For the first time in a long while I put baby Bo down for a nap in my own bed in hopes of a longer nap. So far it is working. He is at times a very calm sleeper.

Buzz and I have spent the afternoon playing with his Playmobil people (a new love of his thanks to his Auntie) and playing outside. More accurately he played outside while I tidied the kitchen and got a load of dishes going. Usually we don't put the dishwasher on until later in the evening due to the cost of hydro during the day, but today the piles of dishes seemed to be towering and so on it goes. 

We have been soaking up the summer as much as we can around here; berry picking, long walks, visits to wading pools, playing in the backyard. The one thing Buzz has been dying to do is camp in the backyard and this is the one thing that has been a little hard to get done. There has been so much rain that the yard is often saturated and far too wet to set the tent up out there and so we finally set it up in the playroom. He was thrilled! We will be leaving it up for a little while as they are having a great time playing in it, this tiny tent was well woth the clearance price. At 5x6 feet it is perfect for indoor campouts.

Paint and Rain

Today the rains came sweeping across our town and the great city of Toronto to the south. Highways were flooded, rivers swelled, we went out to the library. Things here in town were fine only fleetingly touched by chaos. I think we will go searching for puddles tomorrow. Tonight when the rain had calmed a little Buzz took to the curbside to do a little puddle dancing.

Before the rains came today Buzz had a chance to play outside, painting polka dots and swirls with a little chalk paint (cornstarch, food colouring, and water). This is an extremely messy activity, but so much fun, I like to get in on the painting as well.

Hopefully those caught in the flooding waters this afternoon are climbing into warm and dry beds tonight. We are certainly thankful for ours.

Forever

It has been forever since my last post. We hace all grown a little older around here. Our baby is walking, the boy has grown ever so tall. We have moved from our beloved Toronto to a town and we are spending these long summer days exploring sidewalks and trails.

I have much to write about but only fleeting moments in which to do so. For now some photos from the past while, moments of exquisite delight.

the boys

Buzz woke up grumpy this morning. Every morning Ed brings him from his own bed into ours before he leaves for work, he does the same with Bo, thus this morning Buzz woke up to Bo kicking him in his belly. He was not impressed. I moved Bo and told Buzz to close his eyes, have a beautiful dream, and then wake back up with a smile on his face. He did and I took some photos. 

This last one is my favourite. This sums up our mornings, Buzz laughing from jumping on the bed, Bo staring at you with his deep blue eyes, the boys holding hands. In the three months since the arrival of Bo the boys have become close, Bo watches Buzz when he is near, Buzz requests Bo at night when he won't fall asleep, holds his hand when they're together. When they are happy, they are lovely. 

for the love of cars

My boy has a love of cars. The older boy. The young boy so far only has a love of familiar faces, warm baths, and milk.

Back to the older boy and his love of cars. We encouraged it for sure by watching the UK version of Top Gear while Buzz played nearby on his road map rug with his giant collection of tiny cars. We buy him said cars when we are on shopping trips. For $1 and change he is thrilled, we talk about the colour, make, model, and year. This generally provides us with a long conversation (by three year old standards at least). 

Much to our delight Buzz started to recognize cars while we were out and about. Chevrolet, Mercedes,Honda, BMW, car after car he will name them, our version of the billboard alphabet game.

When asked about his favourite car he might tell you Lamborghini, but when asked what he will drive when he gets big, the answer most definitely is a Toyota. My whole family drives Toyotas and so this practical decision is quite likely in his genes. He would probably choose a red Prius just like the little one he often carries in his pocket.

If you look at pictures of Buzz you are likely to see a car in his hand or beside him on the floor, he has one with him at all times. I find them everywhere. The diaper bag, underfoot, the stroller, the car, in my bed, in Buzz's bed, in kitchen cupboards and for certain in the bathtub, they are everywhere lest he need one at a moments notice.

We can't  wait to take him to the car show next year, his eyes will be as big as saucers. My hometown is home to a great many classic cars, some of which are brought out to be shown along the roadside once a year. We were unable to go to see them this year, but when next we go and he is able to see his teeny muscle cars in life size greatness he will likely be thrilled.

While children often go through stages of things they like, their interests changing on a whim, our sons' appreciation for cars has been here since before he could speak. I suspect this interest will stick around for a while.

