Flower Headbands

Green & Gray Boys Shoes

Lady Bugs!

New and improved

I've made the original pair, but machine stitched and doubled-up on the felt and I like it much better. I'm still going to make some with leather soles as a friend is sending me some leather scraps to try!

10 months (Yesterday)

10 months have definitely gone by fast! Aubrey has become a very happy yet vocal little girl who is constantly entertained by any moving particle. She's not crawling yet (and that's fine by us as we haven't replaced our unsafe stair railing!). She does have 6 teeth with one on the way! She loves playing peek-a-boo with a blanket. She pulls it over her head and wiggles in anticipation for someone to ask "where's Aubrey?" in which she pulls it off her face and laughs. She still smiles at every stranger who stops to smile or say hi.

Finally Something for the Boys!

2nd Pair!

These are double the thickness so a little tougher, still hand sewn. I'm working on a pair of machine sewn shoes. If anyone knows where I can get nice felt colours, please let me know.

Finally - a pair a shoes that work!

After many attempts at making baby shoes, I've figured it out thanks to Martha Stewart! You may recall my first attempt which was a knitted bootie that Jared likes to call a steam ship, thus I never made a 2nd shoe! Then the next one was a felt shoe that I tried to make the pattern for myself and looked like an elf shoe because the top was larger then the bottom making it curl once sewn together! Then I tried making a sandal out of felt, which would have worked if I used stiff felt. So now I have 3 individual shoes without a match until now. I looked up the pattern on Martha Stewarts website and adapted it into my own creation. They actually fit Aubrey. Now my plan is to make some more durable prototypes using double thicknesses, and using a sewing machine instead of by hand. I have found some pretty adorable shoes online that have inspired me.

Hot Springs

The rest of the time we were in Castlegar we did a number of things. Along with going to the lake Jared and Curtis kayaked the Columbia river, Bonny and I made hair clips a couple of times, we went into Nelson and did some shopping and then took a 30 min drive from Nelson and went to the Ainsworth Hot Springs, I didn't take my camera so here is a shot from their website.

2nd Part of our Vacation: Castlegar, BC

We drove from Salmon Arm to Castelgar on Sunday and stopped at this viewpoint for a break.

One of the days we were there we went to Nancy Green Lake where there was a sandy beach to play in and go kayaking.

Jared took Amber out in the kayak (she's sitting in the storage compartment).

Curtis took Kaleb out.

Eli, Jared and Aubrey

We started a short walk around the lake and this was at the start of the trail.

Aubrey was over tired and didn't like being in the backpack as she couldn't rest her head.

and when we came back to the beach she crashed.

The cousins starting with Aubrey, Eli, Amber and Kaleb.

Our Vacation: Starting at White Lake, BC

White Lake is in between the Shuswap Lakes near Salmon Arm: This is the view from the cabin

The Cabins: Mom, Dad, Jared, Aubrey and I shared the one on the far left.

It took forever to get a clear shot of a dragon fly as they don't sit still very long (or hover I should say) so it's not the clearest but the best I could do!

There were about 5-6 turtles that would regularly come out and play.

Jared tried to fish off his kayak, unfortunately he had no luck by kayak or boat! But my dad caught at least 6!

My mom was reluctant to try kayaking but once she did she loved it!

we be jammin

Last night Jared and I made apricot jam with the apricots we bought in Keremeos on our way home from Castlegar. Of course Jared had to play the Bob Marley song "Jammin" while we made Jam!

Symphony Splash

Jared had to work on Sunday and was off at 5:30 pm and then had to work security from 7:30 until 10:30 pm as the hotel is not open to the public during the Splash so the doors had to be manned to only let guests in and out. So I brought some dinner and we ate it on the lawn. Then when Jared went back to work I took Aubrey for a walk around town to get her to sleep and headed back. I was able to sit with her while she slept near Jared's post. She woke up just before the fireworks were to go off, which I was happy about because I wanted her to see them but thought she'd miss them. She watched them all in awe and her little legs kicked in excitement.

Parksville

Aubrey and I went to Parksville with Mike, Owen, Julianne and her sister and 2 daughters on Saturday. It was a lot of driving, but the weather was nice and the water was warm. The kids had fun playing in the playground, water park and the beach.

oh the faces!

Finally the pool is up . . . kinda!

During the first hot days of summer I really wanted a pool in the backyard and we borrowed one from Jared's dad but it didn't get set up until now - well, Jared filled it up full then we went out and it had poured out as it wasn't level so it only had a bit of water left in it. It was perfect for Aubrey to sit in and play though. Her first experience in water besides baths was at Beaver Lake last week, but she didn't like being dangled over the water and it scared her. But she loved sitting in the pool and splashing. Now the pool is moved to inside the gazebo area on the pavers, it's still not perfectly level but good enough to keep the water in. Now we just have to hope for hot weather so it heats up and warrants using.

A hot day

It has been so hot in our house during the heat wave that I would go for air conditioned drives so Aubrey could nap. I thought it would be cooler to walk along Dallas Rd. as there's always a breeze off the ocean - but that was not the case! It was very hot walking from Clover Pt. to the breakwater. We went through Beacon Hill Park on the way back and had lunch and took a quick visit to the petting zoo.

Canada Day