Fever!

It's the August long weekend, and I'm spending the day on the couch with sleepy/groany Cadence, who has a bit of a fever. We've surrounded ourselves with juice, books, pillows, & each other. He's napping for the 2nd time today (it's only noon), and I'm finally getting this blog caught up!

We've had a busy week's vacation, and have been back at work for a couple of weeks now. Starting just before vacation began:

Cadence went to a friend from daycare's birthday party. On the way back, we happened upon the Bikers' Reunion Freedom Ride, where thousands (I think) of bikers head through town & up to the hospital to give carnations to patients...it's meant to be a big symbol of support & unity for cancer survivors and patients. I've never watched it before, but was actually (surprisingly) a little bit moved. Of course Cadence just liked all the moterbikes, and that everyone waved to him.


A few days later we had his 3rd birthday party, but appear to have absolutely no pictures of the event. Oops (Drew very likely (I hope?) has video).

Then, the following Friday, we excitedly welcomed the Gauleys from way down south! Auntie Mer, Uncle Neil, Auntie Lee, Uncle Steve, and grampa all came up to celebrate Grampa's 80th birthday, along with Uncle Steve & Cadence's birthdays which all take place in July. We had a really fabulous weekend and can't wait to see everyone again.

Telling jokes in the kitchen using the radio mic. Everyone laughed uproariously at everyone else's jokes. Love it.


The Gauley men, with the exception of Drew, seem to really enjoy watching golf. Cadence spent a good 10 or 20 minutes standing like this watching it with them. The next day, Drew, Meredith, Steve, & Neil actually went to play golf, and it turns out that Drew really enjoyed it. Discussion is ongoing as to whether this will become a new sport (is it a sport? a game?) that we engage in as a couple.


Uncle Steve with his beer butt chickens. I decided to omit the pics of him making them dance & fly around in the kitchen pre-bbq.


Grampa.


Playing with his new walking/back-flipping doggy ("Tofu") that Grampa gave him for his birthday. Cadence likes to tell the dog to sit, then stay, then flip (which it all does automatically), then tell him he's a good dog & offer him a treat.


Happy 80th Birthday Ron! Happy birthday Steve! Happy birthday Cadence! (DELICIOUS cake)


Napping with his new bestest friend, Beavers the beaver from Auntie Mer.


Cadence is stirring; I'll take a break and continue the vacation log soon!

Summer Love

It's been a while--I guess we've just been living summer life (finally!! Yay!!) and not taking many pictures. We all three got a nasty stomach bug from which I'm now just about recovered (today's day 9). As usual, I was hit the hardest. The weather's been much better this year than last year, with some serious sun.

Today were the dragon boat races, which Drew & I did together. I'll add a picture below. Gramma & Grampa came to babysit Cadence so we could participate, and when Drew & I got home he kept asking to go to their house, so off they went! So I'm capitalizing on the time to update the blog. And sit still for a few minutes. Just a few. Tonight Drew & I will be heading out to the "adult prom" fundraiser for our local active transport trail. My goal is to be crowned king & queen; we'll see what happens.

Back to summer love. We've been loving..

...popsicles made out of orange juice. Just like when I was a kid.


...harvesting, and then eating (in cake, on pancakes, etc.) rhubarb.


...dragon boating on a beautiful summer day! (our team moved up the ranks this year--10th place last year, 6th this year!)


That's really all we've got accumulated. Cadence is doing well, growing, making us laugh every day. We're really looking forward to his birthday (he's having a real party with 3 friends from daycare), to our visit from the gauley clan (can't wait to share the cottage life!), to our visit from the Roses, and to camping later next month. Phew! Then, I think the rest of the summer has nothing but relaxing on the agenda.

Potty update

Ok, so things are not going as smoothly today. Saturday was so easy, he was going on his own, etc. Yesterday we ventured outside, had a couple of accidents, two in bed last night, and two already this morning. Today I'm back onto the "method" in full force, hoping we can see success. I'm so sick of saying, "how are your underpants? Dry!? Good job!" and it's such a beautiful day today, but we're staying in! It's an investment. It's an investment. Stay tuned....

Cadence the Potty Animal!

Well, I was going to say that spring is really here, blah blah, but then we woke up to snow on the ground, and flurries all morning. Now, we're having a nice weekend, but I'm still not jumping and putting anything in the ground just yet.

And it all doesn't matter, because we're pretty holed up in the house all of this weekend--it's potty weekend! Cadence has done really well, overall. Essentially we're holed up in the house while he wears no pants (just underpants) and we encourage frequent potty use by pumping him full of liquids all day long. Today we broke the rules a bit & ventured outside, & were rewarded by two accidents. So tomorrow we're staying in, before we head back to the real world of daycare, bike rides, & walks etc.

A few weeks ago, we took a family trip to the dump, looking for potential things to salvage for some of the home reno work we're doing. We didn't find anything to bring home with us, but it was such a sobering experience. Cadence looks so thoughtful about the whole thing here, but actually he's just playing with the knobs on the car heater.



Pics from a trip to the playground. Now that the weather's nicer, we can bike down or walk after supper or after work. Great to have the option again!






At a yard sale, we picked up for 25 cents one of those microphones that sends a signal to a radio receiver. Here's Cadence interviewing Drew; I think they're singing Old MacDonald together.


Another yard sale find.


We had a fabulous Mother's Day here. Drew and Cadence made me fabulous crepes, and then worked outside--Drew completely redid our vegetable bed so it's now both level and deep enough. Then, they made a huge Italian dinner. It really was perfect. Thanks guys!









Potty weekend. Having fun with underpants. On and off. Oh, the fun.

Making popcorn in underpants.

He's now taller than the bucket tower! Phew!


