Category: Family

4th Birthday Party

With Elspeth’s 4th birthday falling on Thanksgiving Sunday we decided to hold her party a week earyl.  Now this has confused her in that she can not understand how she is still three if she has had the cake and presents.  :)  This year’s theme was Ponies…as in My Little Pony.  There were ponies everywhere.  We used books, toys and printed pictures to decorate.  The only item we had to buy was the Pin the Cutie Mark on the Pony game.  I guess it pays to keep all of the elder daughter’s stuff sometimes.

The kids started by making headbands.  A month ago our littlest could not print her name.  Now, she is a pro….well except for the spider E.  All of the kids got in on the action.  They even made hats for Glenn and I!

Then there was the game, running around like crazy, playing with balloons and toys, talking, dressing up and making bookmarks.  I don’t think that Elspeth stopped smiling once and Katrine was a great big sister.  She tried to make sure everyone was having fun while also having fun herself.  The fact that some of Elspeth’s China family were able to join us for the celebration made it extra special for both girls.

The party wrapped up with the gift unwrapping.  It is hilarious to watch three year olds exchange gifts.  They all want to help the birthday girl unwrap what they brought so more often than not there were at least two sets of hands on a present at any given time.  We do have one photo of her unwrapping a gift by herself so it did happen.  That said, Elspeth couldn’t care less if someone was helping or not.  She was over the moon to simply be getting presents from her friends and family.

Can you  believe that in 7 days she will be 4?

Richmond Hill Fire Department Open House

We had a great Saturday morning.  The rain held off and there was a nice fall feel to the air (aka nicely cool).  So we headed off to the community event at the local fire station.  It was a lot of fun.  There was a really cool train set up beside the train safety booth.  Free popcorn and cotton candy.  Sparky the mascot who Elspeth eagerly waved at but would not so much as take a single step towards.  Add in balloon animals, games and of course fire trucks and it was a winning combination for both girls.

I really enjoyed seeing each of them use a hose to put out a pretend fire.  Of course, they both had help from an actual fire fighter (especially Elspeth who is still tiny).  Huge smiles on their faces.  Katrine played a fishing game and became the proud owner of a bingo set while Elspeth got to ride on a battery powered bike.  She could actually reach the pedals!  AND, to top it off she wasn’t half bad at steering.

Post lunch was spent getting ready for the next day’s birthday part with cake icing and a trip to Longo’s for fancy cheese. (That is where the pumpkin photo is from.  Outside of the Longos).

Glencoe Fair

I just realized that I am behind in my posts so it is time to catch up. (I was sick this past week and acutally had to take a day off of work!  Guess that I no longer have a school grade immune system.)

Last weekend was the family’s weekend to celebrate Charles’ birthday.  That meant that Saturday monring saw us climbing into the car and off to Glencoe.  One big difference this year was that I was able to join the family in getting Tims as they now carry a gluten free option (Yippee!!!).

We arrived just in time for the parade.  Both kids were thrilled.  Elspeth was once again blown away by the size of some of the tractors.

After lunch we went to visit an egg farm much to the girl’s delight.  We are big egg eaters.  Well, all except for me that is.  Elspeth learned  the word silo and “big machine” while Katrine got a chance to ask every possible question about the machinery carrying the eggs along.  There were fresh eggs to top it off too.

Then it was off to the fair itself.  Sarah’s pies looked as tasty as usual and she did pretty darn well.  This year’s theme was the Fifties.  One category was a decorated pumpkin.  My particular favourite was the Elvis pumpkin.  I thought it was smashing.  We decided to save the rides until Sunday as it had poured and the following day was suppose to have nice weather.  Well the forecast was wrong.  It rained Sunday so we missed the demolition derby and the rides.  Instead we spent a little while longer with the family.

Overall a great outing.

 

Happy Moon Festival!

No good photos of food this year.  After two years off it is just rough getting through the week at times so this year’s dinner was more simple than other years.  We did (one of the few times I say yippee to being gluten free) have moon cakes for dessert and the girls gobbled those down.  After dinner we had our annual lantern parade outside.  Katrine is an awesome big sister and took her job of showing Elspeth how to holding her lantern, turn it on and joining in on Elspeth’s “parades”; all with a huge smile on her face.  To top it off the moon was beautiful.  A happy Chinese thanksgiving to all of you.

