Soaking up the Family Time

Sitting on the veranda at the cottage listening to the breeze rustle the leaves on the trees and the waves gently lapping against the rocks (not to mention Morgan's incessant chatter). It has been a great week at the cottage. We have visted with Grandma, Brandon, Vanessa, Lucy and Alice followed by Mary-Kate, Dan and Bodhi who were all here to celebrate Morgan's "real" 7th birthday.

Now Rhys, Marianne, Erika and Alison have arrived to spend the last few days of their holiday in Ontario with us.

Morgan and Quinn have been in kid heaven and Jim and I have been soaking up all the family time that we miss out on while we are in Bermuda throughout the year.

The Stevens Family takes Niagara Falls

So far our summer has been spectacular! After a couple of weeks of Bermuda fun, Morgan, Quinn and I headed off to Canada while Jim finished up a few things at school. Nanna picked us up and then we were straight off to a camping holiday near Niagara Falls. We splashed in the water, slid down the slides, swung on the swings, roasted marshmallows, played with the flashlights and the toads, took in Marineland and generally had an amazing time catching up with Nanna, Grampy, Auntie Marianne, Uncle Rhys, Erika and Alison. We are cherishing every minute with (almost) the whole family together...it doesn't happen nearly enough.

Turning Four in Style

Quinn is officially four! Here are a few pics of our celebration at the Southhampton Princess.

Overdue Blog Post

So much has happened in the last couple of months...and I haven't documented any of it in our blog. Now that school is out for summer, perhaps I will be a little better. Some of the past events deserve a post of their own, but for now, just a few highlights!

Peru was amazing.

Jim was amazing (in the Bermuda Day half-marathon -- his second half-marathon this year)!

Morgan completed his second t-ball season...this time as an "Athletic".

We had an early birthday party for our almost-seven-year-old with seven of his friends at the zoo-quarium (where else??).

Quinny finished his first year at school and turned four! Today! A post about our festivities will follow shortly!

Okay. Caught up. Sort of.

Athletes among us

Each morning Quinn wakes up and asks, "Is today a school day?" On most mornings, he receives the dreaded answer, "yes" and proceeds to whine and complain about how he doesn't want to go. Thursday was a whole different story. He woke up with great enthusiasm, was dressed in his orange clothes by 6:30am and was anxious to get out the door. It is clear what Quinn is passionate about...sports day!

Quinn's morning was filled with egg-on-spoon races, potato sack hopping, running and putting the ball in the bucket and the 50m dash. The morning lived up to, and perhaps even exceeded his expectations, especially after feeling the thrill of victory when he won his running race. We have relived the moment over and over and he truly is a "super-speedy runner" (perhaps when we convince him to actually wear his shoes on the correct feet he will be even further ahead of the competition).

Morgan's turn for the sports action came in the afternoon. With the 6-9 year olds competing together, Morgan was among the youngest on the field but he certainly held his own. His fantastic balance served him well in both the egg-on-spoon and the spin-around-the-cricket-bat-and-then-run races and his long stride kept him in contention in his 60m dash. By far, his favourite event, though, was the water balloon toss where he and his buddy, Pete were able to keep their balloon from breaking for quite a considerable number of throws.

Jim and I were able to catch each and every moment (and document a fair amount of it on camera!). Just another perk of all of us spending our days at the same school.

The Easter Bunny arrived!

The Easter Bunny arrived with a great gift for us this year...Nanna and Grampy came to stay for a whole week. The weather has been sunny and warm, we have had spa treatments, tennis, golf, scootering (both motorized and not), bike riding, hiking, swimming, brunching and more. It has been amazing. Morgan and Quinn have been spoiled completely with all of the attention and Jim and I haven't done so badly either. We have had opportunities to go out for dinner and for a few runs together as well. Nanna and Grampy head back to Canada tomorrow (where the weather has apparently been just as warm as in Bermuda!) and we fly off to our postponed Florida vacation for a few days of shopping and swimming in the pool. If only holidays didn't speed by so quickly.

Biker boys

After a whole year of coveting a bike of his own, Jim made the big leap and bought a beautiful vintage style bike a couple of weeks ago. It is now licensed and insured and he has the paperwork to prove that he is allowed to buzz around the island on his newest toy. He should it enjoy it while it lasts, because Morgan and Quinn are already using it as their personal playground and once I have my license, the fight will be on about who gets control of the keys.

(Check out the whole story of getting the bike ready for the road in Jim's posting, "Just another day in paradise")