All in a A Week

This past week definitely felt like the last week of summer.  Sydney and I desperately tried to squeeze in as much fun as we possibly could in our last few days of summer vacation.  It seemed fitting that as the long weekend was upon us, the weather took a turn for the worse.  It is cool and rainy and feels like fall.  Never has it felt so bittersweet that summer is over!

Here's what we got up to this week:

Buntzen Lake

Sydney and I spent a beautiful, sunny Monday at Buntzen Lake with Auntie Liane this week.  We enjoyed wading in the water, digging in the sand and having a picnic lunch.

Syd especially loved chasing the very aggressive Canada Geese away!

Aquabus Playdate

On Tuesday we spent a very fun day with some our preschool friends, Julia, Henry, Leo and Nico and met up at Henry's house in Olympic Village.  The kids had a great time playing and having snacks before we all walked down to the Aquabus dock and took a tour of False Creek together.

The view was amazing and the kids had so much fun together riding the boat!

We took some time to play at the playground at Henry's complex on our way home.

Garden Time

We spent a beautiful Wednesday morning in the garden at Sydney's school meeting yet more new friends and enjoying all of the amazing, fresh produce that is at it's prime.

It's amazing to see how much the garden changes week over week!

We enjoyed some sun tea in garden and Sydney and I happily collected a huge bucket of apples that had fallen off the numerous apple trees on the school grounds.

PNE

Sydney and I spent a very fun afternoon at the PNE and Playland again this week.  It was fun to take her back a second time and have her request her favourite rides and attractions.

The highlight of our time was winning a huge stuffed bear at one of the carnival games, Sydney was thrilled!

We loved riding the ferris wheel together as well and enjoying the view from high above the fair.

Playdate with Noa

Thursday afternoon brought a very special play time with Noa, Sydney's friend from preschool.  The girls had such fun playing, having a tea party, painting their toe nails and swimming in the paddling pool in the back yard.

They even had time for a little picnic on the front porch while waiting for Noa's Mom to arrive.

Ceramics

We picked up all of the amazing ceramics that Sydney spent last week painting at Cowboys and Angels.

I especially love the coffee mug that she painted just for me!

Playdough

I tried a new recipe for playdough this week too with just two simple ingredients: hair conditioner and corn starch.  Simply mix one part conditioner with two parts corn starch and add a few drops of food colouring if you'd like.

The result is a light and airy playdough that Sydney so enjoyed playing with.

Goodbye Alexa

We we so sad to say goodbye to Alexa this week, our summer nanny who has been with us for the past two summers and is now heading back to university in Northern BC.

Alexa and Sydney enjoyed so many fun memories together this summer and I so enjoyed having some time to myself and with Paul and others, she will be missed!

A New Cousin

We received some very exciting news this week as Sydney's cousin Dana had a new baby boy, Reed Meyer.

Sydney is always excited about a new baby, especially when it's in our family!  We look forward to meeting and welcoming the newest member of our family at his bris later this week.

It was a wonderful week filled with many great memories and such a good way to bid adieu to summer.  

Playland

Sydney and I met up with friends Leo, Levi and Henry from preschool this week to hit up Playland together.  This was Sydney's first time to go to Playland and did she ever have the time of her life!

There is a section made especially for young children with age appropriate rides, games and food.  The kids gleefully went on ride after ride and we had such fun playing a few carnival games too!

We ended up staying until later in the evening with Leo and his family to take in the Fair at the PNE as well.

We watched the famous Superdogs show and saw all the animals at the barn before grabbing a quick bite for dinner and heading home.

Syd even got to go for a little pony ride, which she loved!

What a fun and fabulous day together!

Sydney finished up her Cowboys and Angels ceramics camp this week with a bang!  Had her best day ever there on Friday with Julia and then headed to Julia's house for a fun playdate that afternoon before we headed home to have Shabbat dinner with Zach and Danielle.

