Our Mini Vacation

We went to my Grandmother's cottage this week for a few days. The weather has been so horrible here, that when we heard there were a few 'hot' days in the forecast, we took off to the cottage.



The lake was SOOOO COLD that we hardly went in swimming, but we still managed to spend a lot of time on the beach.



Amy and her Daddy spent some time surfing. And we played baseball in the cottage (yes, I know that's a ping pong racket and yes, I could still hear my Grandma yelling, "You're gonna smash something in here doin' that!" even though she's been gone for twenty years).

We spent a huge amount of time on the swings. There's no such thing as "that's high enough" with this girl. It's always "push harder Daddy".

She really has learned to use her legs and pump this summer.

And finally, we practiced our synchronized swimming routines.

Later today, we will be off on our third holiday in one week! There's nothing like packing an entire summer into seven days. And Yes, Amy's excited.

Welcome Home Aunt Arlene!

Amy and I went to the airport on Monday night to pick Arlene up from her annual pilgrimage back to Newfoundland for three and a half weeks. Amy had been talking for a few days about Aunt Arlene coming home and she was the first to spot her as we walked into the airport. We hadn't even collected her bags before Arlene brought out the first gift for Amy!

The bounty from Newfoundland begins with a gift from Hong Kong. When we were there this spring, we had lunch with my friend Merv, his wife Sam and their little girl Ji-Eun. Merv is originally from the same little town that Arlene is from and they all happened to be back in Newfoundland at the same time. Merv, Sam and Ji-Eun brought Amy a wonderful book and, best of all, red silk slippers that are featured in the story. Amy has hardly taken them off since! Thank you, that was so thoughtful. Then, there was a very special quilt made by Arlene's neighbour Marion, whom Amy, without any prompting, calls Grandma. Marion makes all of her grandchildren a quilt, so she promptly began to whip up this one when she returned from her Manitoba winter holiday. Even a shattered shoulder and elbow didn't stop this quilt from being finished by the summer. Thank you Grandma Marion. Your generosity towards our wonderful little girl seems to know no bounds.

Arlene and her Mom, Shirley, did some great shopping at the airport and picked up Amy a puffin and a lobster, both much cuddlier than their live counterparts.

As you can see, Daddy liked them too!

If all of that wasn't enough, Amy had mail waiting for her when we got home. It was a letter and a package from our former neighbours Connie and Irene.Amy picked up the package, gave it a little shake, and pronounced it to be "Smarties from Connie!!!". She was right!Thank you Connie and Irene. Amy loved it.

Was that just Summer??

Finally!

Today we had the nicest weather we've had in a long time. This summer has been horribly wet and cool which hasn't bothered me too much due to all the travelling, packing and unpacking. But not today! Today was about 25 and, most importantly, sunny.

To celebrate we took a day trip to a beach area where no cars are allowed. People walk or ride their bikes everywhere. Neither of us had been there before, and it was really a neat place. Of course the best part for Amy was the playground.

Good old Daddy played with Amy on the swings for quite awhile. Doing everything she did. Or was it the other way around?

Then we hit the beach. Ahh, it was glorious. Sand and sun. It finally felt like summer.

We met friends there and joined them for dinner at their cabin before heading home . . . to reality. More rain tomorrow, thundershowers and a high of 18.

Summer's over.

How to Buy a Dress

Amy had two clothes shopping experiences today. The first was a mad dash to the mall closest to school with Daddy. They arrived at school this morning only to find out today was 'PJ Day'. Mommy had forgotten all about it and, if you can believe this, sent Amy to school in regular clothes! Disaster was averted and Daddy saved the day once again.

The second shopping experience was after school with Mommy. My good friend Dave and his fiance Shannon asked Amy to be the flower girl at their wedding in September, so we met up at a bridal store to try on a few dresses.

Shannon kept asking Amy if she liked each dress that she tried on. I, at first, thought that Amy wouldn't have a preference over any of the white frilly dresses she was trying on, but I was wrong.

