Okay, I had a hat for the royal wedding so why would the birth of our newest prince be any different? Well, a little different in that I got them for the girls too! Tomorrow I will do our nails blue in honour of it being a boy. Hey, if you don’t make a celebration out of the small things it will all get lost in translation. Besides, aren’t they adorable in their fascinators?
We all look a bit tired as we had just gotten home from quite the girls’ weekend in Ottawa. Had tons of fun but missed Baba like crazy. (Everything is just that bit more fun with him around.) Where was he? Taking some needed time alone to recharge and simultaneously finishing a to-do list from me. 🙂
We started the weekend with an ice show at skating camp. It was a bit beyond Elspeth this year so she had the day off and got to watch the show. Katrine was beyond excited to perform and Elspeth was equally excited for two reasons: 1. She got to frantically wave at Katrine and 2. Santa was out on the ice skating because the show’s theme was Christmas in July (She was very surprised that he knew how to skate and kept trying to get him to wave at her.).   After the show we drove way too long through the rain before arriving safe and sound at our hotel.
Saturday was spent with some of Katrine’s China family. Katrine got to spend time with three of her “sisters” while Elspeth met her birthday twin and twin’s younger brother. There was swimming, swinging, toad finding, sparklers and the stuff that summer memories are made of. Katrine even slept over that night and she left wearing a huge smile the next morning declaring “I have the best China family EVER!” Everytime that we get together with her extended family I am reminded of how blessed we are to have been bound to them by the invisible red thread of adoption.
Sunday I braved driving in to downtown Ottawa to take the girls to the Museum of Civilization in the morning. We only did the Children’s Museum section, on purpose. I figured that two kids and one of me would equal all of us being done sooner rather than later and I was correct. By the time we were finished exploring just the one section of the museum they were DONE and so was I. That said, it was awesome. They played with shadow puppets and a theater style sound system. The created potatoe sack puppets and ran a clothing store. Play, play, play. There can never be too much of that.
Next we headed back across the river to Byward Market where we met Glenn’s uncle and cousin for lunch. Poor duo were covered in Hello Kitty stickers by the end of lunch but they were really good sports (thanks). After lunch it was time to explore downtown on foot. A highlight was walking along the Ottawa River and the lock system. Elspeth really enjoyed the simple pleasure of throwing stones into the river. She would grin each time one actually hit the water. Katrine was absolutely fascinated by the loch system. Thank goodnes Uncle Darren was there to explain how it worked. His explanations cleared alot up whereas mine would have left many gaps in understanding.
Of course it was a hot day so we had to get some refreshments as we walked. This fresh squeezed lemonade with ice did the trick and we were able to climb up to the top of the hill to the parliment buildings. Our pair love fountains and the eternal flame was no different. Katrine once again had her uncle explaining how it worked while her sister was staring at the various coins in the fountain.
After a much needed quiet evening at the hotel, we spent our final day in Ottawa with a university chum of mine and her daughter. I was able to spend quality time getting caught up while the girls drew, played and ate giant ice cream cones.
The icing on the cake was the arrival of our little prince and the cherry was coming back home to Baba hugs. The one thing we missed doing was visiting Glenn’s cousin and their new baby boy. This didn’t happen because I got lost too many times this weekend. I think that fate was trying to tell me that it is time I get a phone with GPS. Maybe next time though…when I have my phone!