Winter in June

I'm really going to try to get a few blog posts done this year. I signed on tonight and discovered that I started a blog from our ski trip to Sun Peaks in March. But unfortunately, the only thing I managed to get finished was the title. However, I think our camping trip in June is recent enough that I can post a few words and photos.

Since we had such a fantastic time camping at Galiano last year (despite the puppy chaos), we decided to do it again. We headed off on a weekend with questionable weather and a very full van. So full in fact that there was no room for me. Luckily at least half the trip was by ferry so grabbing my bike and spinning up to the ferry and then grinding over a few of Galiano's super steep hills wasn't too tall of an order. Luckily we weren't heading to Tofino.

Once we arrived the kids set about their passion du jour, catching crabs. Before long we had a bucket of tiny crabs for sale at our campsite. That is, until the park warden informed us of the illegality of procuring and selling crabs in a provincial park, even by small children. The quick thinker that she is, T quickly came up with an alternative. 

Since we were pretty busy setting up camp and preparing for the rain that we knew was coming and managing Smokey, we let the kids go off exploring on their own. They weren't gone too long when they returned literally covered in mud from their knees down. Sticky, black tidal mud. They were mildly traumatized by thinking they were going to be stuck in "quick sand" the entire night, despite taking care of each other and being resourceful rescuers. We weren't allowed to take any photos since T claimed she had no need to remember this event! So much for packing light. I've discovered we aren't at that stage yet since many unexpected things can still happen to clothes when traveling with kids, even when they are 8 and 11 years old. 

We got the site all tarped up and were pretty ready for the rain when it came. What we weren't really ready for was the wind and cold that settled in later in the weekend. Toques and puffy coats were appreciated and some time was spent just keeping warm in sleeping bags. 

We did take advantage of the reasonably warm and sunny windows with a little paddling and kayaking time.

Smokey showed that she has matured since last year. She didn't eat every seashell that she found, although large crabs are still on the menu. She also slept successfully with us in the tent - crate-free. She stayed in her own bed for the most part, but got up fairly regularly throughout the first night to lick us. Well, mostly she licked Greg whose head seemed most accessible. She also enjoyed jumping on and off the paddle board and only dumped me twice, and not when I had my wetsuit on. 

Lessons learned from this camping trip: 

1. Don't camp the second weekend in June since it tends to be horrid weather if this year and last year are any indication (they don't call it Juneuary for nothing);

2. Don't expect kids' clothes to last more than one day;

3. Don't sell crabs in a provincial park;

4. Always wear a wetsuit;

5. There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing (so said a wise friend of mine). 

2017: The year we didn't blog.

Happy Birthday Grandma C!

Grandmas B & C missed the blog this past year. And I missed having the time and space to reflect, look at pictures and write a bit. 2018 is here and my resolution is to try and figure out how to not be so busy. Short of quitting a job or giving away the dog, I don't think it is going to happen. But like children, puppies do grow up....so it will get better. Well, it has to.

2017 - let's hit the highlights:

We ended 2016 and started 2017 in Calgary with family and old friends. It was a short but fantastic trip. And we met our newest family member - adorable Alec, who by now is walking and almost 1.

We went skiing at Mt. Washington a couple of times and the kids really mastered pizza-french fries and enjoyed themselves so much that we decided to become a skiing family. 

In April Kai turned 10, Grandma and Poppa Mike came to visit and we embarked on our craziest and wildest adventure yet...becoming a family with a dog. Kai's long awaited birthday wish came true and we traveled to Vancouver and brought an extra living being home with us. 

This event really eclipsed all others this year in terms of how life changing it has been for our family in both good and "challenging" ways. Smokey is well and truly a big part of our family now and a blog will be written soon to describe the crazy first few months (by Greg). We need a concrete reminder in case we ever begin to weaken against Teia's perpetual requests for another pup. Cause when you look at Smokey's adorable and innocent little puppy face and you're a bit fuzzy on the actual details, you think you just might do it again. 

May was a super busy, super fun month. Or at least I remember it that way but we were pretty sleep deprived with our new puppy baby. We had a long weekend visit from Mike, Aynsley, Alec and Malcolm where more special cousin memories were made. 

