Happy Halloween

This year, for the first time, we went out trick-or-treating with Anna. We stuck to our neighbours, but that was plenty to imprint quite an impression on our wide-eyed princess.



LOOK, mamma, LOOK!


Little does she know that we'll be swapping out her sweet sugary treats for some lovely fruit leather while she sleeps. How long do you think that is going to work?

Before we headed out, we got to talk to Bella on Skype. Tell me I don't have the cutest niece in the world!

Date with Bella

Bella came over for a visit today, and she brought her mom and dad with her too. We met them down at the aquarium, and the girls had a blast. How could they not?





Thanks for the visit - we'll see you soon!

Grattis Farfar!

Stora grattiskramar från oss alla!

Work and Play

Is this fair? Anna and I head over to the island for the weekend, and Patrik stays home and works on the house. Maybe not quite, but that's what this past weekend looked like for us. Anna and I had a couple of days with mormor, morfar and cousin Bella to start with.



And then I left a very happy Anna with mormor and morfar and headed over to Protection Island for a weekend with the girls. Biking, walks on the beach, reading, knitting, and good food and conversation with great friends. Oh, and did I mention the sleep-ins? That doesn't happen all that often these days.





While Anna and I were enjoying a weekend of luxury, Patrik was at home slaving away on the house. We'll have to make sure that we really spoil him this week (and beyond)!

Dog Mountain

The weather has decidedly made a turn towards winter, but just one short week ago summer was fighting to hold on just a little longer, and we took the opportunity to head out for a hike. Dog Mountain was one of the first hikes we did with Anna when she was about 4 weeks old, and this was our first trip back since then. 'Twas a gorgeous fall day...




Who knows, maybe we will be able to squeeze in one or two more hikes before the snow flies.

Thanksgiving Weekend

In the week leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend, there were a couple of stories on CBC news about the origins of the holiday. I have always linked it to the American tradition about the pilgrims and the celebration of the harvest. But, what I learned was that the Canadian tradition of Thanksgiving goes back further than that, and one of the earliest reasons for this holiday was for the celebration of homecoming. Safe homecoming was not something to be taken for granted, way back when.

This past weekend I guess you could say that we celebrated both. Although a safe homecoming is much more certain these days, it is not always so certain that all of the kids in the family, and their loved ones, can make it home all at once. It is certainly something to be treasured, and something to be celebrated with a feast. And mom sure did deliver on the feast. Thanks for a great weekend everyone!



There were no photos snapped while all of the family was around, but on a sunny Sunday afternoon, mom, dad, Anna, Patrik and I headed out for a coastal walk at Neck Point.


There was some goofing around with morfar,


and of course with pappa.



Neck Point Park is located in the city, but you feel like you could be on the wild west coast of the island. There is not a sign of the city anywhere.




Anna soaked up some time with "momo" and "fofa", and so did we.



Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

Mamma's Little Helper

It's time to make pancakes for brunch, and mom needs some help. Anna to the rescue!

Happy Birthday Talia

Anna's friend Talia, from daycare, turned 2 just a couple of weeks after Anna, and we joined her for her birthday party. It was a lovely sunny day sandwiched in between a whole lot of rainy ones, and we thoroughly enjoyed Talia's back yard. All of Anna's daycare friends were there, and it was so fun to get to see them interact. She spends so much time with them during the day when we don't have a chance to see them together...



Wagons, and


tricycles, and balloon blowers, and


birthday cake!!




Happy birthday sweet girl!

Stochmal Visit

We were very happy to host half of the Stochmal clan a couple of weeks ago, when Michael was over for a conference and Monica and Kerstin decided to join him in the big city. There never seems to be enough time to visit everyone when we make our short weekend trips over to Nanaimo, and so it was a great chance to really visit.


Anna had a blast playing with Kerstin. There were many many squeals of joy coming from Anna that weekend. (I love that sound!)

The slackline was set up in the backyard, and everyone gave it a whirl. When Patrik put up the laundry pole a few months ago, he also put in a second short post that provided a second anchor for our slackline. Considering how soggy our backyard gets in three out of four seasons, this may have been the last go of the year...








You are welcome back anytime, but next time you'll have to bring the boys!