Feels like summer!

Whoops, I missed April! As per usual, there has been lots going on, and blogging has been on my to-do list for a while. Maybe I need a three-day weekend to get around to things like this? It's a beautiful day here, and will be hot like summer this afternoon (29 degrees!) despite the mid-May date. The pool is open and there isn't much planned until later - I'll definitely do my best to enjoy the slower pace of today. 

Alana, Mia and Eva at Provincials

we went by our old place in Gatineau - the kids used to jump off this rock when we lived there. 

Volleyball is all wrapped up, and we are full swing into the summer sports. Hendrik's vball team finished out their provincials (early April at RIM park in Waterloo) with a tough loss in the first round on playoff day; the team they lost to went on to win it all. It was a tough way to finish the season after winning several tournaments and starting provincials with a #1 ranking, but I think most people were able to see the big picture for what it was - a successful season! Alana's team's provincials were in Ottawa three weeks later, and Steve and I were lucky to have her all to ourselves for the weekend; the boys missed a few days of school and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in Bowmanville. It was our first provincials experience, and the three-day tournament made for some long days! We stayed right downtown, and walked up to Parliament Hill one day, went for a team breakfast another, spent lots of time by the pool, and played a LOT of volleyball. It was a great first experience and hopefully we'll make it back next year.

Hendrik's team - looking so official. Go #12!

We had our year-end party at the beach volleyball courts yesterday (which was fun but hot - Alana was not into it at all), and a few parents asked me if things were less busy now that volleyball was over. Truth be told, there was a week or two in early April where we were in between extra-curricular sports seasons... but that's over! All three kids are playing baseball (Steve is helping coach Jordan's team), Alana is playing soccer (I'm coaching), and Hendrik is umping. It's bananas! I'm holding on to my Tuesday night basketball as hard as I can - I want ONE night! We'll see how that goes as both Alana and Jordan play on Tuesdays, and Hendrik usually umps those days too. Maybe when school is over it will feel less hectic? We have 27 days left, and I am in full countdown mode (probably more than Hendrik is). This year has been tough, and there are days when I question why I want to do the same thing next year. Core French it is for me! I teach mostly grade 7 and 8 but will likely have a few grade 4 and 5 classes next year too. 

how cute are they?!!

And the big news of the weekend is that we have an 8-year old in the house! We celebrated Jordan's birthday this weekend with a pool party, presents, cake and cupcakes and lots of fun and smiles. He's still into Minecraft and Lego, loves reading and chickens (the surprise #1 present from his friend Tommy was a mini stuffed chicken - named Tristan for some reason), baseball and swimming. Here's a pic of the birthday boy on his big day along with some Q&A:

happy birthday!

best friend(s) : Ben and Sam
favourite show : not sure
favourite movie : "I don't know either"
favourite meal / thing to do : stromboli, waffles
favourite sport : baseball and hockey
fave song / band : "I don't know"
favourite animal : chick and chicken
favourite video game : Minecraft & Clone drone in the danger zone
what else can you say about yourself? : that I'm 8, "that you love me" (love!!)

I think he's had the same cake before!

presents outside - there was a lot of Lego! And a chick... :)

scavenger hunt (set up by H and A) for loot-bag candy!

bday party cupcake-cake - more Minecraft

It is already beautiful out, so I'm going to get myself outside - the garden needs attention and I'm meeting up with a friend to go for a walk... yay for long weekends!

March - so much to see!

Look at me sneaking a March post in at the last minute! It's Easter Sunday and Jordan and Alana are downstairs fighting over pom poms and Hendrik and Steve just left for volleyball practice. You'd think sports would be on hold today (this morning at least), but their provincials are next weekend in Waterloo, so they need to sneak in the practice time. Alana's team's provincials aren't until the end of April in Ottawa, so that will be a bit of a trek, but we're all planning on going! The Easter bunny came and the kids hunted down a big haul of eggs this morning - they've also been treated to chocolate bunnies and more treats from both grandparents so there's no shortage of chocolate around here. Yesterday, for the first time in 10 years I played in a volleyball tournament, and I can walk today, yay! There were 7 women's teams made up of former college, university and women's league players, and the level was good. We played 8 sets in all and lost in the semi-finals, so everyone on our team felt fairly satisfied with how we did. The other big event of the weekend, besides Grandma and Gramps coming and an Easter dinner tonight, was Friday's trip to the Sweet Sixteen games in Detroit. Steve, Hendrik and I left in the early afternoon and made it to downtown Detroit with enough time to walk around and enjoy a delicious Greek meal before attending a Gonzaga alumni event. Hendrik and I got our pic with Spike, tattooed our faces (yeah!) and mingled with some other fans before heading over to the game. It was a great first half and really so fun to see such a big game in person. We even ran into people we knew! Unfortunately both Zags basketball teams lost, so no Elite Eight this year for the men or the women; they both had a great post-season run though, and we get to watch games from the couch today. 

made it onto the Jumbotron!

