The Hazel Blog

Chinese New Year and Ice Rink

2012-01-22T14:25:00.001-05:00

Here are some photos of the festivities at Chinese school yesterday. Parties and dragons and fancy clothes, oh my!

Then we went to Lunarfest at Harbourfront with the Toronto cousins. After watching a shadow puppet show, the kids went up on stage to cast their own shadows. Here, in order, are Zoë, Molly, Jacob and Maeve.

This winter hasn't been conducive to rink building thus far. But Kate is giving it a go today. We'll see if the weather this week cooperates.

More Boy-Girl Twins

2012-01-19T23:11:00.000-05:00

With Zoë out of diapers (Yes!! Since Christmas!), our lives were beginning to seem a little simple. A little dull. Somewhat prosaic. So we've added two 8 week-old kittens into the mix. The boy is Paddington and the girl is Rochester, or Rosey. And they're painfully shy (who wouldn't be when surrounded by three loud, boister-monsters). Right now they're sleeping under a bookshelf and they've spent most of their 24 hours here behind the couch. I do pledge that the blog will not become inundated with cutesy videos of kittens batting balls of wool. But look at these little furballs!

We head down to Toronto tomorrow for Molly's pre-operative doctor visits. Her surgery is booked for next Wednesday. Although it's a routine and low risk procedure, I have a knot in my stomach that's not particularly pleasant. She seems pretty okay about it - more concerned about her post-operative casts and mobility than about the surgery itself.

Some St. Lucia Videos

2012-01-10T14:53:00.000-05:00

Don helping Molly to swim across the pool by herself for the first time.

Jacob exploding out of the waterslide

Molly ziplining

St. Lucia

2012-01-10T14:24:00.001-05:00

We spent the first week of the year in St. Lucia at the Coconut Bay resort with the whole family plus Beth, Don and the big twin cousins (Sean and Erin, who are now almost 10). It was pretty much a perfect trip.

The weather was warm, the food was good, we had two adjoining rooms and the kids all slept well in their own room, the lazy river was lazy, the waterslides were fun, Jacob's new favourite thing in the world is ziplining (there was a mini-course for little ones), Jacob's pirate obsession deepened with readings of Peter Pan and Swallows and Amazons plus a deep-sea fishing expedition, and all 3 kids improved their swimming with the help of the Swimming Family. The big cousins were spectacular - our guys followed them around from dawn to dusk and they never tired of the attention. Which left lots of adult time for us and Beth and Don.

Jacob thinks we should move to St. Lucia and if all the weeks would be like the last, it's hard to argue.

The whole gang at the restaurant.

Kate getting ready to go for a run. We arrived home at midnight on Saturday and the next morning she set a 20 second PB in a 5k race, in the cold. She's making it harder to mock her switch to a paleo lifestyle.

Cuddling with Aunt Beth

Happy twins. I asked if they mind being called "the twins". They rolled their eyes and said, "No not at all. We are twins."

Nothing like a cold beer on a hot day.

Lots of swimming.

Deep conversation between Zoë and Uncle Don

The kids really took to the whole concept of free drinks.

Don, Sean, Jacob and Kate on their deep-sea fishing trip. Jacob's captainish, far-away look-in-his-eye

And the zip-lining excursion.

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-10T13:32:00.001-05:00

I believe I made 3 resolutions last year:

1) Run a sub-4 hour marathon for my 40th birthday
In May, Kate and I did the Mississauga marathon, completing it in 3:52 in the miserable, rainy cold. I also set PBs for the 5k and half marathon. I ran over 1300km in 2011, which is like running from Orillia to Thunder Bay. Which sounds good unless you compare it to what Terry Fox did, on one leg.

2) Focus on more Chinese stuff as Zoë gets old enough to need/appreciate it
We have been heading to Toronto every weekend since September for Chinese language lessons for the whole family.And we had a resplendent celebration of Zoë's dragon day. Now I just need to teach myself mah-jong!

3) Blog at least once a week.
And I blogged a few more times than in 2010, but there were still some empty patches, like the past 3 weeks!

And for 2012? How about...

1) Make a significant improvement in my marathon PB at the Ottawa marathon in May (training program begins in earnest in a couple of weeks). Do my first Olympic distance duathlon in Gravenhurst. And learn to swim, at least well enough to not embarrass myself quite so much at the triathlon this summer.

2) Finally complete Zoë's "memory book" of our trip to China

3) Try to improve on the ratio of joyous to disciplinary moments with the kids.

4) More blogging than last year.

Christmas Season

2012-01-10T13:31:00.003-05:00

Christmas season is over. We're home from St. Lucia. School has begun again. So it's time to catch up on the blog.

For starters, here are a couple of shots of Kate celebrating her birthday, just before Christmas. 37 years old and getting more beautiful (and faster) every year.

Christmas was a blast, with little brother Ben and my parents joining us for the festivities. It was a rare green Christmas and the lake was unfrozen (Ben even went in for a crazed dip in the lake). Jacob's "bemote atoll zamboni" was the biggest hit of the day. "Remote control" is unpronounceable apparently. A major painting project is still underway, as part of the construction of castles/forts/pirate lairs. And lots of books, games, etc.

Here are the kids getting ready to attack the presents...

All 5 of us got snowshoes. Restricted to indoors on Christmas day but we've all been out on them since. The twins can run at full speed in them. We're planning a trek across the lake, but it's still not frozen solid all the way across yet.

A couple of wildlife shots.
Here's the bloody big beaver that took away all our saplings.

And a pair of bald eagles spent Boxing Day fishing off the edge of the ice. You'll have to take my word for it as my zoom isn't strong enough.

And then we celebrated the twins' half birthday (4 1/2) on Boxing Day, complete with a pirate ship cake.

And here's Zoë stealing centre stage as usual...

Jacob's First Goal

2011-12-21T23:47:00.000-05:00

Jacob's last hockey before Christmas included a surprise - a "real" game! So here's a video of his very first hockey goal (and if he has his father's genes, it may be awhile until the next one). Check out the sweet moves.

Being Bave

2011-12-21T15:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the kids came home from school explaining how Molly had gone up on stage at the school assembly because she's "bave", which is brave in twinspeak. I couldn't get much more out of them, but last night a few of the other dads from school said they'd heard Molly had been singled out in front of the school. And today we got the certificate home and an explanation from the teacher that Molly had received an award for Courage, related to how well she handled being in casts. I think two kids per class are singled out at each assembly for demonstrating some admirable quality. I hope she can continue to be bave for the upcoming surgery!

- Here we are at Zoë's nursery school Christmas party this morning. Kate holding the present Zoë made for us. And Zoë wearing a princess cape. Yes, the boys were given batman capes. Ah well.

And for a bit of artistic content. The lake tried to freeze on the weekend, but melted again on Monday (note: it was solid by December 7th last year). The remaining ice chunks all swept close to our shoreline and the wind blew them together all afternoon. It sounded like a massive xylophone or a symphony of triangles. So turn your sound up loud and see if you can hear it. I thought it was beautiful, but Kate is so angry that there is no snow or ice that she seemed quite unimpressed. So, you be the judge.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-10T18:11:00.001-05:00

I'd say our quiet Saturday was quite productive. Jacob and I watched the Habs win this afternoon. And Kate made a Christmas gingerbread house with the kids.

Sickness, Hockey, and Hugo

2011-12-10T14:09:00.001-05:00

We missed Chinese this morning as Jacob was up most of the night with a funny tummy, Kate has to work today, and I was too tired to contemplate driving to and from Toronto. Ah well, our mastery of the language will have to be delayed by a week. So we're having a quiet Saturday at home instead.

We took the girls to the family skating while Jacob was playing hockey last night. Zoë skated for the first time without a push-aid. And Molly is getting stronger on her feet, both on the ice and walking. She should be fully mobile just in time for her surgery and re-casting.

We also had a babysitter last night and saw Hugo in 3D. All the award nominees are yet to be released, but if there's a better movie this year it'll have to be great. We enjoyed reading the book with the kids last year, and were impressed with its format as much as anything (part graphic novel, part novel, relying on beautiful art to set the mood). The movie is magical though, and it's the first time I've seen 3D actually add to the viewing experience, not just as a gimmick. Big recommendation.

My Favourite Thing Today

2011-12-05T13:55:00.001-05:00

Molly has been having difficulty walking or running since her casts came off, which apparently is to be expected given that she didn't use any of those muscles for a month. But we still took all the kids skating on Saturday night and Molly was moving faster on ice than on land. And she was really excited and proud of herself.

At dinner or before bed we often take turns telling each other our "favourite thing today". That night, Jacob spontaneously said "You know what my favourite thing was today? Seeing Molly skating."

That boy is my favourite thing on so many days.

Molly's Feet Again

2011-11-29T13:28:00.001-05:00

We returned to Sick Kids again yesterday and the verdict is that the casts weren't doing enough to stretch Molly's achilles tendons. So she's scheduled for surgery on January 25th.

Bad News:
- Surgery isn't ever fun
- She'll need casts for 4-5 weeks after surgery, and they might have to be the long ones
- She'll need to wear AFO braces until she's about 6 or so. They would look something like this. They would fit inside her shoes, wouldn't prevent any activity and can be easily removed for something like swimming.

Good News:
- Her prognosis is excellent. He expects to get her ankles to 10 degrees past 90 degrees and doesn't expect that future surgeries will be necessary
- No casts from now until late January. Great for swimming in St. Lucia. Great for winter sports until then.
- Better to deal with all this stuff while she's 4 years old instead of later.
- As always, she's completely calm about all this stuff.

