Alice Day!

What a day!

Last night I fell asleep putting the baby down so when Alice woke up at 7 a.m. I seized upon an older-sister-less moment and gave her the presents from me and Ken.  She was very happy to get the little Rapunzel figurines, but she was over the moon with her Jake t-shirt! 

We had breakfast and then got ready for our outing to the AQUARIUM! I had to take her picture in the rocking chair before we went though.

The Aquarium, named Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, located at the base of the CN Tower in Toronto, opened in October of last year.  We saw it under construction (from the outside of course) a few times and were very excited about it opening and actually getting to go.  My Dad's sister Liz was actually instrumental in convincing some of the business community members to build an aquarium in Toronto, and she was honoured because of this at the ribbon cutting ceremony, and presented with a lifetime membership. When we had Kate's birthday dinner at Mom and Dad's we told Andrew and Rayna that we were planning on going to the Aquarium for Ken's birthday.  They asked us to wait so we could all go together, so we did, and I'm glad we did!

The entry way was airy and open, glass everywhere. The girls had fun playing in a lifesize piece of coral and looking at the Koi ponds while we waited for Andrew and Rayna.  When you walk through into the aquarium you can see murals on the walls that make it look like you're outside by the ocean.  (It wasn't until we exited that you could really see them.)  The middle of the aquarium - the children's play area opens up to the second floor, so from the entrance way you could look down on it.  The first section was dedicated to the Great Lakes and the ecosystems native to this area, and Canada.  So of course this means, the ugly fish.  Tropical fish are pretty, cold water fish, not so much!  (Oh and I liked that on the big screens they were playing the Canada/US hockey semi-final game from the Olympics.)

The tanks were all (well mostly all) floor to ceiling, which is of course perfect for kids. The "kelp" tank was awesome.  None of us were sure how they simulated the ocean waves, but it was so tranquil watching the swaying kelp.  This was part of the rainbow reef.  The next tank had divers hanging out cleaning things.  It was funny watching people discover the divers floating around them.

Next was the dangerous lagoon.  This was the best part of the entire aquarium. You travel along a moving sidewalk through a cavern/tunnel underneath a gigantic fish tank.  There are sharks swimming over your head around every turn.  There is also the option to walk along the carpet and take as long as you like, but standing on the moving sidewalk allows you to stand and just take it all in without fear of banging into people.  It was truly amazing.  I don't think the photos that I took could really capture the experience.

At the end of the lagoon you come out to the discovery centre.  Kate climbed through a tunnel, Alice did too with Rayna's help and encouragement.  There were slides, water tables, and a whole area to touch horseshoe crabs.  Kate was scared at first but did it!  The girls played for a while.  We thought we'd reached the end... but no, it was not the end.

There was a little sign that said "the aquarium continues this way".  I wondered, there couldn't be much more, but there was! There were more fish, weird fish, then sharks, then ray bay with all the sting rays and manta rays, and then the jellies... so many fish!  I nursed Fiona by ray bay while everyone else went through to the end, past the water tanks/pumps/filters and up to the top of ray bay.  The whole thing really was incredible. We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Aquarium!

Thank you Andrew and Rayna for such a fun outing to the Aquarium!!

But the fun didn't end there!  We left the Aquarium and drove to Mom and Dad's (aka Grandma and Grandpa).  Andrew and Rayna hopped on the subway (they had to pick up Andrew's van and the Thailand gifts) and met us at Mom and Dad's.  Alice fell asleep on the way there, so did Fiona, and then Ken went to sleep when we got there.

Kate, Mom, Dad and I started eating dinner without them... we didn't even wait for Andrew and Rayna... We had Swiss Chalet and Mom also made these "Mashed Potato Puffs" which were divine.  Alice eventually woke up, was given presents (a Rapunzel dress and a Merida doll) and we had cake (a strawberry ice cream cake).  It was a lovely end to a lovely day!

Oh and one final note about Alice's birthday... I'm not entirely sure that Alice understands what a birthday is yet.  Every time I said "happy birthday", she said it right back to me.  Or maybe she gets it more than I think, and she knows that her birth day was kind of a big deal for me too!  I love my Alice so much!  Happy Birthday Alice!

(Thailand notes: Rayna went to Thailand in January.  She was there during the shut down Bangkok Protests.  The protests were non-violent in the beginning.  They are now escalating and no one can be sure what will happen.  Rayna got everyone lovely gifts.  She bought awesome t-shirts for Dad - one of which I took a picture of.  She bought musical croaking frogs for the girls, a pashmina for Mom, and for Ken and I, spices.  We are looking forward to making some Thai soup!  YUM!  And one further note, the spices she bought us are labelled... it took me a while to figure out what the "paper" spice was, until I noticed the peppercorns labelled as "black paper". Thank you RAYNA!!)

Alice is three - The Birthday Questions

Alice's debut with the birthday questions!

1. What is your favourite color?

            Black (Um what? You've never said that before?!)

2. What is your favourite toy?

            Black toy, my black toy named Spencer. (Again, what?!)

3. What is your favourite fruit?

            Strawberries and blueberries. (True! She calls blueberries, blueblerries)

4. What is your favourite tv show?

            Avatar: The Last Airbender (Her latest obsession on netflix)

5. What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch?

            Chicken noodle soup

 6. What is your favourite outfit?

            Jake and the Neverland Pirates outfit (We bought her a Jake shirt for her birthday)

7. What is your favourite game?

            Despicable me (She likes to play Minion Run on my phone) (Upon completion of the questions she told me that her favourite game is hide and seek - which makes more sense.)

