Easter Canadian Style

Did you know that everything in Canada is closed for Good Friday? This is one of the little things we are learning living up here. And no school today, Easter Monday.
Anyway, we dyed Easter eggs with the kids this year. The kids, although tired (it was past their bedtime) had a blast.

And wouldn't you know it, living in Toronto, the Easter bunny was running really late. So late in fact that he left Connor and Caitlin's baskets on the front door step and had to ring the door bell. He had a ton more houses to get to. But because he was running so late, he hid Easter eggs full of treats around the front yard for the kids to find. 

See this dead looking thing at the bottom left corner? The kids helped me dig this up and plant a pink hydrangea in it's spot. We also planted another pink hydrangea, a dark purple hydrangea and some peonies. Then it got really cold, so we came in the house and enjoyed watching a movie. They helped me make dinner and watched it rain. It was a real enjoyable day and we look forward to creating memories and new traditions with the kids.

March Break

Today was the official first day of March break. Because the kids haven't started school yet, this means absolutely nothing except everything is crowded. Take the zoo today. Yeah, I know it was a wonderful day to be outdoors, and lots of new babies on exhibit, but boy was it a mad house! But we still managed to enjoy ourselves.

This is a huge poster as we walked in to the zoo. We were lucky they were willing to hug each other.

 

 One Dirty Polar Bear. We couldn't get a picture of the baby Polar Bear, the lines to see him were crazy long.

 Me and the midgets inside the Inuit Teepee. They love being able to look around inside.

 Inuit Indian rock statue. Yes, it's a replica, but it is still awesome!

 Eating lunch with the teepees in the back ground. Apparently Caitlin said something that Connor thought was weird.

 Running down a muddy hill after eating our lunch. Caitlin has picked up the habit of looking for a walking stick whenever we go places.

 In the Mayan section of the zoo. It was warm enough for the water to flow!

 Warm enough we could take our jackets off to soak up some vitamin D!

 What zoo trip is complete without a ride on the carousel?

Mr. Adventurous here could save me some money by just walking around in circles. He always chooses the Turtle that doesn't move. Oh well, at least he is happy

Keever International Speedway

My kids love to play cars. They love to lay on the floor in the hall way and just roll the cars back and forth to each other. They can spend hours doing this. This morning Daddy joined in the fun.

Mayhem

The last blog entry found us in Atlanta Georgia for Thanksgiving. We all had a great time, even though it was a short visit. When we came home, we all had some sort of head colds. I had lost my voice for the first time in years, which made it fun when Caitlin acted up. Oh, the wonderful threes! Learning so much! Like back talking and trying to assert their independence! I like that they want to do things for themselves, but in the middle of a busy parking lot isn't the time to decide this. Jayson went to China for a week for work in the beginning of December. Being home by myself with the kids isn't that big of a deal, during our move here we lived in separate cities for 6 1/2 months. This time we learned what Croup was. Having never heard of this, I panicked one night when Connor sounded like he was really struggling to breath, and coughing. I called my mom (sorry about the late night phone call mom) and after talking to her, I decided to take Connor to the ER. I had to wake Caitlin up, but off we went. We checked in with the triage nurse and were admitted ASAP. Apparently croup is not all that uncommon, and the doctor was very nice and thorough and even checked Caitlin. Connor was prescribed a steroid and an antibiotic. This only cost me $2.59 out of pocket, the cost of the antibiotic, so hurray for socialized medicine!
Kids had an awesome Christmas, they were just chomping at the bit to get back to school. We signed them up for some preschool activities like Gymnastics, ice skating and preschool. So now we are back in the swing of day to day life.
Here are some pictures I have taken since Thanksgiving.

 Caitlin loves visiting Toronto Zoo. Her favorite part is riding the carousel before we leave. I love the look of pure joy on her face when it starts moving. This smile made the braving the old air worth it.

 You should always carry a carrot. You never know when you'll run into a snowman with no nose.

 Poor little dude! Fell asleep watching a movie. It is tough being 3

Mom! Take our picture! Oh, if I must.
my final thought for today. I was watching DIY network last night while I was on the treadmill. How do I get to be one of the lucky people that runs into the home improvement expert that begs to come home with you to remodel your bathroom? How do I get to be one of these people? Because I would totally be on board!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving twice! The first one was in October, and American Thanksgiving. The American Thanksgiving found us in Atlanta visiting our family. Jayson also ran his half marathon with Jeff Thanksgiving morning. I was proud of Jayson, he ran it in 1:59:02! I was proud of Jeff too! His time was 2:03! Good job guys!

We left Toronto Tuesday after skating lessons and pulled into Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lynne's house around 4ish on Wednesday.

 Her the kids are drinking a mug of milk with their favorite Uncle Bryan! And no, there is nothing wrong with the kids' heads. They just love band aids!

Caitlin smiling for the camera!

Cheesy Connor always ready to ham it up!

That's okay Connor, I don't think Uncle Bryan wanted to rest at all!

Enjoying some ice cream

Connor couldn't decide which dessert was his favorite, so he enjoyed both

Aunt Lynne decided to put the kids in a bubble bath, and they helped clean her bathtub! And here Shelby is seriously thinking of joining them!

Enjoying a bubble bath

They enjoyed playing soccer at Great Granddad's house

They enjoyed Great Grandma's swing

The remembered to ring the bell

Connor ringing the bell for like the third time. I am sure the neighbors missed this.

They found climbing Granddad's magnolia tree was a ton of fun

They played crochet

At the Georgia Aquarium enjoying a chocolate cupcake that Uncle Bryan decided they needed

The Manta Ray and Whale Shark swimming by

On our way to see the Dolphin exhibit with Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lynne

The dolphins and their trainers were right in front of us! Hearing them laugh was an awesome experience!

Picture with Uncle Bryan in front of the coral wall

We went to Stone Mountain to see the Sparklies (Christmas Lights as the kids call them)

Connor and Uncle Jeff waiting for the train

Connor and Aunt Lynne on the train

It was a sing along train around the mountain! I haven't sang that many Christmas carols in forever!

A family picture in front of the water wheel

We had Granddad's famous breakfast! Here Caitlin is with Aunt Lynne

We played in the leaves with Uncle Jeff and Uncle Bryan

Then they raked up the mess the made!

Granddad with Connor and Caitlin

We had a great time and I realized how much I missed everyone!