Visit With Santa

2011-11-27T10:46:00.001-05:00

We had our annual visit with Santa at Mariposa this morning, complete with cookie decorating, face painting, hot chocolate and marshmallows, and looks of wonder at the arrival of the bearded guy.

Requests to Santa:

Jacob - a pirate, a castle, and a zamboni

Molly - a princess and a fairy (yes, she's still a feminist work in progress)

Zoë - a pirate and 2 zambonis (later amended to a dinosaur and snowshoes)

What Passes For Excitement Around Here

2011-11-25T21:28:00.001-05:00

I should lead with answers to some questions I've received on recent posts.

While Molly is undoubtedly a genius, I may have misrepresented her talents a little. She did write that "story" and came up with the words herself, but we helped with the spelling of almost every word. She knows maybe 20-30 words (and just as many Chinese symbols!), but would not have been able to make "dispatcher" a recognizable word.
Kids passports arrived in the mail today. Why passports you asked? St. Lucia with my sister's family for the first week of January. And hopefully a visit to Tiff and Eric in upstate New York in 2012 (if I write it then hopefully I'll make it happen).

On with the exciting events of our lives:

1. Beaver attack. A decent-sized tree fell down outside our house on Halloween. Possibly aided by a beaver's gnawing. We axed it into about 4 logs and limbed it. The next two nights the beaver(s) dragged the logs away. A few nights later it(they) took down 4 saplings right outside the back door. The beavers seem to be building a lodge (surely not a dam?!) in the little waterway that separates our "island" from the mainland. None of the lost trees were favourites and our view is quite improved so no major loss (yet).

2. Sleep habits. Zoë has always had sporadic but regular difficulty getting to sleep. For the past few months this has involved temper tantrums, jumping out of bed, raging for 5-60 minutes. This was driving us crazy because there was nothing we could do to calm her down or prevent the problem or help fix it. During our recent visit to Priya and David's they suggested a reward program. Mild skepticism was vastly outweighed by helpless frustration so we gave it a shot. Every night of going to sleep with no tantrum earned her a star and a Melissa & Doug stamp. Six stars meant she earned a night sleeping in Molly and Jacob's room. She succeeded 6 out of the first 7 nights! And in the subsequent two weeks, there have only been one or two minor incidents. A set of six stamps cost $11. So now we're kicking ourselves for not doing something like this earlier! And Priya and David are our new heroes! Problem solved, until the next problem.

3. Books. We seem to have caught up on our tv shows (Downton Abbey, Justified, Mad Men, Treme, and two vampire shows that I'm probably too embarrassed to mention by name). So I've been reading more books.

The Sisters Brothers, Patrick DeWitt. Very rare (for me at least) for a book to garner so many awards and still be a great read. This is old fashioned western. True Grit meets Lonesome Dove. With just enough literary stuff to justify a bunch of masters theses (and apparently enough to satisfy the stuffy bunch who give out awards). The brothers themselves are great, unforgettable characters.
The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes. Julian Barnes is smarter than you. And he'll smugly remind you of this on every page. That's my usual opinion anyway. I thought his A History of the World contained 2 1/2 brilliant chapters and 8 going-through-the-motions ones. Arthur and George was too clever for its own good too. And Flaubert's Parrot got the throw-across-the-room treatment. So, I'm not a fan but he can write so well that I gave him another chance. And The Sense of An Ending has some really thought-provoking passages and messages about memory and perception and perspective. I can see why it won the Booker. But I can't really recommend it, unless you're into that kind of thing.
Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon. Loved it. If the crime/detective genre had more books like this I'd be all over them. Great set-up. Imagine Israel lost the 1948 war and the Jews are given a 60 year lease for Sitka, Alaska. That lease is coming to an end so the community is in disarray. And our drunken, detective protagonist is working his last case. It's brilliant and funny.

And if you're looking for book recommendations, my other 2011 great reads were:

City of Thieves, David Benioff. During the siege of Leningrad, two young men are arrested for looting and face a "choice" of death for treason or completion of an impossible mission - to find a dozen eggs for the army colonel's daughter's wedding cake. Best page-turner I've read in a long time. Just a great story.
Hunger Games trilogy. Can't wait for the upcoming movie. This isn't just Young Adult Fiction, it's gripping, imaginative, powerful stuff. And yes I do channel my inner Katniss Everdeen every time I'm struggling on a long run.

Two New Casts

2011-11-15T13:55:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of photos of Molly at Sick Kids with her new casts on. Check out the stylish pastels!

Her feet/ankles seem to be responding to the casting but it's still 50-50 as to whether she'll need surgery. We go back again in two weeks. As always she's being a trooper about the whole thing - quite unfazed. It helped that the kids (and Kate) had a fun morning with Alison, Dan and the cousins, while I went to the passport office (new passports for all the kids, including Zoë's first Canadian one).

Halloween Photo

2011-11-13T12:23:00.001-05:00

Oops, forgot to post this at Halloween. A cowboy on horseback, a flower fairy and an alligator. Other Halloween iterations included Jacob as a pirate and Zoë as a dog, unicorn and lion.

And in case you're thinking that Junior Kindergarten doesn't involve any real learning, here's Molly's latest writing sample.

Jacob Hockey Video

2011-11-13T08:11:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, Jacob had his first hockey session with sticks. Molly had to stop playing this year because of her casts (this point may seem obvious but Kate keeps trying to concoct crazy schemes for her to be able to skate in her casts).

Here's a video to show where Jacob's at - already a big improvement from the start of the year. And he LOVES hockey.

Remembrance Day for 4 Year Olds

2011-11-11T15:43:00.001-05:00

I was a little nervous that the school's version of November 11th might differ significantly from my pacifist tendencies. For example, there is a Canadian Forces poster on the Remembrance Day bulletin board that looks like a recruiting poster to me. But, from what I can gather, the school assembly focused mostly on peace, the impact of war on families, etc. The twins even came home with the story of Sadako Sasaki and her origami cranes.

Two exceptions (and the school is probably responsible for the first, but definitely not for the second!):

1. The kids are insisting that Canadian soldiers are always the good guys and their job is to tell everyone to "drop their guns". Wouldn't that be nice.

2. Jacob: "There's one good thing about war. Poppies grow when there's a war."

EDIT:

Subsequent to this post, the twins came into the kitchen where I was making a coffee.

M&J: We learned a song at school about the soldiers
Me: How did it go?
M&J: The soldiers went to war, the soldiers went to war, they went to war and died for us, the soldiers went to war
J: But they didn't die for us. We didn't tell them to go to war
M: We should make a better song
M: How about, "The soldiers went to war, and they didn't die." That's a better song.
J: It would be better if it was "The soldiers didn't go to war, they didn't go to war, they didn't go so they didn't die, they didn't go to war"

We appear to have survived the school system for another day!

Building Blocks

2011-11-07T21:28:00.000-05:00

In a rare calm moment, Kate and the kids constructed a Kapla Blocks extravaganza. Definitely our best, most consistently-enjoyed toy purchase.

Short Cast Video

2011-11-07T10:23:00.000-05:00

Here's the little video showing Molly in action on her new short casts.

We had a fabulous weekend at David and Priya's. Not many friends will host a family with 3 young kids, knowing that everyone is going to wake up an hour earlier than normal because of the time change. And we don't sleep on good days! But fun was had by all.

New Casts

2011-11-05T13:33:00.000-04:00

We were back to Sick Kids yesterday, and, earlier than expected, Molly is out of the long cast. The doctor was happy with the "tweaking" of the positioning of her right foot. So now the focus is on stretching her achilles in both ankles. Here's a picture of her in the two new short casts. Check out the hot new colours:

And see what she can do in them. Quite a difference.

Video will have to wait...oops

Zoë's Dragon Day

2011-11-01T14:12:00.001-04:00

On Sunday we celebrated Dragon Day, marking two years since Zoë joined our family. Alison and the cousins were up from Toronto to join in the fun.

- Dragon Day breakfast of pancakes, fruit and ice cream!?

- Presents!! Warm pj's and housecoat as Winter Is Coming. Plus a sign for her door.

- Kate's masterpiece: a dragon for Dragon Day

- A Great Wall of China, castle-cake, being decorated by the cousins

- The full dragon, on parade. The Chinese dragon is believed to live underground, with the mountains being his scales and the wind his breath. So, for a Chinese-Canadian dragon, each piece shows a different part of the Canadian landscape, with mountains, prairies, forests and ocean. Yes, Kate is going for the "best Chinese mother" award.

- And here's a rousing rendition of "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain", which we sing every Dragon Day, inspired by Anne Tyler's hilarious adoption novel - Digging to America.

Molly the Indomitable Force

2011-10-31T13:51:00.000-04:00

On Friday we went to Sick Kids for a second opinion on Molly's feet (actually about a sixth opinion if you count all the health professionals we've consulted in the past few months). Our new ortho guy seems fantastic and under his advice we decided to proceed with re-casting Molly's feet. The only issue with her left foot is the stiffness of her ankle, so she is in a short cast (hot pink!) whose only purpose is to stretch her achilles. The positioning of her right foot needs a little tweaking in addition to the achilles stretching, so unfortunately her right leg is in a full leg cast. We'll be going back to the hospital every week or so to have the casts changed (she can pick different colours each week) and she should be into two short casts after about 3 weeks and out of the casts entirely after about 8-10 weeks (depending on how they respond). And at some point during or after the casting, it will become apparent whether she requires surgery (which would mean more casts during the recovery period).