Today, we had a camping theme--a big map drawn on the paper, notice the bucket mountain located in the backcountry. Of course we don't have people who go exploring, just toy cars. There was a wild monkey and a brown bear hiding in the bush, and a friendly Mrs. Potato Head monster to play with by the pond. In this picture, Drew & Cadence are inside the tent...reading books, I think. It's awful quiet though...

Easter has passed, we've gotten one huge snowstorm (hopefully the last, but we're not putting the shovels or winter gear away just yet!) and Cadence & I went to Toronto for a week of adventure & visiting. We're looking forward to summer getting here, and enjoying all the great finds every day as more snow melts to uncover things from last year or lost throughout the winter. Including many of Tofu's frisbees and fetch sticks.

Two weeks ago, the day we got two feet of snow in one day. Drew shoveled three times.


Last weekend we spent a good half hour in the morning discovering with Cadence the fun to be had with shadow puppets. Ever since that introduction we have daily requests for "shadow doggy" to make an appearance.


In Toronto, at the AGO. Cadence and I spent only one of our Toronto days in actual downtown Toronto, and when naptime came I had to find a good quiet place--what better than an art gallery!? He snoozed for an hour & a half in his stroller while i got to see the entirety of the new AGO. Perfect! (except I didn't get to nap, and boy did I feel like it after that day!) Afterwards we got a special almond brioche in the cafe downstairs. I really love my outings with Cadence.


Looking out over the city from up high in the AGO


Our back door...mud mud mud. Standard play outside gear right now includes rubber boots, rain pants, rain coat, gloves. All nicely sealed to keep the mud outside where it belongs. Poor Tofu gets daily baths. This will likely continue til...June? Notice the "bridge"/walkway we've assembled to help navigate the quicksand. Task for this summer: come up with some sort of landscaping that deals with this mess. So far the best bet is some sort of raised boardwalk. Stay tuned!


Road hockey in the puddles. of mud.



Easter morning--more eggs daddy!
Easter dinner/scavenger hunt with friends Jeff & Rose (we missed you Steve & Lee!)

Just because it's March doesn't mean it's spring...but we're not complaining :)

Cadence is napping away after a fun morning together--we hiked/toboganned up the trails & looped around to the end of our street, then came back & had a yummy burrito lunch. I wasn't sleepy (too much coffee), so thought I'd put up our most recent pictures.

I found these in the camera--a little photo shoot Drew and Cadence had. I think there's a bit of a rock star/model theme to a few of the pictures to follow...

3-d glasses from a film Drew went to see when we were last in London.



Cadence has recently discovered the fun of Connect 4. And all the other things you can do with checkers, like place them on the sleeping dog.


Last weekend, Cadence & I went to Sudbury to visit Grampa & Gammie, who have a lot of fun toys such as cameras & guitars. I picked him up a proper pair of sunglasses while we were there. Not as cool as the 3-d ones, but at least these won't give him a headache (3-d glasses these days have come a long way from those red & blue ones...)




Yesterday, Cadence & I went along with pretty much all of the under-6 kids in town to a sleigh ride place, paid for by the Early Years Centre (LOVE the EYC). There were hot dogs (brought our own veggie ones), marshmallows (which we ate first), and lots of hot chocolate (unsure just how much we drank; it was a lot). Sliding, and horse-drawn sleigh. Plus an outhouse which was also exciting.



Cup...3? of hot chocolate (in a maxwell house cup).

Here we are, at the top of the hill. When we talked about it before hand, Cadence was firm about NOT going sliding down the big hill. Also not at all interest when we got there. Then about 2 hrs in, after multi-marshmallows, hot chocolate, & one veggie dog each, he wanted to go. It was VERY fun. We laughed & yelled the whole way down, then as soon as we got to the bottom, "let's do it again!!" I think we did it about 5 times, then it was time to go. That was the most fun I've had in ages. It's hard to tell, but the hill's actually quite big. Lovin' the smile I get anytime I ask Cadence to smile for the camera.


This morning we explored our yard, since the crust on the snow is generally hard enough to walk on now. On the few occasions I broke through, I fell through mid-thigh. We ended up heading up the whole way on our trail then around in a loop & came out the end of our street. Cold out but the sun is just so nice these days. Lots of deer tracks but no actual sightings (we're still really hoping to see a moose).


No explanation needed, I think.

Buried in Snow

Busy as usual, although somehow feeling calmer these days. Last month was a difficult one; we lost beloved Nana. I've found some nice pictures of her with Cadence that I'll post below.

A while ago, friends Ireen & Thorben came up to check out the local ski club; they stayed with us & we had a great visit. I think Cadence particularly like Ireen; here they are reading "Oh the Places You'll go."


About two weeks ago Drew looked up to see a Lynx walking across the back of our yard. We all got to watch it for about ten minutes as it slowly made its way up one side & across the back. Click on the title of this posting to see the sasquatch-sighting-like video Tony took. I went for a very short snowshoe this afternoon & saw four sets of lynx tracks--very cool. We think that our compost pile attracts rabbits, and the rabbits attract the lynx. We're assuming, of course, that there's only one lynx...


Mid-way through our trip to London for Doreen's memorial last weekend, Cadence & I took a side-trip to visit Aunt Tracey, Uncle Brian, Hallie, & Emillie.



Exploring & examining some of Nana's pottery. We're excited to have such beautiful things that she made in our home.

Snowshoeing last weekend (i.e. before the most recent crazy snowfall; we have a tonne more than this now!) Not sure whether you can tell here, but the snow is way above Tofu's head.


Yesterday morning, skiing--ahead in the distance you might faintly make out me pulling Cadence in the pulk. Was a gorgeous day, and although we didn't ski very far, it was nice to get out & pulling a 30-lb child really adds to the work-out.