Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

It seems true that as the parents of babies and young children you get to make most of the decisions about who your kids play with and who they invite to their birthday parties.  In the beginning its definitely more about like-minded moms coming together for afternoon tea and the babies and kiddos begin to form friendships by default.  

As the years have passed, I have come to watch Kamille's circle of friends grow to include friends of her choice and those whom she "clicks" the most with at daycare.  Fortuntately, living in a small town usually means that I am at least familiar with nearly anyone's mom or dad, if not already "friends" with them on facebook!  ; )  

For the past two years, Kamille has been given the task of creating the guest list for her birthday parties.  Not surprisingly there were only small changes to the list from one year to the next.   She liked to be in control of this decision, although if she had full control she would have invited every girl she ever crossed paths with.  

So this summer, when we were planning some fun activities with girlfriends she and I decided that we would host a girls-only day at our trailer (#27 on the Fun List!).  Lets get "the girls" together for a fun day of play, making this an event for Kamille and Karis to show their friends the place where they love to play the most!    And as if it couldn't get any more perfect, this guest list consisted of two other sets of sisters, Lauren and Kylie, Brennyn and Kaya.....

and one of Kamille's besties, Kamryn.

Some big girls and some little girls.  It was a perfect plan.
Lucky for me, their moms Hilary, Kari and Kristal are just as awesome as their girlies!

It wasn't the super-girly girl fun day as I had planned in my head (thinking that more Pinterest-inspired ideas would have been involved)  But, the ridiculous predicted-thunderstorms-but-just-kidding weather forecast didn't allow for a ton of pre-planning.  However, when you are out in our space, just being outside is enough fun for entertainment.

testing out the water.  

finding sunglasses and washing them up.

candy!  

The lack of pinterest-inspired ideas was sure to be forgiven when at the very least there were a couple Palm Bays to share with the Moms!

And in true "at the trailer" fashion, the kids went right into play.  Not sure what they were doing exactly, but it was good for them and everyone was happy.

Row, row, row your boat!

I love love love this next photo.
All the girls just chatting out what they will do next.

Contemplating....

Lets get the little sisters to run!

or make Karis crawl?  

Whatever they did, they enjoyed themselves.
We enjoyed our picnic lunches before making a plan to hit the beach for some fun in the sun.

When we arrived, I was pleased to notice the work that my handsome handyman had completed on out outdoor kitchen.  Just look at that trim and the covered top!!  Thank you Kevin!

Since the beach front is forever changing we are never really sure what to expect from it.  Will there be pools of water to play in or not?  Today, on such a warm day, there definitely were!
One of which was surrounded by extremely slippery mud.  Poor Brennyn went right down as I was prepared to photograph her walking in.

She was only one of the many slip-casualties that took it all in stride.

I didn't really have to explain to Kari why I come away from weekends at the trailer with nearly 500 or so photos each time!  She just understood and appreciated it all.  

This place begs to be played in and photographed.

Hello there mud monster!  

Oh how fun it is to sink right into it!

With the girls having so much fun in the mud, us Moms had the chance to catch up on the things we like to talk about.  

Watching our girls transform mud into something wonderful to play with, splashing in small pools of warmed glacier water, all smiles, and engaged in their own conversations....totally priceless.  

Such girly-girl fun for our outdoor loving girls!

So, if all girls really want is to just have fun, I think this day really nailed it.  

The space to run free. 

The warmth of the sun.

The endless corners for exploring.

The company of incredible girls.

And the opportunity to create and share one great experience together.  

Weeeeee!!!!!  How fun!  

We were so pleased to share our little getaway destination with some of our best girlfriends.

Thank you Kari for taking this photo!!!!!  

Thank you Hilary, Kari and Kristal for such a great day with your girls!  

Family Fun On Our Bikes!