We're confident that we've made the right long term decision, but it is not going to be much fun for her over the coming months. She isn't in any pain, just some discomfort, but the logistics are quite staggering. The full leg cast is bent at the knee and her foot is positioned outwards at quite a dramatic angle. The hospital staff all said that kids figure out a way to be mobile, but we didn't really see how it would be possible. But within two days she is walking, climbing stairs, riding the push-bike and even playing soccer (see video below!!). I went to school with Molly this morning just to talk with her teacher, who seemed nicely unfazed and very supportive. So Molly is spending today at home but the plan is for her to return to school tomorrow. Her attitude has been fantastic but she is definitely scared about the social side of returning to the classroom.

Unicorn-Aligator Pie

2011-10-26T13:39:00.000-04:00

I think Dennis Lee would approve of this unitelligible yet adorable version...

Christmas Wishes Already

2011-10-17T14:12:00.000-04:00

Jacob: My Tom Brady shirt is too small for me
Me: That's right. Zoë wears it now.
Jacob: I should get a new one. Do we have enough money?
Me: Maybe you should ask for one for Christmas
Jacob: No. I've been really wishing for something else for Christmas
Me: What's that
Jacob: I think I'm really ready for it now. I'm big enough.
Me: What is it Jacob?
Jacob: A zamboni
Me: Umm, how big would this zamboni be?
Jacob: The same size as the one in the hockey arena
Me: What would you use it for?
Jacob: Cleaning the ice at the hockey arena (thinking: duhh, what are you dumb?)

But despite elaborate Christmas wishes, here's an example of why there is only one Jacob. Last Wednesday night, after Molly had a rough first night of hockey, she had a minor meltdown at bedtime because she wanted to be the first in her pajamas and Jacob had already put his on. So, he says "it's okay Molly" and rips his pajamas off and waits for her to get hers on first.

We've been to public skating three times since last Wednesday to try to ensure that this week's hockey goes a little better for Molly (and because Kate has signed up for a women's hockey league and is very nervous!). Molly hadn't skated in full hockey gear before, and fell over right away and couldn't get back up, and then just got overwhelmed by the whole thing. But she's improving already and I'm hoping it will be happier this time. Her attitude has been amazing though - she wants to keep going to the rink and keep practicing. Jacob did great at the first hockey practice and doesn't want to get off the ice when we're ready to leave the free skate.

Kate and I did a half marathon yesterday in beautiful but windy conditions. I finished in 1hr 44min, which is a 4 1/2 minute personal best, and more importantly was "only" 4 minutes behind my lovely wife. I'm gunning for her!

Hockey Time!!

2011-10-03T14:13:00.000-04:00

We hit the free skate yesterday. Molly and Jacob looked good, getting ready for their hockey season which starts next week. By the end, they were both making forward progress without an aide. But the star of the show was Zoë - this was her first time ever on skates. She's a natural...

We spent Saturday down in the city. Chinese school in the morning, High Park in the afternoon, and dinner with the cousins plus Mike & Joanna and their guys. Loving our weekly forays into the big city.

The twins didn't go to school Friday so while Zoë was at nursery school, the 3 of us went for a hike at Scout Valley (a little wooded reserve on the edge of town).

And Friday night we had a babysitter and made it down to Toronto to see David Francey with Kate's brothers. He's always been one of our favourite acts but it seems like he hasn't written a good song since he got famous. But we still enjoyed his old stuff and the night out.

Picture Day

2011-09-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

Today was picture day at M&J's school, but which of the kids looked the coolest.

This one...

We bought hockey equipment and sticks for the twins yesterday afternoon. Yes their on-ice careers begin right after thanksgiving! We're going to try everything on for some road hockey this afternoon, so I'll see if I can get some photos of the little warriors.

Biking and Chinese

2011-09-25T22:04:00.000-04:00

Our theory is that with twins you only have to teach one of them how to do something. Inevitably, the other catches up within a week. Note: this theory may only apply if you teach the laid-back twin first. Teaching the intense twin first may have the opposite effect.

When my parents were visiting last weekend, Kate and I got away to Stratford for a night. When we got home, Jacob had learned to ride his bike. He was so matter of fact about it that my folks assumed he had been doing it for months. Molly seemed to retreat from her bike and chose to go by tricycle for a few sessions. But she couldn't stand it for long and as of today she can ride too.

So here is a video of the two of them riding their two-wheelers.

Molly is quite proud to be the eldest twin (by a minute or so) and loves to tell people that Zoë is the youngest while she is the oldest. She has taken to declaring that Jacob is therefore the Mediumest. Which is my favourite new word this month.

Jacob is also the mediumest by height as Molly seems to have a noticeable advantage. But Molly is the mediumest by weight as Jacob has crossed the 40lb threshold a pound ahead of her.

Chinese lessons are going great. The twins' teacher took me aside after class to say that they're doing well, "and Molly, she is really good" (said while tapping her head with an impressed look). Kate is laying claim to Molly's brain, and it's hard to argue when the two of them can memorize a Chinese song like it's nothing.

And Zoë seems to be having a "Chinese-ness" awakening, coinciding with the beginning of Chinese school. There is a lot of talk from her about the rest of the family being "xiao Chinese" (a little) while she is "da Chinese" (big).

We turned our Saturday Toronto excursion into a visit to the Botanical Gardens with Dan & Al & cousins and then dinner down at their place. So our Chinese school plan seems to be working on all fronts.

Last of the Summer Photos

2011-09-13T22:23:00.001-04:00

Here are three photos that didn't get posted previously.

They pretty much sum up our 1st fabulous summer on the lake

- Messing around in boats

- Bumming around on the dock

- Dissecting our triathlon performances

Ni Hao Lao Shi (Hello teacher!)

2011-09-13T22:14:00.000-04:00

As if JK wasn't enough schooling, we started Chinese school on Saturday. Molly and Jacob have 2 hours in a 4-5 year-olds class. Enroute to North York we told the kids to say Ni Hao when they met their teacher. Jacob said, "but then she'll think we're Chinese" and Molly retorted "no Jacob, we have blond hair". So the kids go to the classroom and say ni hao, then the teacher launches into a 5 sentence monologue in speedy Chinese. Jacob shoots me an "I told you so" look, but the two of them marched right in and apparently had a really fun time.

Kate and I joined Zoë in the parent & tot class, which is going to be more than enough learning ... for the two adults. We were the only whiteys in that class, though there were a few in the twins'.

I think it's going to be a great family experience, learning something new all together, while embracing Zoë's original language and culture. Plus it will get us down to the big smoke every weekend, which should mean that we'll see much more of our friends and family in Toronto.

School Time

2011-09-13T22:03:00.000-04:00

Molly and Jacob started Junior Kindergarten last week. They met their teacher on Wednesday and began school for real on Thursday. JK is full time every day at their school, but I'm pulling them out every day at 1pm (except they go full days on Mondays). They are exhausted but loving it. They've been excited to go to school every day so far. Two of their best buddies, Julian and Silas, are in their class. Their teacher and ECE both seem really nice. No drama at all yet.

Except for Zoë, who couldn't believe she wasn't going to school with M&J. Thankfully her nursery school started yesterday, because until then there was a constant stream of "where's my school, where's my backpack, where's my teacher, where's my gymnastics (started today)". On Friday, she insisted on wearing her own backpack right into the playground to drop the twins off at school. Then once they filed into the building with their class, Zoë went up to the door to try to get in too. She's seriously going to have a fit when she finds out that she doesn't get to start big-kid-school next September either.

- Here are Molly and Jacob getting ready to go meet Miss Burt on Wednesday. The boy has his game face on.

Late Summer in Thunder Bay

2011-09-13T21:49:00.000-04:00

I'll post some photos from our trip to Kate's parents before getting into the 1st week of school...

- For the first time since the twins were babies we decided to drive to Thunder Bay. Fifteen hours straight through. And it was... uneventful, fun and easy... seriously! We did cave in and buy a DVD player for the minivan, but didn't even need it much. Kate organized a million activities for the kids and they were great. Amazing what a difference a year makes - it was so much easier than our drive to Maine last summer.

-We spent most of the week out at camp and camped down on the beach every night (Zoë's first camping experience, and first for the twins that they can remember). And everyone slept well. Although the city boy (me) did complain about getting rained on, being frozen, not having a chocolate on my pillow, etc.

- The kids did their first ever canoe trip, in Quetico Park, down to The Pines. It was a few hours of paddling in either direction, with a play on the beach at the destination.

- And Kate and I got in lots of running and biking (which paid off with a half marathon PB for Kate last weekend in Wasaga!)

I managed to forget to bring my camera on the trip, but here are some iPhone shots...

- one of the eagerly anticipated highlights of any T-Bay trip is the tractor pull

- Kate exploring camp with the kids

- Check out the red and yellow shrooms!!

- She is only 2 1/2 so we're not completely drama-free just yet

- Shortly after returning home, Jacob was waxing rhapsodically about how he doesn't like anything "spensive" so he'll never need a job. Then after a few beats, a concerned look came over his face - "are boats spensive?"

- If you're Molly and Jacob, the only thing better being in a boat is jumping out of a boat

- We don't travel light!

- Back in Thunder Bay, we did some hiking

- Jacob trying to look intimidating?

- And the inevitable amethyst mine trip

Fun Photos

2011-08-27T15:07:00.000-04:00

We don't just do triathlons around here.