Then a week later we went to my new favorite campsite on Galiano Island where I got to show my family yet another one of my favorite BC places. This was an extra special weekend since we camped  with our good friends Dave, Olivia, Sacha and Noah, and Granddad came along. This turned out to be not only a fun, but absolutely essential part of our trip, since handling camping with a 12 week old labrador puppy required 3 adults. Whether it was fighting off the mobs of her fan club, taking her for 5 am walks, pulling seashells out of her mouth, or keeping children away from her lest they lose their fingers, we were busy - as well as all that other camping stuff! But I can't wait to go back. 

We'll just pretend it was all serene like and that we did enjoy this sunset. I think clearly it was taken by someone else. 

We camped again in June. And managed to survive without Granddad. We got to use our new super tent and were close enough to home that we actually went home for a few hours to shower and warm up from the torrential rain. 

This is during camping intermission after we showed and warmed up. Clearly some beings were tired. 

In June another school year ended and we kept up the tradition of going to the vet on the last day of school since Smokey got good and sick. It lasted about 36 hours and then she was better. That is a tradition I'd like to skip for next year. 

We headed off to Hornby Island in July for our 3rd annual trip there. We rented a dog-friendly cottage this time and did all the usual Hornby things with Smokey tagging along - biking, paddling, swimming, hiking, beach combing. We really wore her out and this trip marked a turning point in her relationship with Kai. He began to trust that she might stop biting us all. We also ran into some old friends at the Cardboard Bakery pizza in the orchard night because Hornby is just small like that. We reconnected and Smokey and the kids made some new friends. So many wonderful Hornby memories again, so many pictures to share, but this one kind of sums it up:

Okay, maybe one more......

August was a busy month. We had a visit from Grandma C, we replaced our leaky roof (well the roofing crew did), as well as our hot tub deck (Greg did). I went on my annual mountain biking trip with friends, this year to Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast. That trip went a little bit sideways with one friend ending up in Emergency and with new resolve not to ride her bike off stunts, so the riding was cut a bit short. 

We closed out August and summer with a last minute camping trip to China Beach. The super tent rose again and Smokey proved herself to be emerging as an excellent camping/hiking dog, except when neighboring campers use the outhouse in the night. 

September brought exciting new challenges for Teia. She started at a new school and began her career as a hockey player. 

Kai's school year was off to a rocky start with multiple teacher changes. We've been riding out those challenges ever since. The kids also joined us at a couple of cyclocross races. Oh, and Greg got to do this.....

Wouldn't shooting cobs of corn be one of your year highlights?

October was its usual busy self. Granddad came to visit and helped us efficiency-ize our laundry room by adding a sink, counter and cupboards and stacking the washer and dryer. A major 2017 improvement! It's not quite finished but that should happen sometime in 2018. Granddad did help us to finish a 2015 project while he was here. Hopefully we won't be 2 years behind schedule on this one. He was also around to help Teia celebrate turning 8. She's still a horse nut so this year's party was a trail ride with mom, Kai, and her friend Olivia and then a horse themed party with more friends back at our house. Judging by all the smiles I think she had fun. 

For Hallowe'en Kai returned to being boxed in. This time as a dump truck. Greg performed his usual box miracle, this time in record time (less than 2 days I think?) and Teia was a horse in a borrowed costume. 

In November Smokey got spayed. It was relatively uneventful compared to Snuggles' spay so we were all relieved. We did beg the vet for some sedatives which she reluctantly dispensed, but they really did save us since Smokey felt pretty much back to normal in less than 24 hrs. 

We also got snow! Right after Hallowe'en, extremely strange for Victoria. It was pretty while it lasted but no one was really ready for it....yet. 

And finally December 2017. Feels like just yesterday ;-) To be honest it really was kind of a blur. Christmas arrived before we were ready and plenty of things didn't get done on time. But the tree was put up and Santa showed up even though things like Christmas cards, calendars done on time, Gingerbread houses and home baked cookies just didn't happen this year. What did happen was snow on Christmas Eve, pretty unbelievable again for Victoria, and such a huge treat for our two littles. It melted pretty quickly on Christmas Day but the kids made sure to make the most of it and brought some down to the beach. 

As per previous years, the kids were most excited to see what Santa brought for the animals, in particular Smokey, whose stocking contents were dumped over our sleeping bodies early Christmas morning. We had a lovely day with just our little family, heading out only to take Smokey for a romp on the beach and for an after dinner walk downtown to see the lights, because she hadn't had a chance yet. There were plenty of dump trucks and horsey gifts and mom and dad weren't forgotten either. 

We celebrated a Halifax NYE cuddled up in front of our wonderful new wood fire insert all warm and cozy. And look at these photos. What a way to end the year. Successful bonding of a boy and his birthday present. 