It was a gorgeous sunny Thursday in July.  I was craving some adventure and the idea of going to the city.  Kevin said he was interested in taking the day off to join us.  I say AWESOME!  I know exactly what we will do - Ride Bikes!  (And make an effort to experience variations of 8, 9, 10 and 11 on our Summer Fun list)

With that decided, the morning saw Kevin and I divvying up the tasks.  Me getting clothes, snacks, bathing suits and towels, Kevin getting the bikes and all the gear prepared and safely stowed in the back of the truck.

We arrived in Stanley Park, choosing our ride to begin near the public swimming pool.  On the drive into the city a plan is made to somehow get to the Granville Island splash pad for some cooling off and fun for the girls.

One, two, three, RIDE!

First stop, the bathrooms at English Bay @ Denman.

It really is a perfect day.  Already the beaches are crowded with bikini clad sun seekers and suits enjoying their morning coffee break.

I feel so lucky to have this day off to enjoy with my family.

Making it to our old stompin' grounds, Kevin and I opt to enjoy lunch in Yaletown along the water.  We pick up some food at Urban Fare and are off.  There was a bride and groom (or models dressed up as?) at the table beside the girls.  They were fascinated, especially Kamille.

Hello me!

Alas, we found the perfect stretch of grass to have a picnic on.  

Yummy fresh fruit!

Delicious tomato and bocconcini salad.

Snuggles with Dad.

And great views all around....

One very happy girl....

...who takes the photo of another.  

Lets get going!  There is so much more to see and do today!

Contemplating our arrival and departure to Granville Island, we opt to ride there and Aqua Bus it back.

Around the seawall we go, past Cooper's Park where we spent many hours hanging out with our old pal Buddy dog a few years back, past Science world, past the Olympic Village....

And on to Granville Island.

My biking companion quietly takes it all in.  A very different view than what she is used to back home!

Now we're on the other side.

I just love this city!

And then we arrived!
The girls can barely contain themselves when we hit the splash pad.   Kevin and I can barely move through the sweat that we generated in getting there!  Holy!  What a hot and sunny day!
The splash pad is exactly what we all needed!

Ahhh...so refreshing!  

Karis squeals and runs through the water with so much excitement!

Oh, oh! What'cha doin' Karis?   Too preoccupied with fun, she accidentally peed in her suit but Daddy helped to refesh her.

The girls pretty much stayed in one place so it made it fun to play around with shutter speed to catch that spray!

My favourite of the day....

Super happy girl with a sunshine glow!

Pure happiness!  

Karis was too small for the slide on her own and Kamille wasn't feeling brave enough to do it alone, so we just watched the people coming down.  Karis was fascinated.  But I also think she was pretending to be the life guard!  I wonder if she was copying the lifeguard in red who had his hands in his pockets in the background of this photo?  She stood there like this, taking it all in.

After we were all wet and cooled off we opted to stroll through Granville Island before moving on.  

"Kevin, Kamille, stop!"  I yelled.
"Kamille what letters do you see written on that post??"  I asked.
"Xanadu!" she said with excitement!
Its not very often that you see one of your best girlfriends names in big shimmering letters!  How fun!
Xanadu the musical is being performed at the Granville Island theatre.  Apparently our little Xanadu has already gone with her Mama and we've head that it was fantastic!

Time to roll on - onto a boat!

Waiting for our water taxi...

Well, this is interesting!  The girls had never been on before so this was a new experience for them.

Back on land and on route to our truck in Stanley Park.
Karis gives me a smile while Kevin stops to take a work call.

Determined to document the scene along our route, I slung my camera around my neck and held it up to take a photo every couple hundred meters.  With very quick effort to glance through the viewfinder without wacking my camera into Karis' head or riding into something, I think I did an ok job.  

By the time we arrived back to the truck, Karis was hot, tired and without a nap.  She and Kevin had a sit down while we waited until she was ready to wear her hat.  Kamille and I spent some time on the swings.

Then it was popsicle time!

Nothing other than pink for my girls!

It was 6pm by the time we arrived back home.
All of us topped up by a full day of family fun in the sun...and on our bikes!
You just gotta love those kind of days!