- Jacob swinging on the dock

- Chad and Meegan came by with a boat and took the kids out for rides. Molly and Jacob in the tube.

- Me trying not to crush Molly

- Zoë on the run

- Sean and Levon

- Kate and Jacob getting bounced

- Erin and Zoë and Molly

- On the tour ferryboat. The big twins and the little twins.

- Zoë having a bit of a tantrum. Her parents wouldn't provide her with limitless potato chips - the horror!

- Two strong men digging up the garden

- Kate takes the 5 cousins out for a canoe around the Island

The Inspiration

2011-08-27T14:49:00.003-04:00

First of all, I wasn't really dejected in that post-race photo. Just tired.
And I was being facetious about the grudge match - I'm much too smart to even pretend to challenge Kate or Beth to any kind of race!

This morning mom gave me the "what am I, chopped liver?", so I'd better complete the triathlon posts asap.

A year ago mom decided to start training for her first triathlon. And despite injuring her achilles a week before the big day, she not only completed the race but also came away with the first place plaque for the 60+ age group.

Don also completed the tri-the-tri, and with such ease that he may be tempted into the longer distance races next year. Sucker!

Here's the swim start. Mom's in the dark blue and light blue professional-looking tri suit at the water's edge.

- Mom emerging from the swim.

- And heading out on the bike. Still smiling.

- Note the young woman who mom's beating. She actually started the swim 6 minutes before mom!

- Don sprinting to the finish. Sean clapping in the foreground.

- Still grinning despite running on a painful ankle. She finished ahead of 85 people - yay mom!!

The Grudge Match

2011-08-25T23:06:00.000-04:00

I've come close to beating Kate on the road this year, so was this my chance to take her down in triathlon? And racing Beth too - a chance to avenge decades of ending up on the losing end of the stick.

It's too bad I didn't spend any time this year learning to swim. I'm pretty sure Kate and Beth were finished the bike course by the time I came sputtering out of the water. Ah well, there's always next year, as they say in Leaf Land.

- On the bright side, I did defend my title as The Whitest Man

- Kate and Beth looking confident before the swim

- Kate heading out on her bike

- And off on the run

- With Beth hot on her heels

- Mary and Mom - part of our large cheering section

- Who's Molly cheering for?

- All 5 cousins having fun

- Kate wins our family MVP award. And knocks another 2 minutes off her PB. Another 10 minutes and she'll be a contendah

- Beth wins our Most Improved Award, knocking about 8 minutes off her time from 2 years ago

- And what do I win? How about the I Survived Another Year Without Drowning Award

- I did set a PB by 4 minutes, but check out the dejected look in this photo. Dude, it's only a race.

Big Kids of Steel

2011-08-25T22:01:00.000-04:00

While the 4-5 year olds race was giggles and fun, game faces were on for the big twins' 8-9 year olds race.

- Happy family before the race. Don didn't look this calm before his own race the next day!

- Sean exits the water with an enormous lead. You would almost think that he's one of the best swimmers in Canada

- Beth and I watching the girls' swim. Is that Erin with another gigantic lead? Me wondering if I'm the only one with these genes who can't swim.

- You want game face? Don't mess with Erin.

- Sean cruising to victory

- Whole family celebrating in the rain

Triathlon Weekend - Molly & Jacob's Kids of Steel Race

2011-08-25T15:08:00.000-04:00

Tons of great photos thanks to Ryner and my mom. So, I'll break the weekend into a few parts.
Here's the Kids of Steel event on the Friday. Molly & Jacob did their first triathlons.

- Here they are devising some pre-race strategies

- These events always bring out the crazy fans - Uncle Don

- Getting ready for the race, while the fans stay dry

- Sean and Erin tell the little twins how to kick some triathlon butt

- Last minute cap adjustment from Mama

- Zoë spent the weekend saying "where's my triathlon" - here with Aunt Beth

- Me telling Molly "at least you can swim - I may well drown in my triathlon"

- Jacob in the swim. He's in the middle of the photo, with his chin just above the surface.

- Jacob getting some directions on how to get from the beach to his bike

- Pushing his bike through the transition area

- Molly running into future rival Mary-Grace in the water

- Molly pushing up the transition hill

- Jacob sprinting toward the finish line

- Finisher's medal around his neck and cowbell in his hand - ready to cheer Molly to the end

- Molly powering to the finish line

- The little triathletes with a proud Katie

Zoë turns Two and a Half

2011-08-18T14:32:00.000-04:00

If you had to sum up our 3 kids in 3 words (not an easy task), here is Kate's attempt...
Zoë has determination
Jacob has imagination
Molly has concentration

Chocolate cake to belatedly celebrate Zoë's half birthday.

Swiss Visit

2011-08-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

Lindsey, Serge, Jules and Margot visited us for the first week of August. Here are some photos...

- Pretty tough looking bike gang

- Zoë hard at work at the beach

- Jacob and Jules may look even more like twins than Molly & Jacob. There were lots of "are those triplets" comments

- Taking Jules out in the canoe

- The summertime view from our house. Yes, it's been a good summer!

- Discussing the construction project

- Dinner at French's. Apparently mostly ketchup was consumed.

"Christmas" is Coming - Better Catch Up on Summer Photos

2011-08-18T14:09:00.000-04:00

Triathlon weekend is almost upon us, which Kate routinely declares as being better than Christmas. This year its bigger and better than ever as the twins are going to do their first Kids of Steel triathlon, my mom is doing her first tri-the-tri (vs. Uncle Don), the big twin cousins are doing the kids race and Kate, Beth and I are doing the full triathlon. So, I'd better post some catch-up photos before those festivities start.

We'll start with our visit to Sandbanks and Montreal to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday:

- To warm up the crowd, here's a video of Molly practicing her soccer penalty kicks. The patented long run-up, and she buries it in the corner!

- The twins practising their jumps at the pool in Sandbanks

- Big twins and little twins on the dunes

- Swimming at Sandbanks

- The birthday boy!!

- All 5 cousins at the wildlife centre

Our "Christian" Education

2011-08-03T21:47:00.000-04:00

Lots of photos to catch up on from our trip to Sandbanks and Montreal, plus visits first from Greg and now from Lindsey & Serge. But no time right now, so ...

We were reading The Little Drummer Boy today (don't ask why the Christmas books are out in August).

Molly: Who's the baby again?
Me: Baby Jesus. Christians, like your friend Silas, believe God created everything and that Jesus was his son.
Jacob: What happened to that baby?
Me: He grew up and talked to everyone about what he believed about God and how God was his father. But the King didn't like having his power threatened, so he killed Jesus.
Molly: That wasn't very nice, to kill him.
Me: No, you're right.
Jacob: Jesus should have just moved to another town.

Hot Duathlon

2011-07-17T20:53:00.000-04:00

I picked the hottest day of the summer to complete my first duathlon (run, bike, run). Beat my target time, averaged 30km/hr on the bike for the first time and won my first medal for any kind of athletic endeavour since I was in high school! 2nd out of 10 men in their 40's!

This all came in the shadow of Kate's attempt at the Olympic distance triathlon yesterday. She hit a pothole on her bike and hurtled to the pavement, smashing her helmet and getting a nasty case of road rash from shoulder to calf. She is a bloody mess but no lasting damage. She was a trooper today and brought the 3 kids back to Gravenhurst to cheer me on.

June iPhone photos

2011-07-15T15:04:00.000-04:00

A selection of summer photos that I'm finally getting around to organizing

- In true Chinese style, Zoë is rocking the adult exercise equipment in the park

- Zoë on the Skuut bike. She refused to ride it until she found out that it meant getting to wear a helmet. Our girl's all about the gear. Now she rides it for 20 feet then climbs in the wagon. The twins ride their training wheeled bikes to and from the beach every day though (a mile each way), which exponentially improves the logistics of getting around.

- Cover art for their 1st album. In Vancouver.

- On the False Creek SeaBus

- With Shauna's kids (Devin, Neve and Roan) at Cafe Deux Soleils, just like the old days

- Molly and Zoë at the Sun Yat Sen gardens, which are beautiful and so tranquil

- Zoë looking very small at Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island

- The view from our cabin at Middle Beach Lodge

- Zoë doing some mountaineering at the beach

- Me and my kids (in Port Alberni)

- An early celebration of the twins' birthday with Luc, Lisa, Sara, Eric and Max

- Picnic at the Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park

- Heading back to the hotel from Chinatown, sporting their new outfits

New Watercraft and July iPhone photos

2011-07-15T14:28:00.000-04:00

I'm always forgetting to bring my camera with me, and never get around to uploading my iPhone photos. So here are some July catch-up phone photos.

Yesterday we picked up a kids' kayak. Along with the canoe we're now up to 2 watercraft. The twins set off and announced they were leaving home. They haven't quite mastered rowing in concert yet, but look out for the mixed pair sculls at the 2028 Olympics.

- The midway at the Canada Day festivities

- Zoë at the folk festival, dancing with a parasol

- burying Megan at Couch Beach

Folk Festival and Final Birthday Party

2011-07-12T21:50:00.000-04:00

We spent the weekend at the Mariposa Folk Festival. Gorgeous weather all weekend. The kids had a blast. We get to experience a little bit more of the music each year as the kids get older. But we do miss the Vancouver festival, where there is so much more music aimed at the under 80 crowd.

