Family Day fun

Instead of having Remembrance day as a stat. we get a lovely break from winter in February with Family Day.  This was our first time celebrating Family Day and it was extra special because we got to spend it with family.  Mike's sister, Carrie made the trek out from Kelowna for the long weekend and we had a wonderful time with her.  The entire week before she came, Josh was counting down the days until her arrival and the night before she arrived, Josh stayed up until 10pm because he was so excited to see Auntie Carrie.  He even wanted to make a list of all the things he was going to do with her (yes, I am very proud that my 3 year old already understands the beauty of lists). 
It was great to show her this little (or big, I guess) corner of the world that we are currently calling home.  Mike and her went up the CN tower and Josh proudly showed her Niagara Falls. 

On Family Day, we got to enjoy all the fun free family events that were happening at the waterfront.
 It was a nice treat for me to almost not be outnumbered by boys and to spend some girl time with her getting a mani/pedi.  Mike and I enjoyed a lovely evening out with free babysitting as well.

(helping Auntie Carrie make yummy meatballs)

She was a wonderful houseguest as she was very gracious about being woken up every morning at 7am by two nephews eager to play with her.  On Tuesday, the boys were looking for her and were so sad that she was gone. 

(there were some intense games of Hungry Hippo)

It was a bittersweet visit; we had such a fabulous time with her but after seeing her, it makes us miss her and everyone else back home even more.  Now we're counting down the days until Grandma C. arrives.

Life's a zoo

With two young ones and working full time, sometimes life feels like a zoo.  Add to that a teething toddler and a week of -16 temperatures leaving us housebound and by Saturday, Mike and I felt like we were the monkeys climbing the walls of the cages in the zoo.

By Sunday when the weather had warmed up to a balmy -2, we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to compare our zoo like lives to animals at the Toronto Zoo (thanks to the library, we had free passes!).  We had a great time meeting lots of the animals.  There were many animals that Mike and I hadn't even seen (or heard of) before.

(ever heard of a malayan tapir?)

Josh's favourite part by far was watching the orangutans play.  There were two young ones and they were so cute as they chased each other around.  We finally dragged Josh away after watching them for about 45 minutes.

Although we spent a few hours there, we probably only covered a quarter of the ground.

(they look like the ones in the Coca-Cola commercials)

There were lots of animals to see outside but they also had some great indoor exhibits. 

I will definitely be lining up for another free pass so that we can check it out again.  It will be a great summer activity, too - perhaps we'll have some visitors to join us?!

Brotherly love

When I was pregnant with Owen and found out he was a boy, lots of people felt bad for me because they thought I would want a girl.  To be honest though, I was super excited to be having another boy.  Not only did I have a ton of cute boy clothes that I could use again, but I thought it would be wonderful for Josh to have a brother.  And I was right.  It was love at first sight for Josh.  Right from the beginning, he was so in love with his baby brother.

 

It is neat to see how even though their personalities are so different, they still get along so well.  Josh is the cautious thinker while Owen is the daredevil doer.

They both love to sing, dance, play sports, laugh and just have fun together.  Joshua is getting to be so old now.  It made me sad the other day when I noticed him turn on the light switch without having to stand on the stool and next week I register him for junior kindergarten for September! 

Owen is growing everyday.  He is starting to talk and his favourite word to say is more, usually pertaining to food.  He also loves going out and he likes to bring his boots to us and say 'out'.
Josh is very proud of his 'baby brother' and loves to lead him around, holding his hand.  He is very protective of him already.  Owen looks up to Josh and unfortunately, he has already learned how to push his buttons by stealing toys that Josh is playing with.
I am thankful that these brothers love each other so much and have such fun together.