A Wonderful Week 5!

We have been so lucky this summer to have such amazing weather.  Acouple play dates this week - backyard fun with Gordays and zoo with Sarge.  It was really wonderful to have Shaun home for the week.  We went for family eye exams, tried out a couple new playgrounds, Sam explored our rental property and just low key stuff.  Life is good, I can't complain.

Not much beats jumping on a trampoline with the sprinkler under on a hot day!

Sam loves the arcade, so Shaun pulled our Wii out of storage and it's been a huge hit.  We don't even own fun games, but he just loves it.  He's going for a run here on the Wii Fit game.  This is a brilliant thing for rainy (or lazy) days!!!  

Working out!

Our summer of weddings continues to our second destination wedding.  This one took us on a road trip to Kicking Horse Ski resort to watch my cousin get married.  Sam is an amazing road tripper!  He's helping froggy focus on the movie they were watching.

One of my new very favourite loves with my biggest love!  We found the Goodies hot tubbing in 30 degree weather!!!  Crazy guys really know how to holiday!

Sam just had his feet in the hot tub because we didn't bring his trunks over to their condo... then he fell in, so he just hung out in his regular clothes.  Problem was we also didn't bring extra clothes over to their condo... so he borrowed some basketball shorts from Tony.  Fit like a charm!

The sweet ring-"bear" on our gondola ride up the mountain for a gorgeous ceremony with a breathtaking view.

Me, my two incredible grandparents... and a crazy photo bomber.  Perhaps that runs in the family...

Ring'bear' makes his entrance.  He was a big hit.  He walked the whole way with confidence, stood with the wedding party the whole time and was on his best behaviour.  We even busted tourist snapping pictures of this little bear!

The super sweet and completely thoughtful groom!  I didn't want to include any wedding pics as the couple hasn't released any yet, but the whole day was incredible with so many little touches that were perfect/hilarious/unique.  I loved it.  I also appreciated how special they made Sam feel.  Love you guys!

A couple of crazy cousins doing funny faces!

The lovely Allison - to continue with my summer of love for the Moms I love most... I cannot tell you how lucky I am to have my cousin marry this extraordinary woman.  I feel blessed to have her in my life.  I love the way she looks for the absolute best in people and truly believes that EVERYONE deserves a second chance and unconditional love.  I adore my cousin, and often think of him as my sibling, and somehow she's made him an even better man.  Together they have the sweetest little boy.  I can tell he is their whole world and that the 3 of them will have the most amazing adventures together.  Allison quietly and unintentionally always reminds me that things happen exactly the way they are supposed to for a reason and when the moment happens it will all be so worth it.  I wish the road between us was shorter, but love that it's always so easy and fun when we do find the time to spend together.

A couple of beautiful faces.

I realize that you cannot get the feel for how awesome this is, but thought I'd share because it makes me incredibly happy.  One of the ways to make the couple kiss at supper was to recreate your favourite romantic movie.  Our table put in a team effort - my cousins went to the upstairs balcony to do the well known scene from Titanic while my sister sang 'My Heart will Go On" and we made wave noises.  That's some pretty standard weirdness that happens when you bring our peeps together!

My little bear!

Just dance our bear bums off at the party afterwards.  What an awesome weekend.  So much to be grateful for.  Our condo was stunning, we did a run as a trio in the mountain, ate amazing food, saw some of my most special family and had a ton of laughs.  Wedding #2 - huge success - CHECK!

A Fantastic Fourth Week!

Sometimes when I least expect, I have great moments that remind me I'm incredibly blessed in this life that I've been given; seeing the rewards of my hard work, spending time with people who are good to their core and make me better and exploring this world with a couple of really awesome guys.  Does it get much better than that?  I think the answer is no.

Sam and sweet baby Nixon.  He's the cutest little man and just a pile of fun.  We took a road trip to my hometown to visit my cousin and this sweet little boy!

No matter how hard I try, I can't come to Rimbey without a pitstop at Roger's.  Hard to believe that this been 14 years since I worked here!!!  All the good stuff hasn't changed a bit!!

