Saturday 25 January 2014

Vancouver Aquarium

To break up routine and overcome some winter blues Dave and I took the girls to the aquarium last week. It was a beautiful but chilly day and made all four of us pretty happy about life. 
First stop was this dry water park that the girls went bonkers over but was as underwhelming as a water park in winter (That's an expression right?)
Georgina loved it anyway 
"Look mommy! A turkey!" she says pointing at a seagull....
Inside the aquarium there was much to see and do. Georgina's favourite were the teeny baby jelly fish and running away from us. 
Miriam was getting pretty frustrated that she couldn't get inside the tanks and started throwing herself onto the ground or ramming her head into the tanks in protest. I think our laughing at her just made her angrier. 
We saw stingrays 
And sea turtles 
And these birds
And more jelly fish
And the belugas! My favourite in the whole place. So calm. 
Georgina's favourite exhibit? The mirror. She spent a lot of time here. No joke. 
The girls enjoyed a snack under the shark tank and then it was time to go. 
We didn't see the penguins or dolphins and it was hard to get a good picture of the adorable otters or the "scary" crocodile. It was a short visit but made for a great day. As soon as my children are healthy again (yes they're sick AGAIN)  we'll find another adventure. 
Proof we were there. 

Saturday 18 January 2014

Georgina versus Miriam

I was going through some old photos, looking for ones to print, when I came across some pictures of Georgina that looked just like some I had taken of Miriam last week. Looking at the dates I realised Georgina and Miriam are the exact same age in the photos so they make for a pretty cool comparison.
Can you tell them apart? I'm not going to tell you who's who.




Pretty neat huh?

Friday 17 January 2014

Miriam's 1 Year Photos

My good friend Marlo is a wonderfully talented photographer and Miriam and I had the privilege to spend an afternoon with her a couple days before Miriam's first birthday. Here's some of my favourites from that day.
Last night, as I was putting Miriam to bed I realised I'm going to miss the sound of her sucking her thumb. It's one of my favourite noises.
 This adorable headband lasted in her hair a whole 10 seconds
 Eating baby treats as efficiently as possible. Food may not have been the best pacifyer for our model.
At one point she started playing peek-a-boo with her dress. Where's Miriam???
 There she is!
and so on
 A behind-the-scenes candid moment
 That day we had just had a big snowfall, first or second of the season. It was so beautiful.
 Miriam really wanted to get outside and play
She settled for cuddles and kisses.
I'm sad our first year with Miriam is already over but we are so lucky to have more to come. Thank you Marlo for capturing this brief moment in time.

Wednesday 15 January 2014

FINALLY A Park Day!!

It has been a looooong winter even though it's only just begun. We have spent a lot of time indoors lately, illness being mostly to blame, but also this cold, wet weather. Every fall I promise I won't become a mole in the winter with all intentions to get to the park everyday. Instead I wimp out and our days mostly look like this 
Or this 
Or this
And this
It's been a drag. So I was really really excited when I noticed the weather warming up this week. And even more excited to be feeling much better. Not 100% but a huge improvement to the past three weeks. So I got us bundled up and we went to the park!
Miriam was beside herself with joy. And Georgina picked out her best park outfit.
We met up with our good friends, Leo and Max. It has been a long time since we've played with them but the kids got along beautifully. Best friends. 
Leo still prefers the company of Miriam. He adores her. And she's a big fan of the attention. 
And Georgina played nicely with Max. 
Anne and I had a great visit saying nothing but nice things about our children and spouses. Of course. 
Leo and Georgina played a great game of .... Well I'm not quite sure but it was an elaborate and imaginative game that mostly consisted of up the ladder and down the slide. 
Miriam chilled on the swing a long time. This is her happy face. 
The best part about the park today was when it was time to go G was awesome. I'm not even being sarcastic. I asked if we should go have lunch and she bounded towards home. I call that a win. 
It was a great day. 
Proof I was there