our loooooong weekend

this past weekend the good ole calendar makers gave us a long weekend to celebrate bc day. we were fortunate to have been invited to a dear friend's wedding up in the okanagan so not only was it exciting for that reason, but that we were able to have one little vacation before i start my new job. as part of their wedding gift, i offered my cake making skills to make their wedding cake and the hubs offered his awesome-ness to be their mc for the reception. (not to toot our own horns or anything! hehe) 

this trip would mark the first time we'd take the girls out on the road for long periods of time and i think i can say now that our wild idea of road-tripping it to california (for our most recent vacay) would have been disastrous! i mean we had motion sickness issues, whiny baby syndrome..you name it, but for the most part it was alright -thankfully it was only a 4 hour drive with stops!

here is a looooong glance at our family vacation to the okanagan:

yes, that's olivia eating a doritos nacho chip.

i take no pride in saying that, but when you're only an hour into your road trip and you've got a child that's whining for chips..you kinda give in. no?

this is emma pre-motion sickness. the poor thing was so into an activity table

i purchased for the purposes of killing time on a road trip only for it to turn into

an EPIC FAIL.

*barf*

 

our first stop was in merritt, bc. a&w becomes your best friend as it's basically the only fast food joint in small towns. i am not a huge fan of the dub so i just nibbled on what was left of the girl's grilled cheese..which they enjoyed!

plus, lets not forget that i basically had to deal with a nauseous child while kneeling

on the front passenger seat, leaning over with a recyclable bag to "contain"

the disaster. i'm not sure anyone would have an appetite after that!

 though who can resist a root beer in a frosted mug..i sure can't!

the view of the landscape on our drive to pentiction

okanagan wine country! who says you can't visit wineries with kids right!?

the "sonora sage" our rental bungalow for the weekend: perfect for a family of 4

in penticton! it was so close to the beach and grocery stores, we had an amazing time!

with it being 27 degrees on the first day there, we were thankful that we brought

an inflatable pool that the girls could wade in. they didn't waste any time

getting cool!

on day 2, we thought we'd take advantage of the fact we were in wine country

and visited some wineries in the naramata bench. what a view. there were just fields and fields

and rows upon rows of grapes and orchards with rows upon rows of fruit bearing trees.

it was magnificent!

our first stop was ruby tuesday, which had some pretty fantastic wine.

we picked up 2 bottles from here - a red and white!

the view from ruby tuesday's tasting room

can you see this being trouble 20ish years from now? lol

next stop was the elephant island winery. this winery is popular

for it's orchard based wines, meaning they use no grapes in their wines.

this particular winery was child friendly, complete with a tasting patio

and a toy area: what should be (in my opinion) two peas in a pod!

we sampled cherry wine, blackberry wine, crab apple wine (one that we took home),

blueberry dessert wine and raspberry dessert wine (that we also took home!)

a very interesting experience but also waaay more enjoyable especially since the kids had something to do

while we were irresponsibly lightly sipping 16% dessert wines.

it's day 3 and here's a shot of me and olivia all dolled up for the wedding.

here is said cake that i prepared the day before while the hubs took the girls out to the local farmer's market.

the cake was a lemon cake with a coconut buttercream filling. i also made the flowers out of gum paste!

here's emma waving a handmade flag at the ceremony gardens.

the lovely couple and their entourage.

of course olivia can't sit still, why haven't i figured that one out yet? thankfully we were situated near the back

of the gardens so she was able to roam around without any ceremonial interruptions!

we even snuck in a family photo!

mama and her girls.

our table center piece and the ceiling decor..

making cakes is one of my fave hobbies and it can get a little nerve-wracking sometimes. its even worse when you're actually a guest at the wedding and you're there to witness the first tasting. thankfully it was not only enjoyed by the newly-weds but their guests as well. phew!

even my olivia dug right in!

me and the lovely bride.

the wedding was such a success. the girls danced the night away and it was such a joy to see

all of our friends embrace our kids too. it's not everyday that you can say your old college 

friends crack jokes and tag-team taking care of your kids as if they were their own.

i feel truly blessed!

our final day consisted of a post-wedding brunch and a couple more wineries on our way out of the 

okanagan.

our first stop was road 13, a winery suggested to us by the newly-weds as it is one of their fave wineries.

emma rolling down the hill..
see? even kids can find their own fun in adult places! lol

our final stop was the silver sage winery. this place was AWESOME. it had very unique wine blends

and an amazing one called "the flame": a late harvest Gewürztraminer, peach/apricot blend and a chili pepper!