She definitely had a preference.

She also had an interesting way of test driving each dress.

First there was the 'Shoe Test' . . .

Then there was the all important 'Twirl Test' . . .

And finally . . .

. . . here it comes . . .

. . . 'The Jump Test' !

Perfect!

"Yep. I'll take this one."

Where has my Baby Gone?

This morning, as we were doing Amy's hair to get ready for school, she asked that I do "silly ponytails". I'm not sure what exactly that is, but rather than put her hair in a number of ponytails on random spots on her head (which I thought would look ridiculous and not just silly), I did this instead. Thankfully, she loved them, but it changed her usual look entirely.

I wa struck with the realization that she is no longer a baby, but a wonderful little girl with her own ideas about the world. We've long since known she had her own desires (she makes that very evident), but with the development of language, her ideas about how she understands things to be are becoming clearer and clearer.

When we first got home from China, I would give her a running commentary about the world ("Look at that big, white truck.") only to expose her to language and the usage of simple words. Now she's the one with the running commentary ("Mommy! I see a car like yours, 'cept it's dark blue. That's Carol's favourite colour you know. And Amy B.'s too. I wonder if Amy B. will be in school today or if she's still on her vacation with her's Mommy and Daddy."). Some days I feel as if my head will explode with all the constant chatter.

Then I see her in this light.

Gone are the days when she used only six signs (more, come, eat, drink, baby, bath) to make her desires and opinions known. Now we have great conversations, not only about what she wants to serve her friends for lunch tomorrow (donuts!), but also why her friend cried at school today after no one would play with her and how she could help her friend feel better.

Yes, my baby is gone, but there's this fascinating little girl in her place.

A Weekend at Grandpa's

Amy and I went to my Dad's this weekend. Since the passing of my Mom four years ago, my sister Carol and I try to go every month, but given it's a three hour trip, that's sometimes hard to do. My sister cleans and cooks meals that can be frozen and I do the books for both his farm and his garage business. Usually, this takes about a day and a half, but we haven't been since the end of April, before our trip to China, and the books were very behind. And confusing. Dad is not the most careful when it comes to putting letters and bills in one place and the first order of business is usually checking all the usual nooks and crannies he tends to put things. Then I have to follow paper trails to find out what he's bought and sold. Needless to say, this time it took me four days. Ugh.

My nephew Scott was there as well. My Dad has given him a 1969 ford truck and he is busy fixing it. This weekend, the installation of the all important stereo and speakers was on the agenda. I guess he didn't like the 8track that was in there!

Last night, I was busy in the office and thought it was a little too quite out in the living room. When I went out to investigate, Scott and Amy were busy playing . . . . a VIDEO GAME!!!!! I'm not in favour of video games, especially for young children, so this was a bit of a surprise.
I recognized the music immediately as my younger brother played this incessantly when he was young. I think it was one of the Mario games, although I don't know which one. According to Scott, it's "old school".
I hope we don't have an addict on our hands!

Thanks Scott.

Mail

Amy was very excited the other day to receive mail. Not just one, but two "ennalopes" from her friends Cameron and Damon. These are our former neighbours' grandchildren that she loves to play with and misses dearly.

(Note the ever present bone for Honker, just in case he happens to come by!)

Thank you for thinking of Amy. She loved your letters.

Amy-isms

Yes, I know I just did this a few days ago, but they seem to be coming fast and furious lately. Here are a few of the funny things Amy has been saying . . .

- She wants to have a campfire and make some "snores" (you know the kind with graham crackers, marshmellows and chocolate??).

- Amy was overheard singing to herself the other day, "We all live on a yellow tambourine . . . "

- We went to get the mail the other day and there were two letters for Amy. When I said, "I wonder who they're from?" she promptly replied "The Postman!"

- We had friends over for dinner the other night and, like always, Amy was being a great help and took dishes out to the table. She brought our friend Denny a mug and he said, "Oh great! Coffee!". To this, she replied incredulously, "No. It's a cup". You have to have such patience with older people nowadays!

