Spring Is Happening

I can't say enough how much I love living in a part of the world where we experience four gorgeous seasons.  Fall has always been my favourite season because I love the colours orange, red and yellow, the idea of knit sweaters and jeans, late afternoon sunsets and crisp morning air.  Winter brings Christmas, warm tucked-in nights, crisp white blankets of snow, scented candles and delicious comfort foods.  Summer brings morning coffee on the front deck, bare feet, windows and doors open, BBQ dinners, and falling asleep to the sounds of nature.

And then there is spring.  For me, spring is the season that you can see happen day by day.  New, fresh 'green' life, the days start to get longer, neighbourhood kids appear older (after hibernating over the winter), gardens get turned over, windows start to open up for the day, sweaters get taken off mid-day, and the morning birds begin their songs.

There is something about spring that compels me to document it in photos.  I love seeing transition, the new life happening, the change that you almost can't imagine will happen...but it does....
Earlier......

Now.....

This spring, Kevin took out the fence that closed in our tiny backyard and in doing so, he created a feeling of depth and space with a time-limited view for us to enjoy.

Can you spot me?
Pretty soon this will be a wall of green, but for now, we watch the people pass by on the trails lying below.  

One, two, threeeeeee

And not in our backyard, but in town, we stopped to take some photos of the Cherry Blossoms.  LOVE!  Definitely the highlight of spring!

And how about that spring full moon a couple weekends ago?  Two brilliant nights of big full mooness that shone onto the face of Kamille when she slept.  If I was better with my camera, I'd have captured her lit up face in her dark room, but I had to settle with some ok shots of the moon through the window from her bedroom.

I love when a full moon fills a room with light at midnight. 

Today it rained and there was even a snow line on the mountains, but I couldn't help but notice how the streets that I drive to work seem to be closing in with greenness.  The combination of weekend sunshine and rain today are doing their job.  Growth is happening, change is obvious.  

I love spring for this reason!  

A Perfect Moment

Its not very often that I get a photo like this, but Kevin just happened to snap a photo on his iPod at the perfect moment to capture a pre-bedtime snuggle with my girls.   

I am one lucky Mommy.  

I just love these girls! 

Our Little Corner of the Earth

Yesterday it was Earth Day.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and our amazing neighbourhood was buzzing with children and parents who were all off work because it was also Good Friday.  We were all so busy enjoying the sunny day and it hadn't even clicked that it was also earth day.  It wasn't until Kamille and her little boyfriend announced that they were collecting garbage that I remembered.  My dear sweetie and her friend were collecting garbage on a day that it mattered the most.  I told her that it was a special day to take care of the earth and what a great idea she had come up with.  

She reminded me of the bedtime story that my dad used to tell us about a little girl named Belittle Benign The Pooper Scooper, who would walk around her neighbourhood with her wagon and shovel collecting all the dog poop off the lawns.  Yuck.  I'm now thinking my dad is a total weirdo.  However, Kamille was my little garbage collector with a wagon in tow.  

Later in the day while Karis was napping, Kamille and I ventured down the path that Kevin made from our backyard to the trails behind our home.  She was on the hunt for more garbage.

For the past couple weeks we have been taking photos of the greenery sprouting up back there and Kamille was excited for me to see it, so she told me to close my eyes and she would lead the way to the trail.  This next photo I took with my eyes closed and just a hope that my camera was pointed in the right direction.....turns out, it was!

She's just so darn cute!  

In honor of Earth Day, we all enjoyed this gorgeous day outside with friends, children and babies throughout the street enjoying the sun and fresh air.  We have such a great neighbourhood.

And while we enjoyed our little neighbourhood on a gorgeous sunny Friday, we also live in a corner of the Earth that is stunning for miles, not five minutes from our doorstep.  Our little town is at the end of a Sound, where the ocean meets the mountains.  The ocean front estuary is one of the places where you can't help but feel surrounded by earth's spectacularness (yes, I am making up that word!)    Last weekend we packed up our morning snack and headed in the direction to be surrounded by the mountains, ocean and blue sky.

An international rock climbing destination....That is one giant rock!  

We live in a community full of active people.  If people aren't rock climbing, mountain biking, or hiking, you will find them here kite boarding and wind surfing.

The Spit - In the summer this place will be full of colourful kites and sails. ...and way more water! 

The Estuary.  A trail leads you around the perimeter of this space.  

Houses in the background, a heron in the foreground. 

It makes me so happy to raise our girls in this corner of the earth.  Life is rich.  Our earth offers so much for us to experience.  

Fun At The Farm!

My friend Dawn is awesome.  She's that friend that always has a good idea for how to make the most of a day and pack it with lots of fun.  Fortunately for me, during my maternity leave I spent a wack of my Wednesdays with Dawn and we had a lot of great adventures with our babies!

Last Thursday morning, Dawn called and suggested a day in the snow in Whistler or a day with animals at Maplewood Farm.  We gave the final vote to the princess - Kamille - and within an hour we found ourselves packing up Dawn's White Bus (Delica) and heading on to Maplewood Farm.  

a coffee in hand, a good friend, three happy kids and all this gorgeous scenery!  love it! 

Maplewood Farm is the kind of place where you can just let the kids run free.  The animals are tame, the grounds are secure, there is lots of space and lots to see.  

Can you spot the bear?  The Kare-Bear? Grrrr!  

Dawn and Ben checkin' out the horses! 

These goats were much more tame than the annoying goats on the property where we keep our trailer.  They were pretty much all sleeping in the sun, while standing!  Love the goooaaa-tees!

Kammer, giving her best Mooooo to the cow!  

Benny Boy!
He had been here before so he was showing Kamille how the chase the ducks!  The shrieks this kid was giving were ridiculously cute!  

Its been a while since we hung out with Dawn and Ben and it was great to see that the kids all got along!  They were all so stinkin' cute running around this place!  

What's that Kamille?

Karis kept saying "ba!"

These two have always been  so cute together!  

Well hello there .....

The Easter Bunny!  Kam and Karis LOVED this bunny!  

From horses and cows to, pigs, goats and sheep.  There were crazy looking birds, guinea pigs and bunnies too.  What a great spot to explore and have fun!  

 My little farmers....

 Such a great day in the sun with my girls and our great friends!