Category: Katrine

4th Birthday Party

With Elspeth’s 4th birthday falling on Thanksgiving Sunday we decided to hold her party a week earyl.  Now this has confused her in that she can not understand how she is still three if she has had the cake and presents.  :)  This year’s theme was Ponies…as in My Little Pony.  There were ponies everywhere.  We used books, toys and printed pictures to decorate.  The only item we had to buy was the Pin the Cutie Mark on the Pony game.  I guess it pays to keep all of the elder daughter’s stuff sometimes.

The kids started by making headbands.  A month ago our littlest could not print her name.  Now, she is a pro….well except for the spider E.  All of the kids got in on the action.  They even made hats for Glenn and I!

Then there was the game, running around like crazy, playing with balloons and toys, talking, dressing up and making bookmarks.  I don’t think that Elspeth stopped smiling once and Katrine was a great big sister.  She tried to make sure everyone was having fun while also having fun herself.  The fact that some of Elspeth’s China family were able to join us for the celebration made it extra special for both girls.

The party wrapped up with the gift unwrapping.  It is hilarious to watch three year olds exchange gifts.  They all want to help the birthday girl unwrap what they brought so more often than not there were at least two sets of hands on a present at any given time.  We do have one photo of her unwrapping a gift by herself so it did happen.  That said, Elspeth couldn’t care less if someone was helping or not.  She was over the moon to simply be getting presents from her friends and family.

Can you  believe that in 7 days she will be 4?

Richmond Hill Fire Department Open House

We had a great Saturday morning.  The rain held off and there was a nice fall feel to the air (aka nicely cool).  So we headed off to the community event at the local fire station.  It was a lot of fun.  There was a really cool train set up beside the train safety booth.  Free popcorn and cotton candy.  Sparky the mascot who Elspeth eagerly waved at but would not so much as take a single step towards.  Add in balloon animals, games and of course fire trucks and it was a winning combination for both girls.

I really enjoyed seeing each of them use a hose to put out a pretend fire.  Of course, they both had help from an actual fire fighter (especially Elspeth who is still tiny).  Huge smiles on their faces.  Katrine played a fishing game and became the proud owner of a bingo set while Elspeth got to ride on a battery powered bike.  She could actually reach the pedals!  AND, to top it off she wasn’t half bad at steering.

Post lunch was spent getting ready for the next day’s birthday part with cake icing and a trip to Longo’s for fancy cheese. (That is where the pumpkin photo is from.  Outside of the Longos).

Glencoe Fair

I just realized that I am behind in my posts so it is time to catch up. (I was sick this past week and acutally had to take a day off of work!  Guess that I no longer have a school grade immune system.)

Last weekend was the family’s weekend to celebrate Charles’ birthday.  That meant that Saturday monring saw us climbing into the car and off to Glencoe.  One big difference this year was that I was able to join the family in getting Tims as they now carry a gluten free option (Yippee!!!).

We arrived just in time for the parade.  Both kids were thrilled.  Elspeth was once again blown away by the size of some of the tractors.

After lunch we went to visit an egg farm much to the girl’s delight.  We are big egg eaters.  Well, all except for me that is.  Elspeth learned  the word silo and “big machine” while Katrine got a chance to ask every possible question about the machinery carrying the eggs along.  There were fresh eggs to top it off too.

Then it was off to the fair itself.  Sarah’s pies looked as tasty as usual and she did pretty darn well.  This year’s theme was the Fifties.  One category was a decorated pumpkin.  My particular favourite was the Elvis pumpkin.  I thought it was smashing.  We decided to save the rides until Sunday as it had poured and the following day was suppose to have nice weather.  Well the forecast was wrong.  It rained Sunday so we missed the demolition derby and the rides.  Instead we spent a little while longer with the family.

Overall a great outing.

 

Happy Moon Festival!

No good photos of food this year.  After two years off it is just rough getting through the week at times so this year’s dinner was more simple than other years.  We did (one of the few times I say yippee to being gluten free) have moon cakes for dessert and the girls gobbled those down.  After dinner we had our annual lantern parade outside.  Katrine is an awesome big sister and took her job of showing Elspeth how to holding her lantern, turn it on and joining in on Elspeth’s “parades”; all with a huge smile on her face.  To top it off the moon was beautiful.  A happy Chinese thanksgiving to all of you.

Apple Picking and Kitchen Fun

The fall always brings with it a trip to the apple orchard.  We decided not to make our big batches of apple sauce, crumbles and pies this year.  With me back at work in a new school and job that was simply too much.  Instead we picked small apples perfect for the girls’ lunches and enjoyed the sunshine but cooler temperatures.  We also went to pick fall raspberries.  However, we went in the afternoon (because I slept in; thank you Glenn).  As a result, the berries had been picked over and there were not many left.  Oh well, Elspeth got to see where raspberries come from and the few that we did find were sweet and delicious.

Of course, we had to take the occasional taste test to ensure quality.  This involves the old “wipe it on your shirt” trick.

“Mom look! Just enough for our lunch!”

