2011 Army Run

I signed up to do the 5K Army Run for the second year in a row with two of our good friends. Unfortunately neither of them was able to do the run by race day-so I raced it alone.
Originally planning to do the race in 30 minutes or so, I got competitive come race day and wanted to beat my (pretty fantastic) time from last year of just under 28 minutes.
The boys and daddy came to cheer me on and it was great to know that they would be there near the finish line when I arrived. They had a wonderful time after the race playing with the military vehicles and the ambulances.I got an even better time this year and have no idea how I intend to do any better next year! I may just have to accept that I've peaked and go from there!!!

Our version of Healthy Granola Balls

Original recipe is from http://www.quietfish.com/notebook/?p=1642

Here’s my version … (it’s nut-free, and you can make this as organic as you want)

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flax
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground tumeric (because Canadian Living and Chatalaine have been raving about it and it tastes like nothing at all!)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup candy covered sunflower seeds (purchased at Bulk Barn)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pumpkin seeds (also from Bulk Barn)

1/2 cup agave nectar (or honey)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 can of drained pureed chick peas

1 cube of pureed beets

1 cube of pureed spinach

1 cube of pureed sweet potatoes

1. Preheat the oven (or toaster oven) to 350 degrees.

2. In large bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer), mix together everything from the oats, down to the ingredient above the honey/agave nectar . Make a well in the rest of the ingredients.

3. Roll in to small balls like cookies and put them on a cookie sheet, I used Pampered Chef stoneware.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes, but watch the baking time. If you leave them in too long they’ll be dry. I like mine a bit chewier. Cool.

If you try them let me know how they turn out for you! Any questions? Please let me know.

Honouring Jack - the boys and I head downtown

This past Wednesday I had an errand to run as our iPod had failed to turn back on. We took the O-train downtown and when I stopped by the Apple store we discovered that it got wet and was DOA :(
As we were already downtown, the boys asked if we could go to the clocktower. We decided to check it out, but since there was a lying in state of Jack Layton, it was closed for the day. I talked with the boys about it, and since we were in line already, the boys and I decided to wait and then pay our respects to a man who had worked so hard for our family and many other Canadian families. We discussed the role that politicians play, how hard they work and what Jack Layton had done for farmers, labourers and all Canadians.
We were interviewed by CBC cameras as you can see here (we're at about the 3:25 mark).
We waited for quite some time,but the boys and I had time to have lunch, play a little on my blackberry and just hang out with each other and the families around us.
It was a great day for a lesson in politics, hard work, respect and Canadiana.
As a reward for their patience we stopped for a Booster Juice on the way home.
Smiles on the outside for the boys met with smiles on the inside from a proud dad.

Ziplining!

To celebrate our recent anniversary we decided to have an adventure together in zip lining. We dropped off Big C for his own trip with his daycare and took Monkey (now tall enough for the kids course) to Aventure Lafleche.
Here we are in the parking lot getting fitted into our gear while Monkey decided to make a drawing on the ground of his girl Roxy. We did our practice with our little group of 5 climbers (which was awesome since we could move at a much faster pace than the regular group of 15 climbers) and then hit the course. Monkey was off like a flash and safely climbing amongst the trees.
Here are some of the shots from the day
and a few videos to boot.


What a wonderful way to spend our special day!

Monkey and Daddy's Day Out Together

This past week Daddy took Big C to daycare and Monkey got to choose the activities for the day. Here's how it all went down:
Start at Tim's and grab a chocolate chip muffin:
Enjoy the muffin on the bus (since it was FREE! - the ticket machine wasn't working so we rode for free)
Get a free yo-yo from a lady from Scotiabank who got on our bus and just started handing them out to all of the kids on board.
Hit downtown just in time for the changing of the guard (something that we always, always miss) - we had a primo viewing spot
Stop in at the memorial room - we just missed the W page Daddy wanted to see - argh!
Go up to the peace tower and catch the first ride up, so that we could see the end of the ceremony

Get a photo together - he's becoming such a smiler
Get a photo with some of the ceremonial guard
Check out the currency museum (also free!) - Monkey read the entire comic book-type story that they had on display about counterfeiting!

Get a photo at the Terry Fox statue - by Monkey's request

Get a photo with the guards at the War Memorial
Step at the canal for lunch.
Badger sighting! Badger sighting!Check out the Ottawa School of Art - take a fun photo
Hold the door open for strangers - most of them Pathfinders from Toronto who were very gracious
Take a photo with the moose
and a photo with the old car in one of the cell phone stores
Then decide - Beavertail or Booster Juice? Beaver tail or Booster Juice? Hmmmm....let's each get one of them and then share!
Take the O-train home
being sure to make funny faces when we go through the tunnel.
Thanks for a wonderful day together. Let's have lots more!

Castle-Building Part II

We decided to take our castles on to phase II - the painting stage. Thanks to some previous purchases by mommy and a gift of some tempura paints from Aunt H, we had lots of colours to choose from. Here are the boys getting down n dirty (thus shirtless) in finishing up their castles.