My favourite moment of the weekend. Zoë playing with a bouncy ball near the main stage. She throws the ball past a seeing-eye dog. The dog sees the bouncing ball and bounds away from its owner, grabs the ball and runs over to Zoë, leaving the blind woman completely stranded. Zoë stares down the working dog and says "My ball, my, my, my ball". At which point I sheepishly grab the ball out of the dog's mouth and shoo it back to its owner.

For those who aren't on Facebook with me, here are 2 photos of the twins in fantastic facepaint.

- On Friday morning we finally got around to having a 4th birthday party with the kids' friends. Pirate-themed of course.

- Kate captaining the pirate ship.

- The pirate ship cake

- The pirate ship cake about to be devoured pirate-style (i.e. no plates or cutlery)

- Would you mess with this pirate?

- Jacob and the boys digging for treasure (Nicholas, Will, Jamie and Julian)

Vancouver Island Photos

2011-07-04T21:27:00.000-04:00

After Tofino, we headed down to Duncan to visit Luc and his family. Most of these photos, though, are from our morning at the park in Ladysmith. In my next life I'll remember to bring my camera with me more often. I'll also have to check my iPhone camera to see if I have any post-worthy pictures there.

- Then it was off to Victoria to visit the kids' great aunt and uncle Joy and Cam. There were wagons and an ice cream maker. It doesn't get much better than that.

- Lots of naps in cars

- And on hotel beds

- Molly waking up from a nap

Photos from Tofino

2011-07-04T21:03:00.001-04:00

We spent 3 days in Tofino at Middle Beach Lodge on our recent BC trip. You go to Tofino for the storm watching but we had 3 spectacularly sunny days.

- A bunch of photos from Middle and Long Beaches

- I like these 3 as a twins series

- Inside our cabin at Middle Beach Lodge

- The view from our cabin

4 Year Olds Can Cook!

2011-06-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

Molly and Jacob (and Zoë) made us dinner last night. Lettuce boats, salad bar and cheese-filled scones. Now we just need to work on laundry, dishes and mowing the lawn.

- This video captures Molly the day before she turned 4.

And this one is pretty classic Zoë at almost 2 1/2

Back from BC - and twins turn 4!!

2011-06-29T21:12:00.000-04:00

We're back from BC and the twins have turned four, so there's lots to catch up on.

Our trip consisted of
- 3 nights on the Gastown side of downtown Vancouver, amid the pre-Stanley Cup loss hype and excitement (we had skipped town prior to the "riot"). Rides on the Skytrain to our old 'hood on the Drive. A visit to the aquarium.
- 2 nights at Middle Beach Lodge in Tofino. A ferry ride from Horseshoe to Nanaimo (the kids loved being up on the deck). A stop at Cathedral Grove amongst the enormous trees. The best hotel ever - we had a cabin overlooking the ocean, with a loft where the kids slept, an outdoor jacuzzi tub, yummiest breakfasts ever. Walks on the beach, including the kids stripping down to nakedness and swimming in the tidal "pond" on the beach. Digging on Long Beach, watching the surfers and kiteboarders. Three days of beautiful weather, definitely a Tofino first.
- 4 nights at Luc and Lisa's. We almost moved to Port Alberni with them after residency! How different might our lives be now? Their kids were fantastic with ours - we haven't stopped talking about Sara, Eric and Max (some of whom are referred to as "the udder brudder"). It was great having some non-hotel time in the middle of the trip. And our hosts were so welcoming (not easy with our gang!).
- 6 more nights in Vancouver. Kate was at her conference most of the time (well, maybe half the time). The kids and I walked to Stanley Park most days and played at the playgrounds and beaches, rode the story train at the new First Nations Village. We had dinners of Malaysian, Ukrainian, Thai, and Naam.

The flights were easy. Zoë didn't make a squawk in either direction - she was a little squirmy but happy. And the twins were content to read books and stare at the tv screen (a rare treat). They were fantastic for the whole trip - traveling with them just gets easier and easier.

Vancouver was beautiful and urban and multicultural and healthy and fun. I had to remind myself that it's grey and miserable for 6 months every year!

I'll start with some 4th birthday photos and then work back through the trip...

- It always takes at least two photos to get all three kids looking at the camera

- Kate attempting some strange pagan ritual whereby the enormous earth was pushed around the tiny sun 4 times. I imagine Galileo had similar issues with his wife sometimes, but if he was wise he kept them to himself.

- Molly's face says it all - "yes we are the most spoiled 4 year olds in the world". Grammy and Aunt Beth share heavily in this spoiling.

- Crash mat to jump on off the dock. Hopefully not the beginning of a diving career to match their cousin Erin's!

- All other presents had to be ignored until bubbles were opened and blown

- M&J's new harp, which Jacob is now completely obsessed with. He has a bright red, blistered finger from playing it non-stop. He now plays with a guitar pick.

- Fifty blows for four candles. Better stick to the harp cause it doesn't look good for the trumpet

- Molly gets them all first try of course

- And Zoë is both effective and enthusiastic

Graduation Day

2011-06-10T13:45:00.001-04:00

We are going to miss the last two weeks of nursery school as we're heading to BC. I'll try to post from there.

So today was Molly and Jacob's last day ever. Just as well since Molly declared yesterday that her legs had gotten too long for nursery school. Hard to believe they're off to junior kindergarten in the fall. Here's a picture of them with their 3 lovely teachers, Miss Laurie, Miss Brenda and Miss Lee.

And here are a few shots from the zoo trip on Wednesday...

Ear Update

2011-06-08T20:55:00.000-04:00

Molly's hearing has improved since the last time we visited the ENT specialist, so rather than schedule a tubes surgery we're scheduled to return in September to have her hearing checked again. Her hearing had been getting worse, but then a couple of weeks ago she felt it pop (we've been working on blowing a pinched nose - not easy on an almost 4 year old) and that seems to have helped a lot.

Sweltering hot morning at the zoo. The heat was broken up this afternoon and then again this evening by two massive thunderstorms. Unfortunately we had biked to a restaurant for dinner, so got a little soaked on the way home. Perhaps getting wet is good practice for Vancouver.

First Beach Day of the Summer

2011-06-07T22:43:00.000-04:00

Okay, you tell me how a day gets better than this...

- Morning at the beach. Jacob and Molly rode their bikes (with training wheels) without a word of complaint. I had to walk quickly to keep up, while pulling Zoë and our beach gear in the wagon. Kids played with friends and each other for several hours with almost no adult involvement. In and out of the lake. Digging holes. Other projects, intensely worked on, that no adult could comprehend.
- Hot afternoon at the splash pad. Chilling out.
- Evening watching the kids play soccer. Jacob scored his first goal. The score was probably about 10-10, so I wouldn't say our guys are dominating the sport, but so far they're having lots of fun. Zoë definitely wants in on the action.

- Kate's working tonight so I'm home alone. So, that's how the day could have been better.

Tomorrow we're flipping a coin to see who's heading to the local zoo with the nursery school and who's going to the ear doctor with Molly. Not sure which is the short straw there.

Great Weekend

2011-06-05T20:22:00.000-04:00

Which included a run with Kate on Friday, Federer's magical defeat of Djokovic, our first canoe trip with the kids (around Pumpkin Bay and under our bridge), watching some of the Pre Meet including Lagat's amazing kick in the 2-mile, a 5k running race, Fed's good effort against the King of Clay, an epic canoe trip to Moose Beach with a picnic and ice cream before the windy return trip.

Kate barely slept last night as she was on call, so I thought this might be my big chance to beat her in a race. I was ahead for 4k but she breezed by me and beat me by 6 seconds. Still, it was a born-again PB for me by 30 seconds (born-again, meaning that I'm not counting PBs from the 1980's when I was young, skinny and fast). Kate finished 2nd out of about 50 women and won a $25 MEC gift certificate. There goes her amateur status.

And here's a catch-up on some May photographs. I think this gets me kind of up to date.

- Japanese dinner in Bracebridge for my family dinner

- Cookie lollipops in the shapes of our favourite relatives

- Zoë rocking a new outfit from Grammy. While Molly gets as pink as possible.

- Will we get the training wheels off by the end of the summer? I'm betting yes.

- Will Zoë want "me too, me too, no training wheels" soon thereafter. Certainly.

- May 2-4 weekend. First dip in the lake for Kate and the twins. Zoë and I were too sensible.

- Our neighbours. Two families, each with 8-10 ducklings. Makes managing 3 kids seem rather laid-back.

- Obligatory, iconic twin photo

- Zoë and her bucket

Photos From Toronto - Marathon Weekend

2011-06-01T22:52:00.000-04:00

Oops, I seem to have fallen behind in my photos. Here goes...

Mom's photos from marathon weekend.

- At the botanical gardens with Joanna and Benjamin

- Parties at Wedges and Montana's. Cakes, cakes and more delicious cakes.

- Very wet marathon finish. Twins in our rainjackets. Me in red and Kate in purple, speeding towards the end.

Thunder Bay Trip

2011-06-01T22:31:00.000-04:00

We went to visit Kate's parents last week and spent most of the visit out at their camp. The good thing about Thunder Bay in late May is that it's still so freezing cold at night that the blackflies don't really get going until noon. So if you have kids who are up and at 'em by 6am, that's six whole hours of bug-free fun.

I jest (a bit). It was actually sunny and 15-17C most days and the kids were even brave enough to venture into the lake. Brent and Lois braved the elements in a tent, giving us free reign over the camp. We got spoiled with great meals and lots of time for exercising and relaxation.

- Here's the band doing some rehearsing. Artistic differences ensued.

