Scarlett Turns ONE!

The last year at home has come and gone, and it has been amazing. Over the last few months, Scarlett's personality has been emerging and flourishing. Watching her roll, sit, crawl, stand, walk and run has blurred together to form our determined little ginger girl, with a mischievous smile and an easy laugh. She seemed so easy going in her early months, we worried that Lacey was going to walk all over her. But Scarlett has proven time and time again that she can hold her own against her big sister. She has a fiery little temper, if I've ever seen one!

I love her so much! She has made our family complete.

We celebrated Scarlett's first birthday with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Lacey opened most of Scarlett's gifts for her (but Scarlett didn't mind), and Scarlett ate pasta and pizza for dinner. She got toys, clothes, stuffed animals and shoes, and was generally spoiled rotten (thank you, everyone)!

I made chocolate cupcakes into a flower bouquet, with a few bumblebees and lady bugs for good measure. It was Scarlett's first time eating a cupcake, and she mostly enjoyed the frosting.

Lacey has taught us that life only gets more interesting after the first year.  So we'll have to see what Scarlett has in store for us. 

Happy 1st Birthday, Scarlett! You and your sister are lights in our lives!

Nanoose Bay

Have you ever heard of Nanoose Bay? It sounds like a fictional location that a children's book would take place in. But it is in fact a real place on the eastern side of Vancouver Island.

While planning for our trip to Tofino, I looked at Air BnB properties in the area, and I stumbled across this beautiful property. We booked the minimum five night stay, and I don't regret our decision one bit!

The house is right on the water, so we were treated to beautiful sunsets each night. 

And there was a rocky beach right outside our door to enjoy. 

Taste test conducted. Conclusion: disgusting

There were kayaks that we took for an outing. I've never been much of an ocean sport kind of gal (probably because I can't swim that well), but Lacey had a blast! 

And Lacey could photobomb Auntie and Uncle's family photo! Her life jacket really works with their shirt colour palette.

There was time for cousin bonding. Zoe loved watching Lacey run around, and Scarlett toddling back and forth.

We did a short hike to see the Old Englishman Waterfalls. 

We spent a couple afternoons exploring Rathtrevor beach. The tide was out both times, so it was more of a giant mud flat full of tiny wiggling crabs. Lacey didn't enjoy walking through the crabs, so she spent a lot of time on our shoulders. 

Scarlett in particular loved the house décor. Hairy pillows are her jam. 

There was a family of otters that we saw playing in the bay, as well as an abundance of varying ships. Tankers, cruise ships, small vessels. 

Lacey practiced her skills with our camera, and took this photo of Uncle Andy and cousin Zoe. It's a pretty good photo. But... Just remember. This was one of 85 photos, and 25 of the photos were of her foot.

I can only imagine how the chaos will grow as our family gets bigger, older and more mobile. We had to blockade two sets of stairs with chairs so Scarlett wouldn't climb down them. Even with the barricade, she spent an immense amount of time climbing up and down the stairs (supervised). 

If this holiday was any indication, future holidays are going to be even more fun! Cheers to 2020 holidays-- whatever they may be!

Tofino 2019

Over the past four years, Tofino has become my happy place. It's a place where everything slows down. We have a few days of no household responsibilities, and we can spend time with family, walking on the beach and eating good food. We can get as close to care-free as we can get when you have a three year old and 11 month old toddling around.

The beginning of June marks three weeks until my return to work and the end of my second maternity leave. It seems surreal that an entire year has gone by already.

This year, we decided to drive out to Tofino. I was very skeptical about the logistics of driving such a long way with two small kids, but the girls did fairly well. 

On day 1, we drove to Salmon Arm, and stopped at the Enchanted Forest along the way. Lacey was absolutely enchanted! She enthusiastically ran from each of the small fairy tale houses, bursting with excitement to see which one was next. She loved the three little pigs houses the most.

On day 2, we drove to Abbotsford. This leg of the journey was relatively uneventful, aside from several toddler tantrums. 

On day 3, we boarded the ferry, and then drove to Tofino.

And finally.... Hello, Cox Bay!

Hello beach walking, digging in sand and tide pool investigating!

I love this photo. It looks like it should be on a brochure or an advertisement for the area.

This was Scarlett's first time walking on sand. It didn't take her long to figure it out. She did plenty of sand taste testing as well, and even insisted that I taste some when she shoved her sandy hand in my mouth. Ugh.

Lots of time spent with family. 

And lots of good food enjoyed. There is a bakery in Ucluelet called Zoe's Bakery, and it is delicious. We couldn't find a table big enough for all of us, so we ended up sitting at the tiny kids table. 

The major incident that marred this portion of the trip for me was an unidentified bug that bit me on my leg near my ankle on our second day in Tofino. Initially I was worried it was a tick bite, but after a visit to the doctor and the Tofino hospital, it seems more likely it was a spider bite.

The bite was so red, angry, blistery and itchy. The turning point for me was when I got a prescription cream that helped with the insane itching! Thank God for modern medicine! 

We even managed to get a pretty good family shot! Everyone is looking at the camera, and no one is actively frowning. 

After four nights in Tofino, we painstakingly packed up all of our luggage (omigod, how did it multiple after these four nights?!), and hit the road for Nanoose Bay.