Madeleine is 5!

Madeleine asked to go visit Grammie and Grandpa's house in Abbotsford for her 5th birthday, so we did! This will be the last year we can easily take off for two weeks in May, so we were happy to make the trip. She helped Grammie with the pink icing and sprinkles on her cake.

We were so glad to have Steve's Aunt Joanne come up for the birthday celebration. Madeleine shared her new tea set with us all, and asked that we not sing Happy Birthday to her... she really doesn't like being the centre of attention! I think she comes by that honestly...

The rest of our visit was filled with the usual fun Grammie and Grandpa activities, such as reading books old and new...

Playing in the new treehouse built by Grandpa, accessed by a little trail in the nearby forest...

Playing with water, bicycle pumps, hoses, and buckets in the basement...

Swinging on the tire swing built by Grandpa (Ross loved looking down at them as he swung over top)...

Building legos...

Washing dishes...

And of course viewing the transit of Mercury across the Sun with Great Grandpa's telescope and Daddy's sun filter.

Madeleine really loves all things to do with horses, and chose this paper cut out horse book from a toy store. She loved dressing up the horses and putting the fairy riders on them. She says that when she grows up she wants to ride horses and she often says she wishes we lived on a farm with horses. I can relate well to all these day dreams - and clearly remember trying to convince my parents that a horse would fit in our backyard.

She loved our time at Grammie and Grandpa's, but by the end of the two weeks she was saying that she was looking forward to going home to see Daddy (who could only stay the first four days). When Daddy picked us up at the airport, she reminded him that we still needed to look for a pedal bike for her... imagine her surprise when she opened the trunk to see this! She was speechless, with a huge grin on her face. She was eager to give it a try and after a short time at the park yesterday, she was riding by herself today!

Grandma and Grandpa visit from Ontario

We were so fortunate to have a visit from Steve's parents in March and April. Don and Georgia flew out just before Easter, and the kids were so excited to see them. 

Don was here for two weeks and Georgia stayed with us another two weeks after he flew back. We packed a lot in while they were both here! Don and Steve went to a hockey game in San Jose, where the San Jose Sharks were playing the Edmonton Oilers, and the Oilers won. We took them both to San Francisco for a lovely dinner at a restaurant called Top of the Mark, situated at the top of the Intercontinental Hotel in Nob Hill, with beautiful views of the bay. 

After posing for pictures, the kids busted out some dance moves to the music playing on the outdoor speakers of the hotel.

They rode the Little Train in Tilden Park.

Madeleine is tall enough to ride the carousel all alone now, and showed Grandma and Grandpa her favourite horse named Rosie.

We took an Amtrak train to Sacramento for a day. The kids were so excited to ride the big train, and the 1.5 hour train ride each way was the perfect amount of time to hold their interest. 

In old downtown Sacramento we went for lunch, walked around, and went to the Railroad Museum. 

We visited two wineries in Napa Valley, and spent some time in the little town of Sonoma. The first winery, the Larson Family Winery, was rustic and very family-friendly.

The second winery, Artesa, was much fancier and very beautiful, inside and out. 

Both kids loved playing tractors and horses with Grandpa Don, and Madeleine loved this barn that Grandpa built for her.

The kids showed Grandma and Grandpa around Muir Woods one misty morning.

Just before Don flew back to Ontario, he and Steve spent a day touring Angel Island and Alcatraz. 

We had a busy and wonderful visit with Don, and were sad to see him go, but we were so thrilled that Grandma Georgia stayed with us for another two weeks.

We stayed around home more during the weeks with Georgia. We went to parks, out for walks, and I got to go for runs, work in my garden, and do errands child-free, which was such a treat.

We had an early birthday celebration for Madeleine and she had fun skyping with Grandpa, Great Grammy Inez, and Uncle Chris while opening some of her presents.

Grandma got lots of sunny days here and the kids made their special mud soup for her from our back garden. We all loved having her here and look forward to having both her and Don's next visit!