Here are a couple of videos.
Molly trying the ABC song, which is particularly difficult with one's brother shouting random letters in the background.
And here they are modeling two of their fabulous new birthday hats - courtesy of Beth. Molly in the magician's hat, complete with secret compartment for the hidden bunny trick. Jacob in, well, his kind of speaks for itself.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Camping and Ball Games
Here's a picture of us camping at Bass Lake last week. It was all going so well until the 4:30am wake-up.
Here are the kids playing with an imaginary ball at the dinner table. I should have videoed the previous session, when they had a heated disagreement about who had the ball (resolved by introducing a second imaginary ball - ahh, I am a genius sometimes).
I made fajitas last night, which I expected to be a big hit because for a two-year old, it consists of dipping vegetables and fajita shells into various dips. Instead, the kids just ate spoonfuls of the dips (salsa, sour cream, guacamole). At one point I asked Jacob whether he liked fajitas - he replied, with a sommelier's disdainfully raised eyebrow, "quite yummy". Because I laughed, everything has now become "quite yummy".
Here are the kids playing with an imaginary ball at the dinner table. I should have videoed the previous session, when they had a heated disagreement about who had the ball (resolved by introducing a second imaginary ball - ahh, I am a genius sometimes).
I made fajitas last night, which I expected to be a big hit because for a two-year old, it consists of dipping vegetables and fajita shells into various dips. Instead, the kids just ate spoonfuls of the dips (salsa, sour cream, guacamole). At one point I asked Jacob whether he liked fajitas - he replied, with a sommelier's disdainfully raised eyebrow, "quite yummy". Because I laughed, everything has now become "quite yummy".
Saturday, July 11, 2009
A Few Catch-Up Observations
1. When taking two 2-year-olds for their first ever camping trip, it is good to stick close to home. That way, if the boy wakes up at 4:30am, inconsolable because he's in a tent, then you can just drive home and come back in the morning to pick up your stuff.
2. It's a bad sign if your kids' favourite gleeful expression becomes "Molly/Jacob run away". But phooey to those parents who insist that if you never chase your children then they never run away. Jacob never even looks back over his shoulder. He would run to Toronto if I didn't chase him down.
3. It's particularly bad if running away coincides with becoming tall enough to press elevator buttons. In Halifax, the kids took off down the hotel hallway while I was unfurling the stroller. When I got to the elevator bay, there was Molly, but no Jacob. He was in an elevator. Fortunately when I (somewhat frantically) pressed the elevator button, the door opened to revealed a grinning boy.
4. Folk festivals (Mariposa, last weekend) with 2-year-olds aren't the same as folk festivals as a carefree pre-children adult. We had a lot of fun, but I don't remember hearing much music. Seeing the Skydiggers was quite a trip down memory lane - I must have seen them 25 times during undergrad and hadn't given them a single thought since. Steven Page needs to find a new band, and fast. His only applause was for old Barenaked songs, and he sounded hollow playing solo. I've been enjoying the Luke Doucet and Good Lovelies CDs that I picked up.
5. Our old Gambier property sale went through last week, so we now have some cash burning a hole in our pocket. It is earmarked for a place here in town, but that may not happen until next summer. I felt sad about visiting Gambier for the last time, and about listing it for sale, but not so nostalgic about finally selling it. I was worried all of last winter that a tree was going to crash through the roof, and it's just too far away to be practical. Lots of great memories though, and I'm glad we were able to take the twins there.
6. Can't wait for Dan & Alison to move to Toronto later this summer. They bought a fantastic looking place and it's going to be great seeing them every few weeks instead of a couple of times a year.
7. M&J seem to be getting over their water issues. We're going to the splash pad every day and we were wading in Georgian Bay, out near Collingwood yesterday. Swimming lessons start the first week of August, so we should be de-traumatized by then.
