Goodbye 6 year old

Goodnight my little boy, tomorrow you are seven.

Yesterday Chaplin asked me "mom are you going to miss your six year old? "


Chaplin's 7th birthday party at Marine Park in Santa Monica.

So here's looking back at the past year.

___

Last day of Kindergarten at John Muir Elementary 2012

Best Friends (LR) Oscar, Chaplin, Daine, Cohen.
We now hang out regularly with Oscar, Daine and Cohen's parents. It's so much fun because we all live within walking distance of each other and reguarly get together at our place to hang out.
   Mateo, Oscar, Sarah and Todd
   Danielle, Daine, Nikol and Sergio
   Cohen, Kim and Josh   


In March Fran came out to visit. Chaplin still asks when grandma can come back because he liked that she gave him cuddles every night. In fact - Chaplin insisted she sleep in his bed and he wanted her to go to bed at the same time as he did! It was pretty cute.  The only thing missing was Rod!


Over Spring Break Doug, Dwan and Cailin came for a visit and forgot their sunscreen.
Day one on the beach - four hours of sunning and boy-oh-boy did Cailin and Doug ever give themselves nasty burns. It looked painful.  We LOVE Cailin! She is such a cool person, and the more time you spend with her - the more you want her around.

The tail end of Spring Break Chaplin and I took the 310 to Yuma.
(or whatever the train is called from LA to Yuma!) - We helped mom and dad shut up their winter home and then we all got into their jeep and drove from Yuma to Las Vegas. We meet up with Adam who was there for a work event. Mom and dad flew back to Canada and Adam, Chaplin and I drove their jeep back to Santa Monica.  Their jeep had officially become mine for six months!


A few more months of school and then Kindergarten was over.
Chaplin and I decided to leave Adam in Santa Monica and go on a holiday. We first went to Vancouver, then Fort St John.


 Early summer in Vancouver is predictably beautiful.

Early summer in Cecil Lake, even more beautiful.
Oh Yeah.. Oh Yeah (lyrics by Yello)


One day after Chaplin and I got back to Santa Monica, Troy and his family arrived for a visit.

I wish they had two weeks to visit, because the time went by so fast.
But maybe that is the key to a good visit - leave when you are still wanted?

Jaydon on the Universal Studio tour ride when he was going past the JAWS exhibit?
JAWS sees JAWS!

Tavis on their last day visiting. That's the Santa Monica pier right behind him.


More holiday time for us! We spent a week in Toronto then flew to Thunder Bay for Reese and Fiona's reception. A group of us stayed at the same hotel, so we got to have some good visits with Grandma Pansy and a few others.

Lake Ontario - it's big!


lost a tooth in Thunder Bay - right at the breakfast table.


AUGUST  - GRADE 1 

Chaplin (along with Daine, Cohen and Oscar)  got into Ms Kreuzer's class. This is her first year teaching and she is doing great! Chaplin has a mild crush on her
Lori - "do you like your new teacher?"
Chaplin - "oh yes mom, she is pretty and smart."
Lori - "never tell a women she is pretty before smart. It always smart and pretty."
I'm a teacher too!


walks home from school are best with a sword. Just look at all the carnage around his feet.
that poor flowering plant didn't stand a chance!

My dear friend Jen got to come out to LA with her work/school and managed to slip in a few days visit with me. Of course I had to show her the beach, the sun, the beach again... this time with wine.



Courtney as well snuck in a short visit while out in LA with work.
Look how happy Adam is to see his sister!  Pure joy.


SEPTEMBER

Erik and Anita Nordby turn 40. Anita sent out a pretty convincing invite to join them in Las Vegas and stay at the Bellagio - It said "join us if you can - no pressure" so I replied "fine twist my arm we accept the invite and will join you guys!"


OCTOBER
Time is moving by so fast here. The weather is mostly sunny and I forget that it's fall and back in Vancouver they are rained in.

Halloween - Adam your wish has been granted! 
Adam has always wished he lived in a place where he could easily source products for making Halloween masks and costumes.

This year we did life casts of Adam, Chaplin, Todd, Jen and her oldest son Linden's faces.
Chaplin was most excited when it was his turn and he sat shockingly still through the whole process. His cast came out perfect


We got to go to a Halloween party in San Francisco.

