Category: Katrine

Easter Bunny is here! (and other easter stuff)

Originally got these ears for Katrine, but I don’t think that she ever enjoyed them quite this much.  Silly Bunny

Big eyed Bunny (“No mummy.  I Silly Bunny.”  Guess I was told)

Cute Bunny

The eggs are ready.  Decorations have been made.  Guess it is almost time to find some goodies.

Elspeth really got the whole egg decorating thing this year.  Katrine requested that we make ‘marble eggs like last year” so that she could have cool eggs to eat at school this week.  Then she went and got a high fever so she ended up eating this batch at home with her sister.

The Skating Fun Never Ends in our House

That’s right, even when we are not at an arena it is still all about the skating.  This time the girls found a box and Katrine thought that we could make it into an ice rink.  With a little bit of creativity and a lot of glue, the Attwood Arena was born.  Complete with an audience calling out cheers, tickets and medals.

Now it was time for the gala.  Both girls got in on the fun by breaking out every single toy that has skates….and a walrus!  Who knew that stuffed animals had such awesome skating moves?  The Barbie was apparently the headliner.  I must admit that her spiral was not half bad.

‘Skatey Bear’ shows off her jumps, ‘Skatey Girl’ demonstrates the ice splits move (also known as the cold bum move), “Ice Angel/Barbie’ breaks out her spiral while Walrus sits (totally different from the cold bum move due to the mass quantities of blubber involved).

Now that the show was done it was time to increase the role which our arena was to play within the toy community of our household through lessons from our resident coach….Barbie! (She really is a woman of many talents.  Never seen a coach whose skates fall off quite as easily though.)  The arena has been used by all of the Calico Critters, who interestingly enough can apparently skate in bare feet! Barbie has also coached a sheep and Katrine’s fashion doll Lily.

Big Sister Sheep is working on push together while Lily is more advanced working on a toe loop as being demonstrated by her coach.


World Figure Skating Gala in London

It was AWESOME!  I had an absolutely fabulous time with Katrine and my mom.  The skating was…well, the best in the world.  The company was great.  And then to top it all off, they even had a gluten free consession stall!!

First time that I have ever had a lot of choice at an sporting event.  Hopefully it is sign of things to come.

From the time when we turned off of the highway until we reached the arena there was great signage.  Katrine was almost dancing in her seat as we drove along.  Her excitement reached fever pitch once she saw this sign and ice sculpture. This is the sign which greated our arrival at the arena.

I was told by my brother that there were no bad seats in Budwieser Gardens.  He was right.  This is the view from our seats.  Every skater looked fabulous.

Last night Katrine made two flags for our trip.  One for herself and the other for her skating mascot “Skatey Bear”.  Both flags got quite the work out ever time a Canadian skater took the ice.

At the end of the gala all of the skaters came out for a last hurrah.  What a bunch of talent.  Their skills were fabulous.  The show was a joy to watch.

Elspeth, Glenn and my Dad?  They stayed home and played at the park.  I came home to another happy girl who had basked in her father and grandfather’s love and undivided attention.  All around a wonderful day.

March Break Part 2 in photos

Today it was off to the ROM.  I knew that Katrine would love it but I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about how Elspeth would react.  A stroller for security was an absolute necessity as was her stuffed sheep.  Since I did bring those two the day played out well.  Check it out.

Favourite exhibits:

Of course they loved the dinosaurs.  Katrine thought that the embryo inside of the egg was super interesting while Elspeth marvelled at the sheer size of the skeletons.

Katrine begged to go see the rocks and minerals section.  Elspeth saw this and cried “Look Mummy!  A granola bar!”

Nature section had a mushroom display for Katrine and this giant Spider Crab for Elspeth who desperately wanted to pet it.


Girls at play:

In the medival section Elspeth’s sheep got to meet its ancient counterpart.  There was alot of Baa-ing.  Apparently old sheep and modern sheep are quite similar.

While Elspeth could’ve spent hours digging for “treasure”, Katrine was more interested in touching fossils.

One of my favourite photos is this one of the girls standing/jumping on the moon (Plus, I am almost certain that Aleigh is the first sheep on the moon.).  There is actually a piece of the moon in the circle underneath Elspeth’s feet.

Home from North Bay

After a long drive we are finally home.  The most exciting part of the drive?  Why seeing the sign for Katrine, Ontario of course?  Katrine sees her name in very few places so it is always exciting.

Have you guessed why we were all the way up north?  For skating of course.  This weekend North Bay is hosting the Make it a Date to Skate competition.  It seemed like a good idea to shake things up and get away from it for a bit so we signed up.  It was fun!  Mostly because a group of Katrine’s coaches skaters went up and we stayed together.  So it was not just about the skating but about the girls having fun.  Katrine with her friends and Elspeth playing at being a big girl.

(One of Katrine’s fellow skaters took the photos with the words.  I don’t have that kinda technology.  Looks really nice doesn’t it.  The one of my two cuties is from the pizza party last night.)

I suppose I should fill you in on the skating itself.  Katrine placed 8th for her spins (she kinda mucked one up…in that she did the wrong thing which makes it near impossible to actually win anything).  Then 2nd for elements.  Then 5th for her solo.  She was pretty happy with that place given that there were “really big girls in my group” (aka a few were at least 16).  Most important though, she was proud of her overall effort as were we.  Now a full month without competitions.  Sigh.  Notice, not without skating only no competitions.  Hey, I’ll take what I can get.

Snow Fun

Our most recent snow fall has cost us a tree beside our front walk way.  It bent under the sheer weight of the snow.

On the plus side, it made a rather interesting tunnel, of sorts, that the girls enjoyed playing in and crawling through. (Don’t you just love the hat?  My mum knit is and Katrine calls it her mushroom hat.)

They also got busy building a pair of snowmen.

They had fun but my arms are tired from the shovelling and that was with the help of two wonderful neighbours.

 

Battle of the Blades….at home version

Well, it is really battle of the off ice girls.  You pick the winner. 🙂 Contestant one is a mere three years old.  She is able to travel forward and backwards on ice and can jump.  Her dream is to be her big sister.  Contestand two IS the big sister.  Her dream?  To be world champion; well, that and to land her axel.

(This is my view of what happens every afternoon at home after our time at the arena.  It usually ends with both girls in giggles.)

1. Sit spin

2. Y Stand

3. Funny leg pulling thing (yes, that is my official term for this particular move!)

4. Spiral

(Had to cheat and use an on ice photo of contestant two, sorry)

 

Some Fun

You know they are sisters when….

That is not the only fun they get into though.  Elspeth has really begun to take off with her imaginative play.  It has some interesting manifestations.

Example #1:

Plastic fake coffee from toy kitchen as a bike helmet for her sheep.  Good to know that our safety lessons are going in.  But not sure how the illusive flat sheep will ever manage to ride a bike or other wheeled vehicle given her length.

Example #2:

Yep, that is two toilet training penguins in underwear sitting on a table in the middle of the arena lobby.  Not only do they actually use the invisible potty (can’t you see it?  Right there beside them?  Complete with invisible toilet paper and real flush action!) but I am also transporting a plastic “baby powder” bottle to be used after each potty visit and an empty baby bottle to be used before each potty visit.  I think that we provide some skating parents with entertainment on occassion.