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.   

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.