John Harvey Photo

August 2014

Go to Slide Show Smaller Images The Summer Travel Month



Grandma's House

  Claira Happy To Be Sliding
The goal is for our kids to see their grandparents for at least two days a month.  We live in Vancouver, they live in Victoria so it seems reasonable that some together weekends should be spent there, some in Vancouver.  August's get together is in Victoria.  We took the ferry over on Saturday morning (less crazy, but still packed) and arrived in time for nap.  After dinner we went to McMinn Park for a good play.  Nara really likes firepoles right now and Claira has graduated from exclusively swing to swing and slide. 
 


  Nara At The Bottom Of Fire PoleNara Hanging From Bar See FingersNara Hanging From The BarClaira At The Top Of The Slide

Fun on the Deck


Claira On Her Tricycle
We live in a Condo.  My parents have a back yard and large deck accessible from the living room.  Given that it is beautiful weather outside, the kids spent as much time in the back yard as they could.  My Dad is growing his collection of small people bikes and Claira really likes bubbles.  Helen seems to have cleaned out a toy store of their bubble products - one down side of a deck (as opposed to grass) is the deck gets slippery when you break a lot of bubbles over it.



Claira Popping BubbleClaira Reaching Up For BubbleClaira With ABubble In Front
   
Claira With Her Feet Off The GroundNara And Claira On The RockNara On The Rock
 

Time Not at Home

Nara On Top Of Mount Douglas
Claira takes a few hour nap every afternoon.  Nara doesn't nap anymore.  Nara and I often go out on little adventures.  Today we went up to the top of Mount Doug.  Nara quite enjoys climbing bits of rock and I was quite surprised to find butterflies flying around the peak.  Claira has a scary habit of running away from us (and into trouble) to make her life more interesting - there are too many steep slopes for Claira up here.

Anise Swallowtail On The Rock

Another morning we went to a Parent and Child class at Swan Lake Nature House.  This week was snake class - I was surprised to see 4 girls and a boy in the class.  The instructor showed four different snakes - a garter snake, a corn snake, a ball python and a milk snake.  Only the garter snake is local - the other three snakes are from pet stores.  Funny enough - all of the snakes were found around Swan lake.  People "drop off" their pets in the park and eventually the park staff have recovered them.  They are now part of a touring exhibit - the fee's for the class probably pay for some of their mouse-icles.

Nara Touching ACorn Snake Nara Holding ABall Python

Wild Carrot Arching Into Birds Nest Wild Carrot Undershot
Sometimes Nara just likes to colour or hang out with Grandma.  During on nap, I walked over to Outerbridge park for a walk around.  Begining of August, it is dry and the pond levels are low. 


Grandfathers 90th Birthday

Pine White Being Eaten By Spider
Yes, my grandfather just turned 90.  It took a bit of work, but almost all of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren gathered in the same place to wish him a happy birthday.  My uncle kindly offered to host an afternoon BBQ in the front garden of his lovely home.

Cabbage White Feeding On FlowerCabbage White Flying In
 
Instagram For Sonia And Keira
There are currently 6 great grandchildren, all within 5 years of each other.   The youngest is Kiera - just a little over one year old.  She is currently more of a "talker" than a "walker" - she would imitate words as she heard them. 

Keira And Chrissy Keira Pulling Chrissys Hair

Claira With Her Fingers In The Pond Claira Grabbing For Blackberry
Claira is next youngest at just over two.   She has an older sister Nara who is 4.
Ring Around The Roses

 
Lexi Making AFace
At two and half is Lexi Mae.  She knows her way around the yard and really enjoyed having other kids to play with.

Lexi Lying Down In The Grass


James Waving From The Back Of The Wagon
Next is James at three.  He has an older brother who is five and really doesn't like having his photo taken.

Williams Family On The Grass

The Ice Cream Bar
Dinner was great - smokies and burgers on the BBQ with a great spread of salads and sides.  For dessert we had a large birthday cake and a Ice Cream Bar staffed by Shauna and Chrissy.  After dinner we started putting together the combinations of people for group photos.



Our Family And The GrandparentsJohn Helen Nara Claira

Grandparents And Their ChildrenGrandparents With GrandchildrenGrandma And Her Great Grandchildren
 
 
Justin Starting The Pull
I wasn't sure when the wagon was going to come out, but I knew it would eventually.  Every year the wagon gets full of kids and pulled around the yard.  This year it was "feats of strength" time as the grand kids pulled the great grand kids around the yard. 

Justin Taking The Boys For A Wagon RideMarcus James And Lexi In The Wagon

Nara At The Back Of The Wagon
Thanks everyone for coming out and putting up with all the picture taking.

