The Wickens Family

Our Cruise

So we just got back from our cruise, it was wonderful. It was a 4 day cruise from Vancouver to LA. It was so great to just get away for a bit. I believe holidays are so important for our well-being. It just rejuvenates you right when you need it. And we really needed it! We have had a bit of a crazy summer...moving, renovating, stressful business stuff, and me going back to work have all added up to Todd and Jackie needing a "holiday"! It was great...and no kids! Love the kids, but a holiday is just not a holiday with kids. Or should I say a "relaxing" holiday. And we all need a break from the regular routine, (right moms?) We went with my sister and brother-in-law, and had such a blast. We enjoyed every minute of it...long dinners, with no ones food to cut up, mouths and hands to wash, just long, peaceful child-free dinners. (and eating non-stop...literally...I haven't checked, but I'm sure I went over my "average weight gain" for pregancy week 25! Oh well, I think the baby just had a big "growth-spurt" that week!)We actually booked a balcony cabin on this cruise, which we have never done before, so that was a special treat. It was so nice to have the door open at night, falling asleep to the sounds of the waves and the ocean breeze. Then we would have our breakfast out on our little balcony. It was

amazing! After we got off the ship in LA, we stayed for 2 nights in Redondo Beach, right on the ocean. It was beautiful! We just hung out, went to a taping of the Late Late Show at CBS studios...which was a very fun experience. Then we went to Beverly Hills, went to Rodeo Drive, scouted for some celebrities. Didn't see anyone too exciting. Although we did see Larry King walking down the street going into the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. But I was hoping to see someone with a little more "star-status", at least for me. Although I swear I saw Julia Roberts driving in a Land Rover, and Todd thinks he saw Jessica Simpson, but seeing a blond-haired girl with big sunglasses in Hollywood that looks like Jessica Simpson, doesn't necessarily narrow it down to her. But he believes it was, who knows, I'll have to check my gossip magazines next week to see if she was there! :) But it was pretty cool to be where the action is. Quite the lifestyle people live down there. It was neat to see. But it is always nice to come back h

ome too, especially when we have 2 amazing little girls waiting for us. They were pretty excited to see us, which was nice. Although they had fun at aunties' house, they were excited to be altogether again...as were we!

Yes,that's right...that is me in Central Perk! The actual set of "Friends". We took a tour of Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank one day, and this is one of the things we got to see. It was so cool, for all you "Friends" fanatics, I'm sure you can understand.

And this is the infamous scene at Central Perk (minus the Wickens' on the couch of course) That couch is the same one that they used for all 10 seasons, and the actual coffee mugs. Everything has been left the same. It was so neat. Definately a highlight!

First Day of Pre-School

So my little girl has now started SCHOOL! Well, pre-school, but it is still quite wierd, sad, exciting and fun all at the same time. She is at MEI, which is even wierder... she is going to the same school that I went to! I feel like I am not old enough to have kids in school yet! But I do. Taylor is LOVING every minute of it. She of course is into anything "Princess", so she picked out a "princess" backpack, cup and slippers, and would have gotten princess running shoes that light-up too...but that's where mommy comes in and draws the line! Some things I just cannot do...and flashing light cartoon shoes is one of them! She goes 3 days a week, but she wishes it was 7! Taylor is quite the Miss Independent little girl. She was quite distraught the first day when I told her that I had to stay with her. She wanted to do this all on her own! Without mommy! She told me,"You know mommy, I can do this by myself...I'm four now!" But after I explained that some children actually need their mommy there for the first time and the teacher wanted us to be there, and that next time she would be all on her own...she was OK with it. I am very glad she is independent and is as out-going as she is, but you know it would be nice to be needed by your kids once in awhile! :) That's OK...I know she loves me!

Summer Pics

These are the Oilers shirts that
Grandma and Grandpa Wickens
got for the girls...daddy's favorite
shirts on them!

My sister Jody and I walking
around Mill Lake with the kids...
they really love each other!

This is when my parents took
Taylor camping to Birch Bay...
she loves her Papa J!

Camping

On the August long weekend, our care group all went camping up to Pavillion Lake (just past Cache Creek). We had a great time, besides the large rat that decided to hang out in the cabin for awhile, it was great. The guys took care of it with two pieces of plywood. I won't go into detail, but there was a bit of "clean-up" that had to be done! The kids had fun on the boat, playing on the beach, and getting really dirty! There were no showers and the lake was quite cold, so we all were pretty dirty...except for us girls who decided to take the boat out to the middle of the lake and "bathed". It was great, we had the tunes going, we were shaving our legs off the side of the boat, washing our hair and just relaxing for a couple hours while all the dad's had the kids back at camp. It was wonderful!

The Girl's Birthday's

Well this summer has flown by. We haven't done alot, just working on the house, landscaping the backyard (Todd built a beautiful cobblestone deck in the back) and enjoying the beautiful weather. And of course, summer means birthdays around here. Ella's is July 11 and Taylor's is August 8. I decided to do a joint friends birthday party for them as well as a joint family party. Doing 4 parties in 3 weeks is just too much. And it is probably the last year I can get away with at before they start getting their "own" friends. It was alot of fun. I think we had 12 girls and 2 boys! It was great. I did a "flower" theme. The invitations were puzzles that the kids had to put together wrapped up in little boxes all decorated with flowers, we had rice krispie flowers in a flower pot, flower cut-out sandwiches, flower jello jigglers, etc. It was fun. Here are some pics of the party....

Trip to West Edmonton Mall

Here are som

e pictures of

our trip to Edmonton. Todd had a week of holidays in May and we thought it would be fun to stay at West Ed Mall for a couple nights with the kids. Even though he grew up in Edmonton, and worked at the mall, he had never stayed there, so we did and it was one of the funnest trips we've had (with the kids). We don't usually take the girls on holidays, as it isn't really a holiday then, but this one was very fun. The girls were in their glory staying at the hotel, they love hotels. There was a huge hot tub in the room that we had a "family bubble bath" in. That was pretty fun. Then we hit the waterpark, which is incredible, and did the amusement park the next day. I was surprised how many of the rides the kids cou

ld actually go on. They pretty much had a perma-grin on their faces for 3 days straight! The greatest was in the afternoons, Todd would take the girls back to the hotel room and they would all nap, and mommy could go do some shopping by herself!!! It was very nice. Then we went down to Red Deer and stayed with Todd's sister and her family, which was very fun. The girls had a great time hanging out with their 5 cousins, especially in their huge playhouse they have! Then we also went to Calgary and stayed with our friends Riley and Shannon Armstrong for a couple days. It was great to catch up with them...we also hit the Calgary Zoo with them, which was very fun. It was a very fun trip. If anyone wants to do a fairly cheap family holiday with kids, I definately suggest WEM. It's great.