Monday, October 13, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving, everyone! Otto is out of town, and I was just planning on roasting a couple turkey legs. But a family we know (that moved here from Baton Rouge about a month after we arrived) invited us over for the whole shebang. Turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, rolls, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream and coffee to top it off. Ohhhhhh, I'm so full.... They have two teenage girls and a Wii, so the boys were having about as much fun as they could stand. Thank you, Brandt family!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Ice Skating Lessons
Sam and Andy started skating lessons this week. Here's Sam at the before-going-on-the-ice pow-wow (in the green jacket).
Sam and his class have spent much of their time on all fours as they crawl around and attempt every few minutes to stand up.
When the teacher stood him up on his feet this morning, he stood dead still. I've never seen him stand so still for so long. He did shuffle along for a few steps, and then down he went. It's especially amusing when the kids are close together - when one falls they all go down like dominoes.
Andy's first lesson was this evening. Outside of the arena was this pile of snow, presumably scraped off the rink by the Zamboni.
In contrast to Sam's class, I think 99% of the kids this evening had previous skating experience, and Andy's inexperience stood out. He was such a trooper. His first 20 minutes on the ice were spent slipping and getting back on his feet again, non-stop, while everyone else pretty well stayed on their feet. During the final 40 minutes the falling down frequency slowed to maybe once per minute. By the end of the hour-long lesson he did make it from one side of the rink to the other without falling once! Here are a couple shots of him actually staying up (he's the one in the middle below).
But most of the night was spent in this position.
He was so tired when he came off the ice, his hair was COMPLETELY drenched in sweat. That has never happened before - not even in the Texas heat. I was so worried he'd be upset after all the falling down, but this was the face I saw when I pulled off his mask:
We'll see if the sore elbows and keester heal enough by next week that he's actually willing to go back!
Sam and his class have spent much of their time on all fours as they crawl around and attempt every few minutes to stand up.
When the teacher stood him up on his feet this morning, he stood dead still. I've never seen him stand so still for so long. He did shuffle along for a few steps, and then down he went. It's especially amusing when the kids are close together - when one falls they all go down like dominoes.
Andy's first lesson was this evening. Outside of the arena was this pile of snow, presumably scraped off the rink by the Zamboni.
In contrast to Sam's class, I think 99% of the kids this evening had previous skating experience, and Andy's inexperience stood out. He was such a trooper. His first 20 minutes on the ice were spent slipping and getting back on his feet again, non-stop, while everyone else pretty well stayed on their feet. During the final 40 minutes the falling down frequency slowed to maybe once per minute. By the end of the hour-long lesson he did make it from one side of the rink to the other without falling once! Here are a couple shots of him actually staying up (he's the one in the middle below).
But most of the night was spent in this position.
He was so tired when he came off the ice, his hair was COMPLETELY drenched in sweat. That has never happened before - not even in the Texas heat. I was so worried he'd be upset after all the falling down, but this was the face I saw when I pulled off his mask:
We'll see if the sore elbows and keester heal enough by next week that he's actually willing to go back!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Jaunt to Jasper
We took a quick trip to the mountains this weekend. On our drive to Jasper we stopped at the Columbia Ice Fields. There is a bus tour that we were going to take, but once we got there Otto decided we should wait and take it next spring. I'm still not clear on why 'we' decided to wait, but okay. These snow coaches leave every thirty minutes to take you up there so you can walk, run, or do whatever on the glacial ice.
So we didn't go on top this time, but we did hike up to the edge, where there were multiple signs about how you shouldn't go past the ropes because of the dangerous conditions at the edge of the glacier. About how the last three rescue attempts were unsuccessful, or how children die from hypothermia much faster than adults, or how this nine year old boy died by falling in one of the crevasses when his family was there for a visit in 2001. Okay, mission accomplished!
The one in this area is the Athabasca Glacier.
As we drove to the foot of the trail there were markers along the road indicating that the glacier was 'here in 1948'.
After we read all the nice signs about death and had our fill of the views, we headed to Jasper. And as we rolled into town we were greeted by some of the locals!
After we got settled into our hotel, including checking out the large chair in the lobby,
we took in some sights. Here is a little fall color from around town.
They had a really neat train station. Maybe we take the train to Jasper next time!
A picture-perfect post office.
More strolling...
Posing with a bear statue in front of where we ate dinner.
And checking out the driers at the coffee shop/laundromat where Otto got an after-dinner cuppa joe.
We finished breakfast this morning and headed for the gondola that takes you to the summit of Whistler's Mountain.
This is the mascot of Jasper. We saw him around town a few times.
There were snow flurries at the top! And it was colder- glad we brought extra jackets.
The town of Jasper below, with Athabasca River flowing alongside.
The trip back down.
On our trip home this afternoon, Otto was playing hangman with the boys as I drove. Andy had chosen the word 'bread' for Otto, but ended up spelling it incorrectly (braed). So after Otto guessed several letters and figured it out, he was explaining how to spell it the correct way, and thus started the Abbott and Costello routine:
Otto: (writes the correct spelling on the Doodle-Pro) B-R-E-A-D, see Andy?
Sam stares in silence at the board, Andy's looking out the window.
Sam: Papi, there's no 'C' in 'BREAD'!
Otto silent trying to figure out what Sam is talking about. Andy still daydreaming.
Otto: What? Ohhhhh! No, I was telling Andy how to spell 'BREAD', and I said "SEE, Andy?" Not telling him that there's a 'C' in bread.
