April Update

Hello blog readers. My new (financial) year's resolution, is to do more regular updates for the blog.

April has been a busy month - aren't they all. Steph's parents came over in March and were still here for the beginning of April. We got a bicycle 'chariot' for Alexander  - basically, something for him to sit in and be towed behind a (my) bike. We took our first trip in it to the beach, and I took him out again the following day. Now he keeps asking to go in it. Hopefully it will get a lot of use this summer.

Today we paid a visit to Granville Island out our morning swim. Ocean Cement had their annual open day. If you haven't been to Vancouver and Granville Island you're probably wandering what I'm talking about but it was great fun, despite the uncooperative weather.

Next weekend we're off to Las Vegas for the weekend. It's a work trip but Steph and Alexander, and all 'other halts' get to come too. I think it will be hot.

Below are a few photo highlights from the month.

At beach near Comox on Vancouver Island.

Miracle Beach, north of Comox on Vancouver Island. Alexander and Nanny and Grandad.

Milk is yummy. In a cafe in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island.

Third Beach, Stanley Park, Vancouver. After the first ride in the new 'chariot'.

Its Easter. It must be egg eating time. (Not too much, honest.)

Today on Granville Island. Although Alexander is obsessed with 'diggers' he was, perhaps understandably, reluctant to stand in the bucket of this one.

Alexander test drives a cement truck. With balloon.

Back from the Cement Factory Open Day, Alexander takes a break, while still holding his balloon!

Back on the beach in Comox, Alexander is still smiling!

Back from The Rockies

We have just got back from a week in The Rockies with my Mum. We stayed in several places including Revelstoke, Jasper and Banff. Everyone had a great time and obviously it was wonderful to spend time with my mum and for Alexander and her to spend time together as well. We took LOADS of photos which I will download, sort out and upload a selection in due course. It always takes longer than I'd like these days. Can't imagine why...

Thetis Island Retreat

This weekend saw our Third Annual Thetis Island Small Group Retreat take place. Thetis is a beautiful little island off the coast of Vancouver Island. We drive over, using two ferries, while the others, who did not need any baby stuff(!) were able to fly in 20 minutes from Vancouver. Here are a few photos.

Firstly, the Group Shot. We make a sorry looking bunch!

Amazing blue skies and calm waters.

There was time to go kayaking...

And time to hang out at the cabin!

Happy Easter

We had a lovely family day out today at Steveston, a fishing village in Richmond, just south of Vancouver. We ate fish and chips, toured the salmon cannery museum and hung out at Garry Point Park. This park juts out into the Straight of Georgia so is usually fairly breezy. Today there was a lot of kite flying going on, which Alexander found fascinating. He also loved the beach. After a nap (for Alexander), a cup of tea (for Steph) and a coffee (for Tim) we headed to a great children's play area that has loads of things to keep smaller ones occupied. Of course, at Alexander's age, it also keeps the parents occupied as well. Here are a few photos from our day.

Alexander was fascinated with the kite flying. Had he had a go himself though, we fear we would be still looking for him somewhere up the Fraser Valley.

Alexander seemingly would have been quite happy to wade out into the estuary had we not stopped him. I played around with this photo a little, including adding a sepia tint, in case you were wandering.

Off at the children's play area, Alexander loved a train. This playground actually represents the end of the old interurban train line from Vancouver, so the model train is highly appropriate. It would be great if the real thing was still in operation though.

And finally, Alexander examines some daffodils. One minute he's stroking them gently, the next... well, as they said in Short Circuit, 'no reassemble'!

Holiday Review

Happy New Year! Its about time for an update I think. We traveled back to the UK for Christmas to spend time with our families, which was lovely. The flights were a little tricky with Alexander not wanting to sit still on our laps for long. And who can blame him - much more fun to be crawling or walking (while holding onto things) around and exploring. While the weather was still very cold, we managed to get out for walks several times, including along the Thames, Bushy Park and Richmond Park and around Dover while we were there.

I'm still waiting for my sister to send me a family photo from Molesey, but below is a photo from Dover of us and some of Steph's family.

And here is one of us and our friends, Steve and Julie and Mike and May. It used to be that the six of us would hang out together. Now its 11! It was lovely to see them and we only wish it could have been for longer.

This is a vaguely organised looking photo. I have many others that include screaming or running children!

I will upload some more photos of our trip once we have them sorted out.

