To say that summer is finally here is an understatement! We were hit with a heat wave over the weekend and totally unprepared (I'm sitting here writing this post at the mercy of my rotating fan - enough said). We also celebrated a pretty special day on Saturday - Jadon's eighth birthday!!
I still can't believe my baby is 8. He woke up telling me how he felt so much older and possibly a little taller, haha! Oh, buddy, just you wait! We had a pretty hectic day ahead of us, as we scheduled his party on his actual birthday. Everything was running smoothly until we had to wait for hubby to get ready (anyone who knows Gary, knows).
Anyways, one traffic jam later and (only) a half hour late to his own party, we finally showed up at a local trampoline park, Extreme Air Park. Jadon has been dying to have his party there ever since his older sister's birthday a few years ago and, coincidently, we were just there for a birthday party a couple weeks ago.
arrive early (like 30 minutes before your jump time). This will give everyone time to check in and have the front desk organize payment, etc.
make sure you count and keep track of your Extreme Air Sox as they are given to you
ensure that your entire party has their Air Sox and time tags (a sticker with the time that they're allowed to jump until)
bring a cooler filled with ice for any items that need to be kept cold (eg: ice cream cakes, drinks, etc.), as you won't have access to your party room until the allotted time
bring a water bottle for the kids. They'll be active for most of their jump time and they tend to get tired/thirsty fairly quickly!
kids 5 and under need to have a paid parent to supervise
make sure you let the Extreme Air Park team know the final number of your party to ensure that they reserve a room catered to your party size
have fun!
Overall, the kids had a blast! If you're looking for a place to tire your kids out, this is it! With 42,000 square feet of trampolines and activities, including 3D dodgeball, zero gravity basketball, half pipe and a huge foam pit, there's definitely something for everyone (adults included!).
After the party, we headed over to the Dragon Boat Festival in False Creek to hang out with the family. Then, we were homebound so Jadon could finally open up his presents. Ah, the life of an eight year old!
The first time Jadon stepped on the ice, you could see the uncertainty, the fear of falling and the moments where he just wanted to give up because he just couldn't quite get it. Pretty much normal feelings for anyone when they're trying something new, but am I ever glad he didn't give up (those pep talks come in handy!). His first on-ice experience was at a local community centre for a learn-to-skate class. In about 8-10 classes, the only thing he learned was how to shuffle himself across the ice. Luckily, I bumped into another mom who recommended a learn-to-skate hockey class at a premier skating rink close to our house. Supposedly, the instructors from this hockey class had their young skaters skating by themselves by the second or third class. This I had to see!
So off to the new skating rink we went for Jadon's first hockey class. It wasn't anything spectacular - he didn't learn how to skate backwards let alone forwards. He basically stood in one spot while the rest of the 3-4 year olds in his class skated professionally around him. I felt bad. So bad. You see, Jadon is a perfectionist. And I could see him just standing on the ice in pure fear. Thankfully, the coaches recognized this and got him a walker so he could learn to move around the ice. No such luck. Jadon just didn't want to fall down. Of course, the coaches were right on top of it, sat him down on the back of the net and took him for a ride around the rink.
The rest is history.
Now that the new hockey season is gearing up, its time for some new hockey gear! We teamed up with our favourite sporting goods store, Sport Chek, to get Jadon ready for his Fall hockey season. He's not playing on a team right now, but he is perfecting his hockey techniques in a skills class. I took the kids to our local Sport Chek so Jadon could get fitted for his new hockey gear and ended up debating spending close to three hours to make sure everything fit properly. Trust me, hockey gear is no joke! Thankfully, I had a very patient and knowledgable hockey shop expert helping me pick out the right sizes and making sure the gear fit properly. Here's a look at what Jadon ended up with (or equivalent). He already had the hockey bag, but we love it so much, we had to add it to our must-have list:
Next Summer, we'll be putting Jadon in a 3-on-3 hockey team so that he can get some practice playing in a team environment. After that, it looks like early morning practices and lots of coffee will be a normal part of our schedule for years to come!
Once you have all your hockey gear, don't forget to take advantage of Sport Chek's free skate sharpening and stick cutting services. Don't worry - if you didn't buy your gear from Sport Chek, you can still access these services for a small fee. Plus, save up to 25% off mix and match protective equipment (see in-store for more details) - we took advantage of this promotion and it made a huge difference!
Junior Hockey Skate Exchange Program
Since young hockey players are constantly growing, Sport Chek wants to ensure that their skates fit properly for optimal comfort and performance each season. That's why they offer their Junior Hockey Skate Exchange Program! Here's how the program works:
Buy any new junior hockey skates at Sport Chek.