- The kids got fishing rods for their upcoming birthday (so did I, but mine doesn't have a red, rubber fish pre-attached to the line). Possible bumper sticker for my in-laws: Fishing in a lake with no fish means never having your hopes dashed

- Boat photos. Zoë enjoying the ride. Molly and Jacob "driving" the boat.

- Exploring the Narrows near camp

- Relaxing at camp. Check out the view!

Back Home - Funny Zoë

2011-06-01T15:25:00.000-04:00

We're back home from a great week in Thunder Bay. Lots of photos to post, but I'll whet the appetite with a little video of Zoë being a ham. Enjoying having two parents to herself while her siblings nap.

Big Winged Visitor

2011-05-20T15:41:00.001-04:00

Look who came to visit our dock just now

More Festivities

2011-05-20T15:15:00.000-04:00

We had a great party last night. Yes, the celebrations of my 40th continue. It was the most beautiful evening of the year thus far, so we all stayed outside. Which is a good thing as there were about 20 adults and 25 kids. Nobody drowned, not even when Jacob, Silas, Molly, the Avery kids, and almost Zoë all tried to climb the tree hanging out over the water.

- I'll post a bunch of photos tonight if I get a chance, but since the kids are asleep right now (and will be waking up any minute) I thought I'd post these ones from last weekend in Toronto

Forty is the New Eighty

2011-05-16T22:38:00.000-04:00

It may have been 40 that I turned last week, but I'm hobbling around like an 80 year old today.

The marathon was actually fantastic. We went out faster than planned, buoyed by the crowd of runners, the excitement of the event, and the freshness of our well-rested legs. We held the pace well through about 30 km and at that point a sub 3:50 seemed possible. But the legs tired and I just couldn't get them to turn over quickly over the final 12km. So we lost a little time off that optimistic pace, but still finished in 3:52, well under our goal time of 4 hours. I won't be bounding up and down stairs for a few days, and I think my left shin is requesting a couple of weeks off, but otherwise I'm feeling excited about the whole experience. Not quite as excited as Kate, who spent last night trying to decide which fall marathon "we" should aim for next. And tonight studying how much more training we need to do in order to drop our time significantly. So much for my one-off, turning-40 resolution. I, of all people, should have known better than to feed the beast that is my wife's obsession-craving personality.

Kudos to my parents for taking the three monsters/monkeys in their hotel room the night before the marathon, and then keeping them busy and happy at the finish line despite the abysmal weather (cold, rainy and windy). I couldn't have had a better birthday weekend (although the next time I turn 40 I think I'll run the marathon before the big day so I'll be free to consume a few beers to celebrate). Our weekend in Toronto included a visit to the Botanical Gardens with Joanna and Benjamin, watching Sean follow in his mother's footsteps with an amazing series of performances at his swim meet, a party at the Wedge's, lunch with my whole family plus Greg and Benjamin, a pre-race night with my sweetheart spent romantically discussing fuelling and pacing strategies, and a great marathon.

We're hosting a birthday party here on Thursday evening - some extraordinary number of adults and kids are expected, so we're really hoping the weather warms up by then. Since our return home last night, the waves have not stopped crashing, soaking 4 or 5 feet of our lawn with every wave. Not exactly outdoor bbq weather. The twins won't put up with much more celebrating of my birthday anyway. They're ready to start with theirs, which doesn't actually occur for another six weeks.

Summertime!

2011-05-09T13:58:00.000-04:00

Jacob and I had a great time at the TFC soccer game on Saturday night. He had a blast and was in great humour throughout, despite staying up until 9:30pm (usual bedtime still 7pm). That kid is pure fun.

Six more days until the marathon. I only have one more scheduled training run. Feeling good.

- Summer is just about here. Eating lunch on the deck!

Good News For the City Garbage Dump

2011-05-06T14:56:00.000-04:00

The twins have been diaper-free at night for a week now, with no accidents. We waited this long (they've both been diaper-free during the day since their 3rd birthday) partly because Molly's boots and bars make it a little tricky for her to make a dash for it in the middle of the night. But she seems unfazed.

And Zoë has peed in the potty at least once a day for the past few weeks, including at least once at school. And she just did an unsolicited #2 before naptime. As opposed to the solicited #2's.

In case it sounds like clear sailing, we hanging out yesterday afternoon when Molly said, "why does Zoë have a poo in her hand?". Good question.

Someone Wants a Boat

2011-04-30T14:33:00.000-04:00

1. Marathon is two weeks from tomorrow. Kate and I did a 20-miler last weekend - can't say I'm excited at the prospect of an additional 10k. I feel like I'm in great shape to run a personal best at a half marathon. But I might not have enough mileage under my belt to avoid fading towards the end of the full marathon. We will see.

2. Zoë moved into a full-sized bed yesterday. We're holding out irrational hope that the move will help decrease the going-to-sleep issues.

3. Conversation from lunch today
Me: (watching a boat putter past our shore) I guess we'll have a lot of people in boats checking us out this summer
Kate: They'll be thinking how happy we must be.
Jacob: We'd be happier if we had a boat.
Kate: Good luck with that kid.
Jacob: Not a canoe or a kayak. We'd be happier with a boat.

The Next Von Trapps

2011-04-29T18:55:00.000-04:00

After dinner tonight, "band practice" led to this performance...

And here's Alison reading to a bunch of the kids...

Dock In For Easter

2011-04-29T14:24:00.000-04:00

We've had a full house all week - Kate's parents plus Dan & Alison, Sam and Maeve. Zoë's sleep habits (or non sleep habits) continue to drive us crazy, but otherwise a fun week. As always, should have taken more photos.

- Kate and I put the dock in last weekend before the guests arrived. I was in the water in hipwaders. Waves from a passing boat managed to fill the waders with freezing water. Perhaps next year I'll wait until spring has properly arrived.

- Easter egg hunt in the backyard

- And a tub full of cousins

Jacobisms

2011-04-21T13:50:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of recent dinnertable discussions with Jacob

1. Vegetarian?
Jacob: Did a farmer kill this chicken?
Me: Yes Jacob
Jacob: That's sad (exaggerated sad face)
Jacob: Sorry chicken, but I have to eat!!

2. Easter
Jacob: (apropos of nothing) They killed Jesus.
Me: What? Who?
Jacob: Silas told me. They killed Jesus.
Fortunately no mention of Jews or other guilty parties.

Lake Opened Up Yesterday But...

2011-04-17T19:51:00.001-04:00

Today it alternated between snow and hail, with occasional drizzle, lots of wind and general ooookiness. Thanks, Spring. The ice may have disappeared just in time for the perch festival, but we have yet to see a boat braving the whitecaps.

- Yesterday was chilly too, but minus the precipitation. Here are the kids mixing up a witches' brew. The 3rd picture is presented mainly as evidence that not only do I have all my hair (as #40 rapidly approaches), but it's all still its original colour. Kate was contending this evening that grey is taking over. Nice try.

- And Jacob's latest passion is Kapla blocks. All day if he had his druthers. Maybe a little help from Kate on the train.

Ice is Finally Breaking Up

2011-04-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

Iceberg's Coming

2011-04-11T14:06:00.000-04:00

When we went to bed last night there was 15 feet of open water between the shore and the ice. This morning, the ice had run ashore, tossing boulders up in the air, knocking my birdbath over, and crushing Don's old woodstove turned planter. Pretty exciting. I'm checking my insurance coverage for "house knocked over by iceberg".

Despite these photos, I did my long run this morning in t-shirt and shorts. Spring is here. I was completely done at the end of 17 miles - not making me excited at the prospect of 26!

These two photos courtesy of Don.

Eating Outside

2011-04-09T20:45:00.001-04:00

Lake is still frozen but spring is definitely springing. Yesterday, we walked home from nursery school, I ran outside in shorts, and we ate dinner outside. Today we wandered downtown and to the farmer's market and spent all afternoon at a playground. Life is good.

Here are some pictures from yesterday evening.

In case you're wondering why the globe appears on the dinner table... Jacob announced after dinner that "it was a great day and now we should look at all the countries of the world!!". Love that boy's enthusiasm.

I imagine the ice will be off the lake by tomorrow or Monday as the forecast is for more warm weather. I called the cops this morning because some dude was on the ice about 50m from our house. There's open water by the shore, and it's slushy and thin everywhere. Apparently they came and shooed the crazy guy off the lake.

A New Canadian

2011-04-07T14:27:00.000-04:00

Don't ask why it took so long, but Zoë's Canadian citizenship arrived in the mail today! Yay!!

The Next Generation of Sports Fans

2011-04-05T14:34:00.000-04:00

- Jacob rocking his new Habs cap in preparation for the playoffs. This close to Toronto, it's hard work keeping kids out of the clutches of the Maple Leafs. Despite their perpetual suckiness.

-And here's Molly enroute to the TFC game last weekend. First time in the Mini and enjoying the spring-like weather in the big city.

2011-04-03T22:41:00.000-04:00

My parents have been visiting, so here are some of mom's photos:

- At the park yesterday. Getting more spring-like all the time.

- Molly wearing red to her first Toronto FC soccer game. Day trip to Toronto with Kate. Separated from Jacob for the longest time in 3 3/4 years. Molly decided Toronto would have had a better chance of winning if they'd had some girls on the team.

- Jacob and Zoë playing at home without Molly. They came out to my final hockey game of the year, with my parents. Jacob's highlights were joining me in the dressing room after the game, me scoring the winning goal (oh no, that was only my highlight), and the puck getting stuck in the goalie's pads (the only part of the game he's still talking about)

- Out at the sugar shack today with buddy Silas and his family.

