Alpacas, Water Slides and a Lost Hat

This all took place last July of 2013 on Prince Edward Island. It was a life experience for the kids and one they will never forget.

We joined my brother-in-law's family (wife and 4 kids) and rented a cabin at a campground for 3 nights. That in itself was a great experience. Cousins, campfires, smores, junk food, bar-b-ques and 10:00 bedtimes. The campground was great. It had a playground and kids entertainment and evening hayrides. It also had a giant bouncy "pillow". It must have been 30 feet long and 15 feet wide and it inflated to a dome and you could bounce on it like a trampoline. At one point there were probably 20 kids on this thing... it was a blast (I loved it, too.)(Of course). Anyway, a bonus to the campground was it's proximity to a water park. It was 36C (97F) on the day we arrived. We were cookin' hot. So off to the water park we went.

It was an interesting layout they had the water park. The entrance was at the back while all the water park stuff was at the front. Or at least what I'd call the back and front in relation to the road. Anyway, as we're walking through the park to get to the water slides we come across a small petting zoo. Thinking the 2 year old would like see the animals we carry him into the small barn. There was a low wall inside and we went over to see what was behind it. At that same moment, the alpaca that was laying down decided to pick his head up to see who coming to see him. Cooper lost his mind. Wanted no part of being in that barn any more. Not to see the miniature horses or the donkeys or the guinea pigs. Even mention the word alpaca and he'd start crying. That was the end of the petting zoo. Six months later he still talks about being afraid of alpacas.


The water made it all better. They had a kids' area with a small wading pool and a bunch of kiddie size slides. I had fun on them too, naturally. The 2 year old learned to float and dunk his head. No alpacas in this water, so it was all good. He was a little otter by they end of the day. Beside the wading pool were the big, giant water slides that required you sit in inner tubes. I took the 6 year old on one. We climbed about 50 feet up and it was our turn to go down. The attendant at the top then told we couldn't wear our hats or Crocs. She told us to just toss them over the side and pick them up at the bottom. I tossed our Crocs down and they landed in the grass. No problem. I toss his hat down and a gust of wind decides to blow. The hat landed on top of the next water slide down! Stuck. We made several trips back to that slide in hopes that if the wind could blow it onto the slide, it could blow it back off again. No such luck. 

We went back to the water park the next day, though it wasn't nearly as warm. We went over the paddle boats this time. The kids loved that they were shaped like pirate ships. Afterward we decided to go through a fun maze. Or at least we thought it would be fun. It looked fun. Some ropes to climb through, steps to climb and a slide to come down. The 2 year old loves slides as much he loves water, so why not take him down? Because, as I'm carrying a 2 year old, that half way up a skeleton will pop up like a rabid gopher, hydraulics will hissssss like air brakes heard at close range and that 2 year old I'm carrying  will jump out of his skin screaming and crying. Fortunately, there was a slide for us immediately after that so that sort of made it all better - like a band-aid on a boo boo. So now he's scared of alpacas and skeletons that say "pssss".

Being a Dad

I'd like to keep writing these posts about being a dad. But sometimes I need a vacation. Like today's "vacation" with T. It was just a 30 second hug in the kitchen while the kids weren't paying attention. Neither were we. During this special 30 seconds we could hear Rhy hollering "NO!" to Coop. Coop then did his best Pterodactyl screech. Then silence. Then something something shattered. Vacation time was over. Fortunately, it was just a tiny Yankee Candle jar Coop likes to take the top off of and smell. It's totally beyond us why he threw it. My only guess was out of frustration. My only guess as to why he was frustrated is because he couldn't get the top off.

Anyway, about being a dad. I'm noticing myself becoming lazier and I can't pinpoint why. I used to look forward to making up silly games. Games that either had no rules or rules that we made up as we went along, i.e. roll the rubix cube move your smurf 8 random spaces across the floor land on the spot that someone says you have to hop on one foot. I used to play with their toys as much they did. But, for a reason I've yet to uncover, I'm expecting them to entertain themselves for longer and longer periods of time. I believe kids should be able to entertain themselves. However, they also need their due attention.

So this is my admonition to myself. Pay attention. You know how fast they are growing, the growth chart on the door frame has shown you. They're learning fast - Rhy is reading chapter books and Coop is already learning to spell! They're not getting any younger.

The Story of the "Photo Shoot"

 This is how it all started: Zerberts.






WTF... We do this to ourselves every friggin' year! We get the kids some nice Christmas Jammies (but not like these Christmas Jammies). Then pose them in front of the tree and snap some adorably cute photos to send out to all our friends (or to at least post to Facebook for our friends to download to their own computer). What a nightmare!

