Chasing Babies

So last friday me, Little E and Baby A packed up the family mobile and headed to my favourite place to visit EVER... Vancouver Island.

I am very pleased to announce that we made the ferry we had planned to take WITH 10 min to spare!  

YES! 

No sweating, no crying, no swearing, no cursing, and even time to sip my hot a coffee in the sunshine. Bliss. 

Once we boarded we met up with some friends who were also travling over for a HUGE birthday celebration weekend...

We left a bit of a mess.

Missy here had her first apple straight from the core.

She loved it.

Sadly, there are no more pictures of the ferry ride...Momma was alone and very busy.

 Chasing baby, helping baby, watching baby, grabbing baby, changing baby, yelling at little E, laughing at little E and watching little E go up and down the slide with the other kids. 

Mr.Man had a project list a mile long to finish at home so I was flying solo. 

For 4 nights and 5 days.

I live to tell the tale...thanks to my ladies. 

They kept me sane. 

We drove off the ferry and then over to Leannes...

Lots of kids...8 to be exact. 

Playing.

Running.

Fighting.

Giggling.

Whining. 

Jumping.

Yelling.

Shouting.

Laughing.

You could say it was loud. 

But I didn't mind...it was only day 1.

All the Moms were smiling at this point. The weekend was young...we felt young...organized...energized and excited.

Everyone was busy.

Then it was feeding time at the zoo! 

Yes. 

All the food on the deck is from her.

She is a messy one.

She wants to be independent. 

She is now using a spoon. Well, for the first part anyway. 

Then we all hopped into the car and went back to Auntie C's to stay the night. 

A little show before night night...fingers crossed. 

It was a good night! 

Babies slept and boys slept. 

Little K slept in the longest. Lucky Kid. 

Then we played, rode bikes, ate lunch, walked back and forth with the babies then it was time to party. Again...lack of pictures = busy baby. 

Plus my battery died. 

(Don't say it Mr.Man!)

It was a big party.

23 kids big. 

And it was awesome.

Sunny and warm

Lots of food

lots of toys and playing

Crafts and running out on the back lawn. 

Hot dogs and watermelon!

And a Pinita too!

Little E tries to wack it.

Big D gives er a swing

Even the birthday boy gives it a hit. 

But no one can break it. 

Not even Daddy. 

Cause it is made of cement. 

Well...not really...but practically. 

So Daddy breaks it against the tree and...

Candy everywhere!

Baby A and Batboy find some forgotten pieces in the lawn. 

Too bad they couldn't keep them. 

Don't worry they had fun too...

Baby A eats some cake. You can sure dress her up...

Thank-you hostess with the mostess! 

You can sure throw a party! 

The next morning we woke up and headed off to Whitty's Lagoon.

Lots of beach, sand, crabs, seaweed, rocks, sticks, salt water and tides. 

Little E points out crabs.

Oh ya. She doesn't care. 

I love it. She just jumps right in. 

More pointing and discovering

Baby A...come back.

Usually the tide is out for miles...but it wasn't co-operating for us today.

No one cared. Especially him.

And her

And this cutie kid. 

As long as there was sand...she was happy.

Ha! She made us happy.

Some other fun friends came to partake in the sand fest. 

Oh and there were sand cookies too! 

But then...

it got cold and the clouds came in so we packed up and walked up the steps to the cars. 

We stopped for coffee at this little joint then headed here...

My favourite place. Just sitting. Talking, Laughing. Loving.

Hanging out at Uncle V and Auntie M's.

Little E loves it. 

And them.

We all do. 

Momma M whips up some Kay-bobs...BBQ deadly yummy ones. 

Auntie A and Uncle B pick these from their back garden. 

Oh ya. It is true. 

Unbelievable. 

Being at their place makes me feel lighter. 

Happier.

Warmer.

Fuzzier. 

Mostly because of these two nerds.

I love you guys...

And apparently someone loves corn on the cob!

She finally eats it. 

And after some more snuggles from Uncle V...we all pile in the mobile and head back to Victoria. 

Fall fast asleep and I wake up to this...

The costumes kept coming all week.

Around lunch time we hit the Noodle Box (you have to go there when in Victoria) and the park for a picnic. 

It was fun. The weather co-operated and the kids got to run, run, run.

Plus we ate these. 

Yum. So Yum.

Of course Miss Messy enjoyed herself. 

"what you looking at?"

She ate it all up. 

Then there was some swinging time.

Some fun time...

Spin time and...

Super spin time! 

Then we all piled in the cars and went home. 

Mrs C and I sat Ridge style in the lawn chairs with our glasses of wine watching the kids ride up and down the street...up and down. 

Miss S is Super Fast on her Fire Hawk.

And Little E's Fire Ball tries to keep up. 

She tries to keep up to. 

Alas...she now has a cold. 

Sneeze, sneeze and wine wine. Cling cling. 

Waa waa. 

Good thing Auntie C was there to tuck everyone in and read them a few goodnight stories. 

They were mesmerized. 

They slept. 

All night. 

We caught the 2:00 ferry the next day back to the mainland. 

Home to a pasta dinner by 6 and in bed by 10. 

Tired. 

Worn.

Filled. 

Thank-you all. 

Again. 

For everything.

Especially the hugs. 

E.