My mask (appliance) was the upper half of my face. Adam's mask was the full deal. His was so good people didn't really know it was made by him. I like how scary i look and want to wear that one again.. and not just for Halloween.

DECEMBER
And then it happened. I turned 40.

Best gift Adam gave me - he flew Anita to LA and I owned her for four days.
We got to go to the X'mas party at the W in Hollywood. Swanky! Anita left on Saturday and then later in the day - SURPRISE - my parents showed up! They had it all planned out with Adam. I was in my bedroom when they arrived, so Chaplin came into my room and asked me to come out to the living room. I went out with him, saw my parents sitting there and burst into tears. What a great surprise!
Adam took me out for dinner that night. The next day we all went to meet Peter & Jen and the kids for brunch. That night we meet up with our Santa Monica crew for dinner at M Street cafe. I felt absolutely spoiled rotten and loved! Thank you all for giving me such a memorable 40th!

I'm 40 and in this photo you can't see a single wrinkle or grey hair.
I am not going to share my secrets but it has something to do with wearing a hat to cover up the grey and the lighting in the photo should be blown out ...

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
We had decided not to make any plans this year and stay home. Maybe take a last minute trip somewhere warm. But then in November Courtney texted Adam and said "We are going up to Fort St John for Christmas. Do you want to come too." Adam thought for about 2 seconds and texted her back "yes".


We spent the fist of our holiday at Troy's house and coined the phrase of 2012
"Release the Kracken"


Christmas Morning - Santa has arrived!
Even in -28 Celsius we still went outside to play in the snow and then heat up in the hot tub.

Then to Vancouver where we got to visit with Walthams and spend the night at Mark & Sue's cottage.

Claire, Cousin Katie and Chaplin all being scary skeletons. Sorry those girls are too cute to be scary.

On New Years Eve we went to stay at Nordby's.

Laika wears these 3D glass frames all day - everyday.
She even has a back up pair hidden in her room just in case she misplaces the favourite pair.
It makes me giggle. She is the neatest little girl and I truly miss her daily doings.

Jen and Anita dance

Leif teaches Chaplin the first few notes of Super Mario brothers.

2013 we head home to Santa Monica and for Chaplin - back to school.




Gift from nana and papa - ice skating with friends.
More to come.... and I hope to find time to update this blog more frequently in 2013

Happy 6th Birthday Chaplin

Happy Birthday my sweet 6 year old!

Last night as a five year old.

and now he's six!

We were on facetime with nana and papa as he ripped through these.

Nordby's are flying in from Vancouver today. Now that's a big birthday present. We are meeting them at the Disneyland Grand hotel today and going to disneyland tomorrow. So in about a week I will have a lot of fun photos and stories to share.

we found snow

It's December 12th and I have to make a decision: to get a tree or not?

Have you ever watched the TV show called "HOARDERS"?

I'm not saying you should... but I secretly do. It's a depressing, disgusting show that leaves me feeling fearful - but I can't turn away! Before our move I must have watched too many episodes, (cautionary tale?) I garbaged a few things that i wish I hadn't. Why did i throw away my handy fake Christmas tree? That would have been so simple to put up.

It was Chaplin that made the final decision: "we need a tree". So Adam and Chaplin picked out a Home Depo special that made our place smell like Christmas pine.









But it still didn't feel like Christmas. So in an effort to force a Christmas feeling out of ourselves we went hunting for snow on a warm and sunny day at Universal Studios.

Wow real snow on their Grinchmas set! And wow did that little patch of snow ever attract a lot of visitors young and old. Snow ball fights were allowed.

December 21 - Christmas Holidays.
We drove to Yuma.

The drive out of LA to San Diego is ugly and heavy with traffice. Slowly the traffic thins down, and the scenery changes into desert land. And somehow we drive through the most alien looking Jucumba mountains. The mountains are formed by enourmous boulders stacked high. It looks alien built and I told Chaplin that centuries ago giant aliens created this as their rock garden. Hmmm. Jacumba is located on the US-Mexico border and is heavily patrolled on foot and air (for giant aliens from Mars!).

