Grace riding!

...or rather pulling. This is what she likes to do with her trike.

I did it myself!

Fall Walks

Grace loves to take walks with her stroller.

Fall Family Days

A few weeks ago we went to Brantford for the weekend for a wedding and Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary. The kids enjoyed seeing their relatives. We got some great pictures on town square in Brantford as well as Grace with her Great Grandmother Beth.

Back From the Cottage

We got back from the cottage this week and we certainly enjoyed the continued hot weather after missing it for most of July when we were out west. Grace enjoyed sliding down a small plastic slide into the water and the boys enjoyed exploring, swimming, fishing, watching wildlife and lazing around. One quiet Sunday afternoon we even had a bear come sniffing around looking for berries.
We had good visits with our cousins on Papa's side of the family with many big dinners with all the leaves in the table. This week we got our classrooms ready and Grace adjusted to her new caregiver, "Nanny Maria!"

I'm a big kid now

For some time now Liam has resented ordering off the children's menu in restaurants. So it was with an air of vindication that he pointed out he was too old for the kids menu at Paradiso ( a North Dakota chain of Mexican restaurants) and ordered the chicken caesar salad. He even told the waiter it was really good and he ate the tomatoes. (Usually he remains mute when he's questioned by strangers.) Luke had an after dinner mint for the first time and Grace worked on her straw technique, which she mastered yesterday. That's it from Fargo. No sign of Marg Gunderson.

Snow

We hiked to Forum Lake today (10 km round trip and 350m vertical.) We crossed into BC, endured lots of mosquitoes and crossed a big section of snow on the trail. Our destination was a pretty alpine lake surrounded by a curved ridge. We looked up at the snow covered Akamina Ridge, one of Waterton's premier hikes. Thunder echoing in the mountains chased us down. Grace slept for most of the descent.
Since we were in the area we stopped for a quick look at Cameron Lake. On the drive back to town we saw two bears feeding really close to town. It was really windy today. We could hear the wind whipping around. It would probably have been a rough boat ride over to the Crypt Lake hike which awaits our return another summer.

Bear's Hump

We hiked the Bear's Hump yesterday. It was surprisingly steep (200m vertical over 1.2 km) but afforded a beautiful vista of Waterton town and lake. Grace had a short nap on the way down.

South Dakota

Hundreds of kilometres across flat, then rolling, then hilly plains. Saw some cool grasshoppers at one of the rest stops. We made it to Mt. Rushmore. It was not as big as I thought it was going to be - impressive nonetheless. Dinner at the Olive Garden. Grace ate everything offered to her.
Craft beer from New Belgium brewing in Colorado - Fat Tire Amber Ale.
After last nights debacle, decided to pay a bit more and stay in a so-so Ho-Jo (looks clean and smells clean.)

News Update!

So, it is the middle of May. I won't even check when my last post was but I know it was before Grace could officially walk. She started walking - as a mode of getting around (rather than here and there) about a week after Easter. Just after she turned 14 months and now, she never stops!! I think her feet have finally grown or maybe they've just spread out from the walking. She has delicate, small feet like her Grandma. She can still fit into a size 3 which is about 6-9 month size...though she is almost a 4 now (6-12 month size). When I was shopping for Liam's pioneer outfit at Value Village the other day I came across some size 3 hot pink Mickey Crocs for Grace. She will often take off her runners and bring me her CROCS to put on. Very cute! (And no, I didn't actually find anything for Liam that day...but Grace also got a nice GAP raincoat for the fall - $4.99)

Other stuff...Luke's 7th birthday. Yes, SEVEN!! We had another Webkinz party because Luke wanted what Liam had. Luke's friends were not as into the "Webkinz" part of the party but they still had a great time. Despite a dismal weather forecast and many tears (from Luke) every time he saw the weather report it turned out to be a sunny and hot day! Go figure! Even up until the night before they were forecasting solid rain for the day.

(Great) Grandpa turned 85 on Saturday so we went out to Ancaster for a nice get together with everyone. Dan says that Grandpa appears to have the same energy and life as when he met him almost 21 years ago. It would've been Mema's birthday on that same day so we had some memories of her while we drove home. And today is (Great) Grandma's birthday!

Dan is taking another course - twice a week - and then he is done his Masters of Education which is great. I don't love being a single parent two nights a week but I'm sure this is preferable to him taking a fall course once I'm back at work (I just don't know that I prefer this yet...) One upside is that I've finally learned and remember how to use the latte machine so I can make my lattes when Dan has class...they still taste better when Dan makes them for me ; )

And...Liam is finished choir for the year. He had his big final concert on May 1st. It really was truly wonderful and then his choir did a fun family concert on the 3rd. Luke has also auditioned for the choir. We may be very busy next year! We haven't decided about hockey yet. It really is nice having those weekends free again but the boys need the exercise and it is only for about six months of the year. I know for sure that I am playing hockey again!