C.N.E.

This year we introduced Elspeth to another family tradition – the C.N.E.  We have been taking Katrine since she was little and she loves going.  2011 Elspeth had been home for a little over two weeks so a visit was definetely out and last year she still wasn’t quite ready as she would have been too overwhelmed by the crowds to enjoy any of it.  This year was a different story.  She did so well on our trip and at Santa’s Village that we decided to give it a go.  Fun was had by all and to top it off, I even got to eat!

Let me begin with this cuteness.  “I wear my hat like Baba at the CNE”

Elspeth was a half an inch too short to go on most of the rides by herself.  It breaks my heart that kids a year or more younger are able to go on these rides by themselves and here she is almost four and she has to ride with one of us.  Her favourite rides were the merry go round and the motorcycles.  Katrine was able to do rides in both the kiddie zone and the midway.  Boy did she have some fun.

She rode well into the night with her Baba.  This was her last ride of the day.  If you look carefully you can see the larger figure with a green shirt.  That is Glenn.  He hates spinning rides yet here he is being a trooper for his daughter.  What a dad.

The girls both loved the farm building.  They did all of the kid’s activities with the fishing zone being a particular highlight.  After our late dinner, Glenn and Katrine went to enjoy the midway while Elspeth and I cycled back to the farm building where she redid everything.

Her Aleigh had to come with us, of course.  Apparently Aleigh quite enjoyed seeing extended family from the farm.

Looks like Elspeth raced her pony to a ribbon!

Elspeth practiced casting for these plastic fish.

Katrine tried to catch the real thing but settled for a softer fish.

There were also the necessary fair games where the girls selected twin frogs as prizes.  I tried to convince them that different was better but as you can see I failed.

Here is one of my favourite displays, the sand sculptures.  I also enjoyed the butter sculptures but the photos didn’t work because of the flash and glass.

Some shows, a parade, dinner and then it was time to break into two groups.  Once we finished at the farm building it was off to the Arts & Crafts building for some more crafts.  I think that this was one of our most crafty CNE visits.  We created with playdough, coloured, made masks and finally, art trading cards.  I think that Elspeth did a great job for 9:30 at night.

Promptly there after she fell asleep as we were going to meet the other pair for the final CNE tradition – mini donuts.

Okay, now for the gluten free food!  Lunch was nachos.  I only got meat and cheese as I was sharing with Elspeth but I could have had beans, lettuce, salsa.  They were yummy despite their simplicity.  Dinner was fries from Chicago Fries stall.  It was too bad that I didn’t pay closer attention or I could have opted for the sweet potatoe fries.

 

Too much excitement for a competition

The best part of the weekend was watching Katrine skate at Summer sizzle.  She landed her axels, met her goal of finishing ontime and walked off the ice with a smile on her face.  To make that better, my parents and brother and his family were there to watch her.  I must say that the dress also looked okay.  To top it off she placed 6th (had a slip up in the final seconds of her performance on the loop jump).  Not bad considering the morning we had had before making it to the arena.

Glenn and I decided that we should stay over night at a hotel to avoid leaving home early.  That way Katrine could have maximum sleep as well as time for a hot breakfast.  Help her to be at her best.  Sounds like a great plan.  Unfortunately it didn’t work that way.

At 5 am we were awoken to a ponding on the door…well it was actually the door of the hotel room that ajoined out room.  “Police, open the door.”  In my groggy state I am like what the hell.  So I go to open the door where I saw a police officer standing shaking her head at me like “Nope lady, wrong door.”  Pounding continues as I close the door.  “Come out now with your hands up.” (The actual dialogue might be off due to tiredness)  I am walking back to the bed when it dawns on me that there are cops outside our room with guns and a guy refusing to open a door next to us as well as a set of doors between our two rooms.  Elspeth is scooped up from her sleeping bag at the foot of our bed near said door and into bed with Glenn she goes while I head to Katrine.

By this point the canine unit is joining in.  Now that was cool to hear.  I mean, the dog was sooo well trained.  He barked on a simple command and it had Katrine shaking in her bed.  Anyways, more yelling, call for back up, some guys voice next door.  Aparrently, he had to put his pants on before he could open the door.  Door opening.  More calls for lady to exit room.  Yelling between lady and guy in hall over who had called the cops.  We hear robbery, drugs, adbudtion and are left wondering who the hell we had been sleeping beside all night.

