The Birthday Questions - Kate – Age 8

1. What is your favourite color?

                                    Yellow

2. What is your favourite toy?

                                    Animal Jam Princess Castle Den

3. What is your favourite fruit?               

                                    The only fruit I like, apples.

4. What is your favourite tv show?

                                    Teen Titans Go

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

                                    If I could, pancakes

 6. What is your favourite outfit?

                                    My wondrous and wild shirt and my purple pants

7. What is your favourite game?

                                    Animal Jam (an online National Geographic game)

8. What is your favourite snack?

                                    Lucky Charms Cereal                    

9. What is your favourite animal?

                                    A falcon

10. What is your favourite song?

                                    Regular: Bad Blood, Primary: If You Listen With Your Heart

11. What is your favourite book?

                                    The Book With No Pictures

12. Who is your best friend?

                                    Tailynn

13. What is your favourite cereal?

                                    Lucky Charms

14. What is your favourite thing to do outside?

                                    Go on the swings

15. What is your favourite drink?

                                    Rootbeer

16. What is your favourite holiday?

                                    My Birthday!

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

                                    Sarah Bunny

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

                                    Pancakes

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

                                    Cheesy potatoes, pork chops and broccoli

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

                                    A journalist – you know, a reporter on the TV

Zooland

Meeting up with friends at an indoor play place, perfect day right?

I feel like it should have been perfect, but it had it's ups and downs. The girls did have fun - mostly. Alice and Amelie had "fun" figuring out how to be nice to each other - as they often do, but they figured it out. Michelle and I had a lovely time chatting, and the kids really played without us like 90% of the time. But then Kate got angry right before we left - she had been perfectly happy the rest of the time. And then she stayed angry and the ride home was kind of brutal. The girls were brutal in the grocery store, well Kate came around, Fiona was fine, but Alice had a fit. It was just yuck. Some days I can't remember the good because it just all feels like yuck. But there was lots of good? I just need to cling to the happy moments and not be so torn down by the yucky ones.

New Year's Niagara Adventure

Ken's at his computer, I'm at my computer and all of a sudden a kind of dare turned into an overnight trip to Niagara Falls. I made a reservation (for the wrong day... oops, got that straightened out), packed up a bag, threw the kids in the van and off we went.

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel on Fallsview. They had valet parking because the lot in front of the hotel was full. We weren't exactly sure where we wanted to walk, but after we bid farewell to the van we decided that we would make the best of it! Half the reason we went was to see the lights on the falls, but once we got into the hotel room the girls didn't want to leave! (The polar bear in the lobby was fun.)

After jumping on the beds for a goodly amount of time we convinced the girls that going for a walk was indeed a good idea. It wasn't too cold which was nice - just above freezing. The girls were oo-ing and ah-ing at the fountains in front of the casino. It was cute.

We walked the rest of the way down to the falls, and the girls were excited to see the falls with the lights. The American Falls were pretty cool lit up red white and blue - I didn't get a picture. But I did manage to get two fairly decent pics of the Canadian Falls.

There were also a few kms of lights up for Christmas still that we walked along. By this point the girls were pretty much done with walking, but we pushed them on and we made it to Clifton Hill where we got a cab back to the hotel.

Sleeping in one room is a challenge now that we have noise sensitive sleepers and snorers. There were tears but eventually Kate did fall asleep and was chipper and happy in the morning.

We had room service in the morning and it was perfect. Alice remarked that this was much better than eating in the dining room because it was often very crowded! After breakfast we had a quick swim. The girls loved the pool because they could walk everywhere. The deepest section was still only 3' 10". The girls love swimming, and Kate has really figured it out. We just need to practice and build some more stamina.

After the swim we got ready and said goodbye to the hotel. Oh and we discovered that we did have a "falls" view after all!

Ken suggested that we should make good on the desire to go see the Butterfly Conservatory and so we did. The grounds look like they'd be really beautiful in bloom, and I'm excited to perhaps go back in the summer and walk around them.

Once inside we looked at some displays, then watched a short movie, and then we were in butterfly magic land. There were so many butterflies. We happened to be walking past the area where they store the chrysalides when it was going to be opened up for a release. We stayed and watched and Kate and Alice got to hold a monarch. The girls were so gentle and not skittish, they were so sweet.

Fiona didn't mind them, but she sure didn't want any butterflies touching her!

Who knew the biggest show was yet to come! We followed the pathways around, and they take you slightly higher and up along side water features. I came around a corner and there was Kate and a butterfly putting on a show, which then turned into several shots of most of the family! The butterflies were so cool!

We had to walk through the gift shop on our way out which sadly resulted in a melt down from one child. I will not out the child, but why oh why must they do this. It's so gross and so ungrateful to have a fit because "you never get me anything". AH!

We hopped in the car and decided to pay a visit to Laura, Joaquin and Will. We picked up a gourmet lunch at McDonald's and popped in to visit. We chatted and hung out for a bit. I should have gotten a picture of Laura covered in little girls, but sadly I didn't think to take a picture. Instead I took a few of Kate and Dexter.

We had a really fun little mini trip. I'm so glad that Ken pushed to make it happen. Memories, that's what we made, really fun family memories! Here's to making lots more in 2017!

New Year's Eve

I felt a little bit miserable this morning. I've been sick this week and sleeping in makes going to bed at a reasonable time difficult, so when it was time to get up this morning, I didn't want to. But I did get up and today that was reason to be proud of myself! Silly, but it was!

Tonight the girls are playing games with their Dad. I watched some Netflix. Kate and Alice are determined to stay up until midnight. We'll see who makes it! I love my crazy family. It's been a long week, but it ends with smiles.

We cleaned up a bit, though you couldn't tell now. We went out with the girls to the zoo. It was fun. I hadn't been since August - just after we moved. It's silly, now that we live 15 minutes away we've hardly gone. It was 3 degrees Celsius, so it was a great day to go. We walked around for two hours and everyone smiled almost the whole time!

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home, and Pizza Pino's our new favourite Ajax pizza place and it's been a quiet night at home.

It's been a busy year with so many changes, and I feel like I barely blogged at all. I finally stopped doing catch up from 2015 this fall. It might take me a while to catch up 2016... Each year does get better and better and busier and busier. I love my sweet Ken and our three beautiful, crazy girls. I am so thankful for my life. I'm not sure what curve balls 2017 will bring, but I'm so thankful for the family I have to face it with!