O.M.G. we couldn't leave this place without taking this bottle home..like our taster said: it's like getting punched in the face and kissed at the same time!

silver sage was very family friendly and the tasters were humorous! 

none of that pretentious-ness you expect from big named wineries. 

our biggest goal was to visit those that are less known but have great taste...and

we are fortunate to know friends who frequently come up to the okanagan and experience

new places!

as soon as we were all wined out, we started making our way back home taking the hwy 3 route which is supposed to be more scenic. well, when i remembered taking it years ago, it WAS scenic. now, its like a death trap waiting to happen! steep climbs and descends and a big waste of time. the upside was we were able to stop by some fruit stands for peaches and cherries..and make a quick visit to manning park:

that is crawling with gophers! they were absolutely everywhere! the girls got a big kick out of them and thankfully, they were nice. 

we took this opportunity to let the girls expend some energy by letting them loose
in the park.
then we picked up some ice cream..shoulda got an extra one
cuz olivia basically devoured mine!

this loooong weekend was a fantastic family trip and i'm so happy that i was able to enjoy this with the hubs and my girls and recharge my batteries before embarking on a new venture this coming week. i think i've said it a million times over: nothing will ever beat spending time with my family - they are everything to me!

thanks for sharing my long weekend with me, look forward to hearing about how you spent yours! :)

this post is participating in the happiness is blog hop, join me!

the mish-mash blog vol. 1

*sigh*. there is so much going on around our little nest and so little time that i've decided to implement a series i'd like to call "the mish-mash blog". i am a person that thrives in organization but as of late, things are here, there and EVERYWHERE. so, today's blog will consist of everything that is going on in my head and hopefully it will all make sense to somebody out there in bloggy land. hehe.

1. i'm on a big child care giver hunt. we have been blessed with family members who are willing to give up their time to watch our girls while the hubs and i go to work  but there are a few days where we need someone to take on the days when they cannot. our  biggest issue currently is that we only have one vehicle so with me starting work at 6am, it doesn't seem fair to be waking the kids up very early and dragging them out when i could have someone come in. i've signed up to canadiannanny.ca and have contacted a few people that meet our requirements, but nothing is better than a referral from a friend! so for all you local mamas that follow my blog, ANY leads would be greatly appreciated!

2. i swear ever since i've gotten this job (which i haven't even started yet) its like a switch has turned on in olivia and she's become clingier than cling wrap (which btw really only sticks to itself). i put her down, she cries. she loses sight of me, cries. she stumbles, cries. housework and other obligations have come to standstill because i can't seem to do anything unless she's attached to my hip. which kinda has me worried. she is comfortable with family members but as soon as i'm around its as if the world is ending and she stops at nothing to be next to me. somebody please tell me this is just a phase.

3. i have found my favorite mascara of all time and i have the pictures to prove how awesome it is. its l'oreal's telescopic explosion water-proof mascara. i always purchase water-proof because it holds the curl from your eyelash curler than regular mascara. i have also learned in the importance of replacing the padding in your eyelash curler regularily..its amazing what a little change can do!

before

the tools

after

pretty crazy eh! it worked so nicely i thought it was worth sharing!

4. this week we prepare to go away to the okanagan for a dear friend's wedding. i have the pleasure of making their wedding cake, which i will do my best to track progress of..and really, have our last family trip together before we're back to the usual grind. that region of bc is well known for its wineries, warm weather, fresh fruit and scenery..i will definitely have lots of pictures to share when i get back.

well that's it folks. mish-mash blog vol. 1 over and out. it's pretty safe to say i've got a lot on my mind right now eh? thanks for reading!

happiness is...{the big 3-0.}

on tuesday, we celebrated my hubs turning 30.
wow, 30.
yeah i said it!


for however many years, that number just sounded old.
 as if life ends when you turn 30.
but when you get closer and closer to that age you realize
that its just another year gone by and if anything,
you begin to reflect on the life you've had, 
where you are
and where you're going.


i had the pleasure of 'scheming' a surprise party for 
my hubby (which i'm not sure why i did considering
the last time i threw one for him ~on his 25th~ he caught on)
and thought for sure i would have him fooled!


i gave him his present first thing in the morning
(so as not to expect any plans after work)
got a friend to take him out for drinks
(as the distraction/ride back home)
and the piece de resistance:


i planned it on a tuesday night!


alas despite my foiled plans, i think he
still managed to have a good time :)


here is a snapshot of my love through the years:

in 30 years, you've grown from a son, to a brother,
a friend, a husband and probably most importantly:
a father.


happy birthday love, may this just be the beginning of 
a fabulous life. xo

mama's got a brand new job.

it's the moment i've been waiting for over a year.

it's also a moment i've been dreading for over a year.

