I thought April was supposed to mean warmer weather?! That is NOT the case this year! It's not freezing, but there is definitely not a ton of sunshine and t-shirts day. Ugh! But we still try to get outside as often as possible. Q and I headed to Kin Beach in Chemainus... its been way too long since we have been there! It is our favourite place and the biggest reason we miss living in Chemainus. When we got there, Tamara was there with her sister and Sietsa and Gerrit! Awesome! So the kids played and I got to chat with some friends! One of the coolest things that North Cowichan is doing these days is these "Play Boxes". They have them at certain parks, like this one, and they have a combination lock on them. You email them and they give you the combo for both locks. Once you are inside, you write your name on the little sheet, and you have access to all the sports equipment and toys inside! The kids loved it! So cool! The guy that emailed me back said that they will be adding more things as the spring/summer gets going.
Youth group on Tuesday saw some of the kids having to eat some gross baby food.. .what troopers! It is so weird this year not planning the events, and just showing up to lead. But it is pretty fun to not have the responsibility and to just get to lead. Love these kids
Sweet Gabi! She is so close to graduation! I soak in every Tuesday with her, knowing that soon she is done! Crazy.
Grandpa Neil came to visit for a few days! He took us for breakfast on Thursday to Owl's Nest so we could have their amazing eggs benny! Quinny was most excited for this giant cup of hot chocolate haha! Thanks Grandpa!
It was really nice to spend the day together - he went with Jon and checked out Riot Brewery during nap time, and then he took my grocery shopping.... the best thing that both him and my mom do is fill our fridge/pantry with food when they come. Best parental gift! haha! We were going to go to the movies that night, but late afternoon Q all of a sudden was acting sick, out of nowhere. I didn't really believe her, and just thought she was grumpy (add that to the bad mom list haha....). She did complain a bit about her throat hurting, but then said it felt better after a while...hard to know when its real! So we decided to forgo the movie, and have a movie night at home instead. Neil said we should go get snacks, so him and I headed to go do that... and snacks we got! So many snacks. Best movie night ever! We got all our favourite treats. Love when parents come to town haha! He also bought Q the movie Sing, so we watched that. Such a great movie!
She was VERY excited about all the snacks. "Holy moly mom, this is more snacks that you ever let us buy!" Too true, kid!
Her and I made a bed on the floor and cuddled while watching the movie. Neil saw that I had microwave popcorn in my cupboard and had a total meltdown about it, informing me on all the horrible things in that stuff (he is right). So he also got us an air popper so that we could use our kernels haha! So here we are, eating the healthy air popped popcorn with no butter, just how we like it! (we put the salt and vinegar shaker on it... so good). Thank you Neil, for spoiling us with love and all food! We are very thankful for you!!!
Jon was leading worship at church on Good Friday, and mom was flying in, so Neil said he would go get her, which was so nice! I joked about hoping that they both make it back to town in one piece... b but in reality, I am thankful for how far their relationship has come since the divorce. They are very civil to one another, and can even joke around and have decent conversation. Time heals. They had pre-decided that since their trip overlapped for a few hours, they wanted to go in together and buy Q her first big kid bike. She is doing so well on her strider bike, and she can really fly on that thing! She plays with the neighbour kids, and the strider lets her keep up. But she has been asking to ride a bike like Abby does, so she was very excited about this prospect! We tried out a bunch of bikes, and we knew right away when she got on it that this was the right one. The way its shaped, she was able to peddle right away, and it has a bar in the back, and it was pretty pink! Perfect. I also love this picture. This is co-grandparenting done right. Love you guys so much for setting aside your own feelings in order to shower your granddaughter with love and be able to have you both with her.
Mom's flight actually came in late, and when Q woke up that morning, she really was sick. So I decided to take her to walk-in while we waited for Neil to get Mom. She was crying and whimpering lots, saying her throat and ear hurt so bad now. The doctor said she had a really bad ear/throat infection... ugh. I am sorry Quinny. She got the meds right away, and we noticed a difference pretty quickly. Neil took us all for lunch after we got the bike, and then headed home to let her ride her bike, which she did all afternoon!
So cute!
Neil headed down to Sooke to be with Steve for the weekend, and we coloured Easter Eggs that night. I haven't done this in quite a long time, but it is a long standing tradition in our family. My Grandma was actually home that same day, colouring eggs with Brooke/Alexis and Jace/Rayne. It was the first time Q has done it, and she loved it! So fun.
So happy that Grandma is here for a week! These two are hilarious together.
We got news that morning that Keith had died. He was in the hospital because he had internal bleeding and his organs were shutting down. Years of alcohol and drug abuse, I suppose. I mourned the loss of my uncle in my life 4 years ago when everything happened between him and Lauren. He had turned into a different person (drugs do that). But my heart just broke today for Jace and Rayne. He put them through SO much in the past few years, so many ups and downs... mostly downs. And now he is gone from their life and they no longer have a dad, at such young ages. It is heartbreaking. I called my brother and cried because it just makes me ache, thinking about Uncle Keith when Brandon and I were growing up... he was the best. We spent a huge amount of time at their house, and he was the fun one, and always had our backs. At my high school graduation, he stood up and hollered so loud, so proud to see me walking the stage with honours. It hurts to think that we got the best of him, that we have so many positive and fun and loving memories of him, and his own kids got the worst of him. He was in such a downward spiral for so long, that their memories are tainted. I just spent the whole day in prayer for everyone. I cannot handle being far away at time like this. It makes it excruciating. I talked to Lauren briefly. I was glad my mom was here, so that I had a piece of home with me, and could talk about things with her. The funeral wasn't going to be for another week and a bit, so she wasn't going to miss it by being here. We miss the man you were, Keith. We will tell your kids about all the great times, and we will always let them know how much you loved them, because you really did. You were an excellent uncle, and I am thankful for all the years I had you in my corner.
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