March Break trip to Niagara Falls
>> Wednesday, March 18, 2015
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153188468099445.1073741829.516064444&type=1&l=cc866dae90
Trip to Tremblant
>> Friday, December 26, 2014
On December 18, we took off for a pre-Christmas trip to Mt. Tremblant.
Austin and Alexandra have been asking to learn to ski for awhile so we decided what better way than to throw them on a mountain and say 'go'.
After driving all day on the 18th, we picked up our rental equipment at 8 a.m. on Friday morning and taught the kids how to put on skis. They were super excited and had no-fear from the get-go.
It had been 10 years since Ryan and I last skied, but thankfully it's like riding a bike and after a couple of easy trails to start off our day, we had a great day.
Day 2 was much of the same. Before ski school started, we managed 2 quick half runs before dropping them off. And once again, Ryan and I skied all day while the kids learned -- although on this day, they were taken on the mountain for half of the day.
At the end of day 2, we once again rushed up the mountain with them for a quick run. But once we got to the top, Alexandra decided she was too tired to ski, so mom and Alex took the gondola back down while daddy and Austin skied down.
Day 3 was family day. Ryan and I were amazed at how much the kids learned in just 2 days. We spent much of the day bombing down the easy runs, but by day's end they were ready to try out the intermediate trails. Austin is very technical when he skis, careful of his turns and looking for any little jumps and side trails that he can find; Alex on the other hand, simply aims to get to the bottom as fast as she can!
On Dec. 22, we headed home for Christmas. All in all a great trip -- and we now have two little no-fear skiers, meaning more ski trips will be in our future!
I've used Facebook to upload an album this time, so hopefully this link below will work.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152967664169445.1073741828.516064444&type=1&l=0469364a07
Read more...
Happy Halloween
>> Friday, October 31, 2014
For all you non Facebook and Instagram people, I figured out how to post from my phone so....
Happy Halloween from Firestar and scary bones.
Read more...
Summer photos
>> Thursday, September 04, 2014
https://picasaweb.google.com/107184376695639310597/Summer2014?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO-r2qjJl5nsygE&feat=directlink
Photos from December, Christmas and January
>> Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Catching up on some photos...
https://picasaweb.google.com/107184376695639310597/December2013AndJanuary2014?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMbPh_v_5q7XTA&feat=directlink
An update
>> Saturday, December 28, 2013
It's been an awfully long time since I wrote a proper update so I'll try to catch up on everything that happened this fall that I can remember.
Alexandra
I guess the biggest thing that happened was that Alex switched schools this September to go to the French Immersion school with Austin. She's in SK and now, 4 months in, doing very well. In fact, her teacher says she's one of the top in her class. She comes home singing French songs almost daily and always has new words to teach us.
We're very happy that she's doing well, because as most of you know, we had a lot of trouble with the transition when we started out. Because the French Immersion school is only half day Kindergarten (instead of all-day Kindergarten like her JK school), we enrolled her in a nearby Montessori school for the other half day. To make a long story short, she hated it at the Montessori school and after 7 weeks of misery, we withdrew her. She now comes home and spends her afternoons with me every day. Although it's a lot more work for me (it's hard to fit a full day of work into 2.5 hours!), it's definitely worth it because she's much happier.
Aside from school, Alex took ballet again this fall. And once again she loved it. She's registered to continue in the winter and she'll be doing gymnastics and skating lessons once week as well.
Back in September both kids ran in a duathlon. It was pouring rain that day but that didn't deter them. Alex is determined when she puts her mind to it and she came in first in her age group (3 to 5 year olds)! Austin had a little trouble with his bike on the wet course, but still placed 24th
Austin
Austin is in Grade 2 now and is doing very well. He has a great teacher this year who is big into hands on teaching and doing experiments which is right up Austin's alley. He's getting good at reading -- in fact his reading abilities in French now exceed his abilities in English.
