A day at home with Mommy

The day home was closed one Friday, the day was gloomy and rainy and I was home without a vehicle with the boys.  I was secretly hoping the sun would come out and Owen and Brandon and I could go for a walk; and that is why I let Sean take the van to work.  Cooped up indoors all day, I scrambled to entertain the boys — one idea was to bake.  I have containers and containers full of frozen bananas just waiting to be baked into muffins.  So I thought we could all bake together; banana muffins with blueberries — the blueberries were Owen’s idea.  It was fun, messy and interesting to bake with a 3 yr old and 21 month old.  They shared quite well with the dumping of ingredients into the bowl and were mesmerized by the mixer going ’round and ’round.  They lost interest by the time I was filling the muffin tins but ran back occasionally to check out how they grew in the oven.  And then we had our fill of muffins….and milk!!  Yum!

Here are my chefs!

Gymnastics!

Brandon has hit the age where he can join Owen in gymnastics at Horizon Gymnastics Club.  We are all very excited as the last few months Brandon seems more interested wanting to join into class and less patience watching the class.  At the beginning of May a new session of gymnastics started and lucky for Brandon his friend Brooke was also interested in trying out gymnastics.  This session we have Owen and Nathan and Brandon and Brooke making up half the class.

On the first class Aunty Claudette was gracious enough to help us out so we could do class and take pictures.  So the pictures posted here are a mixture of Sean and Claudette’s work….Aunty isn’t so bad at taking pictures after all! 

Brandon followed the warm-up quite well and throughout the class Brandon seemed very concentrated on the task at hand.  Brooke on the other hand, had her own idea of what warm ups and class should be and kept her Daddy busy chasing her around.  Sean and I remember fondly when Owen was that age and had just started gymnastics; he kept us running around and on our toes too! 

Owen has grown so much since he first started gymnastics — when he was just 19 months old.  Owen jumps, balances on the balance beam and climbs across the parallel bars all on his own now – no help from Mom or Dad is needed or wanted!  In the summer Owen will start Kinder-gym, the next level in gymnastics, this is where he will do the class on his own, no Mom or Dad.

San Francisco – Day 3

San Francisco proved hotter than expected so on day three we started out with shorts and sunscreen as there was a lot of sweating and a little buring happening on day 2. We did the hop on hop off tour offered by opentopsightseeing.com on the double decker bus. This is a great way to check out all the tourist stops and sightseeing hotspots in San Francisco. If you pick up a map from Fishermans Warf there is a coupon for $5 off each person on the tours. We headed out of downtown SF and saw a cool little parkade before arriving at the Civic Center. The Civic Center in SF is amazing, I could have spent a whole day there alone.

Next up was the Golden Gate Bridge. On our first loop around we decided to stay on the bus and drive accross instead of walk. We wanted to drive the whole tour loop first to see where we might want to stop back at. We were sitting about midway back on the top deck enjoying the views from the open top and while this is a great way to see most of the tour it is not the best place to be while driving accross the bridge. It was windy, very windy, hang on to your hat, sunglasses, camera, hair and shorts kind of windy. Think Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton in Twister kind of windy. It was aheap of fun though and on pass number two we were smarter and sat up top but this time just behind the windscreen and that was barely breezy.

After driving the bridge and continuing on the tour we made a stop just a few blocks from Coit Tower. We walked the few blocks uphill and climbed all the stairs to reach the entrance where thankfully there was an elevator to take us to the top to take in views of the cities downtown, bridges, and piers.

After making the return trek from Coit Tower, which was all downhill as they say, we stopped for a quick snap of the famous Saints Peter and Paul Church. One of the reasons this church is famous is because Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe had pictures taken in front of the church after they got married.

After we were able to relocate the spot we needed to reboard our tour buss we headed off towards Golden Gate Bridge again, this time to walk it. We went past the famous Painted Ladies and I shot the quick snap you see below from the moving tour bus. I also took the lovely self portrait of Angela and I about mid bridge looking back into the bay and overlooking Crissy Field.

Here is a spectacular view of the Golden gate Bridge from the south east side.

I love taking pictures of flying flags and after looking through lots of photos I picked a few to include here. I picked them mainly for the character of each flag and to compare how different each one looked in its respective environment. Everything from majestic to average to downright battered and torn.

All in all we had a fantastic time in San Francisco and to quote a phrase from our tour “I’ll be back…”.

San Francisco – Day 2

So I did not manage to get a post up yesterday because it was a hectic day and we did not have dinner until 9:00pm and by the time we got back to the hotel it was bed time. A Miller Light and a “few” Peach Bellinis from the Cheesecake Factory did us in.

