Summer Randoms

After all that wedding posting and lots of talking, I'm going to sit back and let you review some of our summer random photos - lots of good times had by all at the Upper Beach!  Love to all, Audrey and Violet xoxo

Audrey Fun At The Park!

Vila Fun At The Park (she went one-handed on the swings too - whoa Vila!):

Togetherness!

(we love holding hands!)

(Mummy doesn't get in many pics, but when she does...Daddy's thumb at top!)

(tete-a-tete out for dinner!)

(Menchies - round 2!)

Holly & Guy's Amazing Wedding Reception!

After our afternoon of ceremony and flower girl duties, we were off to the reception to par-tay!  First, it was cocktail hour.....for Vila and I, that meant a nice seat on a bench on the terrace at "Spencer's on the Waterfront", a beautiful restaurant right by the lake.  We had our cocktail of milk and some crackers, and enjoyed watching all the adults milling about.  Mummy was very happy to have a glass of wine and relax too!

When it was time to go inside for dinner - look what we found! 

The beautiful table settings - with burlap runners made by Nanny, and the centrepieces with handmade bark fabric covers (by Aunty Holly) and fresh wildflowers artfully arranged by Mummy, Nanny and Aunty Holly.  It really looked beautiful.  Plus there was a surprise in our menu - a funny little cartoon of the wedded couple, hand drawn by our Uncle Guy.  Plus we all got limited-edition, handmade gold sparkle heart pins - they were our "favours" - so cute, I put mine on right away (Aunty Holly was very happy to see that many of the guests did too!) 

Dinner started arriving, so  Aunty Holly and Uncle Guy went to their special table right at the front overlooking everybody.  Don't they look great and so happy? 

When dinner was going, it was time to start the speeches!  Never one to miss an opportunity to perform on a stage, Gramps gave a really funny speech!  He started it off by saying he was going to "keep it simple" and put on his dunce cap.  Silly Gramps - check him out in the background there, with Vila and Grandpa laughing along! 

Mummy gave a speech too but hers was a little more serious - she was in tears but happy tears!  Oh Mummy - you're silly too.  Vila and I didn't get a chance to make a speech, but we did want to have our own private audience with our happy Aunty and Uncle, so we went up to their table for a chat.

Actually during dinner, we really could barely keep still!  We started off the dancing early during dinner hour.  Here we are with Daddy and Grandma. 

When the music actually started though, do you know what the first song was?  "Call Me Maybe" - our favourite!  Thanks Aunty Holly & Uncle Guy!  The dancing went on all night until 130am - Mummy stayed for it all, but Daddy took Vila and I home around 1030, we were pooped!  We didn't manage to get video of us dancing in the evening, but here's more of us fluttering around and being the "dinner hour entertainment" so to speak......enjoy!  And cheers and hugs again to our Aunty Holly and Uncle Guy - what a perfect day, we love you very much!  Love Audrey and Vila xoxo

Our Flower Girl Moment - The Ceremony!

Our moment in the sun as Flower Girls arrived!  Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa drove us to Burlington to meet up with everyone and get all dressed up.  We put on our new JCrew taffeta dresses, our new cream ballet flats, and got our hair done by hairdresser Mummy!  Ta-dah!  Here's the picture of all of us dressed up together and ready to go!! 

And you know how it is in our house - Mummy always has a camera around the corner.  So of course, it was picture time and Vila and I did some pretty posing on Nanny's front porch.  Awwww, we really do look cute, don't we?!

Then it was MORE pictures with the professional photographer...Aunty Holly and Uncle Guy saw each other first, and then had pics with family.  We still haven't seen any results yet, but hopefully they worked out!  I was a pretty good sport during it all, but Vila was not as eager to pose for the camera this time.  Oh Vila!  Let's just say Mummy was trying her best to keep her happy!

The ceremony was almost ready to start - so here's some shots of Nanny and Gramps front yard with all the chairs set up (Mummy did that in the morning).  And see the "houpa" (that Gramps built!) and the gorgeous lawn and flowers (thanks Nanny!).  Isn't it pretty?