- Molly sporting her new "hat" from the one-of-a-kind show

Looooong Run

2011-03-28T13:43:00.000-04:00

I did a 16 mile (25.6km) run while the kids were in school this morning. My longest run ever, but still 10 miles short of a marathon. I suspect the rest of the day will be a bit of a write-off. Good luck governing yourselves, kids.

We had a fun visit to Toronto on Friday to see cousin Erin compete in a diving competition. She was awesome, as always. It was crazy cold though so no park playing led to a bit of cabin fever by Zoë on the drive home. To paraphrase their Aunt Alison, why do 2 year olds so often act like 2 year olds? She's driving us insane at bedtime, refusing to go to sleep until she's had a good scream. Then she can be her perfectly happy self an hour or two later. She even tried to tell Kate "I love you to the end of the world" the other day. Which sounded something like "I wubya tend of worrrrl", and was therefore even more lovely.

I took Molly and Jacob to public skating last night - they continue to get better and they keep asking to go. This must be the only upsided to the extended winter season.

I do keep reminding myself that our first two winters here I scoffed (wrongly) that the lake would never melt in time for the Perch Festival. This year's starts on April 16th, so I know winter will be done by then. No signs of spring yet though.

Computer's Up and Running

2011-03-24T15:02:00.000-04:00

So, here are a few videos of the kids learning to skate.

And a photo of the 5 cousins painting together during Sean & Erin's recent visit.

We're off to Toronto tomorrow for the day to see Erin in a diving competition.

Before Sunrise

2011-03-23T14:12:00.000-04:00

Beautiful orangey-red sunrise this morning reflected on the frozen lake. Two problems: I was awake with the kids to see the sunrise and the lake is still frozen. We've been talking to the kids about signs of spring, but there really aren't many.

Zoë, after a month of perfect going to bed-ness has reverted to her previous conviction that it's much better to scream and yell before falling asleep. This too shall pass. Right?

On the bright side, Jacob ends nearly every day, or meal, or trip, or event by saying (and meaning) "that was really fun". Not a lot of existential angst in that boy. He also has a best buddy (besides Molly) whom he is inseparable from at school. Their teacher said to me yesterday, "it's great how close Jacob and Silas are - now he doesn't follow Molly's lead, or suggestions, all the time". That isn't always the dynamic at home, so it's interesting to hear others' perspectives.

I spent much of the weekend playing in an oldtimers hockey tournament. Apparently that puts me in perpetual marital debt because in the last two nights we've watched one Jennifer Aniston movie and gone out to a Matthew McConaghey movie and Kate says we're not even close to square. Always negotiate the terms in advance.

Cheesey, Very Cheesey

2011-03-18T20:24:00.000-04:00

Molly: Good night Zoë, I love you to the end of the world
Jacob: Good night Zoë, I love you to the end of the world
Kate: (laughing) Where did you hear that?
Jacob: Nowhere, we didn't hear it
Molly: It came from my heart
Jacob: It came from in here (pointing at his chest, or possibly his tummy)

Gag, gag, gag.

March Break on the still-frozen lake

2011-03-13T21:53:00.000-04:00

March break is upon us but winter has yet to lift its veil. We had another dump of the white stuff last night and we spent all morning outside playing in the snow with a troop of their little friends. This afternoon we played some street hockey, then got the bikes out and rode them down the street. Biking in snowsuits. We're off to Toronto for the day tomorrow, where I'm sure it'll be a little balmier.

With pre-schoolers, March break seems to be code for nursery school closed and all activities canceled. Not quite sure how I'll be getting in my runs this week.

Our computer is fritzing out so I can't upload any photos right now. I'll try the laptop later if I get a chance.

Some bon mots from the past week:

1. Molly and I feeding each other's egos
Molly: Baba, are you amazing at how good I'm skating?
Me: Yes, Molly, I am amazing.

2. Jacob proving that he's already smarter than the entire state of Kansas
Jacob: You know, when dinosaurs were real and before people were borned?
Me: Yes Jacob
Jacob: Well, who looked after the dinosaurs, if there were no people?

Winter Continues

2011-03-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

We're taking advantage of the continuing winter to make a late effort to learn to skate. One outside session last weekend and two arena free skates this week and the twins are making great strides and loving it.

We had a fantastic weekend, with a visit from the ever-amazing big cousin twins (and their lovely mother).
Here are a few photos from Beth. The 5 kids under the bridge to our little island. And eating ice cream at Montana's. No I don't know why the 2nd one is upsidedown.

- And a movie update. We saw Get Low last night and think Robert Duvall should have had a best actor nomination. Love that guy.

Oscar Prep

2011-02-27T14:19:00.001-05:00

We're having a fun Oscar Sunday thus far. Our friends Mike and Jo (from Nairobi days) are up from Toronto with their family for last night and Oscar watching tonight. We played a little outdoor hockey this morning, our kids are all napping right now and I'm attempting to bake my first ever pie from scratch (results unconfirmed - but it's the Dinosaur BBQ's sweet potato pecan pie, so what could possibly go wrong?).

Here's my list of favourite movies of the year:
- Haven't seen Blue Valentine, Biutiful or the other foreign film nominees. Have seen all the best picture nominees and all the other films nominated for major awards. We didn't see many really good non-nominated movies this year so I could well be missing out on some good ones that dipped under the radar.

1. True Grit - the only movie I saw all year that I wanted to watch again as soon as the credits rolled. Dialogue was vintage Coen brothers (who can hit and miss like nobody) and loved the kickass young heroine.
2. Winter's Bone - grittiest, realest movie of the year. I wish the setting could be up for an award

... then a significant drop-off to #3 to #9
3.The Fighter - loved all the performances, especially Bale's.
4. Black Swan - always on the look out for reasons to not put my kids in ballet and this confirmed it. I really liked Portman (although am hugely biased).
5. Social Network - I think this captures an era, is a fascinating story, and Sorkin's writing is great.
6. Kid's Are Alright. Saw this a long time ago and thought it was really funny and real.
7. King's Speech. Kate loved it but I thought it was trying to hard to follow the Oscar-winning-formula of biopic with dude overcoming affliction. Won't mind if Firth or Rush win though.
8. The Town - not a best picture movie but this is exactly what Hollywood is supposed to do well, and this is the rare occasion that they pulled it off.
9. 127 Hours - didn't expect to enjoy it. After all, we know how it ends, but they keep it taut for the whole film.

Others
- Toy Story 3 was a lot of fun, but it's just a sequel kid's movie. Give it the animated award and let's move on.
- Rabbit Hole - overwrought and Kidman plays her normal icy, one-note performance
- Inception - saw it way back when it was released and thought, that was kind of cool but DiCaprio overacts as usual - definitely not award-worthy
- Animal Kingdom - nothing special

It Was Just a Snorkel

2011-02-22T13:28:00.001-05:00

This was Jacob's response when I asked if he needed to go to the bathroom. I couldn't stop laughing, so now Jacob says "it was just a snorkel" everytime he farts. We've created a monster.

We had a visit this weekend from Greg, who was so bereft at being abandoned to Florida by Jo and Ben that he had to come join our chaos instead.

Zoë dividing her attention between a book and her belly button.

The kids' activities have ramped up since our return from holidays. Playball on Mondays, gymnastics on Tuesdays and swimming lessons on Wednesdays. Winter has returned in full force, so at least they're getting some indoor exercise. We've also been hibernating, watching movies. We're in the middle of Fly Away Home and a few days ago the kids were completely riveted by the Fox and the Hound. The only thing we like more than penguins around here is foxes. Toy Story 3 was also a big hit.

On the adult movie front, we've seen all 10 best picture nominees and most of the other major nominees, so I'll do an Oscar post between now and Sunday.

My running is still progressing - haven't missed a scheduled run yet.

Chinese New Year Catch-Up Photos and Winter Fun

2011-02-13T14:56:00.000-05:00

Here's a photo of our Chinese New Year dinner table. Take-out dinner (next year I'll do the cooking - no, really). Decorations courtesy of my mom's visit to Toronto's Chinatown. Do real Chinese families have trouble explaining to their kids that the Easter Bunny has nothing to do with the arrival of presents on the Chinese year of the Rabbit?

The 3 kids in their new New Year clothes.

Bouncing on our bed in their traditional Chinese outfits

Zoë turning her panda into a Chinese rabbit

Fun on the snowpile at the end of our street

Zoë trundling back to the house from the rink

Skating fun - the rink suffered somewhat during our absence

Trekking to town across the lake

Sledding with the Ferrys and Fergusons

Zoë's 2nd Birthday Catch-Up photos

2011-02-13T14:32:00.000-05:00

Zoë turned two last week, the day after we returned from Cuba. Here doctor's appointment this week confirmed that she's just below the 50th percentile for all her measurements and is healthy as an Ox (her Chinese symbol, of course). Who is Zoë at two? Sociable and happy, with the biggest smile and roundest cheeks ever. Nicknamed Zo Cheeks (after basketball legend Mo Cheeks)? Willful and feisty when she doesn't get her way. A great eater. A terrible go-to-sleeper.

Her birthday was also her first day of nursery school. All three kids in school for 2 1/2 hours, 3 times a week. That has helped me with my marathon training - 5 of 18 weeks now complete, and managed a 19km run on Friday! By all accounts Zoë is loving school.

Here she is playing with the twins and with Miss Laurie.

Spoiled much? Can barely see Zoë hidden behind all her presents. In our defence, the bags are much bigger than the gifts.

