Oh what a sunny weekend!

It has been a beautiful weekend with ample time spent outside in the sunshine.  The girls spent the whole weekend with smiles plastered to their faces.  Each had a date with their Baba which was the icing on the cake so to speak.  They each gave him a date for his birthday.  Katrine and Glenn went out for pho while Elspeth took her daddy to Tim Hortons for a muffin and iced lemonade.  Glenn also had a great time on his dates.  I will let the photos speak for themselves.  I hope that you have all enjoyed the sunshine.

Mama, I like the sand.

Time for some bubbles.

My crazy pair

A moment of calm before she sprang back into action.

Just in case you think that we dared to spend time away from an arena, here she is just before hitting the ice as a demonstrator for a COS coaching seminar. 

Yup, it is the perfect time to break out the ice cream cones.

Our Garden & a cake

Let me begin by saying that Glenn finally got to have his birthday cake!  Everyone was well and in good spirits so it was time to break it out…once the girls had added their personal touch that is!

This morning was spent planting the garden.  We are using seeds this year (long story but basically we could not find the seedlings that we wanted at reasoable prices).  We planted turnips, beets, radishes, peas, beans, cukes and sunflowers in the main garden and then pumpkins were planted beside our strawberry plants.  Fingers crossed that something grows!

Reunion – Part 2

After more time spent in the water park (where we reconnected with an old friend and his family all too briefly I might add).  We decided to stop and get some fresh air.  Our first stop was the floral clock.  It was lovely. I have fond memories of stopping at the clock with my parents on our trips to Niagara.

From there we drove to Niagara on the Lake.  We window shopped and enjoyed the spring flowers in bloom.  Both girls were quite taken by the variety of tulip colours.

Katrine’s favourite window find.  These are almost too cute to eat.

Of course, we had to make a few stops.  No, not the Irish Tea Room this time (don’t worry, I am saving that one for a future trip) but the hat shop and gelatto (yup, the place with the GF cones).

Pear in a GF sugar cone….mmm, love it when Glenn decides that I need a treat.

Katrine thought that this watermelon hat was rather cute.  Unfortunately they did not have it in an adult size.


 

Great Wolf Reunion & Gluten Free-ness – Part 1

This past weekend was the 9th reunion of Katrine’s China family.  These weekends are always fun because they involve lots of kids, laughter and getting caught up.  Watching all of these kids grow has been a blessng, what a great group of kids and parents.

Not too big for storytime….well, for a few minutes at least.

We came back to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara again this year.  It is a favourite of the kids. I was a bit worried about what Elspeth might think given how she is not a big fan of splashpads but she rather enjoyed herself.  By the end of the day she had gone down two slides, jumped waves and actually put a foot and hand into a splashy fountan.  She was also a big fan of the story time and Friday night dance party although she danced more for me than Baba.

Some of her moves.

 

Katrine spent her time divided between two activities – playing in the water and running around on quests. (Thank you again to her China sisters and brother for sharing their wands and quests so willingly)  This year was a big deal because she really went on the waterslides.  In years past she has spent vast quantities of time in the warm tub but this time round she was here to have fun with family and she did just that.

I managed to catch her in the midst of a quest.  Unfortunately all of the other photos of Katrine have other kids in them so you will need to be content with just this one.

Aside from bonding, there was even a few special surprises for me in the form of gluten free goodness!  The restaurant beside the entrance to the waterpark carries gluten free pizza.  It was so tasty that the girls did not even notice the difference and ate my pizza instead of the regular when I wasn’t looking (which is one way to eat less).  Then for dessert there was gluten free flourless cake or cupcakes.  Decadent!  They were the cherry on my sundae! And then today for lunch it was a peameal and cheddar melt prepared in an oven not the panini press.(The counter server changed gloves, laid down new wax paper, the whole deal!)  And it was DELICIOUS!  Gave me enough energy to go on another tube slide and stand for half an hour in the wave pool watching Elspeth dance around.

Mmmmm, cake!  It looked pretty, tasted great and was GF!

Doesn’t it look good?

Another One Turns 40!!

It was Glenn’s turn to celebrate on Monday…well celebrate somewhat.  With Katrine being sick and Glenn wanting ice cream cake (really a block of ice cream coated in delicious toppings…oh and candles of course).  He did manage to mikl the day for tons of hugs and Baba love.  Then the girls just had to give him their gifts.

Another busy weekend

Friday saw us dancing in the rain.  The girls simply had to take out their umbrellas and break them in.

Yesterday we were busy balancing getting the house ready for Katrine’s party and enjoying the outdoors.  Glenn and Katrine whipped up the cupcakes and then she and I got down to icing them while Elspeth practised her flourishing (she is getting much better).  The girls also went about creating the decorations and loot bags for the candy movie extraveganza.  Then it was time to get outside for some much needed fresh air and exercise.

I love Katrine’s cloud raining down meatballs.

Her smiling bathroom sign got a few comments from the girls.

Doesn’t it look like red Easter eggs hangining in mid-air?

This morning while Elspeth played with Baba, I put Katrine to work on prepping some of the healthier snack options and organizing things.

Craft zone in case guests got bored with the movie.