Happy New Year to All and to All a Good Night. 

Not A Box!

This post was drafted more than a month ago. Time to post it before Christmas Eve! We cannot miss documenting a Fennell Hallowe'en that did not involve Dad creating a cardboard box creation. He was quite nearly giddy about it. A few months ago I was quite sure he'd be creating his most complicated cardboard box costume, yet - The Victoria Hippo Bus. For those not familiar this is a school bus converted into an amphibious tourist vehicle and decorated to look a bit like a hippo.

But the hippo bus interest has lead to a passionate interest in real hippos - the flesh and blood kind that live in Africa and at the Zoo. Did you know that hippos are the most dangerous animal in Africa? The hippo knowledge in this household has increased exponentially in the last little while. So when Kai announced that he wished to be a hippo for hallowe'en, we set about searching for a costume. It was surprisingly easy and we ordered a fuzzy, baby blue hippo costume direct from Japan. It was reasonably priced too, until it showed up and we had to pay the custom's tariff.

So after 4 years of being boxed in for Hallowe'en, and one year of being the sky tower and wearing a converted laundry basket, Kai was not only able to move about but he was adorable and soft and fuzzy. Even he appreciated the change and commented on how easy it was going to be to sit down this year! We were thrilled that he could see his feet when going up and down stairs while trick or treating and the costume actually improved his skating at the costume skate this year, rather than making it even harder. Added bonus, costume is so furry and soft that it is now his warmest pair of PJs.

Now miss T has been a variety of things over the years: cat, unicorn, princess, mermaid, lion, even Elsa. This year she was planning on being Jane Goodall but made a last minute switch to be another one of her animal loving hero's - Steve Irwin. This costume was definitely a parent favorite since other than buying her some pants and a safari vest, we didn't have to do anything. Just select a few reptilian creatures from T's giant animal collection and throw on an aussie accent and she was good to go. She might have been the only kid in Victoria saying "Trick or treat mate."

Peach is 7.

Our baby girl has turned 7. Somehow I still think of both of ours as little tiny kidlets but then I see their long legs and watch them reading books and doing all kinds of things and realize that they really are growing up. Its exciting, fulfilling, fun, and a little bit heart wrenching. I'm so glad they are still cuddly, even if it is getting harder and harder to pick them up. Just tonight Kai wanted a carry to bed so I proved to myself that I can still carry him, even if he nearly comes up to my chin.

Last year was the bunny birthday. This year T has been all about horses. And just like she negotiated for a bunny for her 6th birthday, she has somehow negotiated for a horse for her 10th. Or at least she thinks she has. We have never agreed to this proposition but she is full steam ahead. The big positive is that it has turned our little spender into a saver. She even avoids toy stores knowing that she'll be tempted to spend some of her precious horse fund. For her birthday this year she wanted only horse stuff, money for her horse fund and a horse party.

She's been riding at a stable since the summer and so we booked her party there. The big day arrived, in the midst of 3 days of storm warnings. We were all battening down the hatch preparing for the worst storm since 1962, according to weather reports. But like a lot of things, it was all about the hype and we were underwhelmed by the remnants of Typhoon Songda. We had some rain, we had some wind, but it wasn't the worst we've seen, even this year. It did prompt us to make some room in the garage to actually get the van inside for the first time since we moved in 10 months ago. Eventually our luck with windstorms and tree boughs and cars in the driveway is going to run out.

But T's party was postponed nonetheless. She was a rockstar about it and lucky for us, most of her friends could make it a day later once the storm had blown over. Unlucky for us is that we were registered for a crossfondo: an endurance cyclocross race, for that same morning. So Greg and I arrived at T's party muddy, smelly and a little bit exhausted. But if you have to arrive dirty to your child's birthday party, best it be in a barn.

The party started with some children and goats and sheep romping in a field. That was enjoyed by all until some of the sheep got a little overly frisky and started leaping nearly over children and throwing themselves into fences.

Then we moved onto brushing and putting stickers on some dear patient mini horses who nearly fell asleep amidst all the loving attention being lavished on them.

The big event was the pony ride. Some of the kids had never ridden a horse before so it was pretty exciting for them. Kai was stoked to be riding again, his first time since our last spring in San Diego. T enjoyed wearing her very own riding helmet which we'd given her as an early birthday gift. She loved that helmet so much that she wore it for about 5 hours straight the day before.