Our day started out with a trip on a cable car to Fishermans Warf. It is a pretty neat experience and cool way to see the sights on route to the warf. Just hang on or you might find yourself going for another kind of ride.

Once we got to the warf we took a quick look around at some of the ships in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. For $5 you can board the ships and walk around. It was a very cool thing to do as some of the ships are very old and fully rigged.

While on board one of the ships Angela found a room that had a machine that measured the thrill of your kisses. Either the machine was too old or our kisses were too powerful because by the time we were done the machine would not light up anymore.

After all that kissing it was time to get ready to head to Alcatraz.

Now for a married man a trip to the Rock should be walk in the National Park but the ‘warden” quickly caught me goofing off and decided to lock me up.

But luckily that was just for a bit. She got on the horn and pulled some strings to get me out because she did not want to have to walk the rest of the island by herself. It paid off too because she got to spend some romantic 60w incandescent lightbulb, um I mean candle light time with me in the tunnels of the rock.

After the Alcatraz tour we did a little shopping on Pier 39 and then took the cable car back to the hotel and headed out to dinner at the Cheescake Factory.

Stay tuned for tales of day 3 in San Francisco.

Where in the world are we?

Can you guess where we are from these photos?

By now you must have at least guessed the country (hint look at the flags and mailbox).  Do you know what state or city? Ok how about 2 more…

 Hello San Francisco.  Angela and I managed to get away for a few days sans the little ones so we headed to SF while Grandma, Aunty, Grandma and Grandpa are house and child sitting for us. We arrived a little after lunch local time so we just walked around downtown and Union Square for a bit before heading to dinner.

We love the California Pizza Kitchen and highly recommend it. Do you want to guess who had which pizza? I mean besides the salad on top there is at least 1 more clue.

Tomorrow we are headed to Golden Gate Bridge and Fishermans Warf along with a bunch of other stops. So I will try to put up some pics from that when we are done but it might be too late of a night as even though local time is 11:10pm right now home time is 12:10am

Potty Training Update

Owen has moved to wearing big boy underwear — evenings and weekends!  A couple Saturdays ago Grandma K and I took Owen and Brandon for groceries in the evening — outside of our usual Sunday routine; Sunday was Mother’s Day and I didn’t want to do groceries on my day, anyway…We were in Wal-Mart looking at the tank tops and pyjama’s and Owen points and asks “What’s that Mommy?”  I turn around and it’s the wall of big boy underwear.  I tell him it’s what big boys wear and that he is a big boy and he could pick some out.  totally grabbing the opportunity!!  Owen picked Spider-man and he held onto the package all through the store.  The next day we tried it out, we told Owen that Spider-man does not like to get wet and gets very upset if he does.  Owen wore them most of the day (outside of nap time and outings) and had only one accident after bath time.  He was so very excited, he ran around the house with just his underwear on, jumping and laughing and shouting.  Brandon was so excited too and kept wanting to see them and Owen would gladly stop from running around to show Brandon Spider-man on his back side!  Sean and I both were very relieved to see how excited he was, this is looking to be a very positive transition!  Since Mother’s Day Owen has worn his Spider-man underwear each evening and on weekends.  Every night when we get home Owen asks for Spider-man.  On the weekends we’ve taken him out to a few places and he even napped (that was more of an oversight) staying dry every time.  There were a couple small accidents here and there, a few bigger ones but all in all it has been a wonderful experience for everyone.  Aunty Claudette even picked up some Toy Story ones for Owen — now he can pick between Toy Story and Spider-man!

The transition has been good, moving slowly all on Owen’s time.  Which is fine with me, to have moved from diapers to pull ups to occasional underwear in little under 4 months is wonderful to me.  It’s a lot of work, this potty training, but when I see Owen accomplish something and see him feeling proud I know my slow, consistent pace has paid off.  And who knows maybe this routine will rub off on Brandon some and make Brandon’s potty training a little easier, a little quicker?

Vehicles — It’s a love hate relationship

So Sean and I have been talking on and off for sometime about looking at purchasing a new vehicle or another vehicle.  While we love our Mazda Tribute it’s feeling a little small with the two of us, two boys and a dog.  We know a minivan is the next step.  I know for myself it’s taken some deep thinking to come to the realization that a minivan wouldn’t be as dorky or uncool as I think.  It might even been cool?  In preparation of purchasing our next vehicle Sean and I did our research — we went to the Auto Show last year and then again this year to scout out minivans and seeing what was out there.  We narrowed down our search to the Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey and Dodge Grand Caravan.  Of course the Honda brand is outstanding, Sean use to own a Civic, they are reliable and hold their value.  We’ve always felt that they are well worth their price.  To our disappointment the Honda is just out of our price range.  Scratch that one.  The Toyota Sienna is our next choice.  I will admit I’ve never thought anything of Toyota — one way or the other — but looking at the Sienna I discovered a love of the vehicle and the brand.  Yes I know there were those recalls but the Sienna was never part of that.  I can remember reading about how Toyota dealt with the recession — instead of laying off employees they reduced the number of vehicles they made and released; thus creating a demand for their brand and improving their image of a “caring” company.  To me that is smart business sense.  Luckily for us the Sienna was within our price range.  Our third choice is the Dodge Grand Caravan.  It is a domestic vehicle that is well equipped with a price that is well within our budget.

