baby gullies

This summer, for the first time in the history of living here, a gull set up his nest by the harbour, behind our house. Dad watched them every single day with his "spy-glasses" (aka binoculars), worrying about their survival. They faced some pretty close calls. Like when an evil bird tried to attack the nest, and the time when they had to replace the light and risked disturbing them altogether. 

Unfourtunate was the day that Dad finally said that they didn't make it. 

I don't even know the cause, but the spot they chose is kind of vulnerable. 

We were hoping for the best.

That's why I'll always be glad I took the time to take a few pictures of them one morning. 

Mostly for my Dad, since I love seeing him get so excited about nature. 

For such a serious seeming man, he loves animals and it's really endearing. 

I also never thought I'd consider gulls adorable, 

but these little babies were the cutest, fluffiest creatures I've ever seen.

lazy day

today has been an incredibly lazy day

spent the morning reading The Hunger Games

got up long enough to eat breakfast & run a few errands

came back, discovered i'd received my official job contract in my inbox (yay! finally!)

continued reading and slept the rest of the afternoon away

i've been a little under the weather lately anyway

makes sense since our weather is so out of whack bipolar this summer
today was damp and rainy again, encouraging the sleepiness

i'm glad my bed has been my kitty's go-to nap-all-day place the last few weeks

he's been the most excellent company

pandamania

Last week (24-29th) I helped out with the Pandamania themed Vacation Bible School they were putting off at my church. It was a total blast. For a few hours every morning I got to sing silly songs, help with crafts, 

play games, listen to their stories and give them hugs.
At first I was leader to a handful of nine year old boys (Cameron, Caleb, Logan, Ethan and Brandon). They were good kids, but as the week went on they pushed the limits more and more, as that age tends to do. They got Jared to take over on the second last day, but it turned out that they listened a lot better to an older father figure on the final day. I was willing to stick it out the whole week--I've definitely faced worse in my years of camp counselling, but I was moved to watching over an adorable group of 5-7 year olds instead and I was in my glee. I'll admit, that's my preferred age group and they were the absolute sweetest: Damon, Ava and her identical twin brothers Luke & Robert, and little Emily. Funny enough, once I was moved, some of the nine year old boys wanted me back!  I also missed being there for Amber, Chloe and Alicia in the older group since they were usually found at my side and some of the adults said they missed having me around too. It surprised me to hear it and goes to show that you don't realize the impact you're making by simply being kind.

This week helped fill the hole in my heart from not being at CWJ this summer. I love the atmosphere of week long activities with kids. My heart swells and I want to protect them from all the horrible things in the world. You get to laugh with them, teach them things, watch them grow and slowly open up to you. Like tiny little Emily, she was the youngest and quietest and took everything in with her big blue eyes, but on the last day she wanted to hold my hand everywhere we went and tell me all about her pet hamster. 

That's how I spell success. And cuteness overload.

 Even if it's a rough week, in the end the smiles on their faces make it all worth it.