Christmas Fun Begins

Yippee! The holidays are fast approaching and this is our first Christmas in Ottawa. We're going to be visiting family in Toronto and London for the actual Christmas holidays, but we're having fun getting ready and checking out some of the cool things about Christmas in Ottawa.

A couple of nights ago, Alex's wonderful teacher sent all of the parents an e-mail about a fun event on Parliament Hill. Every year, they have a small ceremony to celebrate the official start of the Christmas Lights in Ottawa - the Parliament buildings and tons of other buildings in and around Ottawa are lit up for the holidays. Chris was out of town on business, but Alex and I bundled up and headed downtown to attend the ceremony. It was lots of fun, and they had free Beaver Tails for everyone, as well as marshmallows and sticks where you could roast some marshmallows. They also gave out candles with cute little protective cups to guard the flame against the cold wind.

They had a childrens choir singing some lovely songs, and the CEO of the National Capital Commission, and Steven Harper said a few words before counting down for the lights turning on. It was lots of fun, and Alex and I want to take Chris downtown sometime this week so we can drive around to see the light displays again as a family.

Today we ventured out to the Rideau Centre to see Santa. For some reason, Alex wasn't keen on seeing Santa for some reason, but he eventually agreed to go talk to him (some major bribery was involved). We've met Santa a few times over the years, but I  must say that Santa was in an amazing mood this year at the Rideau Centre! He was warm, jolly, friendly and incredible with Alex. Alex did tell him he wanted a meditation cushion as well as one or two other things, so we'll have to see what Santa brings him for Christmas.

Chris put the lights up outside tonight and we're finishing the tree this evening! We also got some shopping done at the Rideau Centre and a few other places, so overall it was a really productive and fun day. I'll be sure to post a few more updates as we celebrate the season and head to Toronto and London to see everyone.

Girls Weekend!

I had such an amazing weekend - my friend, Tania, invited me on a girls scrapbooking weekend and we were all away this past Friday till Sunday evening. When I first moved here, Tania invited me to join her for a monthly scrapbooking group, and I've gone a few times now (they took a break over the summer months). Every Fall, a few of the women go away for a weekend of scrapbooking, laughs and late nights.

We booked rooms at a place in Cornwall called Navcan and the person organizing the weekend arranged for a great scrapping room for us to use for the weekend. It was a great location - rooms were decent, beds were comfy and the scrapping room was wonderful. Staff told us there were about 5 other groups scrapbooking that same weekend, so it's a popular place.

It's mostly used for corporate, government and military training, but anyone can book a group there. Aside from relatively crappy food, the weekend was just perfect and I had so much fun hanging out with the other women, getting some scrapbooking done and spending time with Tania. I wish we could do that type of weekend more often, but I'm just grateful I was invited to go this year as it was a wonderful break.

If you're interested in seeing the layouts I did over the weekend, you can check out my other blog at the following link:

Julie's Scrap Blog

Halloween in Ottawa

This was our first Halloween in Ottawa. We weren't sure what to expect as we live in a really nice neighbourhood, but it's a mix of families with kids as well as young couples and older couples with grown children (or no children). We're also on a small side street off of a somewhat busier street, so we didn't know if lots of kids would make it down our street or not.

We'd arranged with two of Alex's friends (and their parents) to come over for the afternoon and dinner before the three boys could go out trick or treating. It worked out really well - the boys always have so much fun together, and they were all dressed in Star Wars themed outfits. Alex was Darth Vader, his friend Mackenzie was Anakin Skywalker (who is actually Darth Vader, but before he becomes completely evil and takes the name Darth Vader, and has to wear a special mask due to a traumatic facial burn). Ale'x friend, Adleywas Luke Skywalker (who is actually Anakin/Darth Vader's son).

All three boys looked amazing and they had a great time getting lots of candy and treats.

Here's some pictures of the kids in their costumes as well as some pictures from our trip to pick up a few pumpkins.

