James and (Someone Elses') Garden

He slept and we played inside.

Outside it was overcast, but it's full-on summer.

Was so glad to get outside to look at flowers and such (even if they're mostly not mine).

 Right: No clue what this is, but it does have some interesting pale blue berries.

 Left and Below: Bees!

 Above and Below: Those onions (how many years ago?) have come back and bloomed!

 Left and Below: Caught-in-between expressions

Canada Day - Naps, Blitz, Life

We had a fairly quiet morning -- James got some time with his friends (right).

Paul had a nap.  James had a nap.

And then we all head out to Riverdale to join the fam for their celebrations.

Well, sort of.  It was so hot we stayed inside for the first bit. 

Paul was pulled into Celina, Kevin, and Ryan Game of Life. I escape to get MY nap (finally :P). 

Yes, sleeping made me miss Life...but I joined in on "Blitz".

We eventually headed out to the community centre.  Theresa had a big pot KD mac & cheese ready. 

While others lined up for the barbeque, I hung out with James (he in the stroller) next to the salad table.  When people brought new things, I immediately asked about ingredients.  I'm glad this is only temporary. 

Good thing there was a tabuloeh salad, and fruit, else I would have been eating my plain pasta.  Oh, well, it's what I kind of expected (but I was too stubborn to give into my Mom's worrying).

Outside, Celina had a big reunion with friends (Sam and Pia). 

I caught the eye of another baby; his name is Atticus James!  This blonde cutie had a disturbing/cute play tent / sun shelter... but did one really want to crawl into the mouth of a shark?

Back at home, I gave James a bath (another one since it was so hot).  It worked!  He was actually happy to be in the water. 

(Above: Blitz in action)

(Left: Atticus James and shark tent)

(Above a rusty old Ford truck on the walk home -- coffee cup on the hood.)

Hail and Happy Birthday

They muggy day finally resolved with some rain... and some hail... and some sewer backup!  Yikes!  Thankfully, all that stayed outside.

When Paul came back from work, we (with Jackie remotely) serenaded him over a "density cake" (my no added sugar banana bread) and one candle.  Someone was pretty interested in that candle... 

Unfortunately, "home from work", wasn't "free from work", and Paul still had some deadlines to work on.  But I hope he had a nice break with us.  At least he could take any aggression out on the "cake".

Note for next time: When spread out and baked in pie plate -- density cake becomes even denser and harder.  Stab, stab.

Safe Indoors, Growing

He is fine.  I tell Mom/PoPo nothing. 


I sorted through more gifts / hand-me-down clothes.  They're oh, so cute!  But, (too bad?) James is growing and actually too big for them!

More evidence: He's filling up the box.  

Summer Sunday

Again, with no help what-so-ever from me: blooms!  (Right: African violet)

It's the lazy summer Sunday I've been dreaming of. 

Below: A quick snap of James sleeping in the bouncer, and yes!  A quick nap for me! 

Later, strapped into the car seat, James ventured out to the backyard.  He was ready for his close up :)

We visited Erica and Prab after dinner.  Look, they're using the "bee" napkins :)  Oh, and they make us (me) a rice pudding treat.  Yum.

Andrea & Melanie

Andrea and Melanie came for a visit!  I'm loving these summer days and seeing people.

Melanie is growing up fast.  She's not a baby like last I saw her.  She's really moving and getting around, and curious / adventurous with food.  Hm... the later not so different from her sister (both definitely take after Bob in that front).  What a cutie.

I'm not sure James knew what to make of it, but he was generally happy.  We were on the floor playing and he got a lot of attention. 

Even so, the visit had to be short: Melly still needed a nap. 

With half our attention diverted to the little ones, I did manage to catch:
- Andrea was back to work and it was OK, and
- her thumb was pretty much all healed. 

It would be nice to have more of a catch up session soon, but I suspect this will be the norm while we have toddlers. 

A Chocolate Covered Barbeque

"Feel free to bring any fruits or other food items you think will be good layered in chocolate.  Please bring a significant other. Or a small dog. "

~ Erik's invite*

The small dogs showed up later.  We first tucked into some very delicious burgers, and then Erik made the promised chocolate fondue. 

Ever thoughtful, he started with the white chocolate. And once tested to be ready.  We dug in. 

