Cousins Weekend in Kalispell

Since there are three birthdays within 5 days in April, we decided to head down to Kalispell to celebrate with the Montana cousins. Grandma and Grandpa joined us, turning it into a mini-reunion weekend.



We had a little birthday party with three sets of candles on the cake. We also managed to heave a good number of rocks into Echo Lake. Scott followed older cousin C around like a shadow, but also had a lot of fun playing with those closer to his age. In the occasional instance when there was noone immediately available to play with him, he experienced a certain amount of panic. Fortunately, Beez would usually step in and help him out by volunteering to watch him play a computer game or something like that.



Beez was also Katie's good buddy during the visit. Katie could often be found by herself, just going up and down the stairs or opening and closing the door. However, at least as often, you could find her playing with Beez, who seemed to have limitless patience and enthusiasm for the things that interest a 2-year-old.







Uncle C disappeared Sunday evening for over an hour and noone was quite sure where he went. Finally he emerged from one of the bedrooms. Apparently, he had crawled between the bed and the wall to get a pillow off the floor and had fallen asleep there.



Cousin C brought out his arsenal of AirSoft weapons, hoping to have a war of some kind. Unfortunately, none of us have any guns and there were very few zombies in the region to defend against, so he had to settle for some dramatic photos with his biggest gun. This boy's interest in military hardware reminds me of a guy I knew when I was a kid...

Quotes from Easter Weekend

Following an emotional episode-
D: See, Scott? Asking nicely is always better than crying.
S: ... And better than punching.
D: Uh, right.
S: 'Cause punching is always bad.

---------------------------------

On the subject of bedtime prayers-
S: [whispering] I said thank you for our bodies. Last night I said thank you for the Earth.

---------------------------------

At the dinner table-
S: [hands out to each side in questioning manner, palms facing up] Is the Easter Bunny even Real?
D: What do you mean?
S: Is he really alive?
D: Are you asking if the Easter Bunny is dead?
S: No. I mean, is he real -- like can you see him?
R: I've never seen the Easter Bunny, but I know there is always a basket and candy on Easter Morning.
S: Okay.

---------------------------------

Bedtime-
S: You can close the door because I have my own light in here.
D: Okay.
S: ... And it's brighter than that light [points to ceiling]. It's glowing like Jesus.

---------------------------------

On the subject of getting a computer for his room (which previously I said will not likely happen, since we are more likely to put any new computers in the main room)-
S: If all the rooms in the house except mine were filled all the way up with computers, where would you put another computer?
D: Probably in your room.
S: Right. [obviously pleased]

---------------------------------

Getting ready for church-
S: Look at my backpack, Dad.
D: Cool. It has a pin on it that says, "I am a Child of God."
S: Now good guys can see that and they will know that I'm a child of God and a good guy and they won't try to hurt me... because bad guys don't have that pin... because bad guys don't go to church, unless it's a bad guy church. Right?

---------------------------------

Sitting in church, listening to the speaker, who mentions the name "Jesus"-
K: [in a very loud voice] Jesus?! Jesus Christ!!

---------------------------------

At Grandma & Grandpa's house, after soaking his socks by playing outside-
S: I need my shoes! My feet are colder than snow in your mouth!
D: Snow in your mouth?
S: Colder than your whole body in snow!

---------------------------------

Bedtime-
S: Dad, wouldn't you love it if you could play every day and not have to go to work to get money?
D: Yes, that would be great.
S: And if the policeman came and gave you money, you wouldn't have to work and you could play the whole entire day with your whole entire kids!

Easter Weekend at the Zoo

Since I got to go to the ski hill hill all day on Friday, R got the day off on Saturday while I went to the zoo with the kids for the Easter Eggstravaganza... which was sponsored by the Nestle chocolate company. Basically, you lined up at various little tents for free candy as you made your way through the zoo. After watching Scott pound back several large Aero Eggs I decided to skip the rest of the tents and go see the hippos and elephants... and geese.





When it started to snow on us we took refuge in the sweltering heat of the butterfly sanctuary. Once things improved, we ventured back outside and Scott won a bubble-blower with some impressive bean-bag tossing. The bubbles turned out to be the highlight of the visit, and Katie ran her heart out chasing them across the field.

Good Friday at Grandma's

The dads went away with Grandpa to the ski hill for the day, and the moms gathered the kids at Grandma's for an Easter egg hunt, colouring eggs and other fun activities. Apparently, once Katie found her first foil-wrapped chocolate she was less interested in searching and more interested in eating. Fortunately for her, there was a profit-sharing arrangement in place, where each grandchild was allocated a fair share of the spoils. I believe they all got the same amount, so on a candy-to-body-weight basis, Katie scored quite high.