Bring back your junior skates in good condition within 12 months of purchasing, accompanied with the original receipt and receive 50% credit of original purchase towards your next junior hockey purchase at Sport Chek; or
Bring back your junior skates in good condition within 24 months of purchasing, accompanied with the original receipt and receive 24% credit of original purchase towards your next junior hockey purchase at Sport Chek.
It's that easy! For more information on the Junior Hockey Skate Exchange Program, visit your nearest Sport Chek location.
xo,
kristina
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sport Chek. All opinions in this post remain my own and do not reflect the opinions or views of Sport Chek, and/or their affiliates. We received a form of compensation in order to complete this post.
Before I decided on a theme for Jadon’s
birthday party, I ended up creating birthday invitations via Shutterfly for him
to hand out to his classmates.I had
already decided on the colour scheme and knew I wanted to do something with a
vintage feel, and Shutterfly’s ‘One Awesome Ticket Birthday Invitation’
happened to be the perfect match!
Using Shutterfly to create the invitation
was a breeze.All I had to do was input
the party details (date, time, venue and RSVP information) and Shutterfly
automatically populated it into the invite!
I also like to personalize my invites with
a current photo of the birthday boy and a little note to the attendees about what
to expect at the party:
The guest loved receiving the invites and their parents were equally impressed with them! Mission accomplished!
Living with a four year old equals some pretty funny conversations - especially if that four year old seems to be learning a number of things from preschool. Here are some of the highlights from this week:
CONVO #1 - in the lobby of the Old Spaghetti Factory, no less
LIL J: Where do babies come from?
Now that the busy holiday season is behind us, I've had a chance to think about some of the posts that I've been putting off for a few weeks months! Can you believe that I still haven't posted about Lil J's fourth birthday party that happened back in June?!
Since Lil J was {and still is} obsessed with superheroes, I decided to throw him a vintage superhero party at 6 Pack Beach - a local indoor beach complete with volleyball nets and unlimited toys for the kids. I loved the uniqueness of the venue and the fact that we could let the kids {and adults!} roam wild without any worries.
For the party favours, I ended up getting a 10-minute sewing tutorial refresher from my amazing mother-in-law and went to work on a much loved, but forgotten, hobby. Here's a sneak peek at the party prep:
So we're two months into school and last Thursday you finally came home and declared that you had fun at school. Mind you, it was Halloween and pretty much every kid has fun at school on Halloween, but the fact that you actually said something different from the usual "I didn't have fun at school" gist, I was taken aback. And maybe secretly smiling to myself. After all, it took you exactly two months last year to say you were having fun at school. And you're finally "having fun" at school...maybe.
I suspect that you may have a slight problem with authority. It's quite possible since you're at the age where you're trying to test everything and everyone. I'm planning to talk with your teachers during my two weeks off {starting next week} to make sure everything is going okay at school. You know, just in case.
Have I told you lately what an amazing big brother you are? I try to tell you every day and I'm going to tell you again: you're an amazing big brother to your baby ZoZo. In fact, you call her "my baby" as if she's yours and only yours. You love to "protect" her and help her anytime she needs you. You like to share your food and toys with her but sometimes sharing can also be a challenge. You don't fight much with you little sister but you sure like to get under the skin of your older sister {and vise versa}. Sometimes it's a battle and I tell myself that you're just going through another "stage", and that it'll see itself through eventually. I know it will.
I can't remember when it started but once my son first laid eyes on his first superhero, it was like he had found his soul mate for life. It could have been built in his DNA, or he could have quite possibly been brainwashed by his superhero loving uncle - whatever the cause, the pairing was inevitable. I wouldn't be lying if I said that Lil J lives, breathes and dreams in a superhero fantasy world.
Photos by B Life Photography
Iron Man!
Spiderman!
Batman!
Captain America!
Hulk!
Those are just some of the superheroes whom are constant, daily visitors in our household.
Remember those studio pictures? The ones with the bad hair, questionable wardrobe choices and the funny grins that seemed to go on for miles? The ones where you look at your parents wondering what on earth were they thinking? Or maybe they secretly wanted to save those embarrassing photos for that certain once-in-a-lifetime slideshow - I cannot confirm nor deny that I may or may not have already started a collection of embarrassing photos of my own kids {shhhh!}.
For our first family photo shoot, I took hubby and Miss S to a {surprise!} portrait studio. It immediately brought back memories of the few times my brother and I had smiled and posed and looked so very proper.
Following that first photo shoot came many more over the years. There's something magical about capturing moments in time and seeing our kids grow up through the pictures. After all, they grow up far to fast and we always say that we'll remember them as they are. At least for me, I always think that I'll remember, and then when I look back at pictures, I'm in complete awe at how much my kids change - in as little as six months!
This past weekend could easily go into the history books for the one of the most fun and relaxed weekends I've had in recent memory.
