Boat for Hope

This is what we did today:



We celebrated family, community, and jolly-fun pirating :o)

Such a gorgeous day for this event!  The lads had a blast - and will be talking about Boat for Hope all year. How do I know?  Because they talked about last year's event up until today :o)

Thank you to Variety, Pharmasave, and all the volunteers who made this day so incredible for our little pirates. We are truly grateful.

And I am grateful because when I see the sailors, I think of my dad.  Here he is on the ship giving my sister a bath in the sink in 1964. 



Boat for Hope

This weekend we transformed ourselves into pirates for the annual Variety charity called Boat for Hope. 





People donate time, energy and their boats to take people with disabilities (and their families) for a boating adventure.  This year we got to ride in a Whale Watching Boat.  Our captain gave up a day of work to volunteer his time for this amazing charity.  There were whales out...and he was missing it...but he didn't care.  He took his two children along, and together they experienced the joy of coming together as a community for a great cause.



I told them how very important the charity was to our family.  How Variety Heart in Winnipeg helped us to get to Edmonton to get Aidan's heart fixed when he was only five months old.  How we'll always be grateful.

When we docked and were leaving.  Our Captain (wish I knew his name) gave Aidan a little pat on the shoulder and said, "take care of your mom, big guy."

I wanted to cry.  I guess I have a soft spot for pirates.

Nothing Gold can Stay...

Such a lovely couple of days. We attended Variety's Boat for Hope and had such an amazing time. The Navy, Coastguard, Fire/Rescue, etc. hosted a day of incredible fun for kids with special needs and their families. I'm planning to write more about the event when I have photos ready to post.

Then, today we had Kieran's First Communion and Confirmation. Kieran looked so grown up standing in front of the church. He was quite serious through the whole event, but after he took a sip of the wine, he made such a hilarious face. He didn't mean to, but his whole body kind of shook like he'd just tasted Buckley's Cough Syrup. Later he said, the wine MADE me do that! Liam found that quite funny.

In the afternoon, to celebrate our new and wonderful life here on the coast, we went to the ocean. Aidan loved playing in the sand. At one point he was lying flat on his belly making sand angels. Kieran played football with James, and Liam ran between the play structures and the water (much like a puppy, that boy). I dreamed that I could be in one of the lovely sail boats writing a story, and then we had to get back home for supper and baths and bed.

Such a perfect day. A perfect weekend. One of those, "I'm grateful to be alive" times in life that bring such great and profound joy.

But, nothing gold can stay... now Aidan is coughing up a storm, and it's beginning to sound a lot like croup. Will be spending the next while monitoring to see if it's bad enough to go to Emergency. He's resting now after being steamed and having a long cuddle and an inhaler, hopefully it won't be a bad spell.