It felt great to arrive at mom and dad's Yuma winter home, almost as if I were home for Christmas feeling. I don't know - maybe because I'm still out of sorts in Santa Monica that just being in a familar setting with my parents is comforting?

Have you ever wondered what 70 tons of snow looks like in the dessert? ME TOO!
Notice the green grass all around Chaplin.

Mom and dad took us to the Yuma Christmas Village at the Quartermaster Depo.

They had 'guaranteed' snow on the sled run for 4 days. We visited on the last day, so we didn't have to pay for any of the sled rides as the snow was not 'guaranteed'. LOL

Dad and I laughed about building this in Fort St. John and charging $5 a ride... that would NOT be a money maker. BUT in Yuma it is out of the ordinary and I even over heard some children talking about this being their first time seeing real snow.


Visit to the Camel farm, where I found this goat. I liked his looks, but he was constantly angry, which at his size made him even cuter!

What do two donkeys sound like? Worse than one. Nobody wants to hear that racket, and that is why i think horses are more popular.

This is Chaplin's pool in the back yard.
LOVED IT!











Christmas Eve -The traditions continue - thanks Nana for picking up the ornament for Chaplin, making meat pies, and baking Adam butter-tarts.


















Christmas Day!!! Finally!!!
Chaplin's big gift from Santa was a skateboard. Well... we do live in the birth town of skate boarding!






















Christmas 2011
Adam, Lori & (*Jedi) Chaplin Boyd
* notice his Jedi sword!

Conversation:

Chaplin "Can I go to weapons school"

Adam "what like Harry Potter's school'?

Chaplin "No one where you learn to sword fight"

We were invited over friends of my parents for X'mas dinner. What a great meal it was.

QUICK QUESTION FOR THOSE THAT RAISED ADAM :

Where did he learn to put butter on his turkey? Anyone know where this comes from?

After Christmas we did a few trips around Yuma, and even went on a safe (half hour) hike.

We went out to the desert with mom and dad, Stan and Judy Sutherland, and their tiny black poddle Sissy (you can see her next to Stan's legs in the photo)

Sissy should be my dog! Because I really really want her. She is so fluffy and cute. Chaplin adored her, and she adored Chaplin.

Adam really liked the sound of the rocks rolling down the mountian, so he setup his recorder and instructed us to all grab a rock and on the count of 3 throw your rock and then shut up.

December 29th -

Our holiday was over and I knew it was time to 'go home' but to where?

Happy New Year - Happy Anniversary!

We went over to Peter and Jen's house for a fondue party and a sleep over! Chaplin was so excited to see Jake, Theo and Linden and play with kids again.

Here is a little part of a conversation I had with Jen at some point in the night - (short form)

Peter and Jen had spent their Christmas in Vancouver, I asked how was the trip?

Jen replied "Peter and I talked about living in Vancouver again and if we could see ourselves ever moving back. The whole time we were there it rained and we both said no.... SO Lori you've got to make this move to LA work, we are staying and so are you!" I loved the conversation, and my depression about coming back to Santa Monica from Yuma dissappearred with that and a stiff vodka drink.

So as usual I started my new year by going to Las Vegas.

That's right folks, i went again. That's twice in less than two months. And i'm not really any poorer for it.

I was actually there for a trade show with work -

but we girls know how to have fun.

Mindy Bing, Shirley Viens (MOM!), and me!

at the trade show with super tired feet and acting goofy. Just another typical day.

My dad flew in to look after Chaplin, and then on the Friday Adam, Chaplin and dad drove to Las Vegas. Chaplin stayed in mom and dads hotel room. thank you so much for that treat, and they looked after Chaplin all day Saturday. i think it was their birthday gift to him - they took him to the fun dungeon, to McDonalds, to the pool and then bought him a knights costume to wear out to dinner. They went to the Tournament of Kings, a horse & knight show. Chaplin loved loved loved it, because they had swords...

And the best news so far - Chaplin has started Kindergarten again at a school called Will Rogers. He's only had 7 days so far, so next blog i will be able to give you a much better update.

Lori "Sorry Chaplin it's not a weapon school"

Happy New Year everyone. 2012!!!