I bet  his dreams are filled with cars (and hopefully rainbows and unicorns too), he does after all go to sleep surrounded by them. I love that he is so enamored with them, it is endearing and of course endlessly entertaining on road trips.

A few new photos

Today we went on one of our jaunts down to Evergreen Brickworks to take some family photos and let Buzz run around and have some fun. This is the first time we've gone down there with Bo with the intent to take a family photo. I think it turned out great and am planning on getting it printed to put up on our wall. 

The photos of the boys in the circles are actually them sitting in the windowsills of the cob house. The people at Evergreen Brickworks have been working on this cob house for quite a while and I think that it is finally done, it is definitely Buzz's favourite place to play.

Playground Review : Bayview Village Park

When planning an adventure around the greater Toronto area we are often on the lookout for great playgrounds. While any playground can be fun and enjoyable, there are definitely some factors that make them more or less fun for both Buzz and myself (Bo doesn't yet care). Being the type of person who plans our outings I usually like to hop on the internet the evening before and check out whats in a given area. I always look for peoples opinions on local playgrounds, I'm almost always disappointed with the amount of info that is out there.  While you can sometimes find info on the parks in general, information on the playgrounds themselves are lacking and so I'm going to attempt to fill the void.

The format of my playground reviews may change a little as we find things that we love or despise about various playgrounds, but I hope that I can at least give a little insight into the condition, amenities, and general awesomeness of playgrounds around the city. I will do my best to include some photos, although they will most likely be from my phone as opposed to to the camera.

First up is our playground of choice for this evening : Bayview Village Park.

Location : On the east side of Bayview Ave, north of Sheppard.

This park is within walking distance to the Bayview stop on the Sheppard Subway Line. If you are driving to the park there is a parking lot which has about 25 spaces.We've only been here a couple times, but both times we were able to get a parking spot without any problems. As this park is surrounded by a residential area I suspect a lot of people walk over.

From a parents point of view I think the best thing about this park is that it has a fence separating it from Bayview Ave. Without the fence it would be unplayable as the playground equipment is located fairly close to the road. The fence runs all along the west side of the park and seems to generally contain the kids.

There are three separate play structures with slides, they seem to be for toddlers, young kids, and older kids as they are three different sizes.  I suspect that they  have been there for a while as they are made of wood, not metal and plastic like is commonly seen in most playgrounds. They are all pretty simple structures, but the kids seem to enjoy them. The surface under the playgrounds are either covered in sand or soft rubber. The sand is not deep enough to play in and is closer to teeny pebbles in some areas.

This park has a splash pad!! The sprinklers are in a concrete pad and the button to turn them on was difficult for the toddlers to activate, but all the kids running around seemed to the enjoy the water. The sprinklers are pretty basic, the only structure on the splash pad is a water tower, no water spouting animals or cat tails here. We were here around dinnertime and the splash pad was mostly shaded which was nice. The splash pad seems to be wheelchair accessible, however most of the playground is not all that wheelchair friendly.

Unfortunately the age of this playground is starting to show, there is some minor graffiti on some things, the benches could use a coat of paint, and the water fountain was leaking terribly. Despite the age and basic play areas this park has a lot going for it. The fence allows parents with more then one kid to watch them comfortably. There are plenty of shady or sunny places for a picnic, playing with a ball, or general running around. There are a decent amount of places to sit and even washrooms (albeit port-a-johns not large enough to fit a stroller).  This is a park that we will probably return to as it is near some shops that we frequent. I think that when it was first built the park would have been great, shiny and new is always better than tired and old. It could use some updating and a little maintenance, although I didn't see any trash around, the play areas seemed dusty and a little dirty.

Above all else this park is pretty average, it has some really good things going for it, but it is also fairly boring looking. Sometimes boring is great for kids, it develops their imaginations, however sometimes its just plain boring. This park leans a little more towards just plain boring.

This park has:

-3 play structures with slides.

-2 other structures with monkey bars and rings to swing from.

-5 picnic benches and 4 park benches within the playground area. More benches can be found on the outskirts of the big fields.