Friday was spent unwinding with a glass of wine and an early night for hubby and I. There's something about the end of the week that just has sleep calling our names. Of course, I had to check my emails and sew some headbands. You know - just another SwankMama Friday night!
The next day, I woke up to the sounds of my kids and noticed that hubby was awake and already taking care of Baby Z! That's all I needed to see because the next thing I knew, I rolled out of bed around 10:30am. I can't even begin to describe how good that felt!
Then to make things even better, the entire family was in cleaning mode as I ventured into the living room. Say what?! Maybe I should sleep in more often...
Last Sunday was day two of our staycation and could definitely be classified as a 'Lazy Sunday'. After a crazy night out with the girls, my body mind was in no shape to be my usual 'let's go do something' self. I lounged on the couch with my two littles and just enjoyed not having to rush to be anywhere at a certain time. However, the weather was gorgeous and we did have to get out of the house eventually since a preschooler and a toddler does not equal fun times trapped inside a house all day long.
Our first stop was Metrotown which was {a} indoors despite the beautiful weather and {b} the perfect place to start a little back-to-school shopping for Lil J. I let him pick out a bunch of outfits himself and, of course, he settled for a number of licensed character tees:
I never thought I'd be so happy to hear those three words together. This is Lil J's first year going back to school, or preschool rather. In any case, it's a good thing - for both Mommy and Daddy and Lil J. Plus, we get to go back-to-school shopping!!
Last Sunday was reserved for taking a trip to our local Sears to see what they had in store for back-to-school {pun intended!}. Over the past few months, Lil J has been more vocal about what he wants to wear and he takes the initiative to dress himself in the mornings, so I thought our shopping spree at Sears would be the perfect chance to get him to start choosing his own clothes!
Much to my amusement, Lil J chose a number of licensed character tees and I had him pick two out of the many that were on his "must-have" list. He ended up with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle long sleeved tee and a Ninjago t-shirt. I may have added a pair of grey skinnies and a Canucks tee {my brother would be so proud!}:
Even though I just returned to work, I knew I needed a week off to recuperate with the family. Initially we were planning a trip to Seattle - we really wanted to take the kids down on the train and explore Downtown Seattle. With hotel rates double or triple the price we normally pay, we decided to stay home at the last minute and enjoy a staycation.
The whole point of our staycation was to discover places around the city that we normally don't take the kids to and the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park was at the top of our list. Surprisingly, I've lived in Vancouver all my life and don't remember ever visiting the suspension bridge! Our main reason was for not visiting was the price - it just didn't seem like an affordable family outing. Although, after exploring the suspension bridge and finding out that there was more to it than the bridge, we now understand why the price is a little higher than most family attractions.
We parked our car in a pay lot across from the entrance and found this magical walkway. Miss S told Lil J that little people live up in the trees and inside the tiny holes:
Before Baby Z came into the picture, Lil J was the complete center of attention. Not only with myself, my hubby and Miss S but with his cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. For a couple years he was the baby of the family. And did he ever feed off all that attention!
Never one to be shy about expressing his feelings, Lil J was emotional and definitely went through all of his many phases. As my pregnancy with Baby Z came to an end, I worried that Lil J would retaliate negatively as the center of attention would suddenly shift from him to the new baby. They were the exact same worries I had for Miss S right before Lil J was born. I wanted to protect the kids from the inevitable and make them still feel like everything was all about them.
And so Baby Z was born and Lil J, just like Miss S before him, took on his new role as the big sibling with ease. He embraced his new title, Big Brother, proudly and told everyone and anyone who would listen about his new Baby "ZoZo". I was taken aback and beyond proud of my little man - he hardly showed an ounce of jealousy and loved his new baby sister like crazy.
What was last week again? It all seems like such a blur.
Monday was fine. It was my last day of maternity leave and I spent it relaxing with the kids at Granville Island. Hubby even came and met us after lunch, and we sent a blissful afternoon in the Vancouver sunshine. Work was far from my mind but it was definitely there.
{That "work" thing was like a three year old kid standing in front of you repeating the same thing over and over and over. I wanted that little voice in my mind to shut up and go away. It didn't happen.}.
Selfies at Granville Island
Then came Tuesday. I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks. My new wake-up call started at 5:30am with my phone alarm and then my alarm clock blaring in unison. Five minutes later, I finally woke up and hit snooze. Ten minutes, 25 emails {half of them junk} and a quick check of my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, I dragged myself out of bed.
It's almost here. I've been dreading July 23rd since I found out I was pregnant - the day I'm expected to return back to work.