My real motivation for getting to the computer this morning was to share photos of our March break trip to the Cayman Islands. It was an incredible trip! Because Steve has had Nationals over March break coaching with McMaster, this was the first year we had the option of going away. After a busy winter with volleyball and activities, we wanted a vacay but had a hard time figuring out where and what... all-inclusive? Airbnbs? Mexico? We made a bit of a last minute decision to look at the Cayman Islands, and Steve spent quite a bit of time researching how we could make it happen, and then we just took the plunge! Because it was relatively last minute, we split our time between two Airbnbs on Grand Cayman and then visited friends from Tokyo on Cayman Brac, one of the two smaller islands that make up part of the British Overseas Territory. And it did not disappoint!! It was great seeing Marili and Hendrik and our kids got along really well with their two, Benji and Miki, so that was fantastic. Highlights of the trip were beach time (we loved the beach by our first Airbnb in West Bay), swimming with dolphins, the boat trip (this might be a fave day for most of us; we snorkeled at a few spots, swam with sting rays, saw starfish (Alana got stung by a jellyfish at Starfish Point - boo!), and swam in Bioluminescent Bay - this part was incredible!!), a beach day with the Jansens, and hanging out in the Brac with friends. It was fairly expensive there, and if we go back I'll have a better idea of what we'd do differently. I will say that the Airbnb and grocery thing didn't feel cumbersome at all and I definitely still felt like I was on vacation even though we were doing breakfast and lunch at the apartment. The weather was amazing, and it was so nice to get away!

fishing on the wharf on Cayman Brac

in one of the many caves on Brac - it was HOT in there!

the boys! 

the Hendriks :) love this!

kids on the porch at Marili and Hendrik's

the adults!

coconuts on the beach, with the wharf in the background

jumping into the tidal swimming pool on Brac - we loved this spot!

taking flight on Grand Cayman

a small cove / beach morning - the water was so clear and warm...

enjoying the view on 7-mile beach

boat trip dinner - Alana was recovering from her jelly sting at this point. dinner helped!

Hendrik was definitely comfortable holding this big sting ray... super neat experience!

dolphin day!!!

what a highlight - the big kids LOVED it! 

boat ray day

the coral beach in front of Marili and Hendrik's had SO many of the conch shells!

fishing together 

play time at home

the beaches were amazing!

mornings at the beach in West Bay 

I have more photos I could post but for some reason they're not loading. I might have to sneak them into the next post! Happy Spring and fingers crossed weather warms up soon - I liked being on the beach!!

The latest...

We have been busy busy busy with activities lately, and will continue to be pulled in three different directions... for another 10 years? Ha! I think that's more accurate than saying two weeks (which is what I was thinking - school vball ends soon)... yikes. Both Alana and Hendrik are playing school volleyball, and with the club volleyball for both of them, pre-season baseball / tryouts (for H and J) and soccer for Alana, we would benefit from another adult who could ferry these rugrats around. I'm coaching at school too, and doing my best to hold on to my Monday night women's league volleyball and Tuesday night basketball - the adults need their time too! Thank goodness for the weekend.

Steve and Hendrik were in Oshawa this weekend for their first Championship Division OVA tournament (the top grouping for their age group) and they won!! Amazing. They're on their way home today so I'll hear all about it later. Sounds like Hendrik got the last few points in the gold medal game so I'm sure he's feeling pretty proud of how he played. Steve's coaches from high school came out to watch - these are two people who had a significant impact on his life, so it was great that they could come out and see him coach and watch young Brinks on the court. Coaches of the coaches!

Alana and Audrey making signs for the Western Women's vball game

She won some swag at the school game (field trip) on Friday - best sign!

OGs on the vball court at Lord Roberts

seeing these two smiling was the BEST!!

Alana's team on the court last weekend at an OVA tourney

80s dance party night - so fun!

Jordan had an early-ish hockey this morning (8:30) and I just finished my second coffee (yum) and am thinking about what the rest of the day looks like: we need a grocery shop, there's cleaning and laundry to be done, Alana has volleyball this afternoon, and then there's the Usher concert with Taylor Swift's boyfriend (ha!), so there are a few things happening. Time to get going! :)

December-January

This one is long overdue! I started a few weeks ago and never got it off the ground, so here's to trying again. We had a great Christmas break but I can't really remember, so the photos (or whatever I have on my phone) will remind me what we were up to. There were the regular festivities with family in Bowmanville (which was amazing, as always), some chill time at home, and I took a trip - solo! I went back to Gonzaga 23 years later, and it was so great to be back there and see friends and teammates. Being there definitely inspired me to travel more, and I'm logging lots of time on Google Flights trying to find our next trip. Here are some photos from the break... new post with updates is imminent!