On Saturday afternoon I upheld my long standing yearly tradition with my friend Paula and went to see Bard on the Beach.  We saw A Mid Summer Night's Dream together, loved the easy to follow plot, fabulous costumes and great laughs throughout.

Saturday evening brought a fun get together with the Dunbar gang at Sally and Allan's house for a backyard BBQ.  Summer is such a busy and lazy time all in the same moment that we haven't really connected with our Dunbar friends as much as we'd hoped to, so we were excited to see everyone and catch up.

I simply can't believe that we are headed into the last week of summer this week!  Sydney has been asking me constantly all summer if she can have both a garage sale and a lemonade stand.  She is obsessed with finding ways to earn money these days!

So this morning I obliged and helped her set up a little table outside.  We didn't have any lemonade available so she made due with glasses of water and a plate of Cheerios and had me write a note that read: "No credit cards or money, free food and drinks"

It was super cute!  We do live on a very quiet street so only a couple of people walked by this morning and when she saw them approaching she got up and ran away!  She's still honing her PR skills!

We spent our morning at Granville Island today and the annual Wooden Boat Festival was taking place there.  We had the chance to take Syd aboard a few beautiful old wooden boats to look around.

We went for an early evening run to Menchie's today and stopped at the lookout at UBC to catch the sunset together.  What an absolutely beautiful spot!

As we wind down our summer this week I am feeling grateful for all of the fun and fabulous memories that we made together over these past two months!

A Fairy Garden

A few weeks ago Sydney and I spent a fun afternoon at Jack and Christina's house for a great summer backyard party.  As we were leaving, Christina gave each of us a very special gift, a homemade door to start our very own fairy garden in our backyard.

Sydney and I discussed where we would like to build our garden and settled at the foot of a small tree beside our barbecue.  Then we hunted around the house for anything that we could find that seemed slightly magical to add to our garden.

This was our final result:

Adding a bucket full of moss to create a lawn

I even found a stepping stone at the dollar store with a fairy on it and Sydney painted it with patio paint and proudly put it in her garden.

Waiting for the fairies to arrive

Mysteriously, the next morning, right after Daddy left for work, the fairies left Sydney a very special present in their garden, a shiny gold Loonie.  And the next morning there was a little blue stuffed bunny.  It seems that the fairies have taken a shine to their new space and are leaving little presents behind as their way of saying thank you to Sydney for building this beautiful new space.

Sydney and her buddy Julia are doing a week long camp at Cowboys and Angels toy shop this week, a ceramics painting camp which she loves.  Every day she works on a new project, today it was a mug for Mommy.  Can't wait to have my morning coffee in it once it's glazed and ready to go!

We once again spent a special time together in the school garden today.  Sydney had great fun harvesting potatoes, carrots and tomatoes.  We brought home a very special treat too, a beautiful zucchini!

There were several families that made it to the garden today, it was really fun meeting new and old friends and Sydney had such fun playing in the playground with the girls.  It warms my heart to see how comfortable Sydney is getting in the space, I am confident that the start of school will be such a great time for her!

I found a great recipe online for Cloud Dough, the popular toy that is hitting stores everywhere.  It's a cross between playdough and sand, mouldable but still grainy, what a great sensory toy!

The recipe couldn't be easier, simply combine 1 cup of baby oil with 8 cups of flour in a tub and mix well.

Sydney had such fun playing with it outdoors.  A great way to keep her entertained for a while!

This past Sunday we went for a stroll in Olympic Village as a family.  While we were there we popped into the Food Truck Festival and had such fun checking out all of the awesome treats available.  I had a delicious gourmet grilled cheese made my Mom's Grilled Cheese, delicious!

It definitely feels as though summer is starting to wind down.  The weather is shifting slowly, the days are getting shorter and the mornings crisp and cool.  I feel excited for the start of fall and a little sad in the same moment in saying goodbye to summer and these long, fun days with my girl!