Alice is 8 Months Old

Our little Ally-Bally-Boo!

A Lovely Luncheon

Having friends in Tottenham is well, wonderful!  Michelle and Antoinette came over today and we had a potluck lunch.  It was so nice to visit and play.  The goal was to get a picture of "Annie" with all the girls, but little people and cameras don't always cooperate. 

We took some of Antoinette with Alice and Amelie.

 Then just Alice and Amelie.

 Then some of Annie, Kate and Marisol.

Uncle Matthew and PIGTAILS!

My sister's husband is in Toronto for business for a few days and we all got together at Mom and Dad's for dinner tonight.  Matthew had yet to meet Alice and we hadn't seen Matthew since Christmas so we were looking forward to a little visit. 

Before we left I asked Kate if she would let me do pigtails and by some miracle she obliged.  She let me brush her hair without fussing at all.  We did the first piggy without fuss but the second piggy... well, they sure don't look perfect but I'm excited.  I hope this wasn't a one time deal!

Matthew is a sweet husband, father, uncle and he's just an all around great guy.  It was a quick visit but a fun visit and both Alice and Kate had fun!

Richmond Green

I lifted this from the town of Richmond Hill's website: "Richmond Green, the largest park in Richmond Hill, was built to accommodate sports enthusiasts and park visitors from well beyond the Town’s borders. As the jewel of our park system “The Green” provides a variety of unique facilities not found anywhere else in the Town!"


My friend Ruth invited us over for lunch.  After lunch, or rather during lunch, she suggested we go to Richmond Green and feed the fish.  And so with bread in hand we went to the park.  The pond is deceiving, it doesn't look like there will be fish, but throw some bread on the water, wait a few moments and...

It was such a peaceful relaxing place to be, I love the water, even if it's a small pond.  We enjoyed chatting and the wildlife.

The visiting with Ruth and Ava was over far too quickly, as we had a late, longish lunch and Ruth had to be home for her kiddies.  Since the girls and I had nothing else to do and it was such a beautiful afternoon we stayed and we explored.  We threw rocks in a fountain, and then went to say hi to the waterfall.

From there we walked through the gardens to a little park area and the children's garden.  It was so fun, Kate and I went on a bug hunt.  There were a number of metal bug sculptures - mostly butterflies, and we walked around finding them.  She has been enjoying a library book called Bug Hunt so it was fun to act out.

Next we visited the splashpad.  It was off of course which I think made it more fun for Kate.

Alice enjoyed crawling around - more like scraping her belly on the ground, okay more like scraping her shirt... but she had fun!

Last we went back by the baseball diamonds and Kate had two parks all to herself.  She ran between the big kid park and the little kid park and played with the rocks.  Alice and I sat in the grass.  It was a lovely afternoon!

The TRAIN movie!

When sitting down to watch videos on Youtube, Kate often asks to watch a train video.  A little while ago Kate and I made a fun discovery...

To say that the newest IMAX production from the Stephen Low Company, Rocky Mountain Express is awesome, just doesn't say enough.  Both girls sat attention rapt for the duration of the movie.  I hadn't been to an IMAX film in a while, it was so awesome.  I just wanted to squeal the whole time - okay not totally but it was visually stunning and the story of the building of the railroad through the Canadian Rockies was done really well.  I was so looking forward to seeing the movie and I wasn't disappointed in the least. 

We saw the movie at the Science Centre - the 1pm show.  We thought Mom and Dad might meet us, but they didn't. After the movie we decided to head to the park, but so did everyone else in the city of Toronto.  We went to Bayview Village Park, and even though Ken had to park around the corner and poor over-tired Kate melted down before we left the park, we did have a lovely, lovely day!

I am so thankful for my family.  I love my Ken and I love my girls.  I am so thankful for my maternity leave.  I love my family so much.

  

Turkey Time McCartney Style

Did I mention Alice was cute?  I'm not sure I've ever mentioned that before?

So today started last night.  Ken put the turkey in the brine (more about that later) and then declared that he finished everything he wanted to finish for today... and I said, you're kidding right?  So we went to bed kind of late or early depending on how you look at it.  BUT, the kitchen is clean, the veggies partially done, and BEST of all, a certain ledge, the LEDGE OF DOOM has been conquered!!

This is the before picture.

TA DA!

So back to the brine.  I think I've mentioned before that Ken enjoys cooking.  The time and thought he puts in to cooking amazes me.  In doing research for the turkey he decided that he wanted to try a brine.  When he explained it to me I thought oh for pete's sake... this is ridiculous.  I didn't say don't, or no, but I certainly didn't encourage him.  To say that I should trust Ken more sounds bad, like I never trust him (my sweet husband of almost nine years) but well I'm a skeptic and sometimes I should just get over that!  (If you want to know how to brine a turkey - google it!)

I was going to take a picture of the AMAZING turkey, but I didn't.  I was going to take a picture of all the food, but I didn't.  I did take some people pictures, just not enough.  I intend to take AMAZING pictures at Christmas.  It's crazy the way an afternoon turns into an evening and before you know it, it's over!  We had a lovely Thanksgiving Dinner.  Thank you to Ken and everyone who helped... which is just about everyone!  

Hanging out

Cleaning up

It seems as though Alice really can sit up...

Photo-bomb!

Sweet Sarah cleaned up the basement; she was very proud!

Rachael and Alice, sadly this was the best photo I took.

Braden and Caitlin are so cute with their cousins.

Photo bomb?

 Meagan and Jose playing darts

 Cutie Rachael enjoying the yummy brownies

We had a really lovely Thanksgiving.  It worked out beautifully, thanks in part to the gorgeous weather which facilitated the outside kiddie table.  And yes Lisa, I think we will have to make this a yearly tradition... maybe! (Insert smiley face)

Being Thankful for Forty Years (one day early)

Alice is cute, but that is neither here nor there!

To say that Mom and Dad have had a tough year is like saying Three-Alarm Chili is warm. Tomorrow is the 40th Anniversary of Mom and Dad saying I do. Andrew had the day off today so we had our Bacon family Thanksgiving Dinner/Anniversary Party one day early. Before we had dinner, Ken, the girls and I met Mom and Dad in Newmarket at Fairy Lake. It was a beautiful day and Kate enjoyed playing at the park, Mom, Dad and I sat in the shade while Alice tried to eat leaves, sticks and grass, and Ken enjoyed chasing after Kate.  

We talked about having a turkey, but Andrew and Dad wanted roast beef so Mom obliged. That's right, Mom made her own anniversary dinner...  I must say before I forget, the roast potatoes were particularly amazing.  You haven't had roast potatoes until you've had my Mom's roast potatoes.  

Andrew enjoyed playing with his nieces. 

Best picture of the evening... did I mention my Dad is pretty funny?

Mom tried to suggest that she didn't care for dessert and protested at the suggestion of cheesecake and only wanted a tiny small little bit. Ken made a "small" pumpkin cheesecake - yum. Mom and Dad both had a piece and then split another one and then we left the last two pieces for them...  not that I was surprised by this!

After cheesecake I asked to take a picture of Mom and Dad.

They are cuties.

The best part of the evening was yet to come. Dad has been taking steps.  It was the most amazing/scary/wonderful thing I've ever seen. He pulled himself to standing and then walked across the room. He has such tenacity. I'm glad he's such a fighter.  

We (Suzanne, Jon, Andrew and I) made a book for Mom and Dad and got them flowers - that were supposed to be red in honour of their ruby wedding.  Mom and Dad loved their gifts. We their children are so thankful for their unique relationship and for all the beautiful things they have taught us (and some other memorable things too!). Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!