He started hockey again in October and this year he's playing on a house league team. He loves it! He plays every Saturday morning (at either 7:30 or 8:30) and has a practice every Wednesday evening. Every week he's improving and has had a couple of good scoring chances already (although no goals yet.). Although, intuitively, he's a defenceman and does quite well when he's in that position. And he was goalie for one game -- letting in only one goal! (Although he found it rather lonely in net as the opposing team only took 5 shots the entire game.)
His team also won the Parkwoods Cup hockey tournament for their age division...which he was thrilled about!
Mom and dad
There isn't as much to report about mom and dad. Ryan is now working at a site at Humber College and will be there until mid-2015. I am working quite a lot and have built a very steady little business. As I said, it's challenging now that Alex comes home every day at 11:30 but it's more or less manageable. And it's only 6 more months plus the summer, and then I'll go back to working full-time.
In November, Ryan and I escaped for 4 nights to New York City for a belated 10-year anniversary trip.
We rented an apartment that was about a 10 minute walk from Times Square and we had a fabulous time. We wandered around Times Square (several times), saw two shows (Spider-man: Turn off the Dark and Stomp (which was amazing!)), went to a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, saw the World Trade Center memorial, wandered through Central Park and along the Highline Park, went to the top of the Rockefeller Center at night, went to MOMA and on a Radio City Music Hall tour and saw the Enterprise Space Shuttle at the Intrepid Museum.
Thankfully the weather was beautiful the entire time we were there. The coldest day was the day we arrived (Wed. Nov. 13) where it was only about 3C. But by Saturday afternoon it was 15C and perfect wandering around weather.
In all, a wonderful, and much-needed vacation.
Christmas
Well now it's Christmas holidays, so I might as well update on what we've been up to. Ali, Billy, Teddy and Julian arrived in Canada on the 20th and the kids and I headed out to Brampton to see them on Saturday the 21st. We had a great visit but when it was time to head home, the weather was getting bad so we decided to stay over. That night was the ice storm and it was 3 days until we went home because our house was without power for 54 hours. But unfortunately, 54 hours is long enough to have to throw out a heck of a lot of fridge and freezer food. But it could be worse...we got to go home for Christmas morning and we have friends who were without power for twice that amount of time.
It was stressful but the silver-lining is I got to spend a lot of time with both of my sisters (Suzie was there too) and the kids got a lot of cousin time!
Gardner family Christmas was on the 22nd and we all had a great time. Austin got a rod hockey game from grandma and granddad, of which he declared 'I wanted this and now I'm so glad I didn't ask Santa for it!'.
We were able to go home on the afternoon of the 24th and it was so nice to get to spend Christmas at home. Christmas morning was a whirlwind of excitement (Santa brought Alex a nail polish kit and a crafting kit and brought Austin Skylanders video game system and a Leafs jersey) and then we drove to London to Grandpa's for Christmas dinner. After 2 days there, we moved to Nana's for Christmas number 3.
That's about all the news from us.
A few links for you to enjoy:
Our year in review flipbook
Read more...
New York...New York
>> Thursday, November 21, 2013
https://picasaweb.google.com/107184376695639310597/NewYorkCityTrip?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOGB1K_oubjmKg&feat=directlink
Finally uploaded some new photos
>> Monday, November 18, 2013
Here are some photos from September and October.....finally
https://picasaweb.google.com/107184376695639310597/SeptemberOctober2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKe8mcPlnojEEg&feat=directlink
Two weeks at the cottage
>> Monday, September 16, 2013
We spent two weeks at the cottage on Lake Bernard in Sundridge this summer (from July 27 to August 10). This is the same cottage that we've been renting for the last five years, and in a way, it almost feels like our second home -- except a home that we don't need to worry about whether the septic is full or the roof is leaking!