Snowboarding at Lake Louise

The Sugar Frenzy Begins

In Scott & Katie's weekly preschool class, each family was asked to bring an Easter treat. R helped the kids make (gluten free) Rice Krispies eggs topped with chocolate and sprinkles. This was only the first stage in the sugar frenzy that accompanies Easter.

Perched

He has only fallen off once so far.

Princess Kitty Goes to Conference

Suprisingly, General Conference weekend ranks just below Christmas, Easter & Halloween in our house. R buys up a huge inventory of crafts and the kids set up shop at our plastic picnic table for a two-day craft-a-thon. as usual, Scott keeps a close tally of speakers using stickers and a chart taped below the TV -- this year we added a Conference Bingo sheet that got stickers when certain topics were mentioned. Scott got bingo three times over (sideways and both diagonals), and probably could have gotten a blackout if he hadn't also had important painting commitments to divide his attentions.



In addition to the usual colouring and painting, each child made an animal mask from pre-cut foam pieces. Scott had a monkey face and Katie had a kitten. She loved to cruise around the house with her mask perched high on her head, swishing her pink skirt around. Apparently, Katie thinks that the word for skirt is "princess", and lately has been very sad if she can't wear her princess everywhere she goes.

Duck a Base or Stuck in Space?

Katie described the plight of a monkey that she saw on WonderPets. It is unclear whether the monkey was "stuck in space" or "duck a bace", but all witnesses agree that she is very cute.



One of Katie's favourite phrases. You can ask her something like, "Did it work, Katie?"
and she will sometimes respond "Yes I did." The best part is that it almost seems to have a southern twang on it sometimes. "Yess-ah di-id".

Quirks

Scott:
When he wakes up in the morning he goes downstairs in his superhero pajamas and plays silly kids games on the computer. I am concerned that he is becoming addicted to the computer. All he ever wants me to do is come watch him play or help him beat a difficult level. I would prefer not to do this. Instead, I drilled a hole through a tennis ball and hung it on a rope under our deck so that he can stand on the downstairs patio and hit it with a baseball bat. He can totally crank it, but he overestimates his abilities. He thinks he is way stronger and faster than me because I let him beat me at things sometimes. He has a pair of Buzz Lightyear sandal-shoe things that he thinks make him run faster than cars. Seriously. That's what he says. I think he has forgotten how badly he got destroyed by his older cousins in a foot race a year ago. Now that it is officially spring he wants to only wear short-sleeved shirts. He considers it his right. He has started wearing his Superman pajamas, which only contributes to his belief that he is faster than a speeding bullet.



Katie:
When she wears a skirt she announces that she is a princess. Only R and I can recognize that she is saying the word "princess" but it is cute all the same. She likes to run around flapping her hands saying "I birdie" or do a little leapfrog move saying "roobit, roobit." She likes to say "owie, owie, owie" with a impish grin on her face, sometimes pretending to smack herself on the forehead. She is clearly imitating Scott. She also shamelessly copies his trademark dance move -- the one where he stands on a chair, holds onto the back and alternates poking his bum out to either side. She is seriously the cutest little girl ever, but she has her devious side. If anyone lies down on the floor she takes advantage of the opportunity to dog pile that person. I can handle it pretty well, but she sometimes steps on Scott's face and makes him cry. She has impeccable manners and will always say sorry, thank you and you're welcome. She also likes to say "'Scuse me I tooted" (which she learned from Scott). She is quick to say no or give her little disappointed "awww" sound, but she will often relent only 5 seconds later. She is very willing to take turns and share, but she will push away anyone who is crowding too close behind her at the top of the slide, so don't mess with her. She likes to make funny faces by pursing her lips and rolling her eyes up high and it cracks me up every time.



Two little bundles of personality.

Sunday at Grandma & Grandpa's

We spend every Sunday evening there, so it seems appropriate that we should have some pictures.

Painting

Memorial Park Library

Recently someone had told me about the Memorial Park Library, a grand sandstone edifice erected in 1908-1912 as Calgary's first purpose-built library. Apparently, Andrew Carnegie put up 80% of the funds, as he did with 124 other libraries in Canada between 1903 and 1922.



As a historic building, it is quite impressive -- high ceilings, fireplaces, ornate finishings and beautiful grounds. As a library, it is smallish, but very usable. We found we were the only ones in the kids section, so we had the kiddie computer all to ourselves.



I got busted for taking photos inside, so most of the shots are from outside, where Katie managed to step in some mud -- which both fascinated and distressed her.

Haultain Park

For a Thursday-evening adventure I took the kids to explore the Memorial Park Library just south of downtown Calgary. Before going inside, we first explored the brand-new playground across the street at the newly-restored Haultain Elementary School -- Calgary's oldest surviving school (built in 1884). It was a beautiful evening to be outside, and I took full advantage to take some pictures.

Snow Angels

With the snow quickly receding, R let the kids go out and mess around in the back yard one afternoon. Katie was enjoying it so much that she never wanted to come back inside.