(in a good way, trust me!)

as a pharmacy technician by day, i've put in a good part of my

life working with the community and learning everything there is to know

about that aspect of my job. 7 or so years later, i felt as though it was

time to challenge myself as a tech OR do something completely different.

see, those who know me know how much i

love to organize and do things in my pretty little ways,

that i thought maybe i could work part-time somewhere as someone's

admin person..but no bites whatsoever.

what is a pharmacy technician doing applying for admin jobs?

i dunno..i thought i'd be good at it, in fact, i KNOW i'd be good at it.

then i thought okay, lets stick to what we know shall we?

last year i applied for a tech position somewhere i REALLY

REALLY wanted to work. a great opportunity with lots

of room for growth. not to mention a significant increase

in my salary (which is always nice!) but circumstances as they were

(enter: miss owweeya ~as she calls herself~)

and things didn't quite pan out.

1 year later, i thought why not try to contact said
favourable employer and ask what i can do to get myself noticed

in a big pool of applicants.

i contacted.

and i contacted.

and i got another interview.

(the squeaky wheel always gets the grease ;) )

the interview went fantastically and after a few more squeaks,

i learned i got the JOB OF MY DREAMS.

i have been praying for this job ever since i applied for it
over a year ago and i can finally say its mine.

but wait.

what will my life be like now that i'm going back to work
and have 2 children to care for?
emma will be entering kindergarten and olivia has
only ever known life to consist of
100% mommy/emma/daddy time.
how will both of them cope with all of this change?
this is where the dread part comes.

don't get me wrong, i'm soooo stoked to be back to work,
doing what i enjoy and appreciating adult contact
and communication on a more regular basis.
i know it's great for the kids to be comfortable with other
family members too but it just feels like a big pill
to swallow when it comes down to it.

all i know is that i can only take it one day at a time
and i shouldn't fret over things that may never happen.
have you had a similar experience that you can share with me?

happiness is.....{summer family fun}

it's kind of difficult to imagine that exactly one 

week ago from today we were out enjoying the beautiful

sunshine at white rock beach...

especially considering today is supremely gloomy and wet.

(seriously? looking outside i feel like i should be wearing a wool sweater,

jogging pants and my rain boots..and its the middle of july.)

anyway, with the impending work/life change that will

soon turn this household upside down, (that deserves a blog of its own!) i cherish every

single moment i have spending time with our family of 4.

we had such a great time during our little walk to

white rock beach that we thought we'd make a day trip out of it.

the hubs had a day off from work in the middle of the week

so it was nice to avoid the weekend crowd too.

our free spirited olivia got very comfortable with 

the sand..which made me a bit anxious (cuz i'm a clean freak)

but i couldn't help but enjoy watching her enjoy it..so

the anxiety quickly faded.

the hubs was outlining the dimensions of their

supposed human-sized sand castle while emma looked on..

me, of course, in charge of making sure the kids were well

fed and hydrated and out of the sun...

(do note that i am under an umbrella, although it doesn't end well!)

the human sized sand castle didn't quite pan out..

but a lovely throne did..note how 'excited' and 'comfortable'

emma looks sitting in it...

with the girls becoming one with the sand,

i thought it was a perfect opportunity to take some

fancy shmancy shots with our camera.

the throne in all its glory.

hop, hop, hop!

skip, skip, skip!

livi got quite tired after all the wandering around she did.

it was great coming to the beach with the tide being so low.

we situated ourselves on an 'island' so-to-speak surrounded by

shallow pools and olivia just loved walking around, stopping for a moment

to squish some sand in her hands and continue on.

if it weren't for olivia's hand in the way..this would've been frame worthy!

splish splash!

sisters.

so yeah. remember how i said my 'shady-ness' doesn't end well?

well i decided to show my husband what a practical sand castle looks like,

and in the midst of doing that..my back got wickedly burned.

-i've shed a layer of skin already.

dad being silly.

mom being silly. clearly, i'm no basketball player. note the 

lack of air in my jump..hehe.

since my maternity leave has ended and i'm waiting to hear about

work, we seize the moment and take every sunny day

to do something outside..even if it's as simple as 

chalk drawing in the parking lot of our building.

happiness is cherishing every second of my little girls growing up.

emma's going to kindergarten and olivia just turned 1. two major milestones

in both of their lives.

i'm feeling..truly blessed.