be like a bowling ball clearing a strike and I would collapse from your mighty hugs. 

You would be happy living off just bread and butter. The only vegetables you will eat right now are steamed broccoli and I can hide spinach and zucchini into things without you protesting. Your sister likes salads but your idea of a salad is just eating a pile of croutons. You are also probably one of the rare kids that don't like french fries and you rather have apple slices with your chicken nuggets. You don't really like trying new foods and if we make you eat it, you request to have it with honey. That's why your nickname is Honey Badger. You were so proud of that nickname you put Honey Badger on your bike handle bars but the stickers wore off and now it just says "BAD"

You are strong. You love a good challenge. I love that about you, I pray that you continue to grow and challenge yourself. Keep telling yourself that you can do hard things. You will never know how far you can go until you try. I pray you always keep trying. I will always be your biggest fan. Happy birthday sweet pea.  Love you to the tide and back. 

XOXO Love Mom