Each year, a huge picnic is held in Stratford for families with kids adopted from Korea. The family that hosts the picnic has a gorgeous property south of Stratford, and they organize a picnic that is very popular each July.
We missed it last year (I think we were away camping), but we were happy to be able to attend this year. I think about 100 people were there and the kids had an amazing time. They have a pool, a playhouse, a trampoline and swings and they also also rented a jumpy castle for the kids to play in.
Alex had a great time seeing some of the friends he's made at other Korean events, and he just loved the playhouse/fort.
We are just so grateful for the connections we've made with other families who have also adopted from Korea. It's a pretty small community, but so many people are so supportive of everyone else, and it was also so much fun to see so many cute new babies and toddlers out at this event.
Alex in the fort:
Swinging on the tire swing:
A group shot with most of the kids:
The kids helping out during a cooking demonstration:
We recently took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls. It was a great trip, and Alex had an amazing time. Chris, Alex and I went with Kathy and Sarah, and one of our friends, Catherine and her daughter and son.
We shared a room and the kids spent most of the time playing in the water park. We started the fun off with a ride on the Wooly Mammoth as I was told it was an "easy" first ride. I have no idea if I'm just getting older, or if we just had an intense ride - but it was a wee bit much for both me and Alex.
Alex had so much fun (we all did), and he even tried out some of the medium-sized solo slides, but he didn't want to do any more of the big ones after the first one (I don't blame him lol). He played really well with our friend's son and they had a great time together the entire time.
The girls (Sarah and her friend) also got to be pampered a bit with a special kids pedicure. It was very cute seeing them sitting there picking out polish colours, etc.
My parents recently celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary (May 9, 2009). We had a wonderful time celebrating their 50 years together with two great parties.
On May 9, my sisters and parents (and husbands and kids) went to the Royal York for a wonderful dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Epic. Most of us stayed overnight and we then had a special breakfast together for Mother's Day.
My parents at Epic:
Alex and Chris enjoying dinner:
The Family Before Breakfast:
About a month after the official anniversary, we then had a party for extended family and some family friends at Kathy's home in Toronto. We played some fun games, hung out, ate some great food and had a great afternoon/evening celebrating such a big milestone in our parents' lives together.
Jennifer (my niece) made an incredible cake for the party - it was her own signature "rainbow" design for the cake, and ice with fondant and decorated with flowers. Some pics of the party and cake are below.
Well, Alex is now 5 years old. It's hard to believe that the time has gone by so incredibly quickly. He's turning into such an amazing little guy. He's smart, polite, funny, sweet and so many other great things and we're just so proud of him.
I've posted a little slideshow with pictures from his birthday celebrations. We had a party for him with some of his friends from school and daycare, and they all had a great time. They played outside and got to watch a neat show we arranged with a man who brought some snakes, lizards, a tarantula and other bugs and also some cute little furry animals to show the kids.
On Alex's actual birthday, we took him and one of his best friends (our next door neighbour's little girl) out for dinner at Mandarin (their choice - not mine lol). They always have such a great time together.
I also included a photo from Alex's Spring school portrait as it was taken just a couple of days before his 5th birthday.
We signed up Alex for swim lessons again this year. He was in a private class again - it's a bit more expensive than a group class, but we feel the value is really there as he gets 100% of the attention of the teacher for the entire 30 minutes, plus it's safer as the teacher is always with him.
He did such an amazing job. He's just on the brink of being able to swim by himself. He can swim for a short bit, but then he tends to sink a bit and then right himself, etc. He's not the least bit scared of the water (thankfully) and got to do some fun things with the teacher, including jumping off the diving board, going down the HUGE spiral slide on his last class and also jumping from the lifeguard's chair into the water.
Here's a few pictures from the lesson where one parent is allowed to take part with the teacher.
Well we finally did it... we broke down and got a new dog. It had been almost 4 years since we'd lost Gulliver to cancer, so we felt it was time to get back to having a dog take over our lives and home and hearts.
We looked into a lot of options, and tried to find a suitable puppy/dog to have in a home with a young child, but we just couldn't find any that was the right fit. It's one thing to take on a dog with known issues if it's two adults in the home, but with Alex being around, we wanted a bit more security re. temperament and size, even though we know there's no guarantees with getting a dog.
We finally decided to get a Labrador Retriever, and I did some research and spoke to quite a few breeders within about a 3-5 hour drive of here. I ended up choosing an amazing and lovely breeder who lives about an hour from us. Christine runs Lonewind Acres and she has absolutely amazing dogs. While I wouldn't ever choose a puppy or breeder based on colour of the puppies, I was concerned about temperament and the overall "look" of the dog as labs can range from very stocky and short-legged to very leggy with a more pointed muzzle. When I first called her, one of her dogs had just had a litter of chocolate labs - once again, I would never choose a puppy solely for its colour, but all things being equal, I do have a soft spot for chocolate labs, so I was excited to go out and see them after spending a lot of time on the phone with Christine.
The puppies were only a week old and they were absolutely adorable. Even though I just loved getting to see the puppies and cuddle them (Alex got to cuddle a couple too!), I was more keen on seeing the other dogs she had, especially the Mom and Dad from the litter.
Sage is the Mom and she was absolutely adorable. Not only was her temperament very sweet, but she was simply a beautiful dog. She was doing such a good job with the puppies, and she was so calm while we fussed with them a bit and checked them all out.
We then got to see the Dad, named Tramp. Once again, he was a beautiful dog with a lovely boxy head and a calm temperament. He had such a nice build to him and I could just imagine how lovely the puppies would turn out to be with such great parents.
We waited till the puppies were older to select which one we wanted, and we chose a cute male and named him Strider. He came home with us when he was about 8 weeks old and he's been such a super puppy. He housetrained very easily and he has the most amazing temperament. He makes us laugh all the time and he's incredible with Alex - they're great buddies. The two cats aren't too keen on Strider, but he's learned to give them their space and respect their warning signs (although he does seem to like to bug them once in a while).
Here's a picture of Strider at about 7 weeks and a more recent photo of him as well as a small slideshow of pictures of him. Enjoy!
Here's some shots from puppyhood to more recent pics:
Alex was on March Break this week, so I decided to take him and his best friend (our next door neighbour) to a pottery studio where you can paint your own items.
Both kids had a great time. Alex made a special bowl for Chris (for cereal) that had batman painted in the middle, and his friend made a very pretty dolphin.
I'm a stay-at-home mom who also works part time as a consultant. I love being able to work from home and also spend more time with our amazing son. I've been married 10 years and we have one son who was born in 2004.
