Parking.

First slide,

 

 

 

First swing,

 

 

 

 

And a little father-son bonding.

 

All in a day's trip to the park!

 

 



Colour Me Canadian

Yes, that's right, I spell colour with a 'u.' I have experimented with omitting it to try to fit in with my online  friends South of the border, but it just felt like a betrayal to this great country in which I live.  I am a proud Canadian, and I cannot hide my love of a good, extraneous 'u.'  Also, why write a check when you can write a cheque?  Words are more fun when you add q's and u's, I always say.

But back to colour.  Specifically, the colours red and white.  Today, we flew these colours with an extra large dose of pride, for today is Canada's 144th birthday.

Lilah gets her patriot on.

Lilah and Addie dance to the music at the Granville Island Canada Day party.

For us, Canada Day is synonymous with family.  Every year without fail (with the exception of two years ago when I was in labour with Lilah), we pack up our car and drive out to the 'burbs to spend the afternoon and evening celebrating with the Hubs' large extended family.  There is a slight irony to this fact since a good portion of his family members are of British origin.  But perhaps that is precisely why we celebrate Canada with such fierce pride on this day.  We all - recent immigrants, first generation Canadians, and too-many-generations-to-count Canadians like myself - recognize, revere, and celebrate the things that make Canada so special.  Or maybe I'm overthinking it.  Maybe it's just a good day to get everyone together because it's a statutory holiday.  But with each passing year, I get more and more sentimental, both about being Canadian and about family.

Cousins and grandparents.  Really, is there anything better than family?

And of course, no family gathering would be complete without ridiculous amounts of decadent food.

Just one of the many desserts I indulged in today.

Happy birthday to a very special little (big!) country.  And here's to many more!

The Glass is More Than Half Full

If you've been following along lately, you've probably noticed that my recent posts have been pretty ooey gooey.  Somebody or something abducted my sarcasm and replaced it with pure cheese.  Maybe it's the small doses of Vitamin D the Vancouver weather has finally been granting us, sending me soaring higher than a kite.  Maybe it's just the phase that Lilah is going through.  Or maybe I've lost just lost my sarcasm mojo due to lack of sleep.  Whatever it is, I'm finding myself melting into puddles of schmaltz at any given moment.  It's a little embarrassing, to be truthful.

Just one adorable moment amongst many.

I've heard other moms declare every age the best age, and vow that things just get better and better with each new phase.  I haven't exactly found that to be the case.  If I'm being totally honest, there are phases that I have enjoyed less than others.  But this age?  This age is phenomenal. She tells me I look pretty, she can sometimes play for a few minutes on her own, and she even peed on the potty once(!) to name but a few of the countless highlights. Don't get me wrong, there are still frequent tantrums, and lately there has been lots of purposeful boundary-pushing and outright defiance.  But at the moment, the insanely adorable, melting-puddle-of-schmaltz moments far outweigh the tough ones.

At the same time, when things are this good, I find myself constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering when it's going to catch up with me.  Can things really be this good?  The glass is more than half full.  Watch out, soon it's going to tip over and pour out all over the floor.  But I am doing my best to quiet that voice and just enjoy the beautiful, perfect moments as they come.  Because I know too many people in my real life who are currently dealing with personal tragedies and serious illnesses.  People who are much too young to be facing the issues they are being forced to face.  I have this sense that fully enjoying the amazing little moments life presents me with right now somehow honours these friends of mine.

Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around. ~E.L. Konigsburg

And so I swoon, and wax sentimental, and write corny posts that may cause the more cynical among my readers to vomit in their mouths a little.  It's my prerogative - as a mother, as a blogger, and as a friend to several people who've lately been dealt a crap hand and are still managing to make the most of their cards.  Call it a tribute, call it a reality check, call it not whining because others are dealing with real problems, call it what you will.  I call it sipping from an overflowing glass.

Life is sweet.  Have some more cake.

(Oh, and for those of you who might be concerned that I'm becoming totally spoiled, don't worry.  I wrote most of this post before I came down from the high of another amazing weekend full of birthday parties, unexpected sleep-ins, outdoor activity, and good friends.  And then Monday hit, and I was my usual Monday self - tired, a little stressed out at work, and mildly cranky.  Lilah had a brief tantrum after I picked her up from daycare, and then I arrived home to cat puke in my hallway.  So all in all, a typical Monday, tipping the scales a tiny bit towards the mediocre.)

One joy scatters a thousand griefs~ Chinese proverb

May Two-Four by the Numbers

Like everyone else from Ontario, I grew up calling Victoria Day Weekend "May Two-Four," in reference both to Queen Victoria's birthday, on the twenty-fourth of May, and to the many twenty-four ("two-four") cases of beer consumed over this particular long weekend.  It's the unofficial kick off to the summer season; the weekend when community centres open up their outdoor pools, outdoor venues start hosting concerts, and families dust off the grill and fire up the barbie.

Our May Two-Four this year was spent in Harrison (home of the popular Harrison Hot Springs) with the Hubs' side of the family, and this long weekend was all about the numbers.

Ten adults, five kids, and two dogs sharing one four-bedroom house for three days.

One very tall carpeted staircase, which proved far too tempting for one impish 14-month-old.

One fabulously messy, blueberry-infused pancake breakfast, and three dinners with family members gathered 'round the large harvest table and overflowing onto sofa cushions, with heaping plates of food balanced carefully on their laps.

Four pounds gained from all the unnecessary food consumption.  But it was 100% it was worth it!

One happy little girl, very much in her element and very pleased at finally being capable of really playing with her three older cousins.

Dozens of books read and stories shared.

One air mattress and one forgotten foot pump.  One brother-in-law with 140% of normal lung capacity needing less than 15 minutes to inflate said mattress.  Truly astounding!

One willing and able Grandma who didn't shy away when I passed her my camera - and proved she had some photog skillz of her own!

Thousands of beautiful, perfect moments.  The kind that give you goose bumps, a lump in your throat, and the urge to pinch yourself.  The kind you want to bottle and preserve, to be rationed out in times of need.  The kind you hope the kids look back on with fond memories and lumps in their own throats.

The only thing missing was perfect weather.  But since our control over that is exactly zero, we made the most of it and still had a truly incredible time. 

Tell me about your long weekend plans, past, present or future!

Wednesday of Few Words: Whistler

We decided to make the best of the stat holiday on Thursday and make it a four-day weekend.  We headed for the hills (er, mountains, actually) and drove up to Whistler for a mini family vacay.

Lilah checking out the view from our hotel room



The view



We spent a good deal of time at this sweeeet playground



Trying to climb up the slide, as always



Playing peekaboo



The remnants of snack time left on her face

Convincing Lilah to go down the slide for a change
(I did mention we spent a lot of time at this playground, didn't I?)

You may recall a little thing called the Olympics that Vancouver hosted in February?
Whistler was the stage for many of the mountain sports.

Unfortunately, we didn't entirely do our homework and hadn't realized the gondola would be closed for fall maintenance, so we weren't able to go up the mountain and take in the views, but we still managed to have a great time and get lots of fresh mountain air.  In addition to practically living at the playground, we did some other fun family things, like attending story time at the library and swimming in the hotel's pool (which is code for trying not to boil Lilah alive in the hot tub).  Oh, and let's not forget the spa!  Okay, so that's not so much a family thing as a mommy thing, but I think we can all agree that spa time for mommy does bring the whole family closer together.  My shiny purple toe nails totally count as family bonding, okay?!!!

I know you don't understand this right now, Lilah, but one day you will see
that Mommy spending three hours at the spa is actually in your best interest.