Happy Birthday Andrew

We had dinner at Mom and Dad's on Andrew's 31st birthday.  Andrew brought his girlfriend Rayna.  We met her for the first time in the summer when we went to Centre Island.  She was really awesome with the kids in the summer and cute with the girls tonight.  Mom made roast beef and roast potatoes for Andrew and Ken made a lentil soup for Rayna, dinner was YUM!

After dinner but before cake, Kate made a special announcement.  We'd been practising for a few days.  Her announcement was this "Excuse me everybody, I have an announcement.  In June, I'm going to have a new baby sister or a brother."  It was really cute and she said it perfectly.  Even more fun were the reactions. Andrew, Rayna and of course Mom and Dad were all VERY surprised.  It was great!

Kate and Alice love playing with their Uncle Andrew.  All in all it was a very fun night.

And so it begins...

Since we're planning to go to Connecticut for Christmas we thought we may as well get an early start to enjoying our tree!!  Ken picked it up last night and today was decorating fun. 

Sad Santa

Santa wasn't sad, but Alice sure was. 

Alice is 21 Months

I checked my email at school (I LOVE Wednesdays - three periods of prep!) and Baby Centre reminded me that as of today I had a 21-month-old!  She is so fun.  We love our Alice so much.  She`s getting more and more language everyday.  Her big thing these days is little three word sentences.  "Where Kate go?"  "Where Daddy go?" 

Sometimes the threat of the terrible twos is far too real, but other times she's just sweet lovable Alice!

`

The ZOO!

November 5th I woke up with a sore throat, Friday the 9th I lost my voice completely (first time ever).  Two sick days later, everyone in the family has been sick but we're now almost all better.  What better way to celebrate two weeks of living in a sick house?  Why go to the zoo of course!  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  We met our friends Emily and John Inca and their cute kids Holden and Lauren.  We had so much fun.  It had been far too long since our last visit.

Ken took the girls on the carousel.

We visited the fish.

  The kids accosted the Orangutan.

(They thought picking his nose was hilarious!)

How cute are these kids?!

I love how the kids are entertained by the simplest things.  They thought running back and forth on the mat in front of the door was awesome.

Every time I go I think, is this the last time we'll see the elephants?  So of course each time I take pictures of the elephants.

This was another one of those kids being entertained by simple things... the elephant sign was an awesome play toy.

Sisters!

  Thank you Anderson family for a fun day at the zoo!

The Royal Winter Fair

The last time we went was three years ago, Kate wasn't even one and Alice, there was no Alice!  We had a fun day with the girls.  My only complaint was not seeing the dog show, but shh don't tell Kate, she forgot about it!  The line up to get in was nuts and very poorly organized.  Ken shared his frustrations with the people at the information booth and hopefully they did something about it. 

Our first stop once we made it inside was the demonstration ring.  Which watched the Canadian Cowgirls do some dancing.  They were great.  They did a dance routine on horseback which was very fun to watch. 

Next was a visit to the horse riding simulator - the best substitute for pony rides available. 

Then it was time for lunch, hence why we missed the dog show... oh well!  After lunch we milked a cow, learned about all of the produce grown and produced in Ontario and we visited the petting farm!!

Next we looked at animals, animals and MORE ANIMALS.  It is amazing to me how big the winter fair is.  There are just so many animals.  I didn't take very many pictures, but the cuddling goats and the llama standing at attention were just too cute to resist. (We like llamas especially because of "Llama Llama Red Pyjama".  Thank you to Auntie Suzanne for introducing him to us!)

Next we went to watch some horses and riders warming up in the horse palace. 

 I'd never seen someone riding and texting before.

 Then Kate wanted to ride the horse again. 

 And so did Alice.

 She was SO happy!

And then we were done.  Ice cream and cotton candy in hand we made our way to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  It was a nice visit and a nice end to a FUN DAY!!