Yup, had to put some veggies into the mix.  They even got eaten.

AND….CANDY

After all of the guests headed home, we headed outside (for Elspeth it was back outside because she and Glenn had biked over to the park and Tims during the party to escape the squeels and chatter).  It was a beautiful afternoon.

She really doesn’t jump quite as well as it appears.


A busy Easter weekend for all

What a great weekend it has been so far.  Only one day of rain and the rest of sun!  A nice spring day.

On Friday, we started the day off with rain.  It led to some great puddle splashing in the afternoon.  Then, we had a great Easter dinner with my parents. Turkey, the fixings and bunny shaped birthday cake.

The girls decided to dress up and surprise their grandparents with their Easter finery.

My happy birthday girl.

We finally got to see my mom’s latest craft project – Easter Bonnets!  They were adorable and loved by all.

My beautiful mom

On Saturday, we started the day with the Lion’s Club Egg Hunt.  The girls got to meet the Easter Bunny (a big deal to Elspeth and Katrine was game and humoured her sister), faces painted and balloons.  Katrine was in awe of the field full of eggs just waiting to be found.  Elspeth was excited to get to sit in a fire truck (although she still insists that she wants to fly like a bird).  Then it was time for the hunt. The buzzer went and the race for an egg was on.  The girls gleefully filled their baskets full of eggs before we headed to the local legion for cookies and hot chocolate before claiming our giant chocolate bunnies from Grandpa.

After the excitement of the hunt we headed back to my parents where we let the girls run off some of that sugar energy in the backyard.  We also had Katrine’s present time.  One of her favourite gifts was her Great Nana’s easel.  After running around, she took the easel outside for some art time.  I think that she is already planning her next big art project.

Sigh, snow still.  At least it was fun to jump off of.

Waiting for gifts.

Ooh, pastels….

The moment that she saw her easel.  Happy girl.

Her doll was her very first model.

This morning dawned with Easter baskets followed by an egg hunt.  Giggles, smiles and happy girls.  I think that the big sheep pillows and fleece blankets were among their favourite treasures.

When we got home this afternoon we had some outside time, finished up some homework before our final birthday/Easter dinner.  BBQ’d burgers.  Delicious.  Made even more yummy because Grammy joined us.  I love how much the girls love their grandparents.  Katrine had asked for the bunny cake as well as an ice cream cake.  Well, we had my version of ice cream cake.  A block of ice cream with a variety of toppings.  Tons of toppings.

Mint chocolate chip “cake”

 

HAPPY EASTER!!

Sweet Water Festival

It is that time of year again…maple sirop time.  In other words, time to head up north to my parents and celebrate that the sap is running.  It is always a fun time and the girls always have big smiles. (and they learn something too).

Pancake breakfast

Getting our names burned into wood for necklaces.

It was a perfect day for listening to the presentation in the sugar shack while sucking on maple taffy.  This year’s batch was super delicious.

To top it off, all of the kids got to help their grandfather collect the sap from a many trees.  They were so excited.

The morning finished up with face painting, crafts, a wagon ride and some bannock making.  Smiles were worn by all.

(Masks were the craft.)

My mom’s birthday is this week and Katrine’s is shortly thereafter so we did some present time in the afternoon.  Katrine loved the earrings she got from her aunt, uncle and cousins while mom rather enjoyed her strawberry shortcake.

Valentines Day Attwood Style!

We have been really enjoying the Olympics and Valentines Day has been no exception.  What a treat it was to watch the men’s long program.  I even did not do my traditional Valentine’s nails because of the Olympics.  Feeling really proud of the atheletes.

Enough about that.  Time for some valentines.  The day began with a nice breakfast.  My favourite part were the heart shaped eggs.  I found the pan tucked away at the back of the cupboard last month and today provided the perfect opportunity to use it.  The girls informed me that I am to now make heart shaped eggs each year.  They both loved their pillows.  We almost couldn’t get Elspeth to leave hers at home when it was time to head out the door.  Yup, no candy on the table for them.  They seem to get plenty at school either during class or after care parties or with Valentines.  The last thing they need is even more.

When I picked up the girls we headed out for groceries.  We were planning on having chocolate fondue for dessert and I wanted the fruit to be nice and fresh.  Apparently, celebrating Valentines Day can be hard work.  As you can see, Elspeth had to lay down in the cart.

Katrine contributed a special decoration to our dinner table.  She had made a small beeswax candle at school.  Of course we had to light it because “it makes it more romantic” (giggle, giggle).

Neither girl could believe that they were going to be allowed to shove their fruit into a pot of warm chocolate.  Elspeth, of course, ended up with chocolate everywhere.  It looked like she had fingerpainted with brown paint.  Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture before we cleaned her up.  I did manage to get a picture of Katrine fishing a strawberry out of the chocolate.  She had some difficulty keeping the fruit on the fork…not that she was complaining about having to eat a piece of fruit dripping with chocolatey goodness.

And lastly some random cuteness.  Elspeth’s aftercare has been learning about space.  They have made a few different solar systems and have a simple telescope for the kids to play with in the drama corner.  They also made an astronaut cut out.  I couldn’t resist.  Here is Elspeth the Astronaut.

Happy Valentines Day!