Before getting on the road, we took a quick scooter ride to burn some energy.  Though there was a fairly major crash, he hopped back on and continued down the road determined to get to the canola.  So happy he's got that little bit of country in him!

The Iron Horse Train Park was open during the week, so we went for a very sunny ride.  It's a cute little adventure and super cheap.  Wish it was open during the week all summer, I think we'd be visiting a lot more!  And, since I caught Lindsay in my picture, just a little shout out to a mommy that works hard to give her babes the world.  Always with a watchful eye and kind heart, she approaches parenting from a place of pure love.  It's been wonderful to have many mini dates with the Gordays this summer, time flies with a tea and great company!!!  

This picture represents freedom to me.  My teeny tiny baby is smiling DOWN on my from the top of a ridiculously high play structure with nothing by pure joy.  He's no longer teeny or tiny and he's definitely not a baby.  Reminder that one more month and this little peanut will be a school boy... oh my...

I was given the very best birthday present EVER this year... we woke up at the crack of dawn to head out on a surprise overnight adventure to Victoria.  A quick 1 hour flight and we were on our way to the AMAZING Butchart Gardens.  If you are ever on the island it is a must... sooooo beautiful and a little slice of heaven for this plant nerd.

Looking down on the hidden garden with my two favourite people and a tea in my hand... perfection.

Popcorn pitstop!

Totem and Sam

Sam loved watching the bees.  They must have been at least as happy as me to have stumbled upon this place.

So happy!  32 is pretty awesome!

Found a little lookout to peek at the bay.

There is something about this photo that makes me look to the future.  I look at his little muscles and wonder what in the world they will do, where in the world his feet will go, who his eyes will meet and who his heart will melt.  

We headed to main street Victoria and found out there was a street performer festival.  Pretty cool chalk art!

Live statue!

LOVED this cute water taxi that we took from infront of the Empress Hotel to the Fisherman's Wharf.

Ice cream date on the Wharf!

It was pretty hot and Sam said "This is the best ice cream I ever had.  Maybe even in the whole world."

We stayed at the Oak Bay Hotel and Spa.  It was gorgeous.  So beautiful and well kept.  Not ideal for a crazy little 5 year old, so the poor kid got hushed by us the whole time.  We went for some fun in this awesome pool and mineral hot tubs.  They were right along the ocean, the view was amazing.  

Pongo the Teddy photobombed this picture of our room!

Early morning wake up to look out at the ocean.  We are ready for the last part of our adventure and to travel back home.  Such a beautiful place, really makes you think about how many breathtaking places there are in Canada and how few we actually see.  I look so forward to my next time being wow-ed by the beauty of our country.

Quick pitstop on our way to breakfast to climb some rocks.  Love these guys!

Pretty close to perfect.  Couldn't ask for much more.

A second pitstop to get right down to the ocean, skip rocks on the water and adventure in the tide pools.  Lots of mussels, crabs, wriggly worm things and slimy plant life.   Pretty good exploring!

Made it our final destination... a cute little Belgian waffle place.  A HUGE scoop of ice cream on a waffle for breakfast, that's pretty lucky!

Huge fail but so stinkin' cute!!!  Love this weird and wacky little boy.  I can't imagine traveling without him!

Thank you to Shaun for making my birthday special and rejuvenating me just when I was starting to miss work and the hustle and bustle.  I love you to the end of the earth and back.  My 32nd birthday is going to be a pretty tough one to beat!

The end of Winter

Well dang!  Once again I let time slip by with no blog and no update on how life has been in the Connolley house.  Here are some of my fav moments with some of our favourite people!

Sam teaching baby Nixon about animal hats!

Second annual trip to Lake Louise.  This year we (Sam and Shaun, I was on foot) snowboarded and it was sooooo much better.  Sam is a natural, the weather was outstanding.  I see an amazing family tradition that only gets more and more fun each year.  Perhaps next year Sam and I could take lessons together!

St Patty's day!!!

We had an awesome visit with Sam's cousins who were in town for a wedding.  I didn't do a great job of capturing all their fun but it was awesome to watch and so good for the heart.  Not much better than 3 little loves, glow sticks, woopie cushions and lego.

Relaxing trio after hard playing.  So sweet.