Blimey! Where has the time gone? I was hoping to blog before we went on holiday last week (more on that later) but it never happened, and now I realise that I haven't written for a month and a half and have lots to share. Here goes...
When I last wrote, the year was winding up. The kids all had a great last week of school. The younger classes all had a pyjama day, where they got to take their teddy bears in, have milk and cookies for morning tea and be read "The Night Before Christmas" which I think is such a cute idea. Miss 4 had actually been feeling a little unwell, but thankfully was okay to make it to school or she would have been devastated! The classes all had Christmas parties too - the twins' class needed the parents to stay which was okay. They had lots of fun craft activities for the kids (including Fruit Loop necklaces to make - once the girls figured out they could eat them not much crafting happened!!) and a visit from Santa. The twins decided they were still scared of Santa so no photo there, but they still had lots of fun. At least Miss 4 was excited to see Santa in her class.
The weekend before Christmas we caught up with some good friends for drinks. She's Aussie and had her parents visiting, and they brought along some Aussie goodies for us (Twisties anyone?) Six kids running around, lots of drinks and nibbles, listening to familiar accents - great fun. The Monday night before Christmas we went into the city to check out the Christmas lights. The good thing is you can go out quite early as it gets dark by 4:30 at that time of year, unfortunately, we didn't think the lights were that great and it was actually damn cold that night. Oh well, the kids were happy as we had dinner out in Byward Market.
Christmas Eve, hubby didn't have to work and we were all ready for Christmas Day, so we went out to the Science Museum. We'd been once before and thought it was just okay, but when we went back we realised that we'd missed a big section that had been closed on our previous visit, which included the Crazy Kitchen and kid's play area. Our three all had lots of fun, and the trains were a bit hit again too.
Christmas Day was sunny and cold. A pretty day, but not great for outdoor play. Because it was just us, it was a bit weird - once we'd opened the presents we really didn't have anything to do. The boulangerie in the market was open so we headed to the city for a morning coffee and Christmas cookies for the kids. Of course, we also had a hot turkey dinner with gravy, roast veg and cranberry jelly followed by pudding for dessert - I doubt we'll be doing that again any Christmas soon!
We were actually quite busy in the week between Christmas and New Year. Miss 4 was signed up for 3 mornings of ski lessons. We'd tried her at skiing last year, and she never quite got it, but being another year older and that bit stronger made a huge difference. She loved it, was a real trouper even thought the first day was very cold and was super excited to get off the magic carpet and onto the chairlift and up the proper hill on the last day. Hubby mentioned that he could take her skiing sometime now, and she was worried that Dad wouldn't keep up with her! In that week we also had our neighbours over for drinks and a catch up, visited the Aviation Museum (the kids love climbing in all the planes), went to the pub for dinner and had one of hubby's work friends over for dinner with his family (they have 4 kids so it was madness but fun).
An unplanned adventure for the week was when a very naughty twin climbed (well, fell really) our of her cot. Damn - that meant we had to convert their cots into toddler beds, which meant that they wouldn't stay in bed and kept getting up in the night and wandering around. It was particularly disconcerting when you woke in the middle of the night to find a little person standing next to your bed staring at you! After a rough couple of weeks, we eventually solved the problem with a special clock that shows the sun and a sleeping star, and a child gate on their bedroom door.
New Year's Eve arrived and we actually had plans! We haven't often bothered since we had kids, but this year we had friends over - one of Miss 4's school friends with her parents who we get along with well. As it was just 3 of them we'd arranged for a sleepover, and the kids were super excited. It was a lovely night - we had dinner, put the twins to bed, set the girls up with a movie and played board games. We eventually convinced the girls to go to sleep and made it past midnight to see in the New Year. We were all a bit tired the next day and were happy to have a quiet day at home.
It was very cold the first few days of the new year - the maximum temperatures were in the -20s and the wind chill was in the -30s. To avoid cabin fever, I thought I'd take the girls out to pick up a few things at the shops and buy them lunch. Sadly the car had other ideas - it was too cold to start. Yep, when it's super cold car batteries struggle to provide enough charge to start the car. The poor kids were so disappointed, as it was too cold to play outside so they were just stuck in the house. Thankfully, we managed to get out the next day for a playdate so it wasn't all bad.
The weather warmed up for the weekend, so hubby and I celebrated our anniversary by going for a night ski. It was my first night ski and I have to say I'm a fan - the slopes are really pretty under lights. It can be a little hard to judge the slopes at dusk, but apart from that it was great. We headed out for dinner at the Chelsea Pub afterwards,which has pretty upmarket pub food and our meals were delicious. Skiing also earns you dessert and the sugar tart was delicious too :) We took the kids for some outside play the next day - sledding at the Governor-General's. Fresh snow made it very hard for for us, and the twins were a little unsure at the start, but we got them sliding down the hill after a little persuasion. Miss 4 never needs any encouragement.
School was back on the Monday and I think everyone was glad to be back in a routine, especially as the weather had made it difficult to make the most of the Christmas break. We managed to plan some playdates too so the week went quickly. It was a movie kind of weekend. Hubby and I had thought about another night ski, but it was a little too cold to be pleasant so we made the most of having a babysitter to get out anyway. We hadn't been out for dinner and a movie in ages. On Sunday I took Miss 4 to see "Frozen" in 3D - a great fun movie, although she was a little freaked out by the 3D at first. The next week flew by too with school and playdates and we kept busy on the weekend with Skyping friends and family and a trip to the Children's Museum.
The second last week of January, we were gearing up for a skiing holiday to Lake Placid (which will have to wait until the next blog). It was cold again, but I headed out one night for a solo night ski, to get another ski under my belt before we hit Whiteface Mountain. It was surprisingly not too bad skiing in -19 as it wasn't windy. Another advantage was that it was pretty quiet so at times I felt like I had the runs to myself. Again the week flew by with the usual routine - I