Whistler with A Niece and a Family Bestie

 Fall paddle with Team Tippy, our amazing hosts

 Team Roberts plus 1, Ayapapaya

 Snack time

 Pre-tag chills

Le village (translation, le candy store beside the treehouse park...)

Aya, La....

 Aya La demi-Canadienne

 Aya, La Chef

Aya, La Parkeur

District Championship Meet & Sav's Cheering Squad

 No small number of children run XC in Vancouver. This is just the grade 3 girls! Sav's behind her green team in the front row, settling her pre-race nerves.

 That's what we like to see, charging along, all smiles.

 Thanks for cheering, support crew!

The Kids- Fall 2015 Update

Thing 1
One kid is racing from school to XC meets, to piano, to soccer, to dictee...
Savvy is still adjusting from the chilled nature of summer to the intense schedule of the school year.
And adding to the pressure, she is getting ready for a new school in January. Yup, we're taking the plunge and going from the amazing Trafalgar, to the amazing Ecole Bilingue. Both are French, both are fantastic, but the latter is a heck of a lot closer (well, it will be once the new venue is built) and a spot in grade 3 has opened up. If Sav is there, Mac will get to go there too, if he ever agrees to attend school, which right now is at 90/10 in favour of a lifetime of lego.
So school number 4 in 3 years...I don't think we're winning any parent-of-the-year awards for that one, but here's hoping she settles nicely.

Think 2
Another kid is wearing jammies to nursery, lounging on the trampoline in the afternoons, and clinging in delight to his pre-school days. Mac enjoys winding up his sister (hiding her journal, taking unauthorised pictures with her camera, jumping in her bed with his pal when she's not home...the usual), eating mac and cheese, fighting, and lego. He's also exploring with language:

•  Reading (3 letter words are his forte)
• Rhyming ("I don't want to go to bed, you led ped, why don't you go instead, and I'll go to the shed and shake my head" etc)
• Naughty words: "That gross dinner is the S word!" (Then, he leans in to whisper "stupid"). Shut up is another one, the old "Sh word".

Fall in Douglas Park

Ode to Sha Sha

Auntie Shark has started a swish new post, a true big wig gig, travelling the world with an office in KTown and NYC. We made her a few goofy congratulations-we-love-you videos. The best is Shark-in-Cinema, starring....?!?

Congratulations Sha Sha!!!

Special Hairstyles from Big Sis to Little Bro

The Pumpkin Patch 2015

Nursery trip with Mac and his mates. Great fun smelling and tasting things from the garden, petting the animals, jumping in mud, choosing a pumpkin, and learning the difference between straw and hey...not only the 4 year olds paid attention to that one!

There's always time to be buried

We were at Jericho beach on Monday for Sav's XC meet and as the Kindergarten group was starting, Mac wanted to be buried while we waited for Sav's grade 3 race. I mentioned I didn't know if there was time.
Mac: There's always time to be buried.
His father's lad.

"Thanks"

The kids are doing a pretty good job of getting their heads around the use of the old quotation marks.

While we were camping, we had a basic lentil-ish dinner and there was no shortage of complaining from the little people. At bedtime, in our tent, Savvy's hands reached under the wee divider to make air quotes around the delicious in: Dinner was "delicious". Then again for: "Thanks".

Like his sister, Mac uses the quotation marks for evil, but he also knows how to throw out the love, experimenting with some extreme examples: Mom, I "hate" you. Followed quickly by "no no, just joking-- see how I used these [insert image of 4 year old making air quotes].

Well, now it's my turn:

Kids, thanks for "cleaning" the car.

Play date with Uncle Kevin

 Sweet day for a play date. 1 Oct? I don't think so.
 Thanks Uncle Kevin for a great bike ride and park session!

Cross Country-- Sav's Race Debut

The Bloody Moon Tutorial by Glen Dobson

Avec patio light, ping pong ball, and mini basketball.

Lego-- Mac Style

I always have to be the good guy.

I never get a ship that can do loop de loops.

Mac's tank is always protected by a poisonous shield.

My good guys are never allowed to capture Mac's bad guys.

I don't get a home base where I can rest and reload.

Whenever I find a way to get an advantage, Mac creates a new rule to stop me.

And that's playing lego with Mac.