-Large open field

-Tennis courts

-Baseball diamond

-2 port-a-johns (not wheelchair accessible)

-concrete splash pad

-shaded grass area

-fence (not gated)

-parking lot

-2 child swings

-1 toddler swing

-1 accessible swing with asphalt leading up to it.

-1 drinking fountain (not working well when we were there).

 Score : 4/10

The Summer To-Do List : Blue Jays Game

Have I mentioned we're Blue Jays fans? Since we are lucky enough to live in the same city as a baseball team as great as the Jays we think it is important to take our kids to a game or two. I grew up going to games at Tigers Stadium and loved it, I have great memories of the games. For our kids to experience the game, the stadium, the crowd and the peanuts underfoot, is wonderful.

This past Saturday we took Bo for his very first game, Buzz having been many times before. Bo slept for the most part, Buzz ate popcorn and got himself a foam finger. It was all very exciting! Bo did manage to open his eyes long enough for us to snap a pic. Although he does not look all that pleased in the photo he was very well behaved and wasn't bothered by all the sights and sounds.

The Jays won and after the game we all went down on the field so that Buzz could run the bases, stepping onto the field was thrilling! We almost always sit way up in the nosebleeds and so being able to go right down and walk on the field was a great experience, the place looked huge from there. 

I think the only drawback to going to the games is that we always seem to sit in a somewhat rowdy section, perhaps all the cheap seats are rowdy. This time the rowdy was coming from two separate bachelor parties that happened to be sitting next to one another, they were trying to one up each other with their behaviour. For the most part we take it in stride and security at the stadium are pretty good at keeping people from getting out of control. I suspect that there aren't quite so many trouble makers down in the more expensive seats, but as we can't afford to get those tickets, we will just have to put up with the bachelor parties. I suspect a family section up in the cheap seats would go over well. 

The staff at the games are always kind and courteous, when I asked one of them if they would take a family photo of us in front of the Jays dugout, they happily agreed to. This is our very first family photo as a family of four.

Although these outings aren't always easy they are well worth it. Buzz remembers the games and the experience, he talks about it for months afterwards. Taking our kids out into the world to explore, to see and do interesting things, to watch them experience incredible moments is simply an amazing experience.

Birthday Celebrations!

My family got together this past Sunday to celebrate a couple birthdays. Little K was celebrating his very first birthday, while my brother-in-law Mike was celebrating a birthday of a larger number. We all met at a place near Collingwood that my sister and her family were staying at and had a little party, complete with cake, decorations, and hats! Little K's Mama was very busy, we all had our own hat personalized with our first initial, she also whipped up a neon paper chain. I love paper chain! I think I might have to get some pretty paper and make one for above Buzz's room or something, so pretty! 

I volunteered to make cakes, one of them was gluten free golden cake, the other was chocolate. Both of the cakes were decorated very traditionally, with cherries and pretty icing. They were yum! I love decorating cakes like these, they are quick to do and end up being so pretty. To sugar the cherries I simply washed them, shook off the big drops of water, and sprinkled sugar on them, they looked beautiful and tasted great. I think if you were more picky about them being totally covered you could paint dry cherries with egg whites before sprinkling on the sugar. I would recommend sprinkling the sugar on the cherries instead of dipping them as that will keep the sugar in the bowl from getting all moist.

I added sprinkles to the little white cake as it was deemed Litte K's cake, then added a happy birthday banner. The cake was also dyed turqouise inside.

The chocolate cake ended up being a pretty blue also with a happy birthday banner on top.

Little K has not had sweets yet and so he enjoyed a delicious banana pudding.

It was great to see the entire family, Buzz loved having time to play with his cousins, he so rarely gets to see the older cousins that it was a treat indeed! 

To-Do List

I've finally made our summer to-do list - yay! On sunny mornings when the day is stretching ahead of us we sometimes have trouble coming up with things that might be super fun to do, this list will hopefully help with that. There are a few big ticket items on the list (baseball game, going to the ROM) but for the most part the items on the list are simple and fairly easy to do on the fly.  

 

We've actually already started doing some things on the list, specifically getting a treat from the ice cream truck. This was a big exciting moment for Buzz, not only does he love ice cream treats, but he is in love with the ice cream truck that comes to our street. I let him choose whatever he wanted, he decided on a Sponge Bob ice cream treat, Ed and I had strawberry slush. We were all pleased with our treats.

