Telus World of Science

In November, specifically Remembrance Day, Sean, Aunty Claudette and I took Owen and Brandon to Telus World of Science to see the Lego Transportation exhibit.  They found the whole place really interesting and hands-on. There was the first room which was concerned with all things to do with the weather. Here the boys got to view a tornado.

There was a green screen and tv set up so you could follow a tele-prompter and pretend to be a weather man.

Then there was the Solve a Mystery room. Owen and Brandon really liked being able to get up close and even sit on a police motorbike and play with a police car sirens.

Then it was on to the main event, the Lego Transportation exhibit. This was super cool, a race car made all of Lego that you could sit in and pretend to drive.

There was so much to see, that Owen and Brandon didn’t seem to mind much with the sharing.

There was a downhill track set up with a table full of parts to build your own race car. This was a huge hit and the boys played for quite some time here.

There were many different Lego sets to see from space ships to race cars to the High Level Bridge. Finally at the end of it all there were tables and tables set up with Lego pieces for you to build to your heart’s content…and that’s what Owen and Brandon did!

Telus World of Science had so much to offer, we will definitely be going back here another day!

Jump jump jump

Owen and Brandon love to jump, jump off things, jump on things, jump in one place….if there is a way to incorporate jumping into what they are doing, they will figure it out.  One evening they discovered how much fun it was to jump off the picnic table.

First Owen had to explain to Brandon the new game…we can’t jump on each other (that’s Mom’s rule)!

 

Owen says to Brandon, watch how I jump and then do the same as me!  Look at the air I get!

Brandon says to Owen, my turn my turn, share Owen share.  At first Brandon was a little timid but his courage grew with each jump. 

 

Merry Christmas from the Korsan Family

Merry Christmas!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the holiday season and isn’t getting too stressed or burned out.  This year Owen and Brandon know who Santa is, know he brings toys to good girls and boys and know they need to tell Santa what they would like.  It has been changing each week, as to what they would like…well for Owen anyway, you ask Brandon what he would like Santa to bring and he says…what my brother wants.  Owen started with wanting a Spider-man movie, then a monster truck and now a skateboard (with a helmet to be safe, of course).  We’ve introduced Owen and Brandon to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman movies (the ones you and I used to watch as kids), we play Christmas music and sing along, oh and don’t forget the Christmas lights…you have to turn those on each night!  Hopefully the weather will improve, even just a bit, so we can take Owen and Brandon down Candy Cane Lane!

We thought it would be nice to take a holiday family picture.  After an evening and a morning of picture taking, many tears and bribing, we achieved the picture that we felt embodied us, our family…

Here are some of the out-takes….

From our family to yours, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Messing with Animoto

I was messing with Animoto last night and this is a sample clip I created. So far I just signed up for the free account which is limited but if I like what I see I will consider a paid account. Let me know what you think of the video…

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Zoe and Isaac

Isaac Bennett Stamp was born October 7th; by the beginning of November we had found a weekend that worked with every one’s schedules so that we could take a trip to Airdrie to see Uncle Derek, Aunty Colette, Zoe and Isaac.  We explained it all to Owen and Brandon and the one thing that they heard was “sleepover at Zoe’s house”.  We left Edmonton Friday at lunch, thinking that with full bellies the motion of the vehicle would lull the boys to sleep.  Well it didn’t go that smoothly, they watched a DVD, slept on and off and bugged each other – typical road trip!  We arrived at Zoe and Isaac’s house just before dinner time.  Zoe was excited to see us and show off her new brother.  Owen and Brandon were like, yeah he’s fine and all but look at all these cool, different toys. 

 

Isaac reminded me so much of Owen and Brandon as babies.  He smelled liked a new baby and slept all wrapped up in his blanket so peacefully.  I held him as much as I could and it felt so nice to hold a baby….don’t get any ideas here, I am very happy with 2 boys and do not wish for another — boy or girl.  Owen and Brandon didn’t give Isaac much notice, Friday night, they were too busy playing with Zoe.

The sleepover went well; we slept in the basement and didn’t hear any of Isaac’s cries through the night.  In the morning, Owen and Brandon seemed to want more to do with Isaac and both wanted to hold him.  Owen quite enjoyed holding Isaac and would smile and laugh while holding him.   

Brandon liked holding Isaac too, but not as long as Owen.  He did more of the 30 second hold and then drop with a “I’m done.”

Uncle Derek with the kids.

Isaac was so wonderful and so cute.  Here he has finally opened his eyes and lifted his head to look around.

We can’t wait to see everyone at Christmas!

Just like Daddy…

Daddy spends many hours at the computer working on his business; Owen and Brandon will take breaks from play time and stop to see what Daddy’s doing.  This particular day Brandon was especailly interested and needed to sit on Daddy’s lap and “help”.  As you can see Brandon has watched Daddy at work many times and knows how to perfect the art of critiquing.  A photographer is the making?

Halloween

Halloween is finally here; Owen and Brandon have had a fun-filled weekend of everything Halloween.  Friday was dress up and party at day care.  Saturday was dress up for gymnastics and now Sunday promises of pumpkin carving in the morning and trick or treating in the evening. 

