In February we went on our annual Richard Sleigh Ride! This is something we do every year and every year I love it just a little more. There is something to be said about traditions. It certainly helps that the Richard clan are top shelf people!
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| It took Ruby a couple minutes to warm up to the idea! |
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| Rare family photo! |
Such a great day! Hope there will be snow this year so we can go again!
In March, Mark and I took a little trip to Toronto to see Mr. Billy Joel! (Thank you Nana and Pepe for watching our kiddos!) Billy Joel has always been on my "must see" list and seeing as he was just a little plane ride away, I figured it was time! He was even more than I expected..I have never had a feeling like that at a concert before in my life. Magic. Pure magic. I enjoyed watching the people around me almost as much as the show. The energy was something I will not soon forget. And besides being incredibly talented, Mr. Billy Joel is funny. I like funny.
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| Mark and I before the show! |
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| We had great seats!! Billy Joel, you are still rock and roll to me! |
In June our boy graduated from Pre K ! We were so proud of everything he had accomplished at Rainbow, and eternally grateful for the care he was given.
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| Here he is with his tutor Robyn, she was as proud of him as we were! |
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| "I did it! I'm so excited I need to flap! " |
Forever grateful to Robyn, Rebecca, Nicole, and all the staff at Rainbow!
In May, Porter turned 5! I already shared a few pics from that day, but we had Robyn ( Porter's tutor is also an excellent photographer!) here taking photos and they were not ready when I shared , so here are a few of my faves!
The summer breezed by, we started our summer off with a little trip to Moncton courtesy of RCC! We spent the day at the zoo, then back to the hotel at Crystal Palace for fun times at the pool! The bosses even came along and let us have a quiet dinner out while they took the kids to Crystal Palace! Overall it was a great trip, however, not much sleep as Porter was waaaaayyyy too excited to sleep! The pool was just a few feet away, I mean, who can sleep knowing that happiness is just outside your door?
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We got to the beach a few times, spent a LOT of time at parks, and took a few trips to Shining Waters. Every year I like that place more and more...a fenced in kiddie pool complete with mini waterslides...it's like they made it for us!
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| When I look at this I can hear him squealing with delight! |
Then back to school for TWO of us this year! Porter started Kindergarten! I shared a pic already but here is another! There he is, my big boy, with his first of TWO broken limbs this fall. Poor little guy. Even that experience has shown me how far we have come! He was beyond brave. Now if I can just stop this fearless wonder from climbing things he shouldn't!
Kindergarten is going even better than I expected. He is learning so much! He knows so many letters and is picking them out in places completely by himself! Just the other day I caught him saying the letters D. O. R. A. while looking at Ruby's Dora toothbrush. What's really neat is that I assumed the letters were on the toothbrush, nope, they're not, he just knew that is how you spell it! He can also spell his name orally and count to 10! And I am positive he knows so many more that we have just yet to see yet! Not too shabby..and we still have more than half the year left!
Miss Ruby turned 3 in October and went for her 3 year assessment at the IWK as part of the research study we have been participating in since Ruby was 6 months old. She did fantastic! In fact, I don't mean to brag, well, ok, maybe I do...but the head researcher shared her IQ with us, her score was 127! Three more points would put her in the superior range! Our girl is smart as a whip! We knew that already though:)
Then came November and a little trip with some fabulous girls to Miami! We were celebrating turning 40.( I'm not quite there yet, but I will be this coming year!) It turned out to be one of the best times of my life! I have been blessed to have the very best friends throughout my life, some I rarely see but they know who they are...and some I get to see a little bit more, but now that most of us are Moms, it gets a little harder to just "hang out"! So we took full advantage of just relaxing and made so many fun memories that I'm sure we will be talking about for years to come! Here are a few pics!
Our hotel! It was soooo nice, if you are ever heading to Miami..Grand Beach Hotel Surfside comes HIGHLY recommended! What a spot!
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| We spent lots of our time eating! |
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| But most of our time was spent in this little piece of heaven! |
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| I was even a Captain of a boat for 30 seconds! haha |
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| One of the highlights, having the time to appreciate the overwhelming beauty of this Earth! |
Thanks for the memories ladies! We shall do it again!
And that brings us to December! Christmas went well considering Porter and Mark had a pretty nasty stomach flu for most of it, Ruby and I were lucky and got off with colds. Santa was good to us again this year and there was just a little more excitement than last year!
On New Years Eve we took the kids to the CUP for a free New Years Eve swim and then headed into the Bouncy Castle room. Porter shockingly had no interest in the Bouncy Castles ( who is this kid??) so we headed over to the balloon animals which were a huge hit! Porter has been way more excited over the blow up balloon sword he got than any of his presents from Santa! And Ruby loved her pink balloon doggy until we got home and then it wasn't allowed to come in the house. Something about balloons Ruby isn't quite sure of :) We had the kids in bed early and Mark and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home.
Overall, it has been a pretty good year. Of course , I've only shared the highs..there were many lows but just going to focus on the good stuff, if only we could do that all of the time!
For any of you that still bother to check this blog, I wish you the very best in the New Year. I will be praying for good health and good memories for all of you!