So like I said Sean and I felt we had some time to slowly look around and see what’s out there; well our trusty truck had other thoughts.  It all started after a nice big fat bill just before Christmas, that got the ball rolling a little faster for Sean and I, then into April we started to hear very similar sounds and see very similar leaks to what we just fixed back before Christmas.  Hummm….so we took it in and wow were we in for a shock.  The leaks and noises were apparently not related to what we just fixed, it was something else, something more to fix that would cost us.  That really got the ball rolling, seems like we will have to be looking a little harder and more seriously now.  And then in the process of looking our truck got even worse….like we went from bad to very bad very fast.  The decision as to when to buy was being made for us, the decision had to be made now.  Our trusty 8 year old truck that we were so diligent in ensuring all maintenance, oil changes and repairs were done on time has just gone and pretty much died on us.  We thought that by being so diligent that would ensure our truck would last us more than 8 years.  That our trusty truck would stick with us and eventually turn into a nice second vehicle.  Boy were we wrong.  At this point I am at a loss as to what happened, why the truck just blew up the way it did, was it something we did, what could we have done to prevent it, or was it just it’s time to go….vehicles you need them to get you from A to B and everywhere in between, you take pride in your vehicle, you wash it outside and in, you get attached to your vehicle and then you take it into the shop for a simple oil change and come out spending many more dollars than you expected.  And really you don’t know whether the technicians are telling you the truth, you don’t know if they are playing you or really being honest, you really have to go out on a limb and trust them, trust that they know what they are doing and that they really wouldn’t gouge you for everything you’ve got.  It’s a love hate relationship with vehicles.

So we found the vehicle we like; we bought the Toyota Sienna.  We bought from Sherwood Park Toyota and they have a wonderful play structure right inside the dealership, so the boys got to play all day!  We endlessly debated over the makes and models, what options were necessary, what were luxury and what we could spend within our budget.  We over-analysed the financing till we were blue in the face (and yes we had a spreadsheet).  We did our homework, we bartered to our best ability and we feel we got a good deal.  And we went with red!  And so my love hate relationship with vehicles starts all over again with this one.  I now have a renewed trust and expectation that this vehicle will last us longer than our truck…love it hate it there is no way around it (not with two kids, a dog, day home and work to go to 5 days a week).

Owen had mixed thoughts over this new vehicle.  He loves the truck, it’s all he’s known but then the new vehicle is so very cool.  The boys said good-bye to our truck and then hello to our new van.  Bye truck, it was fun while it lasted – you saw us through from just Sean and I, to our wedding, to the addition of our pup Kosmo and then a couple more additions to our family – Owen first, then Brandon.

Weddings and Adventure Bus’

So life has gotten in the way of keeping my posts up-to-date, slowly I am catching up.  Mid April Sean had his first wedding to shoot and I went along with him to help with carrying around the equipment, be a second shooter, give some tips and support.  It was a wonderful opportunity for both of us as this wedding was also my best friend’s wedding.  Sean and I worked very well as a team that day, which is pretty important seeing as we will be working together more often.  In looking through the photos we both captured, there are some great moments!  I think it’s safe to say Sean is now hooked (and I have to admit, so am I)!  Weddings are just such an exciting and emotional event, that to have the honour to be there to capture those moments is priceless.  Be sure to check out some of the photo’s from the wedding at Korsan Studios, blog.  Owen and Brandon got to spend the whole day with Aunty Claudette and Grandma K.  It sounded like everyone enjoyed the day; Owen peed in the potty for them, Brandon laughed and giggled, they napped, ate lots and lots at mealtimes and went to bed with little hassle.  Owen woke the next morning asking where Aunty went.  I think he was a little disappointed to not see Aunty when he woke. 