Anyways, it was all over between 5:30 and 6:00.  The yelling stopped.  Barking stopped.  Then we had one girl confused as to where the dog had gone and why she had to go back to sleep when the sun was coming up to play while the other one was working on stopping crying in the other bed.  Glenn was trying to convince Elspeth that it was most certainly not time to sleep while I was trying to neither cry nor laugh.  No one was truly rested when we headed down for breakfast at 7:00 am.  On our way back from breakfast the cops were still there carrying bags from the room.

We were suppose to spend the day with the family but not one of us has the energy.  So, we packed up the car after lunch and headed home.  And that was the excitement of Katrine’s first competition of the season.

A little Prince and a weekend adventure

Okay, I had a hat for the royal wedding so why would the birth of our newest prince be any different?  Well, a little different in that I got them for the girls too!  Tomorrow I will do our nails blue in honour of it being a boy.  Hey, if you don’t make a celebration out of the small things it will all get lost in translation.  Besides, aren’t they adorable in their fascinators?

We all look a bit tired as we had just gotten home from quite the girls’ weekend in Ottawa.  Had tons of fun but missed Baba like crazy. (Everything is just that bit more fun with him around.)  Where was he?  Taking some needed time alone to recharge and simultaneously finishing a to-do list from me.  🙂

We started the weekend with an ice show at skating camp.  It was a bit beyond Elspeth this year so she had the day off and got to watch the show.  Katrine was beyond excited to perform and Elspeth was equally excited for two reasons: 1. She got to frantically wave at Katrine and 2. Santa was out on the ice skating because the show’s theme was Christmas in July (She was very surprised that he knew how to skate and kept trying to get him to wave at her.).    After the show we drove way too long through the rain before arriving safe and sound at our hotel.

Saturday was spent with some of Katrine’s China family.  Katrine got to spend time with three of her “sisters” while Elspeth met her birthday twin and twin’s younger brother.  There was swimming, swinging, toad finding, sparklers and the stuff that summer memories are made of.  Katrine even slept over that night and she left wearing a huge smile the next morning declaring “I have the best China family EVER!”  Everytime that we get together with her extended family I am reminded of how blessed we are to have been bound to them by the invisible red thread of adoption.

Sunday I braved driving in to downtown Ottawa to take the girls to the Museum of Civilization in the morning.  We only did the Children’s Museum section, on purpose.  I figured that two kids and one of me would equal all of us being done sooner rather than later and I was correct.  By the time we were finished exploring just the one section of the museum they were DONE and so was I.  That said, it was awesome.  They played with shadow puppets and a theater style sound system.  The created potatoe sack puppets and ran a clothing store.  Play, play, play.  There can never be too much of that.

Next we headed back across the river to Byward Market where we met Glenn’s uncle and cousin for lunch.  Poor duo were covered in Hello Kitty stickers by the end of lunch but they were really good sports (thanks).  After lunch it was time to explore downtown on foot.  A highlight was walking along the Ottawa River and the lock system.  Elspeth really enjoyed the simple pleasure of throwing stones into the river.  She would grin each time one actually hit the water.  Katrine was absolutely fascinated by the loch system.  Thank goodnes Uncle Darren was there to explain how it worked.  His explanations cleared alot up whereas mine would have left many gaps in understanding.

Of course it was a hot day so we had to get some refreshments as we walked.  This fresh squeezed lemonade with ice did the trick and we were able to climb up to the top of the hill to the parliment buildings.  Our pair love fountains and the eternal flame was no different.  Katrine once again had her uncle explaining how it worked while her sister was staring at the various coins in the fountain.

After a much needed quiet evening at the hotel, we spent our final day in Ottawa with a university chum of mine and her daughter.  I was able to spend quality time getting caught up while the girls drew, played and ate giant ice cream cones.

The icing on the cake was the arrival of our little prince and the cherry was coming back home to Baba hugs.  The one thing we missed doing was visiting Glenn’s cousin and their new baby boy.  This didn’t happen because I got lost too many times this weekend.  I think that fate was trying to tell me that it is time I get a phone with GPS.  Maybe next time though…when I have my phone!