8. What is your favourite snack?

            Black snack (Seriously bizarre child, what is with the black obsession?!)

9. What is your favourite animal?

            Sheep

10. What is your favourite song?

            Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

11. What is your favourite book?

            Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (This is a book of nursery rhymes that we have.)

12. Who is your best friend?

            Kate (Aw.  Make me cry!)

13. What is your favourite cereal?

            Corn bran squares

14. What is your favourite thing to do outside?

            Throw out the snow (Not sure what this means? I think she means shovelling the driveway.)

15. What is your favourite drink?

            Apple juice

16. What is your favourite holiday?

            Friday (Then I asked her if she knew what a holiday was, which she didn't.  After explaining holidays she said Christmas!)

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

            A stuffy (our name for stuffed animals)

18. What is your favourite thing to eat for breakfast?

            Eggs and toast

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?

            Pancakes (We will have this at her party tomorrow.)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?

            I don't know.  (Then I gave her some options and she said she wants to work with computers like Daddy and Mommy too.)

Family Day Fun!

What happens when you send Dad to make the bed and the girls are playing upstairs?!

I'm still a little sad that I didn't get any pictures of the fun pancake breakfast and the tobogganing that took place this morning, but this makes up for it a little bit!  I love my family and I love FAMILY DAY!!!

The Day of Love

After yesterday's post I felt so ungrateful.  No, I don't like you know what, but I'm so grateful, so grateful for my little people and my guy.  So today, I remember to be grateful for love.  For the love that fills my house, for the hugs and kisses, for the cuddles, for laughter.  I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for Ken, and for trusting me with three sweet spirits to raise.  I love my little family.  I am grateful for their love today and everyday. 

Happy Love Day!!

All things POOP!

Being a mother of young children means that my days are filled with lots of poop.  Literal poop.  More poop then I want really.  I mean honestly, who likes poop?  Yes, I have already said poop far too much, I get that, but I'm illustrating a point here!

In the month of January I finally decided that I was ready for Alice to be toilet trained.  She's been ready for a while, but I haven't been.  Toilet training is a lot of work.  Way more work than diapers.  Alice has by now, figured out how to pee in the potty and in the toilet.  She's quite independent about it too.  She can even wash her hands by herself.

The sad thing is the poop.  She used to go to her hallway to poop.  She actually calls the hallway by the side door of our house "the place I go poop".  There she stands, hidden by the pantry shelf and poops.  She's been doing this for months now.

She has pooped in the toilet and in the potty, but not yet consistently.  As of today it had been four days and for Alice, that's a long time.  So today when I was on the phone with my sister and Alice disappeared, it didn't surprise me that she'd gone off to poop.  It made me a little sad that it was in her underwear... but I'm just glad she pooped.  Kate had very similar issues.

What is it with poop?  Why is it so hard to poop in a toilet for my little people?  I must say though, if Fiona continues her present course, I think she'll have the easiest time.  She loves to poop sitting down.  She poops in the bumbo, and when she's just sitting on the floor.  And while graphic, I just want to document, the force with which she poops is quite amazing.  So amazing in fact that the poop just shoots right up her back and out of her diaper, pretty much every single time.  I know it's time to launder her clothes when the pile of tide soaked onesies is getting too high on the washing machine.

And no, there is not a picture to accompany this post.  But I should take a picture of Alice on her beloved froggy potty.  It's pretty cute!  And that would be the only thing cute about this post.

(Oh and don't even ask me how much Kate and Alice love saying poop, or that Kate still likes help when she poops... UGH!)

Playing in the Snow

It has been a very cold, very snowy winter.  I have not encouraged the girls to play outside at all.  After school Kate wants to go home and go inside.  I think that before today she's asked to play outside maybe once.  Today I actually had Fiona in a snow suit and not in her bundle bag in her car seat.  So when Kate asked to play outside I thought sure, why not.  I use the baby as an excuse to not play outside with the girls.  And while it is difficult to play outside in the snow with a baby it can be done.  I've been a real wimp this winter.  Next year Fiona will be walking.  I plan on being the opposite of a wimp next winter. 

I suppose I'm not a total wimp though.  I walk to pick up Kate and I push the girls in a stroller through the badly plowed street and slightly better plowed sidewalk.  I take it back.  I'm not a wimp!  I'm awesome! 

Fiona is 8 Months Old

This past month Fiona learned to...

Crawl Forwards - not cross crawl mind you, she's doing an army/inchworm shuffle and as of this morning, it's getting pretty fast!
Sit Up - she still falls here and there, but she can sit up for long periods of time
Eat More - (kind of...) I let her try almost everything, she really wants to feed herself and if she can feed herself, I let her
Babbling - she continues to babble lots - b, n, l are the consonant sounds I hear

I am so grateful to be home with my sweet baby, babies really!  My heart breaks for Mommies that want to be home and can't be home.  Being home with my girls is my happy place.

Here are a few more photos of this past month. These photos are all from January.

Cookie Time

Ken and Alice went grocery shopping.  One of the purchases was a container of cookies... then I'm not exactly sure what happened.  I was doing something, Ken was doing something.  I gave the girls one cookie each and left them at the table.  At some point I thought I should go check what was what, I think I heard the water running... this is what I found.

The sink was overflowing - but thankfully into the next sink, not on the floor. The purple fork is floating in the water.

Sadly I didn't get a picture of the other guilty party!