Kye Bay

  Standing On Posts
Last year we got some nice family portraits on the beach so I wanted to try again this year.   Turns out it was really bright sunlight which didn't lead to good family photos.  This beach is really sandy when the tide goes out but we seem to have trouble scheduling to hit the opportune tides.  That said, we still had a good time.


Claira Making Sand AngelGrandma And Nara On LogNara Standing On ALog
 
 

VanDusen

Parents have a lot of different strategies to make dinner with kids less crazy.  One of our tricks is to tire the kids out with a walk or trip to the playground before a dinner out.  We have a VanDusen annual pass so it's not so hard to just drop in walk around.  This time we were lucky and stumbled into an owl.  We almost missed it - a woman said there was an owl ahead but wasn't very specific about where.  We actually walked past it before giving up and checking our tracks.  Glad we found it.

Barred Owl Triptych




Marcus James And Lexi In The Wagon
Person: James, Lexi May, Marcus
Tags: wagon
Claira At The Top Of The Slide
The Ice Cream Bar
Person: Chrissy, Shauna
Our Family And The Grandparents
Person: Claira, Edna, Helen, Nara, Philip, John
Nara On Top Of Mount Douglas
Person: Nara
Wild Carrot Undershot
Species: Daucus carota (wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace, bird's nest)
Tags: Outerbridge Park, plant, underneath
Nara At The Back Of The Wagon
Person: Nara
John Helen Nara Claira
Person: Claira, Helen, John, Nara
Tags: balloon
Ring Around The Roses
Grandma And Her Great Grandchildren
Person: Claira, Edna, James, Lexi May, Marcus, Nara, Jessica
Claira Popping Bubble
Person: Claira
Nara Hanging From The Bar
Person: Nara
Tags: McMinn Park, playground
Barred Owl Triptych
Species: Strix varia (Barred Owl)
Tags: bird, triptych, VanDusen
Anise Swallowtail On The Rock
Species: Papilio zelicaon (Anise Swallowtail)
Tags: butterfly, insect, Mount Douglas
Nara At The Bottom Of Fire Pole
Person: Nara
Justin Starting The Pull
Person: Justin, Marcus
Williams Family On The Grass
Person: James, Marcus, Diana, Jeff
Justin Taking The Boys For A Wagon Ride
Person: James, Justin, Marcus
Tags: wagon
Nara And Claira On The Rock
Person: Claira
Nara Standing On ALog
Person: Nara
Altitude: 10m (32 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Kye Beach
Grandparents And Their Children
Person: Edna, Philip
Nara Hanging From Bar See Fingers
Instagram For Sonia And Keira
Person: Keira, Sonia
Claira Reaching Up For Bubble
Person: Claira
Keira Pulling Chrissys Hair
Claira With Her Fingers In The Pond
Claira Making Sand Angel
Person: Claira
Altitude: 5m (16 feet)
Location: Go To...
James Waving From The Back Of The Wagon
Person: James
Lexi Lying Down In The Grass
Person: Lexi May
Grandma And Nara On Log
Person: Janet, Nara
Altitude: 13m (42 feet)
Location: Go To...
Keira And Chrissy
Person: Chrissy, Keira
Nara Touching ACorn Snake
Person: Nara
Tags: animal touching, Swan Lake
Claira With Her Feet Off The Ground
Person: Claira
Tags: levitating
Standing On Posts
Person: Claira, Nara
Tags: Kye Beach
Cabbage White Feeding On Flower
Species: Pieris rapae (Cabbage White)
Tags: butterfly, flower, insect, invasive
Grandparents With Grandchildren
Person: Edna, Helen, John, Justin, Kayla, Philip, Chrissy, DavidJ, Diana, Jeff, Jessica, Keira, Shauna, Shelton, Sonia
Claira With ABubble In Front
Person: Claira
Nara On The Rock
Person: Nara
Claira Grabbing For Blackberry
Person: Claira
Tags: blackberries
Pine White Being Eaten By Spider
Species: Neophasia menapia (Pine White)
Tags: butterfly
Nara Holding ABall Python
Person: Nara
Tags: animal touching, Swan Lake
Claira Happy To Be Sliding
Person: Claira
Lexi Making AFace
Person: Lexi May
Claira On Her Tricycle
Person: Claira
Wild Carrot Arching Into Birds Nest
Species: Daucus carota (wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace, bird's nest)
Tags: Outerbridge Park, plant
Cabbage White Flying In
Species: Pieris rapae (Cabbage White)
Tags: butterfly, flower, in flight, insect, invasive
Tags: butterfly(4), insect(3), Kye Beach(2), wagon(2), invasive(2), flower(2)
People: Claira(13), Nara(13), Marcus(5), James(5), Lexi May(4), Edna(4)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > August 2014

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