Goose and Maverick

The boys and I stopped by the Aviation museum since we found ourselves in the East end. we picked the perfect time and day, as just as we were coming in they were about to start the ejection seat demonstration. Big C took a 'Flintstone-style' ride-in airplane to where the demonstration was.Guess who was the first to fire their hand up in the air to volunteer? Monkey!

The boys had a great time finding out about airplane  safety and how the seat worked. I can only imagine how soon it will be until Big C tried to make his own out of things that he 'can use' and rescue from the recycling bin!
Here are the boys trying out the pilot masks after the demonstration.

Finally, here's Big C with the Monarch Butterfly hang glider that he made at the arts and crafts area before we left. He sat quietly colouring and working so hard on it for a good 30 minutes. He is so proud. We'll be sure to go back and visit soon!

Thankfully, Big C went to CHEO on July 6th to have his cast taken off and a re-examination performed. The doctor took a look at the x-rays and then tested Big C's foot to see how he reacted to pressure all over both feet. After Big C commented that things felt the same on both feet, he was given a clean bill of health and sent home - cast free. Bring on the cottage! (no showers in a bag, no cast shield in the leg and no worries out on the boat)

Big C breaks his 4th metatarsal

Big C had a super Canada Day, however he had an unfortunate turn of events on one of the bouncy castles. He did a huge cannonball off the top of a big inflatable tower, and then when he jumped down to the ground he came up with a few tears. Being the tough guy that he is, daddy thought that he could walk it off and it would get better. There were no signs of swelling and he wasn't guarding it when daddy pushed all over this foot, so we continued on with our day. He went home for a rest with mommy and even went swimming later in the day at the pool party.
The next morning it had swollen a little, so daddy wrapped it up tightly. Mommy suggested that we get it x-rayed just to be sure. Daddy n Big C headed off to the Queensway-Carleton and were expecting to spend a lot of time waiting around since it was still the holiday weekend.
We flew through triage and registration and had our x-ray done in 20 minutes after our arrival. Then the waiting started as we waited for the x-rays to be viewed. Big C was in good spirits and played his DS and daddy's iPad as the time flew by. He drew some pictures for mommy and was the talk of the waiting room.  The doctor came by and told us that it looked like there was a little break in his 4th metatarsal, but wanted to confirm with the head radiologist that it was in fact a break. Here are some shots that he took with daddy's camera (set to kaleidoscope) while daddy found a phone to fill mommy in our progress.The confirmation came through and we were off to get a cast put on.
The tech showed Big C how the saw worked that would remove his cast (after Big C asked 'what's that?') and as a big surprise, grandpa showed up! His presence, as well as the yogurts and plums he brought,  were greatly appreciated by our little guy.
We decided on the fiberglass cast as he'd be able to walk out of the room with it (plaster casts won't allow him to bear weight on it at all for 3 days, that simply doesn't work for a 6-year-old). He got to choose his colour - white, blue or glow-in-the-dark (GLOW IN THE DARK!!!). Big C listened to the instructions well, stayed very still and had a smile on throughout the process.
Here is our tech getting Big C prepped with the internal sock
Then putting on the first layer
Using his shoulder as a brace to square the cast and make sure that it would be at the proper angle
and finishing things up
Big C tested it out and walked around right away since the fiberglass sets so quickly.
He was quite pleased with how things turned out, but will be taking things easy (with his older brother being a big help) over the next few days. Mommy is already on solutions to allow him to swim at the cottage and be in the boat, so we're sure that this won't slow him down one bit!

Mommy's Spartan

Mommy and her friends went and played in the mud last Saturday just for fun.

This is a "before" shot.

 They did the 5K "Spartan Sprint" and got good and dirty. 

These are the "after"

 A fun and fabulous time was had by all.  You can anticipate seeing this on the roster for next year too!

The Jr Sprtan

So Big C and his long time buddy BNK did the Jr Spartan race this afternoon.  The rain held off just long enough that they got to do their tour on the obstacle course.

 Big C was pretty convinced that he wanted to participate...right up until today, after I registered him.  He then became quite concerned that it was going to be muddy.

 Luckily the kids event wasn't the slightest bit muddy and he had an absolute blast.  Monkey was at overnight cubs camp but wanted to be at the Jr Spartan too.

 He was very, very proud to have earned his medal.

