Vacation

To say we've been busy the last couple of years is an understatement. Two kids, 2 countries, 2 plus years, and thousands of work hours later, it was absolutely time for another vacation.  It was a no-brainer to make a return trip to the Cayman Islands, the site of our "babymoon".  We booked the trip in January in anticipation of being able to celebrate securing a job, finishing fellowship, and becoming board certified amongst other things.  After everybody made it to Dallas by various modes of transportation, we got ready for the trip.

Grand Cayman was just as pretty as when we were last there.  7 mile beach was still pristine and being able to take Campbell and Mackenzie gave Katherine and I such a feeling of happiness and satisfaction.  Our little people's personalities are so distinct, and they carried over almost seamlessly to the beach.  Calculated Campbell preferred chillin at the pool playing with his boat avoiding the unpredictability of the ocean while wild, fearless Mackie liked running full-speed head-on into the waves and then rolling around in the sand.  Campbell would carefully design and construct sandcastles while Mack would just crash into them.  We also took the kids to the turtle farm to check out the giant sea turtles.  It was a really hot day so we didn't stay long, but I think they enjoyed getting up close and personal with them.  After all, Finding Nemo got us through many a cold winter day in Toronto.  I think Campbell knows every line of the movie especially the part with the giant sea turtles.  We had the best time.

Perhaps the best part of the trip was celebrating Cman's third birthday.  We went to Casanova by the Sea.  The italian food and cheesy flare was perfect.  We took turns taking Campbell and Mackenzie out to the peer between courses to run around and see the crabs.  The sunset was amazing.  The waiters and staff all sang "Happy Birthday" to Campbell and there was even a harpist singing Sinatra songs to boot.

Another highlight of the trip was being able to take Morgan who has meant so much to our family during our year in Toronto and who has become a part of our family.  It was great getting to spend time with her and also, in some small way, reward her for all of her hard work.  Her dedication to Campbell and Mackenzie was inspirational.  She would ride the bus 45 minutes each way every day to get to our house, which was on the other side of the city from hers.  The day she showed up at our door for an interview Katherine and I just knew she was somebody special.  She was truly a Godsend.  She's off traveling the world currently but we hope to have her visit in Springfield in the future.

We are already starting to plan a return trip!

Haircut

It took Cman a long time to get hair.  He was bald forever.  He didn't start getting peach fuzz until he was a year old.  When he did finally get some hair, it was and has always been blonde, soft, and really fine.  I love giving his noggin a good rub.  We usually let it grow out pretty long to the point where it gets curly.  Some would even say the boy can grow a nice mullet!  Whenever there's too much "party in the back", since I'm handy with a pair of scissors, I give it a trim job.  All until tonight.  

After eating dinner at Pei-Wei, I walked by the Sports Clips window where I got my hair cut just the other day and noticed they weren't busy.  I had given them fair warning when I was in there that I was bringing my 3 year-old in for his first haircut in a barber shop.  They took Campbell right in.  Once we got him settled into the barber chair on the cushion, we put the "magical" black cape on, and the cutting commenced.  

He really did quite well.  We managed to keep him talking all about our recent vacation.  Dannie, the stylist that cut his hair, was really patient.  After she finished, it was amazing to see how much older our little boy looked.  He is growing up so fast and was so excited about his first official haircut.  He even got a blue sucker out of the deal and of course a proud mamma.

Goodbye to the ROM

We weren't in Toronto long enough to really become emotionally attached to the city, but we did become attached to the Royal Ontario Museum.  Our first trip to the ROM was literally 2 days after we arrived in Toronto (documented previously).  We wanted to take the kids some place cool, but we were also looking for someplace with air conditioning because it was stifling hot in the city, and our rent house that we were too busy to fly up and see prior to moving of course had no AC (documented previously too).

The ROM turned out to be amazing, not just the dinosaur exhibit, but the entire museum.  We had so many great times there. The ROM was the perfect place for us, not only when it was 95 outside with no AC, but also when it was 5 outside with our heater cranked up.  Campbell loved the ROM so much I really can't put it into words, and I'm not sure I'll ever fully appreciate it.  He would literally run through the dinosaur exhibit over and over with a huge ear-to-ear smile on his face, stopping only to take a break on "his" grey leather couch.  He was probably the only 2 year old that knew exactly who succhomimus and prestosucchus were.  He was obsessed and still is obsessed with the free kids ROM dinosaur comic book that you could pick up at the beginning of the exhibit.  There were so many other things Campbell grew to love in the ROM: the turkey, the big gigantic Moose, the Algonquin park scene with the baby deer and the fox that he thought looked just like Maggie, playing in the kids zone, and Christmas Dino.  As for Mackadoodle, we literally watched her grow
inside the ROM.  The first time we took her, I think she slept the whole time in our Phil and Teds, but on our last trip, she was running close behind Cman pointing at the baby brown bear and jumping up onto the bench to look at the fish in the aquarium with Campbell.  We will miss the ROM and will hopefully be able to take them back one day when they are older.

Jays vs. Rangers

This post is really 3 separate stories that intersect.  Growing up in Dallas, Katherine and I have lived and died with the Texas Rangers.  We've cheered them on in the playoffs.  I saw Nolan Ryan throw his 5000th strikeout and Kenny Rogers throwing a perfect game watching on T.V.  I remember going to the division series against the Yankees in '99 with amazing seats behind the Yankees dugout listening to some drunk guy yell various obscenities at all the Yankees when they came out of the dugout.  I also remember losing my mind in '90 when they missed the postseason after having a 13 game lead going into the last month or when they were literally one strike away from winning the World Series and blew it in 2011.

