The summer has been good so far. After Ollie got better from the Hand, foot and Mouth and Hannah recovered from her illness everything has been going pretty well.
We have been spending a little bit of time with friends and neighbours. An early evening get-together in Mike and Rebecca's backyard was fun, with the kids playing around with water balloons. A few days later Holly came around to play with Hannah and had a great time. Unfortunately, they did decide that the exhaust pipe coming from our gas furnace was a pretty nice place to put some stones, so later that evening I had to cut the pipe with a saw to get out the small rocks and pebbles from inside and I have the new pipe and tools to make a complete repair when I get the chance, as I don't think the duct tape will suffice! Ollie's favourite thing at the moment is to wander around the neighbourhood picking up stones and sticks as well as taking in the cool artwork that has appeared in our back lane. Last week he attempted to lift some huge rocks and looked annoyingly at me as I watched and took photos of his efforts! Poor little pumpkin! haha
Backyard fun
The pipe!
The stones! In the pipe.
We also invited our mates Adam and Alena out to the cabin for a weekend. They came along with Jack and their new baby Norah and enjoyed a lovely couple of days on the island with us. Even though the lake is still flooded and you have to walk through a foot of water on top of the dock instead of lazing in the sun on top of it, we still had a fun time with the kids in the water. We also had a lovely afternoon boat trip with them and lots of bubble fun for the kids (and adults too)
Back in the city, Buffy and I managed to spend a nice day at the Winnipeg Fringe, seeing 5 completely different but great shows all in one day while the kids were at daycare. We had missed Fringe for the last two years so it was great to get back to it. We also spotted a poster for a dinosaur show in the planetarium the following weekend too, so Buffy got tickets for herself and Hannah and I got to spend an afternoon with Oliver which was lovely.
Buffy and Han waiting for the dinosaur show
This was all part of the biggest weekend of the summer!
Saturday was a trip to the zoo which we all love, including the great new Butterfly garden. Plus the dinosaurs, horses, apes, tiger and of course the Polar bears and the northern lights movie
Then the afternoon was the Dinosaur show followed by an hour at the Kids fringe, where we met Buffy and Hannah. Both the kids loved listening to the music and Hannah got her face painted while Oliver got a sun tattoo on his arm!
The next day was another big one - A trip out of town to the Prairie Dog Railway, A quaint old wild western style private railway with carriages that are almost a hundred years old. It takes a leisurely trip North about 20 kilometres out of the city and drops you at Grosse Isle, where there is an old-style heritage house and school to visit as well as crafts, ice creams, a playground for the kids and some lovely local food on sale. We were there on Family Fun day so there was music and games for the kids and a magician too! We all had a lovely time except when we had to come back on the train and Hannah was upset because she had made a new friend that she had to say goodbye to!
Here are a few more looks at a big weekend
The big overriding feeling from the last few weeks is that we have had fun. Hannah and Oliver are getting along much better with each other but also with other people. Hannah in particular has been making new friends on a daily basis and with her starting Kindergarten next month we are very excited to see how she gets on with it. I suspect she will be nervous at first but I am sure she will grow into it. We have had only a couple of night terrors/tantrums from her recently so we are very happy about that!
Last week at the cabin we also went on a fishing trip with Grandpa. Hannah was gifted a fishing rod for her birthday and it was decided that we should take it out on the boat while Grandpa went fishing and give it a try. The kids loved it and even though the one fish Grandpa caught had to be thrown back it was really nice to spend a morning on the lake and to see the kids having so much fun!
Things around the house have been busy too. The back porch needed a makeover, so one weekend when Buff and the kids went to the lake, I stayed behind for a couple of days and removed all the peeling paint and got things tidied up. We still have a bit of work to do, but with trips to the cabin and camping next weekend, it can wait! The only bad thing to happen with the porch was dropping a pole onto my toe. I was sure it was broken, but couldn't see due to the blood pouring out. But after it stopped I took a peek and it was just a cut! Yay.
I have to mention the fact that Hannah is very much enjoying painting and colouring at the moment. So much so that she is always keen to paint me - Usually with make-up or nail varnish. At the moment I am sitting on my lunch break with sparkly coloured nail varnish on the fingers of one hand and all of my toes. I don't really mind and actually, it makes me smile that she likes doing it. She puts so much effort into being careful with her little tongue hanging out! It would help if we actually had some nail varnish remover at home though. Maybe I should add it to the shopping list!
The kids are just fantastic at the moment. They are hard work because they are kids, but they are both a lot of fun to be around. Whether it's Oliver trying to drink my beer or climbing everything, chattering away and giggling or Hannah making up games and songs and doing funny voices it's all a lot of fun and we are all at a better place than we have been in a long time. We are really looking forward to camping next week and then the rest of summer!
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