Darth Vader with his light saber



Luke Skywalker



Anakin Skywalker

All three boys ready for battle

Alex trying to do a 'mean' face

Ready for Candy

Our neighbour was Princess Leia (she's Luke's sister and Darth/Anakin's daughter)

At the end of the night, we didn't have that many kids at all - but we did find a fun street for trick-or-treating on, and Alex and his friends had a great time.

Dad's 80th Birthday and Thanksgiving!

My father recently turned 80 years old! His birthday coincides with Thanksgiving every year, so we all got together for the long weekend - Jenny, Kian, Steve, Kathy, Jennifer and Sarah came from Toronto. Mary came from Montreal and we drove down from Ottawa. We also had a family friend, John Legros come to have dinner with us one of the nights.

We decided to focus on a fun family weekend for the birthday celebrations - it's hard to buy presents for the old guy, plus big parties are complicated at this time of year. I volunteered to organize a bunch of games that everyone could play - I used the idea from the game show "Minute to Win It" which has contestants do different types of tasks using everyday household objects. For example, one task was for one person to stack 6 metal 'nuts' (as in nuts and bolts) on top of one another using a chopstick instead of their fingers. Another game was for people to try to figure out the correct order of a set of empty coke cans that I'd put pennies into (5, 10, 15, 20, etc. pennies in each). They could compare the weight, shake the cans, etc., and try to put them in order from smallest number of pennies up to the largest. That game was a big hit.

The kids and some of the grownups also got to go to the Pumpkin Patch to do a big corn maze, and a few brave souls (Jennifer, Mary and Chris) also ventured out to Fort Fright at Fort Henry.

In addition to the fun games, great food and general silliness, we also got to hang out a lot, enjoy the great weather and relax.

My father also has a tradition of swimming in the lake on his birthday every year. As the lake is pretty darned cold at this time of year, the swim is usually pretty quick, but he did it this year again! It was fun to watch, and we actually got some great pictures and a cool video of him doing his annual swim on the day before his actual birthday.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and the video.

Alex and Kian on the hay ride

The rest of the gang enjoying the ride

Aunt Mary, Kian and Alex

Alex and Grandpa working in the pond

Sarah and Alex hanging out in the sunshine

The happy crew making pizzas for everyone

Aunt Mary enjoying the warm weather

Bob ready to dunk himself in the cold lake

He survived the very cold swim!

Bob got a bizarre "Spongebob" cake for his 80th birthday

One of the fun games - sorry for the quality of the pic

Alex playing the Pennies in the Coke Cans game.

Here's a video of our Dad doing his annual "polar bear" swim on the day before his 80th birthday.

Fall Fair in Richmond

We decided to go have some fun at the annual Richmond Fall Fair. We'd never been before, so we weren't sure what to expect, but it was lots of fun.

Alex got to go on a bunch of different rides and we played some midway games. We also some some neat displays and shows, including a fun trampoline show that had Alex totally amazed.

Unfortunately the day ended on a bad note when Alex got stung by a wasp for the first time ever just before we left. Thankfully he didn't have any type of reaction, but it hurt like crazy so we had to get him something to ease the pain.

Alex and Chris watching the trampoline show

First Day of Grade 1

Well it's official... my baby boy is officially a little boy now. He's started Grade 1 here in Ottawa and seems to be settling in very well. Chris and I both had some major pangs when we took Alex in for his first day and got to see him settled into his new class (with real desks!) and meet his new teacher, but we know that it's all part of growing up. I just wish the baby, toddler and little kid stages lasted a lot longer - and maybe we can just skip him being 14-17?

Here's some pictures from his first day.

Alex in front of his school telling us he's going into "Grade 1"

Alex and his friend at their new desks.

The great new teacher.

Happy kid after he took the bus home.

Ice Cream Fun!

What's a hot summer day without some yummy ice cream? Alex and Strider both loved this treat, as you can see by the pictures.