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.   

Snow Day

Yesterday evening and today marked the first legitimate snowfall during our time here in Toronto.  It started when Campbell and I were driving around on one final Christmas light and Santa Claus-finding tour, and the blizzard didn't stop until this morning.  I think we ended up getting over a foot.  It's not like the wet, slushy snow we see once every five years or so in Texas or  Louisiana.  This snow was more like Colorado snow-dry and fluffy.  The second we stepped on it, Katherine and I got that itch to hit the slopes!
I promised Cman we would make a huge, gigantic snowman.  I'll be the first to admit that I am completely out of my element in Toronto and especially Toronto in the Winter.  I'm pretty sure everyone in our neighborhood, if they didn't already before, knows we're not from around here.  Still, as any Southerner would do in the snow, I strapped on my trusty Red Wing boots and Katherine got Campbell into his much safer and appropo knee-high, waterproof, fully insulated Stride Rite boots, and we headed out.  We quickly found out the big downside about the snow being so dry was that it didn't really stick together, which made fulfilling my promise a tough task.
After a minor goal adjustment and aiming a little lower, we ended up with a nice mini snowman with christmas lights for the eyes and nose and a curly branch for the mouth.  Campbell was so excited to be out in the snow it didn't really matter in the end.  After some documentation of our hard work, we trucked back inside to get some hot chocolate.

I later found out from our French neighbor Kamel who has weathered many a Toronto winter and built his share of snowmen for his now older kids that the best time to build a snowman is actually just before the snow starts to melt (confirmed by Wikipedia!).  He thinks Saturday should be a good bet so we will try again then and aim a little higher, maybe.

This last photograph I took on the way home from work today.  It's an equestrian statue of Edward VII in Queen's Park by the University.  I just thought it was a nice scene.

Christmastime

It was difficult not being able to go back to Dallas this year for the holidays and see family, especially since we didn't make it back last year with Mackenzie due in January, but we definitely have made the most of it being in Toronto.  We have had so much time to catch up and hang out.  It's been great getting to spend time with the kids since I often don't get home from work until after they are asleep.  For Christmas Eve, we went to church at St. Paul's Anglican Church on Bloor.  It wasn't exactly SCAPC, but it was great being in church on Christmas Eve.  The kids did so great.  Mack was all smiles, and Cman had a great time looking at the decorations and coloring.  Here are some Christmas Eve pics at the house.

St. Lawrence Market

One of our favorite things to do since we've moved to Toronto is go to St. Lawrence Market on the weekends.  It was actually named the best food market in the world by National Geographic this year.  We always have the best times there.  It starts with buying some salsa, tostadas, and guacamole from this sweet lady at Manotas, which is hands-down the best guacamole in the city after my own!  Next we go pick up a monster crepe for brunch and some coffee, and then we head upstairs.  Upstairs Campbell (and Katherine) are in their element.  There are tons of samples from all of the vendors.  Campbell either sprints around to the different displays checking everything out or he wants me to put him on my head to get a birds-eye view.  We can never get out without buying fresh-made ravioli and this triple-combo pasta sauce that is the freshest mix of tomato, alfredo, and pesto-basil sauces.  It tastes best when it is just all mixed together.  As great as all that is, the highlight of the market are the GIGANTIC lobster tanks (I put gigantic in all caps because Campbell has this way of saying gigantic really loud in this super low-pitched voice that is hilarious).  We even bought a couple of lobsters one day and Katherine whipped up some of Ina Garten's lobster rolls for lunch!  I don't know anyone other than Katherine that could just whip up the best gourmet lobster rolls on-the-fly while feeding a 9 month old and 26 month old!   On our last trip to the market, we bought our Christmas tree.  We have always bought frazier firs, but this year we bought a balsam fir, which has turned out to be the hardiest, best-smelling tree yet.  We all love the market.

