Our First Trip to Ontario

Well we made the 5 hour flight back to Ontario for my friends wedding. Despite being a great wedding, none of our pictures turned out. However, this was a cute picture of Griffin helping my nephew Drew with the ukulele. The two of them had a great time playing together.


We made the 4 hour drive from Waterloo to Kingston to visit my girlfriend and her new baby, Devin. The drive tired us all out, but only one of us was able to sleep.

We managed to get the boys to sit still for 2 minutes for a photo-op. Griffin is not used to having younger kids around, as was very evident. He is still going through his throwing phase and was not quick to pickup on the fact that Devin was too little to play catch.

First Hair Cut

Up until now, this little super hero has been subject to his mother's haircuts. Here are a few pictures before I took him for his very first haircut at the salon.

Our future rock star!

Who would have thought that a haircut could make someone look so much older. Is it possible to be any cuter!

He's a walkin'

Griffin starting walking the week of July 13th and hasn't looked back. It happened so fast. The weekend before, I took Griffin to the island to go camping with Carmen and the girls. Griffin and I walked hand in hand up and down the beach in search of crabs hanging out in the warm tidal pools. We had a great time. I think all the walking in the sand helped Griffin prepare to walk on his own :)

Now that Griffin is walking, he can get to places quicker and get into trouble quicker. His new favourite thing is to remove all reachable items out of the fridge, and sometimes taking a taste.

My sister came for a visit on her way to Hawaii. I did not waste any time putting her to work. With all the renos that are happening in our house there is no shortage of work. When Carmen came with the girls and their way back to Edmonton there were more hands on deck. Thanks a lot girls for all the hard work and for putting up with all of the mess!

I had to show this picture. It is a rare event when there is a thunderstorm in Vancouver and we had one this past weekend. It turned the sky a brilliant orange. This is a picture from our deck.

Summer of Adventure

We took Griffin to the local bird sanctuary. I don't think he saw all the birds but he did enjoy the geese and ducks - which you can see pretty much anywhere around Vancouver. Oh well - the weather was nice.


It was nice for Jordan and I to go and enjoy nature - hard to believe that we live only 15 minutes from the bird sanctuary and have never visited.


Of course I was the one carrying around the bird seed, so I had many admirers.


Apparently, this area is a popular breeding ground for sandpiper cranes. We tip-toed by as they get violent during breeding season. They are huge. This one was keeping a close eye on visitors.


Before work got really busy, I was able to work from home and take Griffin to the local park. During the day there was hardly anyone there and Griffin would roam around in his diaper chasing his soccer ball and any birds that would let him get near.


Despite our frequent trips to the park, Griffin really only likes the swing. He just is not very good at facing forward when there is a dog in the park. It makes me nervous when he turns around. I am told you never get over that.

Well you had to know that my son would one day be strapped to a bike. We bought a chariot to attach to the bike to get out and get some exercise with Griffin. He loves it. For some reason I do not have any pictures of him in the chariot just him in his high-chair with his helmet on - dinner can get a little crazy at times.

Now that playoffs are over for Vancouver, Griffin can take himself away from the TV to help daddy with plumbing in the new bathroom sinks. I am not sure if Griffin was learning much, he spent most of the time making funny noises with the pipes.


The long weekend meant I had time to make blueberry pancakes. Griffin made a great mess feeding himself, but had lots of fun doing it. He still only has 2 teeth on the bottom and the one on the top still has not broken beyond the gum line. Pancakes are easy to chew with only 2 teeth.


I am not able to get much done with Griffin in the yard, since he is like most kids and loves to taste dirt and any other yard waste. I can not turn my head for one minute without something going in the mouth. But, I have managed to get my flowers planted and some veggies put in the garden that Jordan built for me last year. Can't wait to pick our food from our own backyard.

When not outside, Griffin loves to play under the table. The top of his head just brushes against the table bottom and he is forever pumping his head on the ledge of the table, but it does not seem to bother him.

The Playoffs are Here

Go Canucks Go!! Thanks to Auntie Shaina, Griffin can support his team in official gear. However, making sure Griffin is wearing his shirt on game day means I have to wash the shirt every other day. Griffin enjoys watching hockey with us, but is not always happy when we scream when our team scores. He will learn.
Jordan and I went to game 1 of the second round against Chicago - it was awesome!


There is never a dull moment with Griffin around. He is cruising on furniture, but is not always steady, so you have to be ready to catch him or move potential objects. He has 2 teeth on the bottom and one on the top that is just coming in. I am afraid he takes after his mother when it comes to eating, he just doesn't stop. He has a great personality and we love every moment with him.


I don't think Toby is as big a fan of Griffin as we are. Now that Griffin in on the move, she seeks higher ground, but Griffin never gives up.


Uncle Jayson (Jordan's brother) came up from Vegas and met Griffin for the first time. I think Griffin was quite taken by his uncle.


We went over to Vancouver Island to attend a rowing regatta at Jordan's old high school - Brentwood college. We were able to visit with a number of Jordan's old teachers. Our friend Steven Hall (below with Griffin) who attended high school with Jordan came up from South Carolina to also attend. They both took part in commemorating a boat in honour of their old rowing coach Mr. Queen.


Steve was great with Griffin, he was point man on the stroller all weekend.

Happy Birthday Griffin

I have received many emails demanding birthday pictures, so here they are. I apologize for the delay, it has been a busy month. My parents came from Ontario for Griffin's 1st birthday. It is always nice to have them visit and extra hands are always great. For those that know Jordan and I well, know that we are pretty low key. So for Griffin's birthday we had my parents, Jordan's mum and step-father over for dinner, that is it. No big party, just good old fashion prime rib and chocolate cake.

As is tradition in my family, the birthday cake is layers of chocolate cake with lemon spread and chocolate fudge icing in between. Boy what a gong show that was to make. The cake was so moist and it stuck to the pan (first time using those pans - so much for non-stick), that the layers of cake had to be mended with lemon spread and then assembled. Then putting the icing on - lets just say it required a lot of hot water and patience. After a small little fire in the kitchen, we sat down to a nice dinner. I would say Griffin enjoyed his first taste of chocolate.

Griffin hanging out with Gramps - you can see where Griffin and myself get our cheeks from.

Griffin with Grandma sporting his new hat.

The birthday theme was getting Griffin up walking. Daddy could not resist the dump truck, Griffin loves to make the horn honk on it. Yes Griffin is up walking on furniture and would rather stand than crawl. He is keeping us busy.

Bedtime stories with Nanna.

Just hanging around the house with Daddy.