July 2020
When the weather's fine
We go fishin' or go swimmin' in the sea
We're always happy
Life's for livin' yeah, that's our philosophy
-Mungo Jerry
July 2020 Family Update – summer is finally here!
The sun, the sand, the freezies! Being home with the kids has really forced me to encourage building memories. They fight (pretty much constantly), which is draining, to say the least, but I hope that underneath all of the bickering, they’re creating lasting memories of time with mom during the summer. And, today, we’re off on our first family vacation as a family of four this year, so we’ll be creating new memories together!
Any thoughts on where we’re headed? Follow me on Instagram to see what we’re up to before the next travel blog post next week where I’ll fill you in and share pictures.
Family
July has been a mirror of all the other months, with some season-appropriate weather thrown into the mix of random rainy days and time at home. We’ve been making great use of our bikes and have a new Saturday morning tradition—finding a park nearby to play and taking the bikes to get there! We usually just go to Easthill Park, closest to our house, but went over to Archer’s school last weekend and had a lot of fun. Read about that adventure here.
The main thing that stands out in my mind from this past month is our adventure out to Pitt Lake for family pictures with our favourite, Carol-Ann Photography. She’s been taking our pictures for years and this year was extra special because not only did this amazingly fierce, self-employed woman figure out how to make her business work during Covid, but we had Maverick in something that Archer wore about 5 years ago for pictures with Carol-Ann. Check out those cute red suspenders and Mickey Mouse bow-tie! I can’t wait to get our pics back from this year and check out the whole fam, with Maverick in the same accessories.
Anya
This month, I had something to celebrate. While I got the news of this back in February, at which time the celebration would have looked much, much different, I’m just as excited that my first book, Letters to the Mountain, is available to borrow at the Port Moody Public Library. Check out my blog post about it here. I’m working on getting them the electronic version of the book as well, so stay tuned for that!
This whole Covid time has had many ups and downs, for everyone, I’m sure. Earlier this month, I recognized that I needed some help during the week with these kids so that I could focus on me a little more. Our lovely babysitter is coming twice a week now to help with the kids so I can have some time to write in the afternoons, or get out for a walk, or do something that is purely for myself. It only started last week, but I am happy to report that I am feeling like a human. I am still behind on my writing goals, but that’s okay. As a fellow writer I follow said recently, I’d rather do it right than quickly, so be patient!
Brad
I feel like Brad’s recaps always include work, and the July 2020 Family Update is really no different. Except that maybe he’s been working twice as hard to ensure that we can have a wonderful, quiet and work-free vacation this weekend! It’s not his fault that everything seems to happen at once, forcing him to basically take penance before leaving work behind for even a few days. He takes it in stride, beer in hand (off the clock, of course!), and I am so, so proud of him.
I’m also proud of how much of the paddling he did for us a few weekends ago when we rented kayaks for date night and toured around the inlet at Rocky Point. We had a double-kayak and when he told me to sit back and relax, you can bet I took him up on that offer! Our kayaking skills were questionable, so we left our phones behind in case we tipped over. I’m happy to report that we didn’t tip, we really had quite a lovely time floating and dreaming of our future together. I love you Brad. Now hurry up tomorrow so you’re only one year younger than me again, okay? 🙂
Archer
Archer Bruce lost another tooth! This one teased him for weeks, the gap between his front teeth widening in anticipation of the front left tooth falling out. It actually hung on until after our family pictures, and fell out the very next day! He was a bit traumatized, but was super happy to get another visit from the tooth fairy last Sunday night.
Archer has also been getting out to hang out with his buddies around our neighbourhood a bit more lately, which has been a great reprieve for me. I definitely don’t want him to grow any faster than he already is, but I’m happy for us both that he’s gaining independence.
Maverick
Maverick seems to have aged a year over this past month! The sentences, being able to clearly communicate his wants and needs, and I can’t even think of one notably crazy/dangerous thing he did! My baby boy is getting so big and turning into such a little dude. He even got his first haircut earlier this month. He sat still for the whole thing, only trying to see what the barber was doing near his head a couple of times. It probably helped that he had the promise of ice cream—Vashti Rose Ice Cream, our new favourite spot, is across the street from the barber’s—afterwards.
Anybody else bribe their kids multiple times each day? Not just with ice cream, don't worry!
Maverick is working on his photography skills.
Just a little comparison photo I did the other day, taken almost 6 years apart.
We love you, Eddie!
There you have it, our July 2020 Family Update! It’s been a struggle, I’ll be honest, but as we sit on the precipice of our family vacation, I can say with confidence that we are all four happy Wyers. I hope summer happiness has found all of you, too!
Happy summer days,
Anya