Alright - here we go!! The music started, Mummy walked down and then it was our turn!  I got a little scared though with all those people looking, so ran down the aisle and forgot to throw a single rose petal.  Oops!  And then Vila just stopped right in the middle of the aisle and put her hands over her face --- no worries, Daddy and Grandma/Grandpa to the rescue.  Everyone still thought we were really cute!!  The ceremony began and here's how it looked under the houpa.....they're doing their vows, promising to love "crafting and cartooning" - cute!



After the ceremony and some celebrations in the garden (complete with garden shack drinks and chips!), the happy couple had to get to their reception!  And Gramps was their chaffeur - looking sharp in his driver's cap and vintage Rolls Royce!

Before they left, one more picture for their adoring friends and famlies - Holly and Guy, the newest husband and wife!

What a great ceremony filled with love and magic - now onwards to the rest of this amazing day!  Love and happiness to Aunty Holly & Uncle Guy always, Audrey and Violet xoxo

Wedding Morning Surprise

The day finally arrived - Aunty Holly and Uncle Guy's wedding day!!!!  To start the morning, Mummy and Nanny were very excited to do the big reveal on their surprise.....1000 origami cranes!  It's a symbol of 1000 years of propserity and joy for a married couple.  Mummy and Nanny spent many many hours on it, and also had help from many friends and family of Holly & Guy.  Holly was sooo shocked!!! (yay, it was hard to keep a secret, so very fun to finally tell her!)  They turned out really well - look at those 4 chandeliers of birdies, a perfect spot for pictures later!

Here's a close-up of those beautiful birdies.....it took about an hour to do 10 of them, so you can imagine the work that went into these by everyone.  Worth it though to give our Holly & Guy such a nice surprise, in the spirit of crafting, which Aunty Holly loves.

After our wedding morning surprise reveal, it was off to the hair salon to get hair and makeup done for the big day.  Check out the "work in progress" going on here - now just the dresses to go!

And when we got home, it was time for the big bridal reveal - here she is, our Aunty Holly - the beautiful bride!!! (posing with Mummy who still had to get dressed!)

Isn't Aunty Holly pretty?  What a gorgeous bride - stay tuned for more on the wedding in the next posts!  Love Audrey and Violet xoxo

Menchie's - Just Go & Get Some!

Vila and I discovered our new favourite place - Menchies!  We had our first taste of their frozen yogurt soft-serve, and we agree.....it's the best!  Not to mention the pink spoons and stickers you get there too.  YUM!  So get some yourself....maybe we'll see you there soon?!  Love Audrey and Violet xoxo

"Call Me Maybe" Mania!

Every year, there seems to be a "song of the summer".  And for 2012, you can definitely say that "Call Me Maybe" is that song!  Me and Vila both love it too!  We've been practising our singing skills - and even some dance moves on my part - and I think we may have a shot at "Canada's Got Talent", don't you?  Or at least we'll keep singing and dancing and having fun!  Enjoy our show!!  Love Audrey & Violet xoxoxo

AUDREY'S "Call Me Maybe"

VIOLET'S "Call Me Maybe"

Aunty Holly's "Tea Time Crafternoon" Bridal Shower!

Did you know our Aunty Holly and Uncle Guy are getting married soon?  So of course, we had to have a Tea Party Shower for Aunty Holly!  Mummy and Nanny prepped it all - including some lovely tea-time treats of crustless sandwiches, dessert squares, cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and tea and Pimm's!  We had Nanny's silver tea service and nice china, and I helped Mummy decorate with the streamers too (pink, my fave colour!).

When Aunty Holly showed up, it was picture time of course!  Here she is, in her lovely white eyelet dress, looking the part of the bride-to-be.  Everyone wanted their picture with her - Mummy, Nanny, and of course, Guy's mom too.