We had a fantastic, relaxing time. The weather was a little cooler than past summers, but that didn't stop the kids from going swimming every single day. They swam, they jumped off the dock and they just played around in the shallow area. In other words, they had a great time.
 |
| 'Look at me!' |
 |
| 3...2...1....jump! |
When they weren't swimming, they were playing in the sand and digging holes. That was the big thing this year. And one morning, Austin went out to work on the hole he had started the day before, only to declare that he couldn't dig because there were frogs in his hole! In the rain the night before, 13 toads somehow hopped across the sand and landed in his hole! We rescued as many of them as we could.
 |
| Toads in a hole |
This is the first year at the cottage where we didn't plan at least one day trip somewhere. In the past, we've gone for a day hike, to North Bay or to Santa's Village. But this year, we played every day by ear. Since the kids (and mom and dad) are big into geocaching this year, we did a lot of that. (There are a ton of caches up there!) One day, we went to High Rock park (a place we go every year) and, while searching for the cache there, discovered a hiking trail we never knew existed!
 |
| Hiking and geocaching in High Rock Park |
And on another day -- one where the weather wasn't really cooperating (rain in the morning and cool and windy in the afternoon) -- we drove around for a few hours to find five caches. A fun afternoon, for sure!
On Friday August 2, our friends Rob, Vone, Lilo and Isla joined us for the weekend. The kids had a great time playing together all weekend long. The four of them took hole digging on the beach to a whole new level.
 |
| How many kids can you fit in a hole? |
And the adults relaxed with a beer or two.
Also for the first time this year we were able to have a couple of campfires on the beach. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were really bad this year, so although we didn't sit around the fire, we did hang around long enough to roast some marshmallows.
 |
| Roasting marshmallows |
 |
| Waiting to roast marshmallows |
That's about it for the cottage. Slowly but surely, I'm getting caught up.
 |
| Our annual picture taken on this rock at High Rock park. |
August pictures
>> Thursday, August 29, 2013
Here's the latest batch of pictures https://picasaweb.google.com/107184376695639310597/August2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIGmu7Db5oypMg&feat=directlink
Read more...An update on what's been going on
>> Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Let's see, where to begin -- as it's been four months since my last update.
Alexandra
Alex's Junior Kindergarten year is done and in September, she'll be switching to the same French Immersion school that Austin goes to. She did very well in school this year and is progressing well with reading and writing. She's looking forward to being at the same school as Austin in the fall but, at the same time, isn't excited about it -- she's quite sad to be leaving her JK teacher (who she would've had again in SK had she stayed at the same school) and her friends. But we know she'll be fine once she settles in and we're certain that she'll quickly make new friends.
One of the things about switching to the French Immersion school is they still offer only half-day Kindergarten (she was in full-day Kindergarten for JK). So she'll be going to the school in the morning and then to a nearby Montessori school for the afternoons.
Aside from school, Alex is playing soccer this summer and loving it. And her ballet finished up with a recital in mid-June. She very much enjoyed dance and we've already registered her at the same dance school in the fall.
On June 1, Alex completed her first triathlon. Her age group was an untimed event, however she asked Ryan to time her anyway. She completed a 15-metre swim, 600-metre bike ride and 150-metre run (all with a small (and I mean small) amount of assistance from mom) in about 7 minutes and 24 seconds.
For most of the month of July, both kids were in day camp. Alex went to the Kindercamp in the same centre where she attended preschool. She loved it there -- the camp director was the same woman who taught her preschool and many of her school friends were in camp with her.
Austin
Austin is done Grade 1 and he too did very well in school this year -- all A's and B's for him on his final report card. In September, it's on to Grade 2 (hard to believe!).
Hockey wrapped up in April with a final tournament. And he loved learning to play so much that he's already registered for house league in the fall. Early Saturday morning games are in our future starting October 19!
With hockey done, it was just a short break before soccer started. He's playing house league in that this summer as well....and is loving it too!
On June 1, Austin also competed in the same triathlon as Alexandra. For his age category, he had to do a 25-metre swim (for which he did backstroke), a 1.5 km-bike ride and a 500-metre run. He finished in 14:03...which put him 12th out of 78.
