I will begin today with an apology. This blog is a lot about weather. The funny thing is, in Perth I never paid that much attention really. Sometimes it was wet, sometimes it was really hot, but usually it was just cool or warm. I always considered weather as a topic of conversation for the older generation, or a slightly banal pleasantry exchanged with an acquaintance. Here, the weather is almost a driving force of people's lives and schedules. In winter there are things that the weather can prevent you from doing. There is also such a massive change in the seasons. When we first arrived, I used to say things like "Oh yes, she's starting school in the fall" to mimic Canadians as I thought it sounded cute and funny. But now I completely get it. The seasons are so markedly different that you can't help but use them as markers to pass the time in a year. I now find myself talking about upcoming plans by the season not to mimic the locals, but just because it feels natural.
It turns out that my excitement about the start of spring was a little premature. Four days after my last post, we had somewhere between 10-15cms of snow. Yes, on the 12th of April, nearly 4 weeks into 'official' Spring. I was irrationally annoyed - we'd finally got our backyard back, only to lose it again. I had to drag snowpants up from the basement. Hubby had just put the trampoline back up, so I had to clean the snow off it (apparantly snow and trampolines don't mix). I cursed the grey skies. Thankfully, the days were well above 0 just after so it melted pretty well straight away, but still! One bright spot was a text message from our lovely neighbour, who often runs our eldest to school in inclement weather. "On behalf of Canada, I'd like to apologise for the weather. April can be a little funky." It came with an offer to do the school run of course; I was pretty well over pushing 3 kids in a pram through slush.
As April ticked by, I waited for sunshine....and waited. There was a lot of rain. Snow pants in the morning were replaced with splash pants and raincoats, or still warm down coats some mornings. Then, as April drew to a close, the sun came out. I have never enjoyed sunshine so much in my life. It was truly amazing how quickly the world changes. Within a week, the trees became green. Flowers we didn't know were there started sprouting in our garden. Lawns became suddenly green under blue skies. Looking out the window, the backyard is literally unrecognisable from the one we had 6 weeks ago. This week has been particularly warm, with temperatures in the high 20s. Bliss! Of course, Ottawa does get a decent amount of rain all year 'round and we have some slightly cooler days with rain ahead, but I can forgive the weather now after having a glorious week to remind me how good sunshine is.
The kids have particularly loved the warmer days. There is nothing quite like the simple joy of playing outside, when you can go out in just a t-shirt and short pants. I actually got away to a local playground at Rideau Hall (home of the G-G, just around the corner from our house) with just the twins on the weekend and they loved it. Climed up giggling, down the slide giggling, repeat for half an hour. The poor things have missed out on a lot of outdoor playtime, as they hated the snow and wouldn't walk on it! They are 20 months now, and T2 especially is quite a climber. So although they are loving the great outdoors, it's not very relaxing for me as she gets herself in all sorts of places!
A big event of the past month was a birthday....Miss 3 is now Miss 4. She was spoilt and she loved it! On her birthday, she went shopping with dad and chose a big girl bike. The day after she had a party with 4 of her little friends. It turned out to be the warmest and sunniest day we had had all year to date (a blissful 27) so we mostly played outside. With the flying fox, the trampoline, the outdoor chalk and a game of bean bag toss it was a good thing I had cake inside or they would never have wanted to leave. Everytime I see one of her little friends at school she asks when she can come over and play again.
We are noticing a change in Miss 4 besides her growing up. Her speech is becoming a little Canadian. For a while now she has come out with the odd phrase, such as "Mom, can you help me with my sweater?" (what??) but if you asked her to repeat hersef she would sound like an Aussie again. In the last few days though, we've noticed the Canadian habit of putting 'eh' on the end of sentences appearing. "My hair is getting long, eh?" "That's pretty funny, eh?" The other thing she's been doing for a while is saying 'sure' instead of yes, although in fairness to her I've noticed both hubby and I doing that too. I wonder how much more pronounced these Canadian speech habits will be when she's in school everyday; starting in the fall :)
I think that's about it. Lots of the usual - playgroups, playdates and so on. One different thing I did do was go and see Oprah who came here on a speaking tour. She was good - funnier then I expected and she comes across as remarkably genuine for someone of her wealth and fame. She also made fun of Spring in Ottawa, and got a lot of laughs, reinforcing that the locals were just as sick of cold weather as I was. I'm also trying to get back into running now that the weather is cooperating - it's hard work but it feels good to be back out there.
A quiet day tomorrow - maybe a good day to christen our new waterproof picnic blanket at the park. I'll keep you posted :)