It was Steph's birthday on Sunday - 33! I still think this is early 30's, just. As a birthday treat, Steph went back to work yesterday, for the first time since before Alexander was born. At the moment she's just doing Monday's so nothing too stressful, for her anyway. For me, it means I have to get Alexander up, dressed, fed and off to a friends for the day. To his credit though, Alexander was apparently very well behaved.

And finally, for this entry anyway, Alexander has taken his first unaided steps! - watch the video here!

Photos from Quadra Island

I have uploaded some of the more scenic photos from our Quadra Island trip to Flickr. You can take a look at the sideshow of them by accessing this link. A selection of the more personal ones are included below.

The first few are on the ferry on the way to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. One is Alexander having a bath in the sink(!) and the last couple are on Rebecca Spit on Quadra Island.

Back from Quadra Island

We got back from Quadra Island on Wednesday. We had a great time kayaking, hiking and watching the sunrise from our cabin on the beach. Laura and Iain are now in Whistler and we'll join them for a couple of days next Thursday. I will post some photos soon from the trip.

Holidays

Laura and Iain arrive in a few hours. Hurrah!


- Posted from my iPhone

Photos from Thetis Island

We had a mini retreat with our Church Small Group a couple of weekends ago. We stated on Thetis Island, one of the Gulf Islands. it took a while, but here are a few photos of the trip. And here's one below, to encourage you to check out the rest!

What a wonderful holiday

We are now back from a wonderful trip to the UK. Our baby Alexander got to meet all his family and many of our friends. It was a great three weeks. I think we balanced the amount of travel we did in the UK well. We stayed most of the time with my mum and Steph's parents, but took a couple of trips to other places as well. We took loads of photos. Click here to see a selection.
We are going to use some of the photos to create a scrap book of Alexander's first holiday. He traveled very well, especially on the flights which could have been difficult. He also seemed happy to be held by lots of different people, a very laid back and relaxed baby - a good sign we hope. More to follow...

Nearly home

So, next week we head back to the UK for a three week visit. We're really excited and looking forward to it. Alexander can't stop talking about how he's looking forward to meeting everyone. Well, ok, he's saying something. We can only guess at what it is.

We're mainly basing ourselves in Molesey and Dover, with a few trips to other places thrown in for good measure. The 9 hour flight will be sure to mess up Alexander for a few weeks apparently, so he'll be adjusted by the time we fly back again.

See you soon...

Oregon Coast Movie

Well, not really a movie, more a very short, not very interesting video clip. Watch it here. Enjoy!

More kite flying images

We attached a camera to the kite, and...

Ok, well, not really. And actually its not very convincing because the kite wasn't filled with wind as it was blowing from the wrong direction. Oh well, maybe next time and I fool you all.

Oregon Coast Highights

Here are a few highlights from the Oregon coast part of our recent trip. Portland will be following along soon.

Kevin attempts to fly a kite on Cannon Beach.

Steph and I pose in front of The Haystack.

Another Haystack shot. This is definitely Cannon Beach's landmark.

Misty misty. Kevin and Steph with the misty Pacific Coast as a backdrop.

Even in the mist, its beautiful.

Photos from Oregon

I have got round to uploading some photos from our Oregon trip to Flickr. Click here to see the set. You'll need to be logged into flickr to see the 'people' shots. But I'll post them here soon as well.

San Antonio

Should have mentioned, that before we went to Oregon I was in San Antonio, Texas, for a few days for work. I attended one day of a transportation conference and then a two day training session on some traffic modeling software. It was HOT. Too hot to be outside most of the time actually. However, the centre of the city has some nice areas such as the River Walk and the Alamo. I posted a few photos on Flickr.

Holiday Report

We just got back (yesterday) from a trip to Oregon with our friend Kevin who was over from the UK visiting us. We camped for two days on the Oregon coast near Cannon Beach, and also had two nights in Portland. Camping was great. I hadn't done it since cub scouts. It was quite foggy at times, which is normal for the time of year, but it was great being outdoors and making our own camp fires! We've decided we love Portland and want to go back again to visit. Its generally lower rise than Vancouver and has some older, brick buildings, that Vancouver is a a little scarce on. It also has MANY brew pubs and MANY live music venues. We tried out both with great results. We also happened upon an open air showing of Ghostbusters at Pioneer Square, right in the centre of town. The Saturday Market was also a highlight, where I round a great way to display photos (Plywerk).
We will post some photos soon as well. There are quite a few to sort through.