After the family arrivals, all of Aunty Holly's girlfriends started to arrive.  Shiralee came with a special coconut raspberry cake (it was delicious and so pretty too!).

We all had a a perfectly polished tea time - mmmm, yummy treats and everyone enjoyed! Vila and I enjoyed ours at the "kiddie table" too in our front room.

Say cheese Vila, you're with the bride!  Oh geez, there she goes with her "big smile" again!!  Silly Vila.

After our tea time, it was time for the "crafternoon" part of our shower.  Aunty Holly put us all to work making confetti cones.  See how concentrated everyone is?  And there's Aunty Holly, leading the instructions!

It ended up being a little harder than it looks, so we were thankful when Shiralee seemed to figure it out on how to make them - yay Shiralee!

Of course, one of our fave parts of the day was getting to spend it with Holly and Nanny - here's us with Nanny in our pretty party dresses, getting hugs!

And opening presents for Aunty Holly was also fun (you know how I like to help people open their presents, right?!)  The gift was a surprise for her!  All the ladies had contributed to buy her a new mixer!  She can do lots of baking with that - me and Vila will gladly volunteer as helpers and taste-testers!

All in all, it was a great afternoon!  YAY, what fun and now the countdown to the wedding is really on....yippee, we know that it's going to be so fun and we're so happy for our Aunty Holly and Uncle Guy.  Love to all, Audrey and Violet xoxo

Neighbourhood Fun in the Upper Beach

There is so much to do in our amazing neighbourhood - we love it here!  To start our morning, we went to the splash pad right by our house.  It's only a 5 minute walk, and right beside our regular playground.  We love paddling around in the water - check out Vila's happy smiles.

After drying off and doing quick change, we went on to part 2 of our weekend adventure.  One thing we'd been meaning to do for a long time was out the Glen Manor Ravine path - especially as it got recently renovated with new wood.  We parked our car, got out our strollers (just in case.....me and Vila still like to ride in style sometimes) and hit the path.

It was a beautiful trek through the ravine, and I loved running along the new wooden bridge area.  

After that, we were down on Queen Street and decided to have dinner at the Beach Diner - it's a great place for kiddies.  We got watermelon and colouring sheets to start, then had some french fries and hot dogs.  Mmm, yummy.

Then it was the trek back to the car - Mummy and Daddy definitely got their workout pushing us uphill (especially because it was so hot - we've been having a super humid hot summer, don't ya know!)  A great day at our neighbourhood places - love the Beach! Hope you all had a great Saturday too.... Audrey and Violet xoxox

Bike Riding Practice!

It was coming up to "ride your bike" day at Bowmore, and Vila and I needed some practice!  Daddy bought us some new helmets and off we went to the playground at Bowmore to test out our rides.  Check us out -I'm on my new two-wheeler bike (courtesy of our neighbour Avery) and Vila tried my tricycle.  She still doesn't seem to want to peddle, silly Vila!

As for me, you'll see in our video that I'm quite good at peddling now!  Bike day will be super fun, and many more ride-along adventures for Vila and I in our future!  xoxo Audrey and Violet xoxo

Vila says Goodbye Erin....and Hello Bowmore!

What a big milestone for our Vila!  She had her last day at Erin's house on Friday - so we had to take a picture.  Erin has been such a good babysitter for me and Vila in our first couple of years.  We really did have a great start with her!  Mummy even got a little teary-eyed - it's funny to think after 3 years of seeing Erin daily, we won't see her anymore.  Thanks Erin, you've been awesome for our family!

But with every closed door, there comes an open one.....and the GREAT news is that Vila is now coming with me to Bowmore!  Here she is ready for her first day, with a new shirt, and her backpack.  She seemed quite excited!

Actually, the first day wasn't that bad at all for her - she does have ME there with her too after all!  And now she's a big girl and we can hang out all day together!  Here we are, getting ready to go to daycare together.  Love you Violet, congrats on transitioning to big-girl daycare now!  xoxox Audrey