where to start...

The last few weeks have just flown by. Our vacation was wonderful, exciting, fun...yet somewhat bittersweet. I can't even begin to process it all right now, so here is the short version.

Vancouver doesn't feel like home anymore. The traffic is worse than I remembered. It just didn't feel like a 'fit' anymore.
However, Jen and Joe's place felt like home to us. Rob's sister and her hubby were so gracious to have us stay with them for our whole trip. It was so great to be at their place. In fact, the time we spent with them was a highlight of the trip. The kids got to play with their cousins (not to mention how great a 6 and 8 year old can be at 'babysitting' while the grown ups drink coffee in peace!!). The backyard had lots of fun things to do for our older 2, including a trampoline and swing set. Fun toys in the playroom, and a cousin who loved to dress up her younger cousins. We stayed up too late talking almost every night, and Jen watched the older kids a few times so we could get out more too. What a blessing they are!!

We attended Sean and Leslie's wedding. Beautiful day. It was so wonderful to share in their day, especially since both of us have known and loved them for so long. Leslie was a gorgeous bride, and Sean looks great in a kilt!

Rob baptised our niece, Katie. Despite the rumour mill working overtime, we did NOT baptise Ruby at the same time. Rob did a great job with the services on Sunday, especially given that he was doing so in the church he grew up in. As he put it, "it was really strange administering communion to people who just see 'little Robbie' when they look at me". Then a huge bbq in my MIL's backyard. So many people came out, it was good to see them...even though we didn't get as much time with everyone as we may have wanted. There were so many kids there too, things have really changed in our group of friends in the last 10 years or so.

Granville Island with the kids and my dad. That was nice, and I also got some great birthday and Christmas ideas for my kids. Met up with my sister, and her dogs. Her puppies aren't used to kids, my kids aren't used to dogs. We stayed for 15 minutes then went for supper. Not the most successful pairing.

Had a nice visit with T and baby L. He is just full of life! I really don't know of another baby who is quite so engaging with people at his age. Little extrovert. It was so neat to spend time with such an old friend, but now both of us as mothers.

Went to Science World with Katie and her family. That was fun. My kids seemed to really like her boys a lot. All of the kids seemed to handle the day well, despite us parents keeping them out way past naptime. :) Great to finally meet you, Katie!

Shopping was done too. I got my new glasses, found a lovely outfit for the wedding (on sale no less, I haven't lost my touch!), picked up some things on our buy list. IKEA with Jen and all 5 of our kids, and we all survived. Found some great options for the girls bedroom. Got Norah her shoes for fall.

Dinner with P and T, and got to see their new home. Spent some days with Rob's parents. Visited J and V's new home, and got to spend a chunk of time with Katie, the youngest of all the grandkids on Rob's side. Went to our previous church, where I was thrilled to hang out with the kids in Sunday school, because some of Isaac's old buddies were there. Rob got dragged in to the youth study and really enjoyed seeing some of his 'old kids'. Lunch with M and M, then supper out at my aunt and uncles, along with my 2 cousins and their hubbies - and their kids! K's little R and my Ruby are only 2 weeks apart, but hadn't met yet.

More visiting, including a day at camp. More on that to come. It just felt like we did so much, yet not enough. I wish we had more time to see more people, to spend more one-on-one time with them. 2.5 weeks goes too fast...