Guess how this happened....

Our new guest S from Japan

Our new student has arrived.
The boys are overjoyed and were eager to present her with her gift. She was beaming when she opened it.

This'll have to do until tomorrow

We miss you

The boys and I miss you lots. They're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel however since 'the day after tomorrow' doesn't seem as far away in little boys' minds.
The house misses you too. A few things decided to come out in bloom to show their affection.
And check out the peach tree! This one looks like it's in fabulous shape and will become part of our dinner tonight with grandpa. Mmmmmmm.

Culinary Exploits while Mommy is Away

While Mommy is out of town the boys have been known to get a few things that they normally wouldn't get.
Such as sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed with daddy (largely so that I know where they are first thing in the morning)
or an extra story at night
or even a request for a dinner that we wouldn't normally have at home - like pasta which often just doesn't do it for mommy.
This time the stakes were raised.
The boys have been requesting a certain meal for weeks and daddy thought that it was finally time to give in.
Here they are:

In case you weren't sure whether or nor the boys likes them, let's go to the videotape:

Big C

He's my wife's child when:
- he takes a keen interest in literacy
- he signs up for the summer reading club at the library
- he carefully brings home the package of a poster, activity booklet and stickers


He's my child when:
- he takes the stickers with him to the bathroom and does this:
- and then has to take them all off before the glue dries.
(we are in so much trouble when they become inventive teenagers)

Big C's soccer Saturday

Big C had soccer again this morning with his cute team in blue. Grandma and grandpa were there cheering on the sidelines, so grandma was put on camera duty.
Here's some of the action.
Minute 5 - a little coaching from daddyMinute 7: Doing the slalom through the cones with a great little gentle touch
Minute 8: breaking in on net

Minute 9: He shoots, he scores!!!
Minute 16: going through the obstacle course

Minute 37: taking a break with grandpa

Minute 42: playing in 'the big game'
Minute 45: picking up a little kid that he collided with
Minute 57: game's all done....time to shake hands

Minute 58: Good game, good game, good game
Minute 59: Snack Time!!!!

Bye mommy....we miss you already

Mommy's going away for a week or so.
Since the boys didn't have the chance to say goodbye this morning when mommy headed off to work, we decided to go to her work and meet her for lunch and hugs. We started on the bus and then headed for the O-train.But it's down for the better part of the summer.
Argh.
Sometimes misfortune is just opportunity in disguise.
We walked down to catch a bus and lo-and-behold a double decker pulled up.
The buys were thrilled.
It took us practically to mommy's front door.
The boys were overjoyed to get in one more hug before she's gone.
We'll miss you.
Come home safe.

The really big, super-awesome all-day train trip Part III

Sorry for the delay in getting this one up, however it's been a busy past 2 weeks.
Here we are taking our last few photos at ExpoRail:and then we were off for home. We got caught in an enormous rain storm. It was quite impressive. You couldn't even see out the windows as we went across the bridge.
On the way back from Montreal to Ottawa the boys spent a good amount of time playing in the luggage storage area. The staff even cleared it out for them and them spent a good half an hour or so just playing,looking out the window and hanging on the bars. Then the boys started to run out of steam (no pun intended). Big C watched a movie on daddy's iPod and Monkey got control of the camera. Here are some of the shots that he took as we finished out amazing trip.

Espana's last day

Our most recent guest is leaving today. We've had a fabulous time with her in our home. It also seems that the Spanish good luck visits our homes for championships. When our guest Indigo was here 2 years ago they won the Euro championships and now the World cup. Who knows what's next?
Here are some photos of Espana and the boys. On her last full day she had her graduation ceremony at her school, so we attended and then took her to the Museum of S & T.
The day started with the rocket demonstration and she was right into it. Here she is inflating her rocket and ...

off it went. She had a super time with the boys at this.
We checked out the 'tunnels' in the Nortel Networks section
and the locomotives.
She was a really good sport and trying out the Vandegraff generator to make her hair stand up. She was shy at first, but the boys coaxed her into it.
What visit to Canada would be complete without a hockey picture. Here she is with Monkey at the hockey cut out.
They really enjoyed her visit and we will all miss her greatly.