It's been a long time.

There are so many pictures and so many stories that I can't possibly hope to recover quickly, but I will go back and try to rescue some stuff from the crypt for the one or two people still checking in with this blog. I present to you some interesting pics from June of 2013.

Weep! Our highchair done all growed up and supported three kids. Now fly! FLY! (No seriously, can someone come grab this?)

Three pictures from Open Doors Ottawa at the OC Transpo Garage. First, we have Leo, the ham, in a motorized minibus that puts in appearances at parades and such.

What Max would do on every bus if left unchecked.

Awwwww. A comforting hug while going through the double decker bus wash.

Max had started doing a lot of drawing last summer. This might have been his first attempt at drawing a copy of a picture. Not bad!

A look into the future, when Henry turns 17.

Me, taking care of my son at a kid's birthday party. I also babysit so call me if you're interested.

If it's a post about my boys, there's bound to be a Star Wars picture somewhere in it. Well, here it is. This is at Westfest.

Henry. Watermelon. Cute.

Leo tries on my Canadian National Scrabble Championships shirt on...

...right about the time he told me that he had sliced his toe in my absence.

JBack visits and gets in on a fondue party.

Max, Leo and Auntie Karen get into a treasure chest full of booty out at Auntie K's cottage.

Two serious dudes out on the water.

Henry getting a little excited on the Civ Museum's camel.

Two great pictures from when the boys' Grandma visited from Winnipeg last summer and took them out to the Star Wars Identities exhibit at the Space and Aviation Museum. This is BEFORE the kids got into the exhibit. Excited? Holly always (half) jests that we could put an album together filled only with pictures of Leo with funny expressions on his face.

This is the boys pretending to be Han Solo, trapped in carbonite.

Max and his friend attack a Pirates of the Carribean mural while Henry looks on.

The first time, but not the last time Max and Leo are up in a tree together.

Grandma visiting with her son and youngest grandson. I'm 99% sure that this is at Lions Park in Ottawa, but I can't totally remember being there with Henry and Grandma. Reasons to caption photos closer to the date when they are taken...

Father's Day with my boys.

Leo's team photo with his soccer team. The coaches might be smiling because the ordeal is finally over:)

Max continues to hone his spelling skills in the tub.

When Mom and Henry get together, buckle up!

Two pictures from a day at the park for Max's soccer. This is Henry and Leo in the fan caravan.

Max, either during a stoppage in play or while his incredibly stacked team was dominating in the other teams end.

Holly has really taken it upon herself to encourage Max to pitch in and help in the kitchen whenever she can. He's pretty proud that he can crack eggs now.

Henry and his cousin West, chilling in a chair.

Grandpa Wayne taking a swing at Spidey at Leo's birthday party. Get 'im!

Oh, topless Leo. I love the look on his face here - caaaake? For meeeee?

When Henry's hair gets long, it's just amazing.

Not a great picture, but it shows all of the boys working together, digging rivers and making dams in the sand. This makes me smile - the thought that every now and then, all three boys will have a common purpose and will all work to achieve something together. Something I will always enjoy watching and encouraging.

Birthday triptych

So, the boys all had their birthdays in the last few months.  

This is Leo, our newly-minted 4-year-old.  Technically, he's been 4 for a while now as his birthday was back in July.  The first picture is from his actual birthday while the next batch of pictures were taken at his party in mid-June.  He wanted a treasure hunt so we ended up wandering around the neighbourhood and even ended up digging for buried treasure at the park.  Finally, Leo passed out on the couch after having a great time turning 4.  The last set of pictures are from Leo's annual funfest out at Auntie Karen's cottage.  Henry had his first swing at a piñata, Leo scored a wonderful bin of Lego and the intrepid Max & Leo braved Treasure Island where they once again found a stash of treats to bring back to the cottage.  Good times!

And now for Max's party.  For his 6th birthday, Max went to Midway with a few of his school and daycare friends.  This first picture is my favourite, not for what Max & co. are doing to the characters in the bouncy castle, but for my heaving Leo through the air in the background.  Max ended up winning (I think) 200 tickets in a game of skill/chance and then enjoyed a couple of cakes (one at Midway and one made lovingly by Auntie Laramie).  Oddly, Leo's first day of school coincided with Max's actual
birthday so we snapped a couple of pictures of the boys heading in on the day Max turned 6 (Leo's crown is something his JK teacher asks all of the new students to decorate and wear so that she can remember their names and so that they all feel special on their very first day of school).

Finally, here are a couple of pictures from Henry's low-key birthday soiree.  Yes, the little guy is now 2 and loves eating cakes, singing Happ Day Day, blowing candles and opening presents.  He's also a huge fan of musical cards and opens and closes them repeatedly until they wear out.

Happy birthday to all our little men!

A fantastic weekend

So every now and then, a weekend is wonderful.  Exceeds expectations.  This past Thanksgiving weekend was definitely one of those weekends and we'd like to commemorate it with a rare blog post.

Here is a brief list of pros regarding that weekend:
1 - it was long
2 - the weather was sunny and dry and above normal for all three days
3 - we got outside for multiple, extended adventures
4 - the kids were fantastic
5 - the kids napped.  Seriously, all three of them.

On Saturday, we started things off with a nature walk to Mud Lake, the area situated right behind the boys' daycare.  We got out relatively early and soaked up the sun while poking around "in nature", as the kids like to say.  In our first few minutes on the trail, we saw ducks (Henry was fascinated) and a garter snake (the older boys were a little freaked out by this).  We collected leaves, found walking sticks, fed chickadees out of our hands, saw a heron, made piles of leaves and pine needles, peed on trees (sorry nature), and enjoyed a nice picnic on a rock by the shore of the lake.  Everyone got some much needed fresh air, a chance to run around and get some sillies out, and a chance to check out some cool flora and fauna.

The next morning, we headed over to Auntie Laramie and Uncle James's place for a yummy eat-in McDonald's breakfast.  McMuffins all around, except for Max, who is partial to the Big Breakfast (a deconstructed McMuffin with jam).  The goal was to have a second big nature walk on the Lime Kiln trail, but the turkeys, which had been thawing in the fridge since Thursday, were still frozen!  So we needed to go somewhere quickly and then turn around and come home to do the birds.  So we went to one of our favourite neighbourhood parks in the area of Central Park, by the Experimental Farm here in town.  There was sliding and swinging and playing in the boat structure and kicking a soccer ball and running down a hill and enjoying yet another beautiful day.  In order to make sure that the older kids would be tolerable later on, I took a little drive with them and gave them a chance to nap . . . they took it.  Meanwhile, Henry was seriously looking forward to napping in the house.  I don't know what it is about sleeping over in West's crib, but Henry loves it.  He'll have to suck it up when the crib belongs to someone else :)  That night, we had an amazing dinner with over 30 lbs. of turkey, a 12 lb.
ham, and all the sides and fixings.  Great food and good company (we had 17 at the table) made for a boisterous evening replete with full bellies and fun conversation.

Monday was a perfectly lazy day.  We had some ideas of big plans to take on, but in the end, we tackled the yard, had some craft time, did some homework and generally enjoyed some laid back family time.

Here are some pictures from Mud Lake:

 Somehow, we only took a couple of pictures the rest of the weekend.  So here's Leo doing his impression of a hockey target, followed by a shot of our Thanksgiving dinner from above and a picture of Leo looking on while Max crafts to his heart's content.