The Fair

It's been a busy few weeks, ripe with lots of twists and turns that belong to any big move.  Overall, we have had an exciting and busy end of summer in our new home, and there is a lot to write, tell, and many many photos to share. But the thought of rolling it all into this one post is more than I can handle right now, so I think I'll just leave this one as a recount of what we did today.

Today, we kicked off our last long weekend of the summer by going to a local Fair.  I have many good childhood memories of the smell of sizzling onions, fried food, cotton candy, and farm animals, coupled with the sights and sounds of everything that makes up a good end of summer Fair. I had high hopes that this experience, a first for my boy, would kick start the first of many such childhood memories of his own.

We were not disappointed, because this long weekend fair delivered childhood memories in abundance.

When we arrived I thought for sure the barn animals would be the greatest hit with Jake, but who knew that deep down in his two and a half year old's soul he was a carnival ride lover.

We bought a book of ride tickets thinking we might get him to give one or two a go - we never could get him to go back to the farm animals.

And this smile never left his face the rest of the day.

Except for maybe when he got his head stuck in this ice cream cone ...

And as far as firsts go, Jake also had his first face painting done today.  Again he surprised me by choosing to have a butterfly painted on his generous cheek - and oh how proud he was of that darn butterfly.

But perhaps the all time favorite of the day was the model boat centre, where a wind up paddle boat race captivated my boy the rest of the day.  He and his dad didn't end up winning the race but when I asked Jake what his favorite part of the fair was at the end of the day he said "the boats!"

We went back over and over, between rides and sugary snacks he always insisted that we make our way back to the model boat guys to see what new and interesting homemade remote control boats they were putting in the water.  He was their biggest fan and they rewarded his constant returns by giving him his very own juice box at the end of the day.

Jake took it upon himself to yell "on your mark, get set, go!" when he felt they were taking to long to get the race going.

His first cotton candy - and certainly not his last.

There is something about summer carnivals that just belong to childhood.  Back in my old city, where I was born and raised, we have a huge summer fair that takes place every year at this time. I remember the many years my mom would walk us three kids up to the fair grounds where we would meet up with my dad after his work. We would eat hot dogs, inspect all the farm animals, dare each other onto the scariest rides.  We'd come home high on adrenaline and sugar, and smelling of mini doughnuts.

It makes my heart glad to know that I can share that experience with my own child in our new town, and even gladder to know he loves it as much as I do.

The gift of blueberries

On Jake's second birthday, way back in March, my mom gave him a blueberry bush as a gift. 

Patiently we watered it, talked to it, placed it on the sunniest spot on our patio - and waited.  We waited through the cold and rainy month of April, the cloudy and still cold May, and our soggy June.  Each day we'd check it, at first praising the little white flowers that bloomed, then counting out all the little green nubs that would be blueberries one day.  Jake and his Oma nurtured that little bush until finally we woke up one day and were rewarded with this:

Our first, big, blue and juicy blueberry. 

It didn't last long. Jake got so excited, and what with patience not being a terribly easy thing for a two year old, he rewarded himself by plucking this juicy morsel from its place within seconds of me snapping those pictures and popping it into his mouth. 

Then we moved to our new Island, and the summer heat collided perfectly with blueberry season to produce this:

It has been the very best gift for Jake, and he has learned so much about patience and care from this little bush.  It will grow with him over the years, each season bringing a new promise of colour and fruit.  He has gotten a lot out of it already, more than just fat and juicy blueberries. But mostly during this time of distance and change, it serves a reminder for Jake right now, of the thoughtful and loving Oma who gave it to him. 

Thanks Oma!

Family weekend

My parents came to visit us for the long weekend, and we were very happy to have them. I know it might sound silly because it's only been a week since we moved but I've missed them, and I've been looking forward to showing them around my new neighborhood and city.  

It was a family weekend, a happy weekend, and it looked something like this:

The petting zoo at Beacon Hill park

The perfect afternoon at Butchart Gardens
Post script: if it is isn't already, put this on your bucket list.

My mom liked it here so much she bought an annual membership. For that matter, so did I.  The carousel ride alone was worth it for me ... and for Jake.

 

Celebrating the Swiss National Day with the Victoria Swiss Society, of which we are now proud new members. 

And of course, lots of relaxing at the beach.

I look forward to more such weekends with my family.  Long weekend or not.

Happy BC Day everyone!

Moving Day

I'll admit it, this move has been more of a challenge than our last one.  Could be that we moved a longer distance, could be we have more stuff to move, could be that this all unfolded so much faster than last time, or it could be that I am still so hung over from the last move that I couldn't muster up the required energy to do it all again, or maybe the fact that we'll never find neighbors as good as the ones we had (we lived across the lane from my sister and her family). Whatever the case, we did it, it's over and we don't have to do it again for another few months at least.

This is what it looked like:

Our life in boxes.

Last photo on the stoop of our old home.  Husband and I are sleep deprived and poor Jake doesn't know what is going on.

Contemplating the best ways to unload on the other side.

Prince Jake being escorted to his new temporary kingdom.

Jake had his own fun after the truck was unloaded.

The garage before our stuff moved in.

The garage after our stuff moved in.

We are not home free yet and one more move looms ahead of us as we now begin the search to find a new home of our own. In the mean time, we are lucky to stay with Jake's Nana and Grandpa, and being here feels as close to our own home as we could get right now. It's a comforting place in this time of change.

For us the immediate future involves settling into a new routine, enjoying our new environment and lapping up the last drippings of our Island summer.

Our new view looks something like this: