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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Victoria Day Weekend, 2011

On Victoria Day, we took the kids to Alexander Park for a picnic lunch and some playtime.

Daddy served up the pizza and bread sticks for lunch, while Ryan began to explore the great outdoors.



After we ate, I took Ryan to the baby swings. He stayed in them for a long time, and seemed to enjoy the motion.

Andrea wanted to go way up high, and she was doing most of the work herself!

There was a big, grassy hill above the swings. Kevin went to explore and survey the area.

Andrea quickly discovered that this hill was great for rolling down. She showed Kevin how to do it.


Ryan looks like he's saying, "Seriously, Mum?  I'm not an infant anymore. You can make it go higher!" (I was pushing it gently, and intermittently, because I was trying to take pictures and watch his brother and sister, too. )

Andrea also had fun going down the twisty slide . . . weeeeeeeeeeee!


Ryan was very excited when I first put him down in the grass. He was waving his arms and legs all over the place!


But he did notice that it tickled his feet a lot!

Kevin decided it was fun to slide down the hill on his bum. Thank goodness he was wearing green today, to hide the grass stains! 



Ryan decided it was time for a beverage break.  He relaxed with a bottle under a shady tree, reclining on Mommy.

Kevin lay on his back, watching the clouds float by. He needed a break after running away from Mommy and Daddy, all over the park, as fast as his little legs could go. 



We needed a break from chasing Kevin!  Daddy went off to lounge in the grass and get a little peace.


Andrea helped me plant some flowers after we got home.  It's the first time we've really tried potting and planting in our yard.  Mommy's got a brown thumb, but both Kevin and Andrea have shown an interest in gardening.




Within ten minutes, a severe thunderstorm literally came out of nowhere!  Luckily, we managed to get the kids, tools, and unpotted plants under cover.  The newly potted plants got a bit beat up by the storm, but they bounced back to health.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Springtime Fun

Nice weather is finally here! With the appearance of some springtime sunshine, it's time to start sending the kids for some outdoor fun!

Andrea loves the camera. "Mommy, take a picture of just ME!" she demanded.
Andrea was explaining the proper technique for blowing dandelion fluff, to Kevin.

Don't inhale, Buddy! Actually, the wind was blowing the dandelion fluff back into his face.


***

It's still a bit chilly and cloudy some days, so we have to make our fun indoors.
One of Andrea's favourite new games is "Rock Band." She likes to dress up, and have everyone play an instrument.  It worked out well that she recently won this cool guitar at a local carnival.
 


Kevin is my "Linus." 

Friday, April 29, 2011

Ballerina and Princess Andrea

Andrea loved ballet so much that we put her in a second session of lessons.  Grama Marty also sent Andrea a lovely new ballet dress from Montana. Andrea wanted to pose in it, and do some ballet moves for the camera.




***
In honour of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, Andrea's SK teacher sent home a note asking the children to dress up as princesses and princes today.  Naturally, Andrea was in her glory.  She was so excited to see a real wedding between a modern-day prince and his princess! She was also pleased she was allowed to dress up like a princess for school.


Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter Weekend 2011

Our Easter Weekend, as usual, was full of activity. The fun started on Thursday night. Andrea and Ryan had a ton of fun in the bathtub together. He just loves her, and she thinks he's the cutest thing. They are so good together.

Ryan was full of smiles after having such a good time in the bath.


On Good Friday, we went over to Gram and Papa Gagnon's for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Gram made this cute bunny cake for the kids.

Originally, Kevin wasn't in the mood for an Easter egg hunt. He stayed upstairs and pouted, until he heard everyone else downstairs, having fun. Then, he decided to join us, and voila--smiles! Candy is a great motivator.




Ryan was due for a nap at the time of the Egg hunt, so he chose to cuddle on Papa instead of participating.

Andrea was very excited with what she found! The kids opened all the eggs they found, and shared the loot equally.





Ryan slept through the whole thing! Even the kids screaming with excitement couldn't wake him up. He was too exhausted, but quite comfortable on Papa.

Kevin and the girls invented a game where he rolled the empty plastic eggs down the stairs, and Andrea and Izzy tried to catch them.

Ryan, refreshed after his nap, was enjoying the view from Gram and Papa's sliding doors. They were decorated with Easter stickers, and also look out at the birds visiting the bird feeder in the backyard.

Andrea drew this picture of her and Kevin hunting Easter eggs with Gram and Papa. She also tried to make the Easter Bunny's face in the picture. Nice work!

On Saturday, we coloured our Easter eggs at home. They came with a cute pop-up village to decorate the table, too.

Andrea's being silly for the camera!

Kevin was being silly, too . . .

. . . showing off his bum to the camera!

Ryan is wearing his bunny ears they made at daycare. This is my sweet baby bunny!

Easter Sunday, early morning: the Easter Bunny came!

He even left a personalized message for the kids, using chocolate eggs, on the living room floor.

As per tradition, the Easter Bunny left a trail of chocolate eggs from the kids' beds to their bedroom doors. Follow that trail to more goodies!




Yummy! Chocolate eggs!

Chocolaty giggles!

Andrea discovered that the space from a missing tooth makes a great chocolate egg holder.

Once again Ryan, who woke up early, slept through all the excitement.

Kevin finally noticed the eggs in his room! He thought it was funny the Easter Bunny made part of the egg trail follow the road path on his car rug.


When Ryan woke up, we gave him a pile of eggs to investigate. He liked the shiny paper.


Then his reaction was like, "Um, okay, so what do I do with this?"


The Easter Bunny brought Ryan some interactive books, since he's not interested in eating candies yet.


Andrea's wishing everyone a very Happy Easter!



She's posing in the dress Grama Marty sent her from Montana, and showing her walking Easter Bunny toy and basket.

Mommy and Daddy got each of the kids a special Easter surprise this year: new bikes!  They had totally outgrown their old ones, and really needed new bikes.


Ryan got a push/ride-on toy. Kevin is teaching Ryan how to drive!

Ryan was so excited about honking the horn that the picture turned out blurry!


Notice the tentative smile? Kevin was a bit nervous about getting on his first big-boy bike.


Andrea was loving her new bike, but upset about the training wheels. We promised her they can come off once she gets a little more practice riding.


My Li'l Biker Dude: Kevin liked the bike once Daddy took him outside and started to push him around on it.  He doesn't really pedal it himself, though.





Andrea hopped on and was ready to go.  They even drove their bikes down the street to Gram and Papa's, where we were going for Easter dinner.


Ryan loves TVs--especially when they are right on his level, and he can push the buttons. At least he seems to enjoy watching hockey!


Daddy and Kevin set up a car ramp. Daddy would zoom the cars up the ramp, and Kevin would try to catch them before gravity pulled them back down. 


Ryan and Papa had fun playing peek-a-boo around the corner.


Gotcha! Hehehe!


Andrea and I had Easter Monday off from school, so we planned a special "Girls' Day" at the mall. We took the city bus to the mall, bought some toys at the dollar store, rode some coin rides, and had lunch together. She still loves the coin rides, even though she's almost too big for them.


Easter Videos

The Easter Bunny had a sense of humour this year. One of the treats in Andrea and Kevin's baskets was a wind-up bunny that walked and pooped jelly beans!  They also had fun trying to race their bunnies across the kitchen table.





After Ryan woke up, Kevin did something really kind. He gathered up a bunch of Easter eggs from the hunt, and gave them to Ryan. Good sharing, Kevin!


When we went to Gram and Papa's for supper, Gram was making Ryan laugh with her tickles.  He could see her coming, and would get all excited!