Impromptu Photo Shoots

Ryan is trying really hard to stand up on his own.  This is one of his favourite positions; he gets about halfway up.  He also does a sort of crouch, like a frog getting ready to hop. He can't quite pull himself all the way up, though. 

My Tired Ryan: he loves to snuggle with a receiving blanket when he's tired.  On this day, it was funny because he kept pulling it over his head, like he was trying to shut out the world.

He must have been extremely tired. He almost fell asleep sitting up!

One day, Andrea asked me to take her picture. Then Kevin wanted to be in the photo. Then I decided Ryan should be in it too, since I hadn't gotten a good picture of the three of them together in a long time. The result was mostly silliness, but still cute!

Next, Kevin asked me to take a picture of him with his car.  He is such a boy!

Really, it all started with Andrea. She knew they were having a make-up, nails, and hair day at daycare, and she was upset that it wasn't her day to go.  Consequently, she convinced me to do her make-up and nails at home.  I gave her a little pink lip gloss, light purple eye-shadow, blush, glitter dust, and mascara.  The result was a little overwhelming for me (flash-forward ten years!), but she did look beautiful, and she loved it.  She requested I take a photo for her, and this close-up was the prettiest picture.

Impromptu Video

Well, really, most of the videos are impromptu, but in this one, I caught the kids playing a silly game. Andrea had used the boys' Night Garden spinning toy to make a "Dizzy Dummy" for her Barbies.  If you watch the show "Wipeout," you'll know that this is one of their obstacles that spins contestants until they're dizzy, then lets them off to complete more obstacles.  Be careful--kids DO copy what they see on TV! ;)

Canada Day Weekend 2011

Canada Day Weekend was quite warm. It was the first chance I had to put Ryan in the baby pool. In fact, since he couldn't sit up alone last year, it's the first time he's been able to try out the baby pool in our backyard by himself!

Ryan was having so much fun splashing. You have to love that tongue hanging out!

Kevin is enjoying the bigger pool much more this year. Last year, he didn't go in it too much.  This year, he's a fish! (And look--he sticks out his tongue just like his brother. It must be a family thing.)

We had just gotten back from the restaurant, and it was extremely hot outside, so we let the kids dive right in with their clothes on.  What's it gonna hurt? It's just water!

Andrea was putting on a swimming performance for Kevin and Ryan.

Ryan was thrilled to be in the big-kid pool with his brother and sister. It was a bit deep for him, so I had to watch him carefully, but he loved it.

Andrea was dumping buckets of cold water on her head.  It looked so refreshing that I was jealous!

The next morning, we went to the city's Canada Day Parade. Ryan, however, was more interested in napping.

Aunt Stephanie, Izzy, and Hannah came to the parade with us. We're ready for it to start.

 Windsor Police Bagpipers and Classic Police Cruiser

Back end of the enormous Canadian Flag that's part of the parade each year

The Canadian Cowgirls ride by on their horses, and two of the riders are standing!

The WestJet airline had a big, floating plane balloon

This marching band did things like march backwards, sideways, and do turns as they played!

Windsor Fire and Rescue

Representatives from The Canadian Armed Forces

Andrea and Izzy received a special poppy/maple leaf pin from a member of The Canadian Armed Forces.

The stunt-bike riders were zooming up and down the street, doing fancy turns and pop-a-wheelies.

This is another horseback riding group. I think they were called Silver Stars.

Ryan was relaxing in the stroller, with one leg dangling over the armrest. He was pretty relaxed for most of the parade, except when he heard loud sirens, or got sprayed with water by the Shriners!

You know it wouldn't be a summer parade without the Shriners, on their tiny motorbikes, squirting water at everyone!

Kingsville-Essex Band

EMTs and the Safety Dog

The Windsor Star newspaper's float: I liked that it said, "Happy Birthday, Canada!"  The kids were very impressed when we told them Canada is 144 years old!

I really liked the colours, messages, and symbols on this truck: Our Home & Native Land; Canada 1867; Support Our Troops, etc.

Windsor's Chinese Association had some impressive Chinese dragons at the end of the parade. One even came up close to Kevin and winked at him!  Kevin jumped and was a bit surprised, but it didn't really scare him.

On Saturday, Daddy took Andrea and Kevin to a splash pad. Andrea created a visual news report for me: side 1, when they got there and didn't know how to turn on the water; side 2, with the fountains on. Andrea apologizes for her lack of blue marker for water (it was missing). She had to use red. Daddy and Aunt Stephanie both said that her map of the splash pad layout is quite accurate.

On Sunday, the kids went to Izzy's 4th birthday party.  They came home with some wipe-erase puzzle books.  Kevin used the black marker to write all over his face arms, and shirt. Who needs a book?!

June Fun

Um, yeah, Kevin's shirt pretty much sums it up. School ends for summer break, and if we don't keep the kids entertained, chaos ensues!

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There were some really hot days in early June, so we got out the kids' pool. It almost looks like they were trying synchronized swimming!

 Andrea and Kevin played really well together in the pool.

Andrea had some fun in a bubble bath later that night.  She was buried in bubbles!

When she sat up, it looked like she had some kind of bubble wrestling helmet on!

On hot summer days, when you don't feel like cooking, order a pizza!  Andrea got creative and smashed some french fries onto her pizza. That's an interesting combination!


Kevin just wanted be silly for the camera. He was making his pizza fly, I think. (?)

We taught the kids what the right conditions are to make a rainbow, so we keep an eye out for them.  This one appeared one evening, and it was a beauty.  If you look closely at the second picture, you can see a second rainbow above the first.

Andrea likes to pick me bouquets of "flowers."  I say "flowers" in quotation marks because she doesn't understand that they are almost always a pretty weed.  Anyway, one day I helped her put together a nice combination of pretty weeds from our yard and pretty flowers poking through the fence from the neighbours' yard.  We were pleased with the final effect.

Fun on Video

The night of the bubble bath, Andrea was trying desperately to learn how to cross her eyes.  We tried everything: looking at her nose, focusing on a close-up object, etc. But she just couldn't get it! The result was a lot of laughs, though.

Ryan finds a lot of things on TV quite funny, but you'll never know what it's going to be. On this night, he was laughing at the "Cars Toon" where Mater has a wrestling fan who wants his autograph, and Lightning McQueen wants to give the guy an autograph, too, but is refused.

Then, Andrea started shaking her head back and forth at Ryan, and THAT made him giggle. She was also happy because he leaned over and gave her a Ryan-hug (essentially, he gently butts his head against you).

Then, Andrea got tired of Ryan being the centre of attention, and decided to make me laugh, so I'd get HER on video. It worked.

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.