Work. As if raising two young kids plus my teenage step-daughter isn't work enough as is. This entire year has flown by like crazy. It was almost like a blink and you miss it moment. I'm guessing that part of it had to do with Baby Z being my second child and the other part was that I didn't have the luxury of sleeping when baby slept. This time around, I had to entertain a preschooler {Lil J} and do the school runs from Monday - Friday. It was almost like a relief when Lil J was a preschool four times a week because I could actually get things done - errands, blog posts, etc. The one time I tried to take a nap while Lil J was at preschool, I didn't hear my alarm go off and was almost late picking him up. Needless to say, I didn't do that again.
Along with school runs, nap times, bath times, story times and bedtimes, I also had the opportunity to meet a number of inspirational ladies that I wouldn't have had the pleasure of knowing had it not been for this little blog. I was going to events around the city every week, getting weekly packages in the mail for product reviews, and using my blog as an outlet to document our current life.
Last week, the kids and I were making the most of the amazing hot summer weather Vancouver has been having. We spent a day at the airport {YVR} for #TakeOffFridays:
With the twos come the terrible twos, the threes are the testing threes and the fours? So far that seems like it's in a whole other league.
I can't explain it. The minute Lil J turned four, everything was fine and dandy. Nothing exciting happened drastically in terms of personality. In fact, he may have been acting a little more mature - because apparently that's what four does to you.
And then. And then came a week later. It hit us completely out of the blue and we were so confused. We were so not prepared.
While shopping at our local mall after Lil J's weekly gymnastics class, we went to the Lego Store and then let him run around in a kids play area. When it was time to leave, he asked to see the mechanical ride-on horses, dogs and cars and just kept whining. Hubby got annoyed and thought he was asking to go back to the Lego Store so he told Lil J that we were leaving.
TodayYesterday Four days ago you turned four. FOUR!! Like, how could this be even remotely possible? It seems like yesterday that I was meeting you for the first time, in awe of how little and real you were. How I couldn't believe that I grew you for nine months and that you came out of me. And now you are mine!
While that last part probably makes me sound like an overprotective, overbearing crazy mother {Daddy's the overprotective one. I'm probably the other two}, I just can't imagine life without you. I can't imagine not feeling the joy I feel every morning when I see your smile and feel your kisses on my cheeks. I wouldn't want to know how quiet the house would be without you stomping up and down the hallway screaming and laughing {as everyone here knows, your laugh is quite infectious}. And as much as I dread the bedtime routine some nights {and the way you love to fight it}, you always have a way of making me happy and making me feel guilty for feeling that way in the first place. Then I just wish you would wake up and cuddle with me just one more time.
Your birthday was a little emotional for me this year. I kept reminding you all throughout the morning that you were still three until exactly 10:35am. There was no way you were going to be four before that. Mommy just wasn't ready for it.
Tonight I read one of my favourite childhood bedtime stories to Lil J for the first time: Robert Munsch's Love You Forever{I can almost see all of you '80's and '90's babies smiling and shaking your heads!}. All I remember is that I loved the book and that's pretty much it. I wasn't at all prepared to end the story an emotional wreck.
For those of you not familiar with this classic Munsch book, it basically tells the story of a mother and how she has rocked her son to sleep his entire life while singing a song:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
as long as I'm living
my baby you'll be
It goes on until the boy man reaches adulthood and his mother gets older, and then ends with the man continuing his mother's tradition with his own baby daughter.
I could hardly get through the story without trying to hold back my tears. And I'm not an emotional person.
Now that we're nearing the end of May, and I'm due back to work full-time at the end of July, I figured what better time than to sleep train Baby Z and get Lil J back into his big boy bed. If you follow me via Instagram and Facebook, you would have seen me candidly post my day-to-day {or in this case, night-to-night} shenanigans on how I was getting Lil J to sleep {and stay} in his own bed.
It was pretty much like sleep training all over again.
There were a lot of threats of "you can't go to gymnastics tomorrow" or "you can't go to so-in-so's party if you don't go to sleep in your own bed". Of course, I felt bad as soon as the words left my lips but it seemed to work The first night was full of "I don't want to sleep by myself's" to a little bit of crying but he ended up falling asleep by himself. The few nights that followed, with the exception of night #4 {see below}, were the same but the whining was less and less. Now he just kisses me goodnight, smiles, says I love you, and tells me I'm his best friend. What mother doesn't want to hear that?!
When I woke up sneezing with a stuffy nose this morning, my first thought was, "Sh*t, I'm sick again!". I reluctantly cancelled a session with my bloggy friends and decided to spend the day with my family. Lil J and Baby Z have both been under the weather with a fever and runny nose, respectively, and Z has been more cranky than usual. Despite all of this, my husband and I decided we needed to get out of the house and enjoy what little sunshine we currently had before the rain rushes in later this week.
We ended up at a Middle Eastern/Indian restaurant in the heart of Main Street in Vancouver. I had gone to their West Broadway location with a friend a few weeks ago and loved the food, decor and everything else!
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