Our Caged Bird SCREAMS

[originally written on August 18th] Our move to Toronto was stressful to say the least.  We packed up the house on June 18th and the moving van arrived in Toronto on July 4th.  In between, we stayed in several different hotels and eventually slept on an air mattress in our rent house when we couldn't take the hotels any more.  Our sleeping arrangements were less than ideal for a baby and toddler.  We thought once the kids room was set up, we'd be back to normal.  HA!

Campbell has been refusing to sleep in his crib.  Every night he would pitch a huge fit (waking up Mack in the process).  Eventually we resorted to letting him fall asleep in our arms and then carefully putting him in his crib.  And every night a few hours later, he'd be screaming bloody murder and would end up in our bed.  And instead of getting progressively better it was getting progressively worse.

Finally Campbell and I had a "communication"break through yesterday.  I tried putting him down for his daily nap and he freaked out.  I needed to pump milk for Mack, so I let him scream for about an hour, hoping he would go to sleep.  He eventually woke Mack up, and I couldn't take it any longer so I went to his room.  I gave him books and toys and told him it was time to lay down.  He refused.  He grabbed the toys and said "I don't want this" and threw them out of his crib.  Then he grabbed his crib bumper and said "I don't want this."  

Light bulb... despite all the SIDS warnings, his crib bumper used to be a great source of comfort for him.  Every night he would sleep squished on one side of the crib with his head buried in one corner of the bumper and his feet buried in the other.  I looked into Campbell's tear-soaked face and asked, "Campbell do you want a big boy bed?"  "Ya..." "Do you want to sleep in a bed like daddy's..."  "Ya..."  That night we took one side of Campbell's crib off.  Holy cow, he went to sleep in it.  He still woke up in the middle of the night and ended up in our bed, but at least he started in his own bed and made it for more than an hour.  And today, happily went down for a two-hour nap.  What a big boy.  It's hard to think that something that used to provide such comfort was now the source of all our problems.  And I'm so proud of Campbell for figuring out how to tell me what he needed.  I only wish I had figured it out weeks ago.

Algonquin Park

VACATION!  To say the past year has been a whirlwind is a serious understatement.  The last vacation we took was when Campbell was 6 months old (nearly TWO years ago).  Brad had heard from several colleagues that going to Algonquin Provincial Park to see the fall leaves was a must while in Canada.  So we booked a hotel (for one night, let's not go too crazy here); we loaded the kids into the car on Saturday morning and headed North.

Brad and I were so excited to go on vacation.  The Wednesday night before our weekend getaway, he texted "I'm so exited we should start packing now!"  Let us not forget that we were going on a 36 hour vacation.  Packing for one night should not have taken 3 days of preparation.  And yet, as we loaded the back of the Yukon with all our gear, we barely had enough room for the dogs.  Luckily, we didn't have far to go before they were dropped off at kennel.

And we're off!  Oh wait, is that our tire deflating.  Stop for lunch... stop to air tire... stop to find a place to replace tire... all service stations closed.  Make decision to press on and get there.  Mackie losing it because she HATES sitting in her car seat.  Finally arrive!  40 degrees and raining...  Hey, let's go check out the park with a 2 year old and screaming 9 month old...  View the park from the car with a deflated tire...  Get pulled over by warden who just wanted to tell us that our tire was flat ... head back to hotel.... eat frozen dinners from hotel microwave... survive the night in a chilly room with teething baby and wide awake toddler.

Sunday... let's regroup and eat breakfast in the inn restaurant.  It's impossible to mess up breakfast; unless it takes 45 minutes to make 3 pancakes.  1.5 hours later... okay team Johnson, it's time to put our rally caps on and pull this thing together.  We're headed back to the park for our hike and photo op if it kills us.

Campbell loved the .8 KM hike!  For a week we had talked about seeing a moose or "hopefully fox."  We settled for rocks, moss, leaves and sticks.  The rain held off just long enough for us to make the hike and get our photos.  Poor Mackenzie was so exhausted she fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn.  But the leaves were really beautiful; and at least we can say we've been to Algonquin Park.