That's about it. I am still in perpetual sleep-deprivation mode. Grace wakes normally 2-3 times a night. Plus, I have been staying up way too late working on my ETSY shop, Princess Grace Bowtique.

So far I've had 68 sales in 6 weeks. At first, most of my customers were American but in the last couple of weeks I've had lots of Canadian orders. There is a niche for this in Canada as there aren't as many people selling this kind of quality product at these prices. However, I've had some shocks at the post office when I go to mail an $11 order of bows to Vancouver and it costs over $12...However, people would be pretty scared off at a $12 shipping fee! (this exact same box ships anywhere to the US for $6.94 - sigh). I need to use a box if someone orders lots of bows or they get squished...though now I have been sneaking one or two small bows into an envelope...and hoping they arrive in one piece! ($1.22 versus $10+ in Canada!)

Finally, here are some photos: Liam's pioneer day, Luke's party... and some of our adorable princess. I'll have to get my new FLIP video footage uploaded so you can see her run!

Wearing blue at the zoo!

We went to teacher day at the zoo last Sunday. Lots of teachers and a beautiful sunny day added up to a busy place - we had to park in the overflow lot. This was Grace's first out-of-uterus visit. She really like the polar bbears. They looked like the fluffy dogs she's been admiring around the neighbourhood.

New Etsy Store - Princess Grace Bowtique

Just because I didn't have anything else to do...or maybe because I had/have so many things to get done and I am procrastinating...

Luke's Perfect Pancakes

Today is a P.A. day so I have the kids home. Dan has interviews.

Early this morning Luke was begging to do some more cooking from his cookbook so we made Perfect Pancakes for breakfast. This was all done and eaten by 9 a.m. and before I had finished my cup of coffee!

We have a busy day. This morning I am taking the 3 kids to Dr. E (our chiropractor), I have a haircut later this afternoon then Luke and I have hockey practice and then Liam and I are going to see a TCC main choir concert at 8 pm. I wonder if there's time for me to shower?

I'd better go - Grace hasn't even had her morning diaper change yet! I'm not sure if she was impressed with the pancakes. I think she was waiting for her regular morning egg with spinach to arrive...

Liam's Birthday Party

Liam had his much anticipated Webkinz party last weekend. He invited three kids from school that were also serious Webkinz fanatics like Luke and himself. We set out the afternoon just like how it would be on Webkinz except there were activities every 15 minutes instead of every hour. We made real-life versions of the online games and the kids had to win games to get Kinzcash to spend at the "W-shop." They were pretty serious about the whole thing!

For the cake, I did my best interpretation of the "Wheel of Wow". I am quite happy to be done with the February birthday month. We celebrated Liam and Grace's birthdays several times each! Now onto the other boys of the family for March: Big Peter (Dad) - today!, Little Peter (19th) and Tim (11th).

Music Cards

Who knew that a music card would be hours of fun? Well, Grace knows. Forget the toys and bring on the music cards! She loves them and bops to the various beats. Luckily I've kept most of them - so on a boring afternoon I can pull out some fun Halloween, Easter, Christmas or Birthday tunes. I'll download a YouTube video of Grace with one of the cards. Quite funny! And this is what she will do for twenty minutes at time!

Note: adorable red shoes we got for $2.75 at our local consignment shop. This is really the only age you can buy used shoes that are still in perfect condition. Grace has an excellent shoe collection!

GO CANADA GO!

We are enjoying many late nights watching the Olympics in Vancouver. Liam and Luke are really into it this year. Luke's favourite sport is the skeleton and Liam really loves the speed and figure skating.

Last night we watched the Canadian men kick butt against the Russians in hockey and tonight the women will prevail! During the games, Grace and her brothers were playing a little hockey in the living room. Grace was using a mini Toronto Marlies stick. Who says you can't play hockey before you can walk?

Big Girl!

Do you know that jingle "I'm a big kid now!" from some diaper commercial? That is what Luke has been singing to Grace lately.

The other day Grace had her first chocolate chip cookie, ate pizza in the "big girl" chair with her brothers, did a little walking, put on a bow on her doll, read some of her CHIRP magazine and played a little D.S.

Vitamin D?

Does Grace need to go to Florida soon? Dan caught her trying to get some Vitamin D. Hopefully she'll be able to wear her new sunsuit and her new swimsuit in Naples in a few short weeks.

Grace's Party!

We had a little family party for Grace today. Well, little turns big when you have lots of family! Grace wasn't too overwhelmed by all the people and enjoyed her balloons and white cake.

Grace wore the dress I knit her. The colour matches her eyes beautifully! Too bad it is already small on her. I guess I'm learning my lesson - that it takes a long time to finish a knitting project when you have 3 kids so always make things a size bigger! I started this in August...

Grace is not quite walking yet. She is standing alone for about 10 seconds or so but those feet are glued to the floor. She happily walks if you hold her hand but not quite ready for going solo.