 

Some Summer Skating

Now normally, one doesn’t associate summer and skating but this is our family so it goes without saying that there is still skating.  Summer camps infact for both girls.  While Katrine is going full time, Elspeth only goes for the last hour.  That way she doesn’t bother me with a zillion questions about why her sister is skating and she is not.  Both girls are having a lot of fun and with our recent heat wave even I have been enjoying the frosty arena.

Skatey Katrine:

She continues to work towards her double toe, loop and flip as well as her solo (which she loves).  This week at camp they are putting on a show.  The theme is Christmas in July so we had to dig around tonight to find a suitably red top.  Poor thing will have to ride to skating in black skating pants in the heat.  The sacrifices of a performer.  🙂

We managed to get the dress issue sorted out.  We first ordered the dress in May and it arrived in June.  There was a problem though.  It was HUGE.  Turns out that a Ladies dress was shipped instead of Katrine’s.  The store sorted it all out right quick and we picked up the proper size this past weekend.  It fits like a dream and looks good when she is skating.  Now it is time for me to work my magic and bling it.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I am up to the challenge as well as able to get it done on time.

Yes, pink and orange.  Not two colours I would have thought to buy for her but Katrine’s coach was right and they look great.

 

That’s our girl in the black sweater.  She is too fast the rest of the time so this is about the only photo I have.

Skatey Elspeth:

Okay she may be skating everyday but her goal is having fun and she is.  (She is also learning but really it is about the fun.)  Today she got so hot that she ditched her sweater in favour of short sleeves.

 

Y stand…with some help

If she continues to skate I do think that she will end up in pairs.

Another weekend, Another Reunion

This seems to be the summer of reunions.  Thankfully, both have been a lot of fun and neither was rained on.  The reunion this past weekend was for Elspeth’s China family.  Both girls have been blessed with families who want to try and foster strong connections between the children.  They have also been blessed with truly great China sisters and brothers.  These kids are so much fun to be around and we are honoured to watch them grow up.  Luckily the grownups that go along with said children are equally as fun.

Altogether this made for a Saturday full of smiles and laughter….oh and a slew of balloons being taken to my backyard for the heck of it.

Canada Day and a Family Reunion

What a weekend! We began by driving up to my parents bright and early on Saturday morning so that we could get things set up before the parade.  We got done just in time and enjoyed the parade with family.  My dad and his group the Loyal Order of the Pumpkin were back in the parade.  The girls were super pleased to cheer on their grandpa.  And as you can see in the photo, he was thrilled to have so much family support for his efforts.  Oh, and did you notice my nails?

This is the second time that Elspeth has celebrated Canada Day but the first time that she has done so as a citizen.  We went all out to celebrate these two occassions at once.

As the parade and community barbeque were over, we headed back to my parents’ house to welcome even more family.  The last time that we got together as a group was about 7 years ago and that was without our family from Florida.  This weekend, however, saw all of us (minus 3 second cousins and spouses and their 4 children) together.  I love my family.  We are an entertaining bunch.  When I think back on my childhood, Christmas eve comes to mind.  Driving in a car squished between my Nana and brother driving to a family party.  As soon as we walked in there was my great aunt and uncle to greet us along with the rest of the family.  I remember visiting another great uncle and dancing for him while being scared of his yapping dog.  I remember funerals, weddings, birthdays and showers.  At each one I felt safe, loved and happy.  I wanted that to gift that sense of belonging to my two so when my cousin suggested a reunion I jumped on the band wagon (Thank you Gil).  I am so very glad I did.

While I visited and organized (because no reunion is without it’s hiccups), the girls ran around with family.  They played fight the zombies, tag, frisbie, bury our cousin in the sand…pretty much, you name it and it was played.  Most importantly they smiled and laughed.  This afternoon after we got home and had unpacked Elspeth asked where her friends were.

Elspeth was lucky enough to find people who were willing to let her “tie” their shoes.  She never got it quite right but boy was she focused.   

Today? Actual Canada Day? After a bit more playtime and some clean up we headed home amidst the traffic. Neither girl wanted to leave. However, their sadness was short lived as once we had unpacked there was a knock on the door. The girls were invited to go just down the street to a friend’s house to pick cherries. Even though we didn’t make it to the fireworks tonight, cherry picking ended the day on a high note.