- Amy and I were driving in the car the other day when it began to rain. I was speaking to Robin at the time and mentioned the weather. When Amy took the phone and began her conversation with him, he asked if it was raining where she was. Her reply was, "No, it's not raining where I am. I'm in the car. It's raining outside!".

- My sister's next door neighbour's name is Regina. For whatever reason, no matter how many times I say it slowly and properly, Amy just can say her name. It's close, just one letter off, but changes the meaning of the word entirely.

A Post for Howard

Who is Howard? Well, he is our friend Arlene's Dad and he lives in "Newfieland", as Amy refers to it. He is a fisherman and someone Amy talks about frequently, even though she has never met him.

Arlene is there now visiting her family and Amy feels she should be there too, especially when she heard Arlene was out in the boat and saw a whale on one of her first days there. Amy feels she is missing out on something, and she is. We were there a number of years ago and had a great time. After purchasing the house however, going on a summer trip just wasn't possible.

For now, Amy is practicing for when she can go out in Howard's boat and go fishing with him.

I don't think she'll catch much by fishing into the basement. Even I know that!

I hope you don't mind fishing with someone that uses a pink bobber Howard!

Amy-isms

- Amy now has her own play structure that comes with its very own telescope. She loves to climb up, look through the glass and yell "Ahoy Ladies!".

- I've been going to the local Farmers` Market every Saturday morning and purchasing fresh vegetables and bread for the week. When I come home, Amy always searches through my bag to see if I've been lucky enough to get some "cinnamon bums".

- One of Amy's favourite things to play with is her pink "hula loop".

- Due to all the renovations happening in the house, Amy has become very familiar with tools. It's interesting to see how she has overgeneralized the English language rule about adding 'er' to a verb to make it into a noun. For example, a hammer is "a hammerer", a measuring tape is "a measurer" and a screwdriver is "a screwer".

- She often walks around with tools tucked into her pockets, just like Cliff (our contractor). When I inquire as to where the tool came from, she'll tell me not to worry, it's just "Cwiffes' ".

- Jeff works with Cliff and is often here before Amy comes down in the morning. The first Saturday we were in the house, Amy came downstairs and began looking all around in the dining room, living room, kitchen, family room and the bathroom. She finally came up to me and asked, "Where's Jeff's room? I need to go and wake him up".

Baking Pies

I love to bake and I have wonderful memories of baking with my Mom and my Grandma. One of my favourite things to do as a child was to make my own pie with the left over pie dough that my Grandma would give me. So, this morning, after I was finished making pies, I gave Amy the left over dough so that she could make her own pies.

She began by rolling her dough . . . . . . and then cutting circles for her tart pan.

It`s so hard for me to watch Amy put the dough in the pans and not have the tarts be evenly placed. I`m so anal about that sort of thing! I did, however, leave it and not adjust them at all.

Then came the filling.

The filling almost made it into the pie. Again, I had to restrain myself from not taking over and doing it myself.

Then into the oven!

Thankfully, the doors on the new ovens are too heavy for Amy to open, so Mommy has to do it instead.

The real reason we have two ovens, one for Mommy and one for Amy.

Watching always makes things cook faster.

Mmmm. Smells good enough to eat.

Honker

One of the best things about the new house, according to Amy, is our neighbours. One in particular. He's tall for his age, smells a lot and is fun to hang out with. His name is Honker and he's a year old. This, in Amy's view of the world, makes him her little sister.
She loves it when he comes over to run in the yard, play ball or just sit and listen. He's everything you could ever wish for in a good friend.

Princess

The name of the game is "Princess" and we play it all the time. Most of the time Amy is the Princess, but Daddy and I get to be the chosen one now and again. Today, while Daddy was at work and I was trying to finish the last of the unpacking, Amy wanted to play. The outfit she chose was so adorable, that I had to take her picture when she collapsed into a heap in the hallway after some very intense ballroom ballet.
She even insisted on wearing the outfit as she and Daddy walked down our driveway to get the mail. I guess that's one way to get yourself noticed in the new neighbourhood!