The next day was a busy day for us, we did the grocery run together as a family.  At Wal-Mart the boys ate at Tim’s while I got the groceries and then at Safeway the boys rode in the race car shopping cart while I took my own shopping cart to get the remainder of the groceries.  We got home, put the groceries away, changed into shorts and t shirts (the sun was out and the day was going to be hot — not usually the weather you expect for mid-April) and headed out for lunch.  In the afternoon we went to Nathan’s birthday party.  It was a Toy Story party and to make his third birthday extra special there was an Adventure Bus, the boys had so much fun!  They ran, hung from the monkey bars, jumped on the trampoline, climbed on the climbing wall and then took the zip line back to the start!  The coaches on the bus were really good with the kids and really good at adjusting each activity to fit the age group.  After the bus left we had cake and opened presents.  Opening presents was a little tough on Owen, he wanted to help and it took some explaining to get him to understand that this was Nathan’s birthday and Nathan’s gifts.  I think I convinced him when I said that after all the gifts were opened maybe Nathan would share some of his new toys with everyone.  Owen was pretty excited and got right in there, asking Nathan “What do you think it is?” ” Wow look at that!”  It was a long day and the boys were tired and hot and getting cranky on the ride home.

All through the week leading to the wedding and birthday party the weather had been exceptionally warm.  We had temperatures of +24!  We played outside every night — we went for a wagon ride one night, blew bubbles on the front step another night and then helped Dad rake the backyard the other couple of nights.  Getting Owen and Brandon to come inside to pee or have a bath was really really tough.  What do you mean I have to stop to pee?!  What do you mean it’s bath time and bedtime it’s sunny and bright outside!  Of course by Friday the weather turned back to our traditional spring weather — cool, windy and wet.  All in time for our day off!  Nathan and Carrie came over Friday morning for play time.  The boys played very well together, chasing and screaming and laughing with each other.  Brandon stayed close to me but laughed and squealed as the boys ran by him.

Bowling outside, is spring here?

At the beginning of April, the weather was improving slowly and it seemed that spring was finally here.  We ventured out onto the deck and pulled out the Mickey Mouse bowling set Owen received as a birthday gift last year from Uncle Derek, AuntyColette and Zoe.  We set it up on the deck and Owen and Brandon took turns and tried their best to knock down the pins.  Apparently our deck is a little sloped — just enough that the bowling ball rolls away from the pins.  Owen got a little frustrated but kept at it and was determined to knock those pins down.  Mom suggested that we could move the bowling pins over so that when we roll the ball, the ball would roll in the direction of the pins.  Boy was that a bad idea — whatever was Mommy thinking?!  Owen and Brandon played for quite some time, then gave up with the ball and started to knock the pins down with their legs, feet, butt, belly, really any part of their body that they could use to knock the pins down.  It was quite hilarious!  Of course we can’t forget about Kosmo.  Kosmo found a quiet spot on the deck and just laid out and enjoyed the fresh air.  Playing on the deck, the sound of children laughing and playing, watching the ducks landing in the water and the smell of the outdoors….I love springtime!

One Step Closer…

As all parents know, potty training is an ongoing process.  We’ve been working very diligently with Owen in regards to potty training and this week Owen has shown some definite progress.  He has pooped in the big potty a few times – such a wonderful less messy thing — and he has told us a few times when he needs to pee and runs to the potty.  It seems Owen does not like pooping in his pull-up (this is a wonderful milestone) and if we stay consistent, Owen will stay dry all day.  It’s a long process that is for sure and being consistent is hard work but it makes it all worth while when you see him make the connection!  Along with the progress in potty training Owen seems to have grown up so much more this week.  He put his socks on by himself (twisted but on), then his rubber boots (yes he still wears only rubber boots when going out) and then his jacket too!  Owen can reach the light switches and can open the patio door on his own.  This one we’ve talked extensively with Owen about — no opening the door without telling us, Brandon or Kosmo or even Owen could get outside and get hurt without Mommy or Daddy knowing.

Brandon’s potty training has slowed some, we aren’t as concerned about pressing the matter with him right now, he’s only 19 months old and has some time still.  We still talk about potty time and encourage Brandon to sit on the potty as much as possible.  Brandon will tell us when he is peeing or pooping quite often and we say run to the potty…and he does.  Brandon is going through a little phase right now where he gets very frustrated and upset when things do not go his way.  He reacts very differently than Owen did and so it’s a learning process for Sean and I are how best to deal with his reactions.  It’s a struggle to figure out the best way to help him work through his frustrations but through trial and error we are slowly helping him out.

Th weather this week has been very spring like and we’ve taken advantage of it.  We’ve spent a few evenings out on the deck enjoying the warm sun.  Some evenings on the drive-way, coloring with sidewalk chalk.  And now that the geese have landed on our pond out back, we’ve gone and sat on the rocks by the water to watch the geese, hear them talk and see them take off into the sky.  Warm sunny weather…my friend!