Sakinaw Lake day for the boys and Mom

I went back to work in mid-August and ended up only working two days that week because the VIU campus had an unplanned water shut-off so I make a quick decision and headed over to the Peninsula with the boys for the day to visit with my Auntie Carol, Uncle Garry, my dad and Grace. It was a super fun day of swimming, paddle boarding and more swimming! This is the second year in a row we've gone and I definitely think it's going to end up being up being an annual day trip for us!

We walked onto the ferry with our stuff and Grandpa picked us up on the other side for the short 10 minute drive to the cabin!

It was a day trip but we had to take life jackets and I figured the rolling suitcase would be the easiest, and it certainly was because this big guy insisted on pulling it!

This kid can play with cars for hours!

And this one loves to draw! The ferry ride was over before I knew it!

Almost there and so thankful for a beautiful day!

Patiently waiting to go in the water!

The beautiful view from the top deck of the cabin

They're sun-screened, life jacketed and all ready to go in! 

Now here's the water camera photos from our first swim out to the water trampoline

They love this thing and talk about it all year round!

He abandoned his life jacket and was ready to go for it!

Going back with Auntie Carol on the paddle board so had to put his jacket back on!

It was a lot of exercise for this mom, cause this guy didn't really swim, he just bobbed up and down and let me pull him...all the way there and back 2 times! 

Cute picture of Jordie and Grandpa!

My turn at paddle boarding..and I loved it!

Video of me paddle boarding

Having some yummy lunch and a little break from swimming!

After the first swim out he ditched the life jacket and just used a noodle. His swimming has really improved and I trusted him...except for the one time he jumped off the trampoline to get the noodle and I thought he was going to drown as he kept swimming towards the noodle and it kept floating further away. And the further he got from me the more I panicked wondering if I would get to him in time. Truly one of the scariest moments since I became a mother.

This time wasn't a super far swim...but still nerve wracking for Mom

Helping shuck the corn before dinner

After swimming supper swimming

I LOVE this picture of Jordie and my Uncle Garry! Truly one of my favorite photos from the whole summer! 

This was shortly before we had to leave for the ferry and he just wanted to swim one more time...so Uncle Garry supervised while I visited with Carol, Grace and Wayne on the deck.

Back at the ferry and poor little man fell and skinned his knees. He was such a trooper that day and was so so tired but did really good.

Ouch!

One last cute picture from just before we walked off the ferry. I wrote a blog post shortly after this day telling about a wonderful thing that a very kind man said to me on the ferry that evening.
That blog post is here if you want to read it! 

My big brave James

James had his last night of swimming lessons yesterday and he was so excited when he got there and he was the only kid. He loves his swimming instructor Alex and I really appreciate how good he's been with James and how far he's come in the two sets of lessons that Alex has taught him for. We were shocked when we went to the pool a few weeks ago and James was actually able to comfortably swim in the deep end and was confident in his abilities. It was awesome for Jim and I to see and we were so excited for him...and for us in the new freedom we have to swim as a family and do more fun stuff like jumps and dives now that he's more comfortable in the water.

So, back to his lessons last night. Alex came over to Jim and I and said "I just want to ask you guys if it's okay for him to go off the high diving board?" I looked at Jim and he just smiled and said "yeah of course he can" to which I added "if he'll do it....I don't think he will but if he wants to, then yes of course he can".

WELL....the first video is his first time...absolutely no hesitation, he only waited at the top for a second for Alex to count him down :) Gotta love my nervous mom giggle watching my kid jump off the high dive for the first time...at only 6 years old! I don't think I jumped off the high dive when I was his age but maybe I was brave when I was a kid too. I can't even imagine doing that now!

And here's the second one where you can hear him saying "I want to do a cannon ball!" This kid just kills me.

Jim and I were so proud of him that he just got up there and went for it. Every parent could learn something from their kids sometimes. He is such a brave little guy and we just love him so much for his adventurous spirit and his ready and willing to try anything attitude!

Mommy & Jordie go swimming with Kelly & Blake

We met the Lefler family when their daughter Quynn ended up in James's kindergarten class at Westview. Quynn is a really wonderful little girl and her and James get along really well. She plays with the boys at lunch and never wears dresses or skirts. In a world that is full of those kinds of girls that are mean to each other and have to dress in the frilliest of dresses and the best shoes I'm so happy to know there are still awesome tomboys out there like Quynn. For her school pictures she wore a cute little top with a little tie and was just the most adorable little girl in the room. She is a funny little character and James really enjoys her. When she came for a playdate back in early February I loved how she put him in his place when he was being pushy and I knew she would be just fine in handling him if he got too bossy! :)

Anyways, back to the other Leflers now. Quynn's little brother Blake is just a few months younger than Jordie and for a few months he just loved me. He would run up to me and give me a huge high five and always a hug when asked. He and Jordie get along really well too which makes this family a ton of fun to be around. And their mom Kelly...she is literally the nicest woman I've met in a long time! Their family moved to Powell River last year and I couldn't be happier to have met them. I look forward to many more times getting together with our kids and hubbies and getting to know each other much better!

Here are some pictures and a video of Jordie and Blake during our swimming play date back in early February (I know I'm way behind with these pictures but just got out of my groove a little bit when I was super sick so making sure to go back and blog the fun things we did!)

It was the Valentine's Day preschool swim party so they had games the kids could play. Jordie liked this one because they gave him gummy candies

Funny enough I think this might be my favorite picture of them all!

Checking out their goodie bags from the Valentine's Day swim