Aunty Claudette, Grandma K and GG came over Sunday morning to help carve pumpkins.  I had bought some different tools for carving, trying to find something they boys could use that wasn’t a knife. ha ha  The cookie cutters in the shapes of a bat and a star and using a wooden mallet to punch out the shapes in the pumpkins was a hit.  The only casualties were when Mom, Dad or Aunty got their fingers too close and were whacked by the mallet by accident.

Brandon is waiting patiently for Aunty Claudette to get everything in place…watch your fingers Aunty!!

Aunty Claudette helping Owen; looks like she has learned from helping Brandon and those fingers look to be a safe distance away.

Dad thought he would try it out….now his fingers are definitely safe from the hammer!

Brandon took a short break from carving pumpkins to sit with Grandma K and read a story.

The weather warmed up nicely so this year the boys didn’t need to bundle their winter coats over their costumes while they went door to door.  Dad took the boys out trick or treating, while Mom stayed home with Kosmo to hand out treats.  From the smiles on their face and the excitement in their stories of the homes they went to, I’d say they very much enjoyed the holiday!

Gymnastics

Today is Saturday and that means two things are a given — a trip to Tim Horton’s for breakfast and gymnastics.  Today is also the Halloween weekend and that means Owen and Brandon get to wear their Halloween costumes all weekend.  We like the Tim Horton’s on 184 street; it’s quiet, on the way to gymnastics and the clientele are right up Owen and Brandon’s alley.  Meaning there are construction workers, truck drivers, Shaw Cable guys, one day there were even paramedics driving an ambulance.  It fascinates Owen and Brandon that all these workers stop for coffee or a bagel or doughnut too — just like them.  They love the workers in their coveralls, hard hats and work boots.  The best thing about it all is how wonderful most of the worker men are; if they catch Owen and Brandon looking at them or talking about them, the majority of them smile and wave, say hi or talk to them.  Immediately Owen and Brandon become shy and quiet; but once the worker is out of sight they are grinning ear to ear that a worker talked to them!

This particular day saw more attnetion than usual as everyone thought Owen and Brandon were too cute in their spiderman costumes.

Gymnastics was an awesome choice we made way back when and continues to be….Owen and Brandon love the running and stretches at the beginning of class and then there is the balance beam, trampoline, hula hoops, jumping, rolling and of course the foam pit!  

Today is Halloween so the children and coaches dressed up for class.  Warm up was pretend to be a car or truck with your hula hoop — drive fast when coach says green light, slow when coach says yellow light and stop when coach says red light.  Then in between there is bumpy roads (jumping), monster trucks (stretching tall) and tiny cars (squatting down low).

After warm ups, Owen and Brandon split into their classes.  Brandon is in Parent and Tot; he loves it so much.  He listens quite well to the coach, follows along and then zooms off.  Brandon’s favorite part is the sticker and stamp on the hand at the end of class.

Owen has moved up to Kinder-gym; this is the first level where they do the class without the parents.  At first I will admit I was concerned that Owen would need help, he would be shy and wouldn’t participate…you know all those concerns.  Of course Owen proved to us all what a big boy he is growing into; he has really taken to his coach and is not shy with her at all.  He follows along and goes through each routine really well!  Owen’s favorite part of gymnastics is…it’s a toss up between the foam pit and his sticker and stamp at the end!   

Happy Birthday

It’s a little late, but Happy Birthday Aunty Claudette.  Aunty’s choice for her birthday was chicken fajitas and rice.  Uncle Phil did an outstanding job cooking the chicken — this means Uncle Phil MUST always have dinner with us when it’s chicken fajitas.  After dinner, came the surprise birthday cake — Aunty was touched by the effort made by the boys.  After singing, the boys helped blow out the candles and enjoyed the chocolate cake — and yes, chocolate was the right pick!

Opening cards was next and Owen and Brandon were right in there helping out.  The contents of the cards flying all over and ignored — it’s all about the card you know!  Aunty was even more excited to get a spontaneous hug from Owen.  I think it ended up quite the perfect birthday for Aunty.  Right Aunty?

Swimming

Swimming lessons started up again this fall at the YMCA.  Owen and Brandon both love the water and when ever we tell them we are going swimming, they get very excited.  This fall Brandon was enrolled in Parent and Tot; he cannot move up to the next level until he is 3 yrs old.  Sean and I switched each week and Brandon loved every session; he especially loved it when someone came to watch him swim — that was when you could really get him to do things!  If Brandon knew Grandma, Grandpa or Aunty were there watching him swim, he was hamming it up, checking to make sure you were watching and waving too!

Now that Owen is 3 yrs old, his fall swimming lessons meant that he could move up a level and for the first time do it all on his own!  This very exciting for everyone, a little un-nerving for Mom but Owen quickly calmed my nerves.  Owen enjoyed class very much and followed along well; although he did become scared of the slide at the pool, this was strange, as he used to love going down the slide.  I think this feeling of being scared is one of the phases of being a 3 yr old — developing more awareness to things around us — not feeling so invincible all the time.  Owen as well loved class even more when someone was watching him swim — he would look over and smile and wave and after class he would “run” over to us and say “did you see that, did you see me!”