First, the Christmas Jammies were not to be found this year. We got a great pair for the 2 year old... Red ones with penguins. Apparently they don't make cute jammies for 6 year olds. So he's wearing fleece jammies with "Official Ball Club" and a skull and cross bones. Not exactly Christmas. But fleece will have to be the Christmas part.

Now for the posing. This is where it got interesting. It's totally a 2 person job. One to take the shots and one to keep their attention and give instructions. More people would probably be better.

So for every shot like this

 We also got duel nostril picking






Or upside down

Or one kicking the other

 At first we wanted to just try them sitting next to each other. They were having trouble sitting still.

Heck, we just having trouble getting them to sit up!







There are currently 52 pictures in our Christmas 2013 photo album. I'm not sure how many we deleted - at least another 20. Once we figured out how to get the 2 year old to cooperate things went a bit smoother. He's a ham for slapstick comedy. All I had to was whack myself with a paper tube and use that same tube to make fart noises. "Ewww. I pooped my pants" would send them in hysterical fits of laughter.

Eventually, we got something acceptable.

Merry Christmas.
From our zoo to yours!

Woody's Watching!

Christmas time is here again. I love it. This year we will have a white Christmas! Since moving to Canada 4 years ago, a white Christmas has been iffy. Weird, eh? When you think of Canada you usually think snow. Year round snow like permafrost. Igloos. Cold. Oh, there's snow here, don't get me wrong. But sometimes it doesn't come until after Christmas.

Anyway, this is my favorite time of year. The lights, decorations, the cheer, the excitement, the food... it's glorious! And with 2 kids I can be the kid I am with them. I love the snow! Let's go sledding, build a snowman, have a snowball fight! Let's build an igloo (no, we're going to live in it). I love to go running in it. It's amazingly quiet. And now, to add to the excitement of snow and counting down to Christmas, we have Woody, our Elf on the Shelf.

I've read many statuses about dreading this little "watcher". I forgot to move him! The kids touched him! I'm not that motivated to make him do silly things! Well, I love ours as much as the kids do. It's fun coming up with ideas or trying out ideas discovered elsewhere. To see the kids faces when they find him every morning is totally worth it. I know, I know... it's just one more lie we are telling the kids. First Santa, now this. But I'm guessing as the kids grow (even into teenagers one day), we will continue to have Woody around. One day they won't believe. One day they will know without a doubt about Woody's secret... he's not real.

But, to we who believe and dream, he is real. Like the Velveteen Rabbit. Like Buzz and Woody. Therefore, Woody the Shelf Elf is going to be around for a long time. And one day it'll be their turn to hide Woody. One day they'll be allowed to be in charge of the nice and naughty list we currently use. One day. But not today. Today, Woody still has the magic of Christmas, reminding us that no matter how excited, how tired, how tempted, we still need to be good. And come Christmas Eve, we will be allowed to touch Woody because Santa is coming to pick him up when he drops off presents. We will hug Woody good night and bid him farewell until next December 1st. In the morn, amid the excitement of presents and wrapping paper will be a touch of sadness that Woody is not there to share the Joy with us. I assume this to be true for the kids for it's certainly true for me.

Now my inner child wants a mint chocolate chip cookie that my outer adult made. He's been a good boy today so he gets two.

Puddle Jumpers and Big Butts

How many of us could simply walk by this puddle without noticing its full potential? Oh you may notice it enough to avoid it, sure. Don't want to get your feet wet and all. Could you walk through it? Gently wade into it to watch the ripples wash outward, being careful that it doesn't crest the rubber sole of your shoe to soak your socks. Not me. Not my kids.

There's no grace here. There's no tiptoeing gently. This puddle needs to be disturbed and we'll do it the best way we know how:

                                                                   JUMP!