Andy: (just realizing Otto was talking to him) What? Yeah, Papi, I know there isn't a 'C' in bread!
I was laughing so hard I almost had to stop the car!
So we didn't go on top this time, but we did hike up to the edge, where there were multiple signs about how you shouldn't go past the ropes because of the dangerous conditions at the edge of the glacier. About how the last three rescue attempts were unsuccessful, or how children die from hypothermia much faster than adults, or how this nine year old boy died by falling in one of the crevasses when his family was there for a visit in 2001. Okay, mission accomplished!The one in this area is the Athabasca Glacier.
As we drove to the foot of the trail there were markers along the road indicating that the glacier was 'here in 1948'.
After we read all the nice signs about death and had our fill of the views, we headed to Jasper. And as we rolled into town we were greeted by some of the locals!
After we got settled into our hotel, including checking out the large chair in the lobby,
we took in some sights. Here is a little fall color from around town.
They had a really neat train station. Maybe we take the train to Jasper next time!
A picture-perfect post office.
More strolling...
Posing with a bear statue in front of where we ate dinner.
And checking out the driers at the coffee shop/laundromat where Otto got an after-dinner cuppa joe.
We finished breakfast this morning and headed for the gondola that takes you to the summit of Whistler's Mountain.
This is the mascot of Jasper. We saw him around town a few times.
There were snow flurries at the top! And it was colder- glad we brought extra jackets.
The town of Jasper below, with Athabasca River flowing alongside.
The trip back down.
On our trip home this afternoon, Otto was playing hangman with the boys as I drove. Andy had chosen the word 'bread' for Otto, but ended up spelling it incorrectly (braed). So after Otto guessed several letters and figured it out, he was explaining how to spell it the correct way, and thus started the Abbott and Costello routine:
Otto: (writes the correct spelling on the Doodle-Pro) B-R-E-A-D, see Andy?
Sam stares in silence at the board, Andy's looking out the window.
Sam: Papi, there's no 'C' in 'BREAD'!
Otto silent trying to figure out what Sam is talking about. Andy still daydreaming.
Otto: What? Ohhhhh! No, I was telling Andy how to spell 'BREAD', and I said "SEE, Andy?" Not telling him that there's a 'C' in bread.
Andy: (just realizing Otto was talking to him) What? Yeah, Papi, I know there isn't a 'C' in bread!
I was laughing so hard I almost had to stop the car!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
British Columbia - Part III
I guess I should really finish this BC stuff up since it has been a month since we returned!
This day (still chilly) we went on a little hike to Dutch Creek. There were signs posted where we were staying, warning that black bears had been seen in the area and to keep children close if you were out hiking. So I was a little nervous about our wandering around the woods with no one else around. We saw no bears, thankfully.
We hiked through the woods for ten minutes and found the creek.
And after another ten minutes downhill...
we found this spot, right next to the creek.
We stayed here for almost an hour. Anytime there are lots of rocks and sticks, AND some type of water you can throw them in, well it's heaven. At least for a 3 and 6 year old; the parents think it's heaven for other reasons, like watching the 3 and 6 year old have fun with rocks and sticks and water.
Some pretty purple flowers that Otto found.
My man - conqueror of the river rocks. :o)
And speaking of the river rocks, they were so beautiful. Every unique one of them!
So after taking a few pictures of rocks, I realized I was taking pictures of rocks, and stopped. Mainly because there were so many, I couldn't possibly document them all, so I settled for a couple.
And the next day we went on another, even shorter hike to the top of some hoodoos. This is what the hoodoos looked like from the ground, up.
And this is what they looked like from the top, down.
The sand was unbelievably soft at the top - what the kids call "teddy bear sand" at Andy's school playground.
Sam and Andy attempted sledding down the sand - not anywhere near the edge!! (Hard to tell from the picture, but they actually did slide a ways.)
Okay - those are all the photos I can extract from this vacation. Can't wait to go on another one!
This day (still chilly) we went on a little hike to Dutch Creek. There were signs posted where we were staying, warning that black bears had been seen in the area and to keep children close if you were out hiking. So I was a little nervous about our wandering around the woods with no one else around. We saw no bears, thankfully.
We hiked through the woods for ten minutes and found the creek.
And after another ten minutes downhill...
we found this spot, right next to the creek.
We stayed here for almost an hour. Anytime there are lots of rocks and sticks, AND some type of water you can throw them in, well it's heaven. At least for a 3 and 6 year old; the parents think it's heaven for other reasons, like watching the 3 and 6 year old have fun with rocks and sticks and water.
Some pretty purple flowers that Otto found.
My man - conqueror of the river rocks. :o)
And speaking of the river rocks, they were so beautiful. Every unique one of them!
So after taking a few pictures of rocks, I realized I was taking pictures of rocks, and stopped. Mainly because there were so many, I couldn't possibly document them all, so I settled for a couple.And the next day we went on another, even shorter hike to the top of some hoodoos. This is what the hoodoos looked like from the ground, up.
And this is what they looked like from the top, down.
The sand was unbelievably soft at the top - what the kids call "teddy bear sand" at Andy's school playground.
Sam and Andy attempted sledding down the sand - not anywhere near the edge!! (Hard to tell from the picture, but they actually did slide a ways.)
Okay - those are all the photos I can extract from this vacation. Can't wait to go on another one!
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