John Harvey Photo

Christmas 2018

Go to Slide Show Smaller Images Love those traditions



It's tricky finding care for your kids over the whole holidays.  I'm lucky, I get a week off, whereas Helen only gets a few days off.  This year the way the dates worked out, I was able to take the kids to the Island while Helen was working in Vancouver and she joined us Christmas eve.  The kids have fond memories of the playground near my parents house, even if it's so cold that they can't hold onto the metal. 

Claira In PlaygroundNara Swinging On Wet Bars
They really wanted a visit, but it turned out to be short trip to Playgound.


We knew we were going up Island for Boxing day and the kids wanted to contribute to the big party.  My mom had the idea of making cookies and letting the kids help cut out shapes and decorate them.  This cookie dough is a bit tricky (it's the butter/sugar combination) so you don't want to rework the dough too many times.  The kids did a good job with the cutters and getting their shapes onto pans.

Claira Learning Cookie ShapesClaira Pressing CookiesNara Choosing Cookie Cutter

Nara Decorating Cookies
Of course, when you ask a kid to decorate a cookie, they are mostly going to maximize the toppings they can fit on.  We had to ask Nara to clean up the tray so that the sugar didn't burn around the cookies and spoil the taste.

Claira With Her Cookies

The cookies turned out really well!

In the last few years, I've been poking around the west coast of Vancouver Island past Sooke.  There is a lot of wild beaches and trails out here and I quite enjoy a little trip out of the city.  In July 2016, My Dad and I drove out to China Beach to see the Milky Way.  In December 2016, Helen and I walked to Sombrio Beach.  In November of 2018, Helen and I hiked out to Mystic Beach.  I did some research - I found there is a publicly available lighthouse at Sheringham Point so that is where we started our day!

Claira Running To Sheringham Point LighthouseClaira Won RaceSheringham Point Lighthouse Grandma And Kids

Watching Open Ocean


Sometimes it's hard to get a sense of a beach from google maps.  Fishboat Bay is a "municipal" beach at the end of a small road.  Google maps suggested it was good for kids, but I didn't take into account the high tide.  Unfortunately, in a high tide there is almost no beach at all!

 
Fishboat Bay Park At High TideFishboat Bay Park Nara Ready To Jump

The kids wanted to throw some rocks at the water so we drove down to the much larger China Beach Provincial Park. 

Watching The Waves Come In
There was a wind storm a few days ago and the waves were still coming in pretty rough.   The kids wanted to do the usual run in when the waves retreat and then run back up the beach when the waves crash.

Claira Running From Big Wave
Nara Pouring Out Boot
In hindsight, this isn't the beach to chase waves at.  The water drops off quickly and the waves crash hard - if the kids got caught out, they could quite easily get swept away.  My bad.  We went back to the car and got snacks and drove back to Victoria.


One year the kids got fancy dresses for Christmas and imediatly put them on.  Fancy dresses is now a tradition - we bring over dresses to wear when opening gifts.

Fancy Dresses Ready For ChristmasCheesies Best Gift EverLooking At Christmas HaulNara Got New Doll
 
I have a tough time taking photos of people opening gifts.  In the afternoon we celebrate my Dad's birthday who happens to have been born on Christmas day.

 
Claira Decorated Cheese CakeHappy Birthday Cheese Cake

 
We then traveled up Island to Comox for a Boxing Day party.  My aunt kindly hosts a party every year and relatives from near and far gather for dinner, drinks and family.  Most years I take photos of the kids but this year someone decided to ask for formal portraits so we did some of those too.  The adults are a little hard to convince to come up, but they are generally easy to take nice photos of.
 
Allison And Her KidsJustin And TaylorKayla And DanMillard Family

Six Grandkids
Kids are trickier.  My usual strategy is to "spray and pray" - take lots of photos and try to assemble a good photo out of good parts later.  This is hard if the kids move a lot because you can't combine two parts of two photos if people change position a lot.

Four GrandkidsGrandfather With Great Grandkids



Claira Decorated Cheese Cake
Person: Claira
Tags: birthday cake, decorating
Nara Got New Doll
Person: Nara
Claira With Her Cookies
Person: Claira
Looking At Christmas Haul
Cheesies Best Gift Ever
Person: Claira
Nara Decorating Cookies
Person: Nara
Tags: decorating
Claira Learning Cookie Shapes
Allison And Her Kids
Person: Jessica, Nathan
Four Grandkids
Person: Claira, James, Marcus, Nara
Nara Pouring Out Boot
Person: Nara
Altitude: 7m (22 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: beach, missing boot
Claira In Playground
Person: Claira
Tags: McMinn Park
Grandfather With Great Grandkids
Person: Arabella, Claira, James, Marcus, Nara, Philip, Lexi May
Happy Birthday Cheese Cake
Person: Janet
Tags: birthday cake, candlelight
Claira Running To Sheringham Point Lighthouse
Person: Claira
Altitude: 26m (85 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: lighthouse, running
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Grandma And Kids
Person: Claira, Janet, Nara
Altitude: 9m (29 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: lighthouse
Kayla And Dan
Person: Kayla
Claira Running From Big Wave
Altitude: 1m (3 feet)
Location: Go To...
Fishboat Bay Park At High Tide
Altitude: 10m (32 feet)
Location: Go To...
Claira Won Race
Altitude: 26m (85 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: lighthouse
Fancy Dresses Ready For Christmas
Person: Claira, Nara
Millard Family
Person: Justin, Kayla
Nara Choosing Cookie Cutter
Watching The Waves Come In
Fishboat Bay Park Nara Ready To Jump
Altitude: 6m (19 feet)
Location: Go To...
Claira Pressing Cookies
Justin And Taylor
Person: Justin
Nara Swinging On Wet Bars
Person: Nara
Tags: McMinn Park, monkey bars, playground
Six Grandkids
Person: Arabella, Claira, James, Lexi May, Marcus, Nara
Watching Open Ocean
Altitude: 9m (29 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: lighthouse(3), birthday cake(2), decorating(2), McMinn Park(2), running(1), candlelight(1)
People: Claira(10), Nara(9), James(3), Marcus(3), Janet(2), Arabella(2)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > Christmas 2018
From: John Harvey Photo > Pictures of People > Christmas 2018

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Last Modified Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 at 00:03:31 Edit
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