As anyone who has read these posts knows, we've moved around quite a bit while I have been in school and training.  One of Katherine's friends from high school, Scott Cunningham, has visited us in each locale.  Scott also happens to be one the most die-hard, faithful Rangers fans I've ever met.  So when Scott emailed Katherine to say he would be in Toronto to see the Blue Jays and Rangers series the weekend of June 7th, it was a no-brainer that we meet up.

To make things even sweeter, Campbell and Mackenzie had not yet been to a baseball game, and we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take them.  Better yet, Saturday games at the Rogers Centre are kids' days where any kid can run the bases after the game.  We were so excited-first baseball game and Cman and Mack could run the bases-too perfect.  We decided to let the kids take a nap and get to the game a little late so we would be sure to make it through the whole game.  We casually rolled in at the bottom of the 4th and met up with Scott at our seats.  We were having a great time.  Campbell got used to the cheering, of which there was a lot because it was a really good game.  The Rangers were down most of the game but came back late to force extra innings.  By the bottom of the 14th inning, we admitted defeat and packed it in.  The Jays ulimately won the game in the bottom of the 18th-just our luck.  It was the longest game in team history on a day that we just wanted to take our two toddlers to run the bases for a photo-op!  We still had a great time seeing Scott and watching some baseball.  Hopefully we will be able to entice Scott with a minor league Cardinals game in Springfield.

All set for the big game.

 That's Scott with the Rangers jersey, good stuff!  He made fast friends with all the Canadians!

Juice break, anyone?

Mackie post hot dog.

Dirt

Like any toddlers, Campbell and Mackenzie love to play in the dirt.  They go to the park every chance they get, and the big event there is usually making sand castles or mountains, which involves moving a lot of sand around.  It's a contest to see who has more sand in their shoes when they get back.  To celebrate Spring finally arriving in May and making it through the long Canadian Winter, we planted some flowers.  We didn't get too ambitious since we are moving in a few weeks, but a great time was had by all, and plenty of dirt was moved around.

Happy Mother's Day

It goes without saying, Campbell and Mackenzie are the reason I get to celebrate Mother's Day as a mom.  I cherish each day with them and especially on Mother's Day I am grateful for all the love and joy that they give to me.  Every day they teach me how to be a better person.   I love you C-man and Mackie with all my heart!

[Yes, it's 45 in Toronto, and we are all bundled up on Mother's Day!  Thanks Brad for these awesome photos!]

Learning to Ski

Brad and I met on a ski trip in college.  We both love the sport and always thought we would take our family skiing.  This year in Canada, every time it snows feet of white fluffy powder we get the itch to find the nearest mountain.  At the end of February, one of Brad's colleagues thought it would be a great idea to plan a fellow's ski trip.  We finally had our excuse to go skiing.  It would be simple, drive up Saturday morning, ski in the afternoon, head back on Sunday.  Blue Mountain here we come!

We made it to the resort around noon, just in time to feed our hungry munchkins.  Little did we know that weekend (March 9th) was the start of Spring Break in Toronto and the place was packed.  But we found a spot for a quick lunch, and Mackie went down for her nap.  Campbell was so excited to be at Blue Mountain, there was no way he was going down.  So we hit the slopes instead.  [Our nanny, Morgan, has become part of our family.  As the only ones bringing kids on the this trip, we brought Morgan with us so she could watch the kids while we dined out on Saturday night with Brad's colleagues.  So, no,we didn't leave Mack peacefully sleeping in a hotel room by herself!]

I was a little nervous about whether or not Campbell would like skiing.  I have visions of our future family ski trips, all of us tearing up the slopes the way dad and I used to when I was a kid, and I really hoped that Campbell would like it. On our first trip, the goal was to just get him in skis, maybe go down the bunny slope once, and take some photos.  To my delight - he loved it!  One run up the bunny slope and he could see the rest of the mountain.  He immediately pointed to the other area where people were actually skiing and said, "I want to go over there where the big kids are!"  Slow down cowboy, we have to practice one time down the bunny run.  Second ride up the "magic carpet" and he had it down.  And emphatically repeated his request to ski where the big kids were.

Luckily Blue Mountain is a super family friendly mountain.  We were in the "green" zone and from the bottom of the lift we could easily see the top of the "big" lift.  Brad (aka our photographer) agreed that we could make it up and down - it wasn't too steep or crowded, so we should be fine.  C got a little nervous when we got to the top, and he couldn't see daddy any more.  But we made it down just fine and called it a day - time for hot chocolate!

First pair of skis!

Cruising up the "Magic Carpet" for our first run down the bunny slope.

Riding the big lift!

We look like little ants coming down the mountain!

Bathtime!

The nightly routine usually goes something like this: Mackenzie eats around 5, gets her bath at 6, and goes to bed thereafter.  Campbell eats with Mack, but then he runs around the house acting "silly goofy" or makes hamburgers in his new kitchen and eventually gets his bath after Mack goes to sleep.  That all changed tonight.  Campbell wanted to help give Mackie a bath and specifically "wash Mackie's face".  That wasn't really a shocker because he is so sweet and gentle with Mackenzie.  He is the best big brother.  We all went up thinking he just wanted to help give her a bath, but he actually wanted to get in the tub and take a bath with her.  It was so great.  He really did help wash Mack's face.  It was a big night too because it was the first time we bathed Mack without using her baby tub.