There were was standard chocolate fondue fare (strawberries and bananas).  But someone had the brilliance to bring kiwi fruit - which I was told was the best match with the white chocolate.  Then, any pretense of keeping things healthy with fruit was abandonned and in went the marshmallows and pretzel sticks. 

I learned smaller fruit pieces probably would have been better (more surface area to amount of fruit), but it was certainly a delicate balance (it had to somehow still stay on the skewer).

We, filled with chocolate, retired to the living room area.  The small dogs made their appearance.  Paul stole my "Eek!"  And we tried out the "massagers". 
 

Erik's annual barbeque was another big hit. Thank you, Erik! 

 

More (silly and trickin') photos here. 

* The rest of the story: "(Dogs are not for dipping into chocolate fondue. I leave it for the reader to decide if that rule should apply to significant others.)"

Time with the Buoys

It was dark and humid.  Lights flashed and I could hear footsteps.  And... I'm hit!  My vest shook, and my gun was disabled, so I ran to hide and regroup.  Whatever strategy I had when I entered the maze, I defnitely had to rethink.  The others had gone in packs, while I had stalked off on my own, seeing if I could mentally map the maze (I couldn't).  And so, whenever I encountered another group, it was mad firing, and often I'd be hit before I could make any damages... Is there then really "safety" in numbers?  I got up and continued my stalking, listening close for more footsteps.  More firing.  The round ended.  Girl Indigo was not last.

A drink of fresh, cool air greeted us when we left the maze.  My involvement was just a lucky chance: One of the kids for Kevin's birthday party didn't show up, leaving an extra space for me. It was my first time playing Laser Quest and it had been pretty intense and fun. 

The second time (after a drink break), deciding again not to go for a fruit or chocolate bar code name, Girl Indigo managed to even lead for a little while... but then sneaky snipers got her.  In the end, I was middle of the pack, but happy with my high hits-to-fired ratio. 

After such a work out, the kids were ravenous.  Theresa had gone to pick up pizza and cake and was ready for us.  We ate, Kevin opened presents, and then (full of sugar and idle) they started hitting each other with balloons - just in time for parents to take them away.  A birthday party success!  Alot of original work and worry like last year, but this time I managed to have fun too.  Hm... maybe I won't have to wait a whole year for more laser tag...

Next day: The sprint races!

Arriving at early, Toasters were ready to put in some solid volunteer hours.  We bailed out boats, set buoys in the water, and in general were on very good behaviour.  Now if only they had congentiality awards that day... Instead, we found out exactly how hard it is to race.  Distractions were everywhere, from people standing on the bridge with megaphones yelling directions, to the little discomforts of being wet or itchy from mosquitoes... Coach Blain kept telling us to focus, and reminded us of all the commands.  But it was hard - especially when we could see other boats overtaking us...

We only did two races.  In one we'd been saddled with a steersperson in training - who almost lead us into the rocks.  We came in last for both of them.  I guess if we'd won, we'd probably have stayed around to do more races, but as it was, we all headed off on our own to find some lunch. 

Drew, Devin, and I headed downtown, and after picking up some food, went over to Devin's.  It wasn't a surprise to find he lived in one of the new modern and chic condos, or that he'd had some kind of gourmet dish planned for the Toasters' potluck barbeque that night. 

Fresh figs (one of the key ingredients for the dish) had both me and Drew surprised.  I've never seen a fresh one for real (but apparently they were available at Costco), and Drew had never tasted one fresh or dried.  Devin convinced him to take the plunge.  He liked it. 

After a quick change, I felt infinitely better and a little more ready for the party. 

Music was playing and while Coach Blain worked on chicken skewers (turns out he was a chef at one point in Saskatchewan), Drew danced with Monica in the kitchen that was just large enough for swing. 

More people arrived and we moved the party outside. Except for those of the attached to the game console.  

There was lots of great food (Devin's poached figs with marscapone cheese was exotic, Maylene's margaritas were fun, and my first attempt at tagine turned out suprisingly well) - and we enjoyed the warm weather.  But Julie and I also had other plans that night: TA Tryouts!  I couldn't believe we still managed to dance being so tired and so full of food. 

It's weekends like these that make me think weekdays for are for recovering.  But of course, I'll take it - little nephews and summers don't last forever.