The orchard was also selling pie pumpkins.  Now a few years back, Katrine and Glenn made pumpkin pies and ice cream from scratch.  I think it was a year where both Katrine and I took trips to the pumpkin patch and we ended up with a half dozen pie pumpkins.  Well, didn’t she remember and beg him to do with her and her sister once again.  He, being a great dad did just that.

Then I put the girls to work today making their own lunch. (which doubles as school lunch tomorrow too)

Plus, the helped to fold dumplings for Thrusday’s moon festival dinner. Gluten free dumplings!! (If I could eat gluten, I would just be buying the things and steaming them.)

 

 

 

First Day of School

Katrine started Grade 4 on Tuesday

Elspeth JK yesterday

Both girls are loving it.  I am back at work and am enjoying it.  It is different than anything I have done before in many ways but very similar in others.  I am just hoping that by the end of the year I can look back and say not only did I try my best but that I also did a good job.

Happy September everyone!

 

C.N.E.

This year we introduced Elspeth to another family tradition – the C.N.E.  We have been taking Katrine since she was little and she loves going.  2011 Elspeth had been home for a little over two weeks so a visit was definetely out and last year she still wasn’t quite ready as she would have been too overwhelmed by the crowds to enjoy any of it.  This year was a different story.  She did so well on our trip and at Santa’s Village that we decided to give it a go.  Fun was had by all and to top it off, I even got to eat!

Let me begin with this cuteness.  “I wear my hat like Baba at the CNE”

Elspeth was a half an inch too short to go on most of the rides by herself.  It breaks my heart that kids a year or more younger are able to go on these rides by themselves and here she is almost four and she has to ride with one of us.  Her favourite rides were the merry go round and the motorcycles.  Katrine was able to do rides in both the kiddie zone and the midway.  Boy did she have some fun.

She rode well into the night with her Baba.  This was her last ride of the day.  If you look carefully you can see the larger figure with a green shirt.  That is Glenn.  He hates spinning rides yet here he is being a trooper for his daughter.  What a dad.

The girls both loved the farm building.  They did all of the kid’s activities with the fishing zone being a particular highlight.  After our late dinner, Glenn and Katrine went to enjoy the midway while Elspeth and I cycled back to the farm building where she redid everything.

Her Aleigh had to come with us, of course.  Apparently Aleigh quite enjoyed seeing extended family from the farm.

Looks like Elspeth raced her pony to a ribbon!

Elspeth practiced casting for these plastic fish.

Katrine tried to catch the real thing but settled for a softer fish.

There were also the necessary fair games where the girls selected twin frogs as prizes.  I tried to convince them that different was better but as you can see I failed.

Here is one of my favourite displays, the sand sculptures.  I also enjoyed the butter sculptures but the photos didn’t work because of the flash and glass.

Some shows, a parade, dinner and then it was time to break into two groups.  Once we finished at the farm building it was off to the Arts & Crafts building for some more crafts.  I think that this was one of our most crafty CNE visits.  We created with playdough, coloured, made masks and finally, art trading cards.  I think that Elspeth did a great job for 9:30 at night.

Promptly there after she fell asleep as we were going to meet the other pair for the final CNE tradition – mini donuts.

Okay, now for the gluten free food!  Lunch was nachos.  I only got meat and cheese as I was sharing with Elspeth but I could have had beans, lettuce, salsa.  They were yummy despite their simplicity.  Dinner was fries from Chicago Fries stall.  It was too bad that I didn’t pay closer attention or I could have opted for the sweet potatoe fries.

 

First Swimming Badge & a Seminar

I recently took advantage of the sunny weather to introduce our youngest to the joys of washing a car.  Once that car was cleanish (I am too short to wash the roof), she insisted on washing the bikes and scooters.  What a girl!

Tonight she got her first swimming badge!! She was beyond excited.  “I listened and tried hard.  I got my badge.”  A great way to end her summer on a high note.

This past weekend Katrine was lucky to have the opportunity to attend a seminar put on by Skate Ontario.  She learned alot and had a great time doing so.  The seminar was ended with a dinner for the skaters, coaches and parents.  As you can see, she had a wonderful time at the dinner inspite of being quite tired from 8 hours of working out.  What a girl.

 

Cottage Time – a photo essay

Ahh.  Candy bags and the lake…okay, we relaxed after the car ride so now let’s swim!

Mmm, free range and organic blueberries.  The perfect snack to balance out all of that sugar.

Fishing!  Elspeth did much better this year because she was rushing to reel it back in.  Katrine still didn’t touch the worms but she was very encouraging to the fish she caught that help was on its way.

Sparklers while waiting for the fire.

Look at the giant marshmallows.

Aftermath of toasting giant marshmallows.

This year we did not really go searching for mushrooms.  Instead it was frogs and acorns.


Our two girls

Katrine had a visit with the eye doctor earlier this week and much to her disappointment she was told that she would benefit from glasses.   We agreed that she should have them for school and that we would take the rest as we go.  Thank you to everyone who was able to help me find skaters, musicians and actors who wear glasses.  I can’t say that she is excited but perhaps a little less scared.  All of that aside, I think that she looks right cute in her glasses.

Elspeth has been taking swimming lessons twice a week for the past month and tonight was photo night.  She is having a blast and doing ever so much better than we had expected. :-D   Here is just some cuteness from tonight’s lesson.