More Play Time

More play time at the Korsan home. As I have mentioned before, Owen and Brandon have such imaginations (as all little boys and girls do) and one such evening they chose to play Superhero’s.  Owen donning his cape and construction worker outfit and Brandon donning the cape, mask and a few other accessories, they searched high and low for bad guys, swords and went on adventures together.

Owen discarded the construction outfit for his scary mask and axe that he uses to catch bad guys with — the bad guys being Green Goblin, Evil Doctor Slime and Mommy.

Brandon lost the cape and added his conductor hat, oven mitt and hoodie to be a good guy with Owen — the good guys being Spider-man, Superman and Daddy.

It is so great to watch them play together and to hear their conversations to each other — at times they see Sean and I watching them and they lean in close and whisper to each other! If you are having a bad day, this always puts a smile on your face.

Happy Birthday Mommy

Happy Birthday Mommy.

Owen and Brandon were just as excited for me for my birthday. They helped to open my cards and enjoyed my birthday cakes – yes plural – with me. The Saturday before my birthday, we had a bbq’d chicken dinner with corn on the cob, potatoes and caesar salad. The weather was outstanding – hot and sunny – so we were able to enjoy dinner on the deck. When it came time for cake, Owen and Brandon waited patiently while everyone else sang Happy Birthday and then dug in….into…my carrot cake. Yes it you know me, you know I am a pretty picky eater, but maybe as I age I am acquiring my sense of adventure with food. My wonderful hubby found a de-lish carrot cake!

On my actual birthday, again the weather worked out wonderfully and we ate hot dogs and had Dairy Queen ice cream cake for dessert. As you can see, Owen patiently waited for cake time.

Owen and Brandon then sat with me, while everyone sang Happy Birthday (they chose to giggle and watch everyone sing).

Oh, and not to forget the kindness of our neighbours, the girls spent all day slaving over the oven to bake me some tropical cupcakes, delivered to my door. We are so lucky to have such wonderful neighbours!

It was another wonderful birthday spent with what’s most important to me….my family.

Oh Canada!

Happy Birthday Canada!

I think it’s official, I think our trip to the legislative grounds each Canada Day is now a tradition.  Yes there are people everywhere, yes you are weaving through crowds with a chariot but there is so much to do and experience, that how could we miss it!

Of course the first thing to do is get Owen and Brandon into their swim suits so they can splash, balance on the stepping stones and check out the different depths of water without worry (more Mom’s worry) of getting their clothes all wet!

So as to not to feel left out, Brandon grabbed Aunty Claudette’s hand to lead her through the water.

Boys, brothers, checking something out….

After some water play, it was time to change back into their clothes and discover some more things going on. Uncle Phil was a big help, getting Brandon changed and ready, all while Brandon had his red balloon tied to his wrist.

There was the 21 gun salute – this was very very loud, we made it pretty close, we saw the smoke. After that we found an ice cream man, how better to celebrate Canada Day then with a popsicle in hand?!

After a morning of fun, we headed home for a much needed nap. Happy Canada Day! We’ll see ya next year!

And everything in between

And I have a bunch of great pictures that happened in between everything else and they are so great, I can’t just keep them to myself.

One evening, Owen grabbed a hold of Daddy’s keys; Owen’s comment was Now I get to sit in Daddy’s seat in the van!  Oh Owen, Mommy doesn’t want to think about that time yet….let’s keep you my little boy still.

Ever since the boys came around, poor Kosmo has been so patient, always waiting, waiting with his ring close by, waiting for that opportunity that someone, anyone, will pick it up and throw it – maybe even more than once!

Anytime is story time, especially when Grandma or Aunty are around. Oh yeah, that is right, Owen has glasses now. How grown up he looks and so far he’s been very accepting of them, wearing them most of the time without complaint. I have to refrain from complimenting him too much about the glasses. ha ha

Daddy and his grandma taking a self portrait, as no one else can do it better.

Giggle time with Aunty Claduette.

Shall I be a doctor today – Brandon LOVES dress up and pretend.

How does your garden grow?

I think I have mentioned this in past posts, but this year I planted a vegetable garden with the basics – carrots, peas, green onions, lettuce and a few extras – green peppers, broccoli and sunflowers. It’s nearing the end of June and I am quite pleased with my garden.  There are plants growing and some have food growing on them as well – if I sound surprised it’s because I just didn’t know how well it would turn out.  I will admit I didn’t do anything extra special with the soil, I probably planted most of the seeds too close and I occasionally would forget to water but despite that, those seeds turned into plants and healthy looking ones — comparable to the farmer market?  I’d like to think so!

My peas growing up and up.