Keep a look out for updates on our to-do list, with any luck will be able to keep ourselves busy and  have lots of fun this summer.

Buzz, Papa, and a Bag of Gummy Worms

Buzz is in love with the show Max and Ruby. Anyone with a toddler who watches television is probably aware of this show, but if you are not it is about a pair of bunny rabbits. Max and Ruby are brother and sister, they take care of each other do things that are apparently irresistibly interesting to a three year old (like making lemonade). Like any little bunny rabbit Max likes his candy, in particular gummy worms, Buzz has taken note of everything Max likes and often lets us know that he would like gummy worms too (among other things like wind up robots and green alien gorillas). This past weekend we met up with my parents at an antique market and after browsing the tables and tables of interesting things we sat down in the trees for a picnic. Buzz was delighted when his Papa pulled out a bag of gummy worms, my Dad was delighted at Buzz's delight, this is the resulting picture. A whole lot of happiness going around.

I suspect there will be more gummy worms during future visits with Papa.

Updates on the Garden

We have been busy at the garden, everything is growing, some is ready to harvest. We ate the peas that are always the first to make an entrance, Buzz loved them the most. Our snap peas were so sweet they tasted like candy!

In the past Buzz has been afraid of swings, but this summer he discovered that they are delightfully fun. Luckily there is a swing at the garden and he hops on it whenever we are over there.

 

I stopped in to Starbucks to grab myself a nice cool coffee beverage and noticed a sign about their 'Grounds for your Garden' program. I happily picked up a free 5 lb bag of coffee grounds and distributed it thoughout the garden, this will hopefully enrich the soil. As a side benefit I had coffee grounds all over my hands and used them to exfoliate my skin a little - my hands have never been so soft! If you have a garden and are close to a Starbucks, head on over and grab yourself a bag of grounds for your own garden.

One of our garden neighbours gave us a few currants to taste - yum! I can't get over the bright red colour, so pretty in the sun. I love seeing them on the plants, catching that hint of ruby red under the leaves.

 

Buzz has had his share of tumbles at the garden already this year, for the most part he gets up and going right away. He is a rough and tumble kid who's not afraid to dust himself off and keep right on running. This tumble however took a little extra dusting, he even had dirt in his mouth. A quick wash off at the tap and he was as just fine. 

 

 Our first carrot of the season! We were anxious to see how they looked and so Ed pulled one up. I think its a cosmic red, Buzz and Ed shared it. While the carrots aren't quite ready to provide us with some decent eating, our first batch of beans are almost ready for us to can. We just got a few more packets of bean and carrot seeds in the mail so that when we pull our the peas out later this week we are able to plant something new.

 

A New Arrival

What was once a family three is now a rather blissful family of four. Our beautiful new son arrived safe and sound three weeks ago and we simply can't get enough of him. The transition from three to four has been surprisingly uneventful, he fits right in and we've just kept on doing the things we were already doing as a family, albeit a little slower and with a whole lot more diaper changes.

For the sake of my children's privacy I decided a whie back to not use thier real names on the blog. While they both have names steeped in family tradition and a little whimsy I don't feel all that comfortable sharing them. My eldest son is known as Buzz on this blog, the newest member of the family will be known as Bo.

My labour this time around was faster and easier than last time, while this is almost always the case with second labours I was a little surprised and obviously thrilled that this was the case for me. Bo was born at home (I had Buzz in hospital) with the aid of my midwives and my husband. The beauty of being at home was that we got to relax, sleep in our own bed, and Buzz was able to meet Bo very soon after he was born.

Bo is a beautiful baby, he looks a lot like baby Buzz, with darker hair. For the time at least he is sleeping as well as I could ever hope for, although I suspect that I am used to less sleep anyway. Buzz seems to like him well enough and is happy to show him off to anyone that is interested, he is very gentle with him. It seems as though there haven't been all that many changes with Bo's arrival, instead it is as though he has always been here. We are pretty much back to our normal on the go selves.

I will attempt to keep updating my blog these days, if I'm not writing it isn't for lack of wanting to, but rather for lack of time. I keep an ongoing list of blog posts that I want to write so that when I get a moment I have topics ready to go, the list is getting longer and longer - summer is exciting but busy!