How was your July?

Our's was busy!

After weeks of packing, we moved to our new house in the country. We had lived in our house in the city for ten years; the longest both Robin and I have ever lived in any house. There were some life changing events that had happened while we lived there such as both Sean and Kristin graduating, our marriage, the death of my Mom, and the addition of Amy to our family. We have so many memories that I honestly found it difficult to leave. Some of the best involved pool parties and BBQs, so we thought it only fitting that we have one more, two days before we moved. The theme of party was "help us clean out the cupboards and beer fridge so that we don't have so much to move". The usual crew of family and friends were able to stop by including Amy's friends Julia and Jenna.
'One last swim' was enjoyed by all.

There were no complaints about the odd assortment of food and drink, from neither the adult table . . .

. . . nor the kids' table.Amy did quite well with all the excitement and it was amazing as to how quickly she became accustomed to our new house. She was, however, exhausted. So much so, that she actually fell asleep in the tub the night before our move.

That can't be comfortable! And yes, we did move her.
Finally, it was moving day and it rained all day long. This picture was taken at the tail end of the first truck load. The movers were hoping to get it all in one load, but it did take two. Due to the hour long drive between houses, it took until 11pm before they finally drove away, leaving us surrounded by boxes.The oven was removed in the new house to make way for my new ovens, so we did our Sunday night dinners down by the river in the "summer kitchen" instead. I have to admit, the preparation and the clean up were much easier than usual.

And someone really got into it!The local community had a festival the first weekend we were here, so my good friend Arlene took Amy for the day and they went to check it out. There were rides, face painting, a petting zoo, live music and, the best part, pony rides!Arlene took Amy on another day (giving me some much needed time to unpack) and they met up with another friend (who had taught with both Arlene and I up North) and her son Riley, who was a year younger than Amy. When they first met, Riley was a little shy and did not say anything. Amy, being the aware young traveller that she is, said to him, very slowly and loudly, "Do you speak English Riley?". What a girl!

They headed to the zoo and then an amusement park, both of which provided hours of entertainment, rides, and snacks.

Back at the house, I learned that if you can't get a queen sized box spring up to the third floor, you can just cut it in half and it fits just fine. A few staples, and it's as good as new!

Our fifth anniversary happened in July as well. The traditional gift is wood, so the obvious gift for Robin to give were apple trees. He has a special connection with apple trees as his Grandfather had apple orchards and he will forever associate the smell of an apple with his Grandfather.

He spent six hours one day, digging two holes and planting his new trees . . .

. . . on one of the warmest days we've experienced this year so far . . .

. . . only to be told this weekend, by an arborist we hired to advise us on some of the plants and trees on the property, that they both have fire blight and will not grow! They, in fact, need to be removed as soon as possible.

I feel bad for the person who answers the phone at the greenhouse tomorrow. Never make a lawyer mad!

Now that we have a huge deck (that badly needs to be replaced - it looked fine in January when we bought the house!), Amy needed new patio furniture too. My nephew Scott, whose job it is to cut the grass (yes, it's almost a full time job), put it together for her, not without her giving many helpful suggestions as to how it should be properly done. That's my girl!

We are now almost completely unpacked and organized and we hope that the majority of the renovations will be done at the end of this week. Well, except for the painting of the kitchen cabinet doors and the french door, and the sewing of Amy's curtains, all of which I need to do. The new windows are ordered and should be installed in October and then we'll be done for the year. Whew!

I had a rough time at first moving to the country, but as I am unpacking and the renovations are moving on, I'm beginning to really love being here. It's like being at the lake all the time. I'm even getting used to the drive into the city and look at it as an opportunity to listen to books on CD. I hope now life will return to normal after four months of excitement and we can once again get into some sort of schedule, just before I go back to work.

I'm looking forward to a peaceful August.