We're all so PROUD of Saje

Saje has been training for a long time for the half marathon that was held during the Ottawa Race Weekend. She has spent countless early mornings (sometimes before 6....am!) and rainy evenings training hard for this event. This past Sunday was the day to go out there and show the world what she had.
The boys and daddy packed up our gear to cheer our great lady on. We took up a spot at about the 18.5 km mark and were blowing our big red horns in eager anticipation. When Monkey screamed out 'I see mommy! I see mommy', we set into action. The boys passed her off some new fluids as she floated on by full of big smiles.
She later commented that this really gave her a boost. She then was cheered on by her father with about 2 km to go as we scurried across the footbridge to see her again before the finish line.
It was delightful to see her in good spirits and good health.
Here she is as she came down to about the 100 m to go mark. She was just beaming and full of pride. She looked super and had really paced herself superbly.


She crossed the line on the very early side of her target range, much to her delight. She is soooo proud of her time and her accomplishment, as are we. She met up with her mom at the finish line and got lots of gentle hugs from her boys.
She then met up with her friends and we took some photos of the three competitors.
Way to go sweetheart. We are so very, very proud of you!

The 3 Little Pigs

When Monkey was 4, I read him The 3 Little Pigs with a few edits. When the wolf went to the straw house, the book may have said that the wolf ate the pig, but the words read to Monkey were, "And the pig ran to his brother's house." The same thing happened at the house of sticks. At the end of the story, when the wolf goes down the chimney in the brick house, and falls into a pot of boiling water, Monkey heard that, "the wolf didn't get any apples." For a four-year-old, this meant no nightmares. ... Well now, Monkey is 8 -- time for the truth. I gave him the book and he read it for himself. He was so amused by the lines where I had crossed out the nasty stuff and had pencilled in the "softer" version. He has promised no nightmares.

Family race day

Our family registered for a local race.  Mommy in the 10K and the boys in the 2k.  Grandma joined the boys for the 2K since it was at the same time as mommy would be running and daddy had no interest in jogging anywhere if he was not being chased.

 Everyone had a great time and the boys were thrilled to each receive a medal for finishing.  Mommy came in under an hour and beat her previous personal best.

Daddy and Monkey's Day Out

On Monday it was Monkey's turn to have a day out with daddy. I also took the initiative to grab the National Gallery pass from the library, so we were off for our own adventure. We took the bus to the O-train and waited a few minutes for it to arrive. I still remember fondly when I took the boys at a very young age to ride the rails before I went off to work for the afternoon. In some ways it seems like yesterday, in others it seems ages ago. Here's Monkey and me at the beginning of the day, and then him waiting for the O-train to pull in. As always, he loves the tunnel. I love how his sense of humour is developing.(note the arms tied together in front of him and his hands poking out of the top).

We arrived downtown and checked out Chapters briefly. Monkey headed straight for the escalator. Then he checked out all of the Thomas stuff. Memories indeed. I'll miss this when he's a teenager (right?).
Next, we took to the gallery.
We liked this photo the best. It looked like the spider was growing right out of the top of his head. They had an amazing program called 'artissimo' on. It's phenomenal and I suggest it to any and all parents. There were 8 different activities to choose from. Monkey chose the 'Feely Box' and the 'Audio Sound Tour'.
For the Feely Box activity we were given a box that contained 6 items in an enclosed box with a a flap at one end and a map. We used the map to find the room in the museum that contained the picture which had all 6 of the items in it. It was actually quite challenging and made for a good long discussion. We finally agreed and then opened the box (as per the instructions) to match the items up to the picture. It was a super way to discuss art in a totally unique way and Monkey thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We also took the Audio Sound tour. An old-school mp3 player came with a map of its own. When you found the room that matched the colour-coded map, you entered the numbers for that room into the MP3 player and listened to the corresponding sound. You then searched that room for a picture that contained that sound. We each got an audio set up, so we discussed the sounds and then the pictures for each one. It was a great way to spend an hour or so working our way around the museum.
We stopped for lunch (at 2:30ish!) and then headed for the Peace Tower, another favourite of Monkey's. On the way, we passed by the drained canal. Neither Monkey nor I had seen this one before. We went up the elevator and checked out sights.
All too soon it was time to grab a hot chocolate and a muffin at Tim's and head home. We had a wonderful day of discussions about being a guy, artwork and the world in general. Likely my favourite conversation involved seeing the line-up at the Mission when we arrived downtown. I told Monkey how they were all waiting for their lunch, and that if they didn't wait in line that they wouldn't get lunch today. Monkey processed it a little and then said 'if it were me, I'd take two lunches.'. Surprised, I asked him why. He replied, 'because if I don't have lunch today, I probably won't have supper coming either'. I asked him how the last person in line would feel if he found out that he didn't get a lunch because they were one short. He was saddened. When I asked him what would happen if everyone at the line took two lunches using the same idea, it really sunk in how the system worked. He replied 'we're really blessed to have food every day'.
Blessed indeed. Considerably so when I think about the wonderful boys that we have together.