A Beautiful Wedding ~ June 8th, 2013

Despite a harried day shift, I ran in the door and chucked on the wedding clothes laid out already for Nora and myself as the wedding was at 5 pm. Scott, as the wedding officiator, could not be late. In the end, many other people were later than us so it was all good. The sun was still shining as the service began outside in a lovely, secluded backyard. Nora was excited to attend but was a bit put out that Daddy wouldn't sit with her. :) In the end, she found the rose petals thrown down the "aisle" by the flower girl quite fun to scrunch up and tear into tiny little pieces. I was just trying to keep her happy at that point. :)

Groovy girl bride enjoys attending ~ both groovy girls, I guess!

The wedding was for Trenton and Victoria, both from Scott's Taekwondo "extended family". Scott had started training Trenton when he was 3 1/2 years old. (Scary to realize that Nora is that age now.) We may need Trenton's parents, Dave and Karen, to teach Nora Taekwondo at their school, as she will find it challenging to have to listen to Daddy. :)

Trenton's parents~

 Scott did a great job.

 A gorgeous couple, very much in love.

Nora was thrilled to have her own place at the table. Trying to keep her from eating the personalized M&M favours was a lost cause. She did quite well overall.

A visit to see the chickens with Daddy was a nice break for me.

With the clouds starting to chill us, Nora and I changed into our spare clothes. ( I was wearing Scott's suitcoat, and a pair of jeans under my dress! I was just too tired at that point.) Nora eventually moved to sit with Trenton's parents to entertain the adults at their table. (She learned about how to clink glasses during the toasts.) Hopefully she wasn't too distracting during the speeches. Karen  also had many treats for Nora and the other children, including marshmallows to make s'mores. What a fun lady! :)

We wish you all the best, Trenton & Victoria! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you. :)

And We're Off.... ~ June 1st- 7th

Did anyone else hear it or just me? That is, the starter gun to begin off the crazy month of June! I was home   Thursday night from Winnipeg and immediately shifted mental gears from "relaxation" (as much as possible with hanging out with four children ages 3-7 years...) to graduation countdown. As soon as Charles left the house for work on Saturday morning, it was serious sewing time. I had been working on piecing blocks off and on since May or so... I'll update you later. Nora was at my side of course, getting into stuff...

What kept her entertained in the end was the Silly Putty we hadn't used on the airplane. I got a couple of hours of work done as a result of that dollar store toy! My weekend of leisure soon ended with a call at 5 pm to work the night shift, so soon enough I was back in the rhythm of work. Missed Sunday morning, but thankfully there was a Graduation Dessert Night that I was able to attend after I woke up. Charles and 3 other girls were the guests of honour. Scott MC'd and had a fun time "roasting" Charles.

Congratulations... time to start a College & Career Group now!

With the other youth and young adults...

Tuesday was a preschool field trip to Crescent Beach. The weather was perfect even though I secretly was hoping it would rain. Once there, Nora would not engage with the other kids after missing 2 weeks of school. (Sickness plus Winnipeg.) The beach was muddy, the shells too sharp to walk on, and so then I had a clingy child on my hands. Eventually we sat near the others and brought out the sushi. :) That amused many of the adults and Nora warmed up a bit. I've had a hard time connecting with the other parents this year due to my shift work and my different parenting stage of life. (Translation: I have no idea what your names are, and I don't really want to do play-dates... but I hope you can tell I'm friendly because I smile at you all so much!) I hope next year will be a little easier for all of us.

Happier on the grass where it's clean.

The most fun for Nora was packing to go!

Face-painting brings out a smile, too.

Thursday night was the last Senior High band concert of the year, and for Thomas it was to be the last one of his life. :( With much sadness and questioning, "Are you sure you don't want to sign up for Band 10 next year?", I sat through the concert soaking in every minute. I find myself wishing I was in high school now so that I could do all the cool stuff my kids have the opportunity for but choose not to get involved or get that excited about at least. I would love to play music like they do together. Sigh... The only upside? No more reminders to practice clarinet. :)

Thomas, in keeping with his older brothers' traditional photos
 of being  pained to indulge their mother in a pre-band concert photo...
I'm sure Lewis will carry the tradition onward soon enough.

The tragedy... Thomas really looked like he knew what he was doing!

Woke up the next day, again hoping for rain. My wish was granted, but not the second part that Lewis' sports day would be rescheduled. :( By the time I arrived around 11:30 am, the rain had stopped so it was alright). In the end, Lewis could care less if we were there as he didn't even stay with us to enjoy the hot dog lunch. Nora had fun anyway, which is really what matters isn't it?!

 Typical 12 year old response.

A Falcon Fest classic game...

Popcorn makes every day special.

 Keeping us busy.

So that week was a whirlwind, as I headed into the weekend to work two day shifts. (And that wasn't pretty there, but fortunately for everyone, I can't write about that.... at least not for about 30 years, and then I won't remember it!)

Winnipeg: Part 6 ~ May 30th

With a 2:20 pm scheduled flight home, I wouldn't normally have imagined doing a whole lot in the morning. However, Ann was determined that we could tour the Children's Museum at The Forks in the morning. With a poor track record of not getting out of the house before 10:45 generally, we both made an effort and left with suitcases packed at 10 am. (Farewell Lily!!) It turned out to be a lovely outing with many interesting hands-on exhibits for all of us to enjoy. In the end, Ann made a prudent decision to get a yearly membership so that next winter will offer some exciting alternatives. 