And one week later, on June 9, Austin ran his first 5K race with me. He's been watching me train for, and run, races since he was 3 years old and last year, while I was training for the half marathon, he decided he wanted to run with me. So, last November, I took him out for a run -- not knowing how far he'd be able to go. Well, he ran 2.5K on that first outing! And so, we trained together off and on throughout the spring and on June 9 we ran the Toronto Challenge (which went from King and University, up to Wellesley and then back down Bay Street.). Finishing time: 45:01! We're all so proud of him! (And he's already asking to run another 5K with me!)
Like Alexandra, Austin spent most of July in camp. He was at a different centre than Alex (which made for a lot of driving for me) but it was well worth it. He very much enjoyed the camp -- and came home exhausted every day. They played sports, went swimming every day and went on big field trips once a week (one of the trips was to Centre Island!).
Other happenings and events in the Spring.
Trip to Montreal
Over Victoria Day weekend we went to Montreal. Unfortunately, the reason for the trip wasn't a happy one -- my grandma passed away a few days earlier and we all travelled back to Montreal for the funeral. But, to put a bright side on a sad situation, it was a nice excuse to see all of the family who came from far away and many extended family who we hadn't seen in years.
On the evening after the funeral, the grandparents offered to babysit all of the children so that the 'kids' could go out for the night in Montreal. And so, Ryan and I, Ali and Billy, Suzie and my two cousins went out for a few drinks in downtown Montreal. And then we ended up playing bubble hockey in the old Montreal forum!
It was a nice evening and it would've made my grandma smile to know that we were all together.
The kids also had fun in Montreal. They got a chance to play with their cousins Teddy and Julian for a couple of days (of which I managed to take no pictures of) and they got a chance to get to know their second-cousin Carson (my cousin, Neil's son). And so, on the Saturday, after we checked out of the hotel, the four of us spent the day wandering around Old Montreal with Neil, Carson and Eric.
 |
| Hanging out in Old Montreal with Carson. |
 |
| Mmmmmmm....smoked meat |
Canada's Wonderland
We made our annual trip to Canada's Wonderland for the PCL Family day on June 15 but this year we didn't get to take advantage of the early entry passes. That's because Alex's ballet recital was the same day. So she did her recital in the morning, she made a quick change in the car afterwards and we were walking through the gates at Wonderland at 1:30 p.m.
It was quite busy but we still managed to make it on quite a few rides (and we didn't leave until about 8 p.m. to make up for getting there so late!). Both kids are now roller coaster monsters. Alexandra went on all the ones she was tall enough for and Austin went on quite a few adult roller coasters. In all, a good day for all!
 |
| Sally! |
Canada Day camping weekend
On June 28, the day after school let out, we packed up and headed out of town for a three-night camping trip with our friends Rob, Vone, Lilo and Isla. This year's trip was to McRae Point near Orillia. In all, the weather was fairly decent -- in fact it was pouring rain as we drove to Orillia but by the time we arrived, it hadn't even rained there and even though there was a 70% chance of rain, it never did that day. It did cool off a bit by Sunday, but overall (compared to some of the rainy camping trips we've had) the weather wasn't something we could complain about on this trip.
 |
| The Canada Day camping crew. |
 |
| Yes, they're all jumping. |
What else? In early July, I took the kids strawberry picking where we picked WAY TOO MANY strawberries. But that's ok, because there's now 23 jars of strawberry jam on my shelf so we should be good until next June!
Trip to the Zoo
On a hot Sunday in July, we took the kids to the zoo to see the Giant Pandas. Unfortunately, we ended up standing in line for an hour and a half to see them -- but the kids were good and the Pandas were pretty cute. After that, we checked out the Gorilla climbers that went up last year. They loved it and probably spent close to 45 minutes climbing the structure.
July pictures
>> Monday, August 12, 2013
More pics...from Canada Day camping weekend and the rest of July.
If the slideshow doesn't work, you can find the pictures here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/107184376695639310597/July2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMTpw8aLodOWRg&feat=directlink
June pictures
>> Friday, July 12, 2013
Here's some pictures from last month.
https://plus.google.com/photos/107184376695639310597/albums/5899898670361334097?authkey=CLHnpuqQ_fyR8gE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)