Do ya see that!? That’s right, an itty bitty green pepper – tastes great!

Now I’ve been figuring out flowers for a few more years than veggies and i think i might have figured it out this year, finally. Marigolds and Osteospermum are a must, beautiful colors and the marigolds are suppose to help keep the bugs down by their smell (and they really do smell…bad).

And my favorites, Calla Lilies.

Is it because I am a mom or because I am getting older that I quite enjoy this gardening thing…ahhh who cares, it’s fun that is all that matters!

Mom and Dad Time

We have a number of people who are so good to us, who give us opportunities to get out on our own without the kids tagging along. Those breaks are especially appreciated by Sean and I. In June we had one such evening and as it was such a wonderful sunny evening, we took the camera and headed to the Provincial Museum. The museum offers great backdrops for photo’s and what better way to incorporate some soft and hard elements. We had fun, Sean would set up the shoot, either set his auto timer or use his remote and would get into position with me, lots of bloopers but more importantly lots of laughter.

Thanks again to everyone!

Jurassic Forest

Jurassic Forest, a relatively new dinosaurs park for Alberta, opened last summer and this year we decided it would be a cool park to check out.  It’s a bit of a drive, near Gibbons but not too far for a day trip.  The weekend we went, Aunty Colette, Zoe and Isaac, Grandma and Grandpa H and our friends Russ and Nathan were all joining us to check out the dinosaurs park.

There were two paths to take, each wooden path wound though the forest with dinosaurs in amongst the trees. The dinosaurs would roar and move as you came closer to them; the first couple made all the kids a little uneasy.

But in no time the kids were running ahead to search out the next dinosaurs.

Nathan and Brandon stopping for a picture.

My those dinosaurs are quite big, hey Zoe?

A quick break to check out the dinosaurs.

By the second path, everyone’s legs were getting a little tired. It’s hard to keep up with the dinosaurs. Daddy and Russ took turns hoisting the kids on to their shoulders.

And Isaac had the coolest ride of them all…with Mommy.

By this time it was lunch time, we brought our own lunch and there were many picnic tables to use. After lunch, we all shared in a special ice cream treat; anytime is a good time for ice cream!

See ya later, dinosaurs, maybe next year!

The Ice Cream Man!

That faint song in the air…it’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all…you know what that means when you hear that tune – well it must be the ice cream man!  It was another warm day in June and Owen and Brandon were helping me move rocks from our pile on the driveway to the space beside the garage and all of a sudden Owen and Brandon stopped and cupped their ear and said, Mommy do you hear that?  I hear music.  I explained the ice cream man and what goodness he brought down the streets on hot sunny days and how you needed to stand on the sidewalk and flag him down.  Well it was our lucky day, he turned down our block, I ran inside and lucky again I had cash on me.  The ice cream man stopped at the bottom of our driveway and Owen and Brandon had their first experience with the ice cream man — picking a Popsicle picture from the side of the cart.  The old fashioned rocket, slightly different shape, but same cool colors.

We sat on the driveway and enjoyed our cool treats.

And Mommy even got a couple licks from Owen and Brandon — in the sharing mood that evening.

But once the cool treat was done, it was back to work for us.

BBQ at Emily Murphy Park

It was that time of year again, a beautiful Friday afternoon in June and how better to spend it than at Emily Murphy Park for hot dogs, chips and watermelon followed up with some time on the swings and pictures with Mommy. Owen waited patiently for his lunch to arrive – funny faces is a good way to pass the time.

Then it was off to the playground for some digging in the sand and swings.

Owen and Brandon are learning how to pump their legs to help keep them swinging and this year they would holler back to me “I want to go higher!”.

Then with all the green grass and big trees around, it was a perfect setting for taking a few pictures with Mommy; as you can tell Owen and Brandon are super enthused at this point. ha ha I couldn’t have asked for anything better than my two wonderful boys!

Trip to the Playground

There were a few days in June where the weather was sunny and the mosquito’s had not yet gotten bothersome.  That evening Aunty Claudette was over and Owen and Brandon wanted to show off their bike riding skills and ride to the playground.  Aunty and Dad were all for it and headed out.

Owen was out in front, showing everyone the way to the playground and showing how fast he could pedal but also how to use his brakes.

Brandon came along after with Aunty by his side. Brandon is still working those leg muscles to be able to pedal as fast as his older brother, so sometimes (most times) he needs a little push, a little guidance to keep up.

Once at the playground Owen and Brandon checked out the double slides; they were great for having races.

Then Brandon was off to do some climbing; he climbs very well but it still puts butterflies in my stomach to watch.

Owen stuck to the slides this day and did his crazy face while going down the slide.

And then it was time to head home, again, Owen lead the way.