Bob the Builder wannabes...

Optical illusion slide

 Hand print mania.

We push the hands back...

A virtual art table...

Love Abby's "Princess Leia" hairstyle!

Nora tries to email her artwork.

 Finished product... 

The most popular exhibit by far, playing with the waterworks.

A DIY art room where no one cares about  globs of glue.
I just would have like some warning about the creation I was picking up!

Aiden enjoys a play date with his friend, too.

Ann gets creative with the magnetic letters...

A quick lunch at The Forks with Ann's friend Chantal as well. 

And then we were off, quick hugs and goodbyes to avoid the tears... that part's never fun. Wasn't long before Nora was asking when we'd be back. :) No promises on that, but maybe we could figure out Skype sooner than later. We both thank you for a fun time together, of treats, silliness and laughter. We love you!

I got smarter on the way back, with my ipod earphones...

Nora enjoyed a show for awhile before falling asleep, although that was only a 20
 minute nap. Bribes of Junior Mints worked for the rest of the way home!

Thanks for following along on our trip. I think we're back on our time now, although Nora has definitely brought some things home from her cousins' influence. Today was the second day of her showing up suddenly in the kitchen when we still believed her to be napping. All that climbing in playgrounds has revealed to her that she can get out of her crib now. When asked how she got out, she replied, "Very carefully", and then graced us with a demonstration on request. :) Charles was also surprised to see Nora tumble onto his high loft bed as he rested, although she's unable to get down. (That's from practicing on Aiden's bunk.) And I'm guessing when she told me, "You're not my friend anymore" because I didn't give her something today may have come from back east, too. But that's inevitable. I was keen to tell her, "That's right, I'm your mother! Maybe we can be friends when you're older..." :) And that's when I knew we were home again.

Winnipeg: Part 5 ~ May 28-29th

Tuesday was pouring rain, so we made a quick run to our favourite stores, Homesense and Ikea, which was quite manageable with just the two girls. A few deals later, we picked up Aiden at Nursery school and headed home as Hydro was coming by between 12-4 pm in preparation for work on Ann's back deck. (Just like the cable company, you've got to hang around for 4 hours...) It gave me a great excuse to go to the local Nygard store while Nora napped, and I enjoyed that immensely. :)

After dinner, we drove to a different school playground which had a lot of things for the kids to climb. I was surprised to see Nora tackling these "stairs" successfully, as I hovered by. The most memorable thing about here was Ann asking the "big kids" to stop using unacceptable language around the children. So far, I haven't heard any new words at home!

Wednesday arrived with much excitement, as a trip to the Assiniboine Park Zoo was on the agenda. (An extra good reason for Abby and Aiden to miss school!) There were too many animal photos to share here, but there is definitely a lot of variety. Here are some of our highlights...

Peacocks freely roamed, their feathers just amazing...

This one was actively trying to engage a female's interest but she was unimpressed.

The polar exhibit featuring "Hudson" is the newest attraction.
We were only able to view his replicas like this...

A bird's eye view of some deadly snakes...

Our own hungry birds!

Pretty much impossible to get these chicks to focus at once...

These two are so sweet together.

The new kangaroo pen, where they are a little anxious that we're in their space.

Myself,  I was anxious to be in the same pen as the emus!

The new polar-themed indoor playground was awesome, although overwhelming with 3 classes on a field trip. Once those kids cleared out, we had a blast with the place mostly to ourselves. Nora especially loved jumping on the simulated, projected "ice" on the floor until it cracked, revealing the water underneath. With "refreezing" again, this made for endless fun and tons of energy burned off. :)

I enjoyed the cooler Arctic air in the building.

Even though we could have merrily spent the rest of our afternoon in there, it seemed prudent to visit the rest of the zoo before the meltdown hour approached. 

A darling "Red Panda".

Not a bad photo for zooming through the chain link... a gorgeous snow leopard.

The lion roared, startling us all.

Pretty Izzy.

Is it a white horse with black stripes or vice versa? :)

"Make Way for Ducklings"... a sure sign of spring.

For whatever reason, it seemed to be some kind of safety week at the zoo, with firetrucks, ambulances and police cars to tour. The paramedics invited the kids in. We are hoping that will be the only time they need to be in one... The fake man was a little disconcerting, as well as the tubes in his arms etc. Nora was able to remember that Grandpa had an IV with his recent surgery, so I think that was all the debriefing required for now.

With rain threatening, it seemed a good time to leave. But after dinner it was clear, for our last opportunity to visit the school park where the kids love the rolling slide.

With a lot of coaching, Abby took our photo for us as we
 realized we didn't have one of us together yet.

Two weary Moms, but two happy sisters.

Weary is not a factor for the cousins. Go, go, go!!!

A few more candid shots, because everyone is a little sad that we're going home tomorrow. Ann doesn't anticipate coming out west until next summer. Kids change so quickly, so we must enjoy these moments together while we can.

Our family would never have imagined that Ann's 2-year trip to China in 1996 would plant seeds in
 our hearts that would help bring Nora into our lives. Two special girls to me right here!

I think we've both had a long day!  (But fun...)