Cards from the big cousins - who recognized the dual passions for lift-the-flaps and penguins.

The mandatory chocolate ice cream photo. Plus one with her new Little Red Riding Hood puppets.

More Cuba Photos

2011-02-06T13:48:00.000-05:00

All my Cuba photos come from the last 3 days of our trip. For most of the vacation I couldn't find my camera, assuming I'd forgotten it at home. Then in preparation for our Havana trip I opened the safe to get some currency to convert and there was the camera, where I had "safely" tucked it upon arrival. Oops.

- Swimming at the "quiet" pool

- Kate and Alison

- The Von Trapp Family Triplets

Cuba Cuba Cuba

2011-02-06T13:37:00.000-05:00

We had a fabulous holiday in Cuba. No cold or snow to worry about. The kids played on the beach and in the pools all day everyday. The weather was perfect, with just a couple of days of rain and cooler temperatures.

Molly says her favourite part of the trip was swimming in the "quiet pool" with her waterwings. Jacob said his favourite part was playing with cousin Maeve.

Highlights of the trip:
- Kate and I spent a day in Havana sans kids. Loved wandering around this city that's like no other.
- Basking in the sun and warmth - not worrying about snowsuits and cold little hands
- Beautiful beach and great pools so lots of swimming. The twins learned to swim by themselves (with waterwings), going about 25m at a time across the pool with no adults nearby.
- Lots of time in the evenings to hang with Kate's family, watching the Aussie Open when the coverage was shown.
- Using the grandparental coverage to keep up on all our marathon training runs
- Watching the triplets (Molly, Jacob & cousin Maeve) hold hands and sing Christmas carols enroute to the restaurant everyday, much to the amusement of all the guests

Lowlights:
- Almost getting stuck in Cuba because of immigration problems with Zoë
- 3 hour flight delay on the way out
- A friendly but "that's not my problem" attitude with most of the hotel staff
- Zoë's continuing sleep problems
- Losing to Ben at tennis for the first time

Here are some photos:

The two of us in Havana

- Party to celebrate Zoë's birthday

- Brent and his brother Art

- Alison and Brent

- Lois and Zoë

Zoe's 2nd

2011-01-17T13:57:00.000-05:00

We've been horribly disorganized the past few months. Haven't sent out our Christmas/New Year's cards (partly because I can't find my address book), haven't sent thank you cards for Xmas presents, haven't unpacked the remainder of our moving boxes, never got my outdoor Christmas lights up, etc. etc.

But, we did get around to sending a care package, letter and photos to Zoë's orphanage to mark her upcoming 2nd birthday, which coincides with Chinese New Year.

Inauspicious Start to the Holiday

2011-01-17T13:25:00.000-05:00

We leave for Cuba tomorrow morning (actually in the middle of the night). Unfortunately, Jacob developed a cough last night and his sisters have decided that the best way to show solidarity is to behave like lunatics. Should be an interesting flight!

I will try to post from Cuba, but if not will deliver the full report upon our return.

We've been out to the movies twice in the past week (pretty good, eh?). True Grit was spectacular and I wanted to go back in and watch it again right away. Fantastic dialogue and the best young female role model to appear in a movie for a long while. Then last night we saw Black Swan, which was riveting and gut wrenching. Natalie Portman was really great. Can't say I'll ever want to watch it again though. I don't need to put myself through that again. Don't think I'll be putting my kids into ballet anytime soon!

Getting Ready For School

2011-01-11T13:58:00.002-05:00

Zoë is starting at nursery school on her 2nd birthday, which is the day after we return from Cuba. So she and I went out yesterday to buy a backpack and lunchbag. The former is as tall as she is, but she couldn't be prouder.

- Perhaps we need to invest in longer t-shirts and shorter backpacks

- Building the tower of doom (or the doomed tower, if little sister has anything to say about it)

I completed the first run of the marathon training schedule last night. 1 down, 53 to go!

The twins' penguin obsession continues. We were talking to my mom about the penguins she had seen in South America so she sent us photos, wondering if we knew the type of penguin. Molly takes one look and without missing a beat says, "that's a zebra penguin". I said, "are you serious or are you joking". "I'm serious baba, that's a zebra penguin. We learned it in school". So I looked it up on my now-indispensable iPhone. There's no such thing as a zebra penguin. She was totally playing me. I confronted her with her BS and she just shrugged and smiled at me. "I was just teasing you baba".

Still Running

2011-01-09T14:39:00.000-05:00

Marathon training program begins tomorrow. Ran the final 5km race of the series today. Bitter cold. Ready to do some beach running in Cuba!

Our skating rink is absolutely perfect right now. The melt and rain from last week turned into a quick freeze which left us with flawless ice. And the kids are slowly getting the hang of it. Although it's tough on a cold, windy day.

Kate's partner came back to work this week, so our lives have quickly returned to a manageable pace.

Some quotes from the week

1. At the dinner table
Kate: repeated inquisition about what the kids did at school
Jacob: Enough questions your majesty

2. Me, at a coffeeshop with some friends while the twins were in nursery school
Me: We had our first B-I-T-E incident yesterday. Jacob wasn't hurt physically but he was so offended that she would do that to him.
Zoë: (pointing at her arm) Ouch, ouch, no biting
Me: (thinking, damn, I guess I can't use the spelling trick anymore!)

3. The kids learned all about penguins at school this week, so we showed them some Planet Earth
Kate: Here's come the penguins
Jacob: Oh, those are Emperor penguins
Molly: Seals eat them
Me: That's right, look out penguins
Molly: Whales eat them too
Me: No, I don't think so. Whales eat plankton and other little things
Molly: We learned in school that whales eat penguins baba (gives me the critical eyebrow raise)
Me: (scambling with iPhone, quick search reveals that Killer Whales do in fact eat penguins) Looks like you're right Molly
Molly: And you were wrong

Flexible Resolutions

2011-01-03T20:11:00.000-05:00

My mother is suggesting that I've already broken my New Year's Resolution by failing to blog on the first Sunday of the year. In my defence, today's a holiday so I'm giving myself a day's grace.

Kate and I began 2011 in style by showing up to and completing the 10km snowflake race in a driving rainstorm. Our time was slow (Kate slowed down to finish it with me) but we felt quite virtuous for the rest of the day. The person who should have felt virtuous though was Kate's mom, who looked after the three kids at home during the race, despite full-on flu. One of these years I'd like to make it through the Christmas season without wiping out the grandparents with that year's plague.

The twins were back in school today. They'll be joined by Zoë in exactly one month. And that's when my marathon training will really begin in earnest.

Christmas photos

2010-12-31T20:02:00.000-05:00

- Lois and Brent skiing on the lake on Christmas Eve

- trying out the new sleds on Christmas Eve

- Leaving Santa's note by the fireplace

- Molly on her new trumpet

- Jacob feeling it on his new horn

- Puppet theatre from my sister and brother-in-law. The performances have begun.

- On the new cross country skis

-Kate working on the rink (which is now melting with our above zero temperatures)

- Zoë pondering how many bowls she'll need form Christmas dinner

New Year's Resolutions

2010-12-31T19:32:00.000-05:00

From memory my last year's resolutions were to blog more (ouch, total fail), complete my first triathlon (did it, although I really should have learned to swim first), and possibly to enjoy my kids in the moment (well, harder than it sounds, but it was 95% enjoying the moment and 5% wishing the moment included more sleep and fewer temper tantrums).

This year's resolutions:
1. Complete my first marathon to celebrate my 40th birthday in May. And to do it under 4 hours.
2. I'll try to blog more, but what I'm pledging to do is to at least blog every Sunday evening to give a weekly catch-up
3. As Zoë gets a year older, do more to surround her with more Chinese culture/traditions/etc.

Two Stories from Today

2010-12-27T22:47:00.001-05:00

Christmas photos to follow, but in the meantime here are a couple of great conversations from today.

1. Driving Around With the Kids Talking About The Weather

Me: The roads are pretty clear - no snow on them
Molly: But I think it's going to snow soon
Me: I don't know, I haven't heard anything about any snow coming
Molly: Well, maybe the snow doesn't talk to you baba

2. Miscommunicating With My Mother-in-Law

What I Heard
Lois: Do you have any Baileys to put in the stew?
Me: No, I think we've run out but we do have Amarula
Lois: What's that?
Me: It's African, but it's basically the same thing
Lois: Okay go ahead and put it in.

What Lois Heard
Lois: Do you have any bay leaves to put in the stew?
Me: No, I think we've run out but we do have Amarula
Lois: What's that?
Me: It's African, but it's basically the same thing
Lois: Okay go ahead and put it in.

Follow-On Conversation Tonight
Lois: Yes, I would like a drink. Maybe a Baileys?
Me: No, I put the last of it into the stew
Kate: You put what in the stew?
Me: Baileys. Your mom asked me to
Lois: No I didn't (giving the that-guys-nuts look)
Me: Yes you did (giving her the don't-throw-me-under-the-bus-now-you-crazy-woman look)
Kate: How much Baileys did you put in the stew? What on earth were you thinking?
Me: A couple of shots. And she told me to put Baileys in the stew!
Lois: Bay leaves, I said bay leaves.
Me: Oh shit.

Molly's Night Before Christmas

2010-12-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

The original video is 7 1/2 minutes long (it's a really long poem!!). This is edited down to the first two minutes. She's amazing and she seems to have her mother's knack for memorization.

Molly Singing Rudolf

2010-12-20T21:55:00.000-05:00