We will splash this puddle right back to where it came from. It'll be like the front row seats at an orca show at Sea World. This puddle (and all puddles) weas meant for jumping in as sure as snow is for snowmen. Coop could be walking hand in with me as innocent as you please. The moment he spots a puddle he starts tugging and pulling and if I don't let go, he goes boneless. He'll stay out of the puddle if I tell him "no water". However, he must throw at least 1 rock into. If he misses, he'll have to try again. Rhy is the same. He gravitates to puddles like the Death Star tractor beam! And today was no different. I took him to school this rainy, Tuesday morning. On the way into the building he stomped in a puddle. It wouldn't have been so bad if his pants were tucked into his boots. But no, they were hanging out and got soaked. Of course, I fussed at him because now he's in wet pants until they dry. At recess, the puddle tractor beam was in effect again. He must have found a puddle to stomp/jump/play in and was apparently told to stay out of it. He did. Until lunch time. Back outside after lunch that puddle called to him yet again! He must have jumped in it this time because he got some other kids wet. He was called to the office for a talkin' to. Rhy's teacher made him tell me about it after school and I made him tell mom when we got home. He lost a few privileges this evening. Not because he was jumping in puddles. Puddle jumping is awesome fun. But because he was told not to do something and he did it anyway and he got others wet in the process. I know I'll re-post this story in 4 years when Coop does the exact same thing.

Who for some reason and we have yet to figure out where or why calls the buttons and drawstrings on pants "Big Butts". If the drawstring on his pants is on the outside he'll tell us "my big butt's hangin' out". Unless he's naked. If he's naked and you ask him where his big butt is he'll put his hands on the floor and stick his butt in the air as high as his little legs will let him. Think of that the next time you get dressed...

A Heart Lesson and a Check-up

Heart lesson: the two top "chambers" are  the left and right atrium. The bottom "chambers" are the left and right ventricles. The lines separating the atrium from ventricles are the Mitral valve and Tricuspid valve. Those valves open and close to let blood flow through as the heart beats and pumps it through. Or at least that's how I understand it. I'm not a doctor.

This isn't Rhy's heart. But this is what Rhy's heart looks like on an echo scan. You can clearly see the   valves separating the atrium from the ventricles. Rhy's doctors are keeping an eye on the tricuspid and mitral valves because there some regurgitation. This simply means that the valves aren't closing completely. Therefore, some blood flows backward into his heart. However, what they are mostly concerned with is his aorta and pulmonary artery. They are making sure they are not narrowing, which is something that can happen after the surgery that he did at 5 days old. But just like he has for the last 6 years, he rocked his cardio check-up! The regurgitation is minimal and always has been. The aorta and pulmonary artery haven't narrowed. He is thriving, now standing at 3' 11" tall and  61 pounds. We found all this out yesterday from his cardiologist at the IWK... Dr. Kenny Wong (joined yesterday by Dr. Matthew Woo).  Dr. Wong was impressed enough that he doesn't need to see him again for 2 years! For the last 3 years we visited Dr. Wong once a year for Rhy's check up. Rhylan always amazes me while we're there. The child who is normally loud and rambunctious as most boys are (noise with dirt as we typically describe them) was calm, quiet and patient while they did his EKG and again during the echo. Thank you Rhy! I kind of liked his yearly check ups. We always used them as an excuse to get out of town and visit family we don't get to see often. Guess we'll have to find a new excuse... Daddy needs new running shoes? Mommy wants to go to the K-cup store?

On another note, I was terrified thinking about how Cooper would behave during Rhy's EKG and Echo. I was relieved that he wanted to be held while we were in the patient room for the EKG. He watched with curiosity what they were doing to his big "bubby". Then in the patient room for the echo, they turned the lights down to see the monitor better. Cooper took that as his cue to snuggle in and fall asleep in my arms. Whew. I got to watch the whole thing! I was afraid Cooper would get restless and have to go run and play and I would miss the best part. Thank you Cooper!

The 2 and a half hour night time drive home with 2 sick kids (the oldest with a bad cold and the youngest with a fever) is a story for another blog.

Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween!
Accompanied by Super Mario and Jake - The Neverland Pirate, we went off in search of tricks and treats. We started in Louisdale and visited 3 special places there. Then it was back into town for a quick supper and off to visit some more around the Hawk. We did well... a large recycling bag is 1/2 full! I say we because of the candy tax, of course. All that gas and time to take them out will cost them chips and chocolate. And as tempting as it is, we probably won't pull the Jimmy Kimmel trick. I am seriously impressed by the effort some put into handing out candy to strangers. Special treat bags for kids they know. Unique gifts like a bird house. And the tons of chips and chocolate. We don't get many kids in our corner of town. The house to candy ratio isn't all that great. But we visited the houses on our street and managed to gather a decent load! We had Periwinkle join us on our trip up our street and Rhy and Coop were very excited to have her join us.

I want to apologize for anyone's house we didn't make it to. The kids wanted to go to EVERY house, of course. But by 7:00 I was about to make our wee little pirate walk the plank and Super Mario had lost his star power. Now to keep them from eating all today.

P.S. Yes, I sent my minions kids out in costume to collect candy for me.