Of course horseback riding was followed by a horse cake and some very loud singing. But a good time was had by all. I should mention this was a twoonie party, so the horse fund was well supplemented. And showers at 7 pm that night felt so good. 

T's actual birthday fell on a school day. She had a birthday sleepover with her brother and came home after school to open presents that she had requested be hidden for her. She opened her new equestrian outfit, hoof pick, horses brushes, horse books, more contributions to her horse fund, and to her delight, some horse lego as well. She had a great day at school reveling in being the birthday girl and then headed out to her riding lesson after school. Our lovely neighbors made her birthday cupcakes so we really didn't have to do anything extra to make her day special. She was beaming from start to finish.  

I don't know if this horse thing will stick but for now it is certainly one of T's #1 passions. She is a tenacious and persistent little one, so perhaps there is a horse somewhere in her future. Its hard to convey in a blog post how much we love our Peach. She adds a special sparkle to everyday. I'm excited for her future; she has big ideas and big dreams and seems to already know what is important in life. But for now, we're enjoying her just turned 7 year old self who insists on reading her comics at the dinner table, never cleans up after her creative art storms, has befriended all of the neighbors (and their pets), is busy building a beaver dam on the school playground, and is the only one in our family who can catch and pick up Snuggles. Best. Girl. Ever. Happy 7th Birthday! 

Misadventures in Bunny Parenting

A few months ago Snuggles, our bunny, got her outside home when Greg spent a few weekends building this:

He even roofed it in cedar shingles. Quite a shack for a bunny who cost $25. Snuggles settled in quite well and somehow, in negotiations about prolonging the purchase of a puppy, we somehow agreed/offered to purchase another $25 bunny. We figured, the $500 shack is up, how hard could it be to get another bunny.

So we got busy researching how to introduce a new bunny to a male bunny (a buck) already comfy in his abode (supposed to be easy). And we booked his neuter. The big day arrived and we took Snuggles to the vet for his snip. Shortly after I dropped him off my phone rang. Our randy little buck is actually a doe. So I agreed to a spay instead of a neuter b/c what choice did I have when our little pet was already laid out on the operating table? Strangely, it took me awhile to get used to the idea that he is actually a she. And I wondered how the kids would take it. Kai was astounded and kept saying to me "What the HECK???" While Teia took quite a long time to switch pronouns.

We picked our groggy bun up at the end of the day and took HER home with instructions to keep her fairly still and away from her incision for TEN days. Um, okay. By Friday morning (less than 2 days later) her incision looked like this.

So back to the vet we went (on the last day of school, as if it wasn't already emotional enough). This time they stitched poor Snugs up b/c I guess the glue they used the first time didn't stick that well. And we were sent home with a cone for her head and orders to buy "apple bitters" to spray "near the incision but not on it." Um, okay. Again. And we had to stop at the compounding pharmacy to pick up Snuggles' antibiotics b/c the vet decided she was infected. $25 bunny's original $150 procedure is now clocking in near $600. Cha-Ching!

So what did Snuggles, our "difficult bunny" (just ask the vet) think of all this? Well, drugged or not, she had that cone off before we were even back to our house. And apple bitters? Well apparently she'd rather be clean than avoid the taste of that stuff. So now to figure out how to keep a cone-less bunny who doesn't mind apple bitters from chewing on her incision and still work, and make dinner and take care of the kids etc. You kinda just gotta hope for the best.

Pretty soon her wound looked like this....kinda nasty.

But she was safely taking her sweet banana flavored antibiotic like a good bunny and otherwise seemed okay. The vet was available to view emailed pictures of the evolution of her non-healing-chewed up wound and during one little chat, she recommended some polysporin. So diligently we managed to trick our smart bun to stand up and dab her with the polysporin. What happened next was likely slightly traumatic to the kids, rather traumatic to Snuggles and clearly traumatic to us parents. She went nutso. Snuggles became wild Snuggles attacking her poor belly. I'll spare you the photos of that. The only way we could stop her as she chewed and stomped angrily around her cage was to bring the entire thing upstairs to a new venue where she could be temporarily distracted. Then Greg and I took shifts to keep her away from it. Not knowing what she might do to herself.

The next day I called dear Vet and told her what happened. "Oh, there was lidocaine in your polysporin? Oh, I meant only the PLAIN polysporin. I guess I should have mentioned that....note to self." Note to self??? Note to self??? Our summer vacation to Hornby was hanging in the balance b/c of this never-ending spay saga of a bunny supposed to be a boy and she says "note to self??????" That was in my thinking bubble. In reality I just said something more polite.