8. We started Playball last week. A bunch of two-year olds crawling through hoops, chasing balls, running to "the blue square", etc. Followed by french fries in the park. Now that's living.
9. In case anyone thinks I have it tough (what, nobody?), I have a sandals tan on my feet for the first time in my life. Which is impressive for the guy who Darryl likes to deride as "the only person to move to Africa for 3 years and come back whiter than he left". Which is tough, coming from a Finn.
2. It's a bad sign if your kids' favourite gleeful expression becomes "Molly/Jacob run away". But phooey to those parents who insist that if you never chase your children then they never run away. Jacob never even looks back over his shoulder. He would run to Toronto if I didn't chase him down.
3. It's particularly bad if running away coincides with becoming tall enough to press elevator buttons. In Halifax, the kids took off down the hotel hallway while I was unfurling the stroller. When I got to the elevator bay, there was Molly, but no Jacob. He was in an elevator. Fortunately when I (somewhat frantically) pressed the elevator button, the door opened to revealed a grinning boy.
4. Folk festivals (Mariposa, last weekend) with 2-year-olds aren't the same as folk festivals as a carefree pre-children adult. We had a lot of fun, but I don't remember hearing much music. Seeing the Skydiggers was quite a trip down memory lane - I must have seen them 25 times during undergrad and hadn't given them a single thought since. Steven Page needs to find a new band, and fast. His only applause was for old Barenaked songs, and he sounded hollow playing solo. I've been enjoying the Luke Doucet and Good Lovelies CDs that I picked up.
5. Our old Gambier property sale went through last week, so we now have some cash burning a hole in our pocket. It is earmarked for a place here in town, but that may not happen until next summer. I felt sad about visiting Gambier for the last time, and about listing it for sale, but not so nostalgic about finally selling it. I was worried all of last winter that a tree was going to crash through the roof, and it's just too far away to be practical. Lots of great memories though, and I'm glad we were able to take the twins there.
6. Can't wait for Dan & Alison to move to Toronto later this summer. They bought a fantastic looking place and it's going to be great seeing them every few weeks instead of a couple of times a year.
7. M&J seem to be getting over their water issues. We're going to the splash pad every day and we were wading in Georgian Bay, out near Collingwood yesterday. Swimming lessons start the first week of August, so we should be de-traumatized by then.
8. We started Playball last week. A bunch of two-year olds crawling through hoops, chasing balls, running to "the blue square", etc. Followed by french fries in the park. Now that's living.
9. In case anyone thinks I have it tough (what, nobody?), I have a sandals tan on my feet for the first time in my life. Which is impressive for the guy who Darryl likes to deride as "the only person to move to Africa for 3 years and come back whiter than he left". Which is tough, coming from a Finn.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The Never-Ending Birthday
Well, there are two of them, so perhaps it's excusable to spread their birthday out over a period of weeks (many weeks).
This afternoon was a birthday party with their buddies: Nicholas, Silas, Jamie, Sara, Julian, Levon, Catherine, Julian, Elizabeth. And the ringleader of activities, cupcake decorating, etc. was their visiting grandma.
- Here's Jacob playing "Jump Over the Candlestick". When Kate got home from work, and heard this would be on the list of activities, she asked, apparently unconcerned, whether the candle would be lit.
- You get a sense here of the general chaos of a 2-year-old party. Not for the faint of heart. You'll notice the adults are mostly drinking alcohol to cope.
This afternoon was a birthday party with their buddies: Nicholas, Silas, Jamie, Sara, Julian, Levon, Catherine, Julian, Elizabeth. And the ringleader of activities, cupcake decorating, etc. was their visiting grandma.
- Here's Jacob playing "Jump Over the Candlestick". When Kate got home from work, and heard this would be on the list of activities, she asked, apparently unconcerned, whether the candle would be lit.
- You get a sense here of the general chaos of a 2-year-old party. Not for the faint of heart. You'll notice the adults are mostly drinking alcohol to cope.
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