But we did go on vacation and on day 2 dear Vet decided our bunny sitter should bring Snuggles in for another surgery. We decided to take instead the advice of a friend who happens to be a human doctor and who did not think the wound was infected and wasn't quite sure what another stitching up would accomplish. Turns out human doctor was right and Snuggles healed just fine. Poor little bun was a bit traumatized though from all the extra confinement time and the sore belly and constant harassment from her human friends to stop.chewing.herself!

So we all made it through the world's most epic bunny spay - all the way from gender switching, to extra surgery, to supposed infections to a healed bunny. And then it was time to follow through on the promise of bunny #2, who now had to be a male. And we found ourselves in the less than optimal position of having to introduce a boy bunny into a girl bunny's turf. And we missed out on the opportunity to let Snuggles have her own babies and just keep one.

Turns out the family of a friend in T's class at school breeds bunnies. So we decided the easiest thing was to buy one of their's. Off we went to their house where Kai had a choice b/tw two little baby boy bunnies. He was decisive and took one look at them before deciding - THAT one.

But he wasn't quite ready to hold him yet, leaving that to his experienced bunny owner sister. 

So that is how Jam Airplane Ferry Kahloke became Snuggles' bunny soulmate whether she liked it or not. Little Jam came with his own pedigree for his steep $75 price tag. 

We couldn't bring Jam home yet, even though he was already 10 weeks old b/c we had a camping trip planned. And we had the good fortune of camping across from the only family in BC who takes their bunny camping - on a leash. There was a lot of hand wringing and explaining and negotiating about why our family was not going to be taking our bunnies camping. And a few tears. But we got through it. Then on August 1st, as we unpacked the car from camping, Jam arrived at his new home. 

Two pretty excited little kids. Jam wasn't quite so sure about this turn of events. But he settled in quickly, having quite an adventurous little personality, much squirmier than Snuggles but rather enthusiastic and puppy-like. 

And stinkin' cute. We all fell for him pretty quickly. He was a fast learner and potty trained himself right away. Who knew that bunnies could be potty trained? I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't already seen it 2X. We have not been able to train him to stop throwing his food and water bowls around every chance he can get. Small but mighty. 

We were very excited to introduce Jam to Snuggles once he had settled in. We had read everything we could about bonding bunnies and we were ready. Spray bottle in hand, broom in the other, gardening gloves and shoes on. Granddad with the video. Unfortunately it can't be posted here b/c it is x-rated. It seems that 12 week old bunnies are more than ready to make more bunnies. Poor Snuggles wasn't sure what to make of this. She'd hardly gotten used to us calling her a girl and now this. Bunny bonding failure. Jam had a one track mind. 

So time to find another (more competent) vet to neuter still tiny baby Jam. And this time we were sure he was a boy. Not only was this vet able to definitively sex spunky little Jam prior to surgery, there were thankfully NO complications. Then we had to wait, 4 to 6 weeks, for his hormone levels to drop. Our kids have had quite the reproductive biology lessons over the past few months, watching this bunny drama unfold. They can describe to you testicles, ovaries, uteri....

At the 4 week mark (end of September - remember this bunny arrived on August 1st!) we began the re-introductions. They have gone quite well so far. Jam's frat party days seem behind him and he and  Snuggles are now on more civilized coffee dates. We chaperone still armed with brooms and gloves, just in case, and try to interpret their rather obscure bunny body language to see how things are going.  Jam has exerted his little self as the dominant bunny and our bigger Snugs is quite meek and demure. After about 6 or 7 such dates that now involve Snuggles grooming Jam, we decided to put them both in the outside pen. Female bunnies are known for being territorial but since Snugs has groomed Jam (a sure sign of bunny love, so we've read) we felt confident. 

Greg has proven he is up to this bunny dating task as both bunnies just love him and he has the nerves of steel required. So he has been the designated outdoor chaperone and its a good thing b/c Snuggles has turned a little bit aggressive outside, lunging a bit at Jam and not being so sure she is ready for the commitment of full co-habitation. Today went a little better but we are resigned that we can't quite sweep up all of the indoor hay yet. Future bunny parents be warned...these little guys will suck you in with their cuteness and adept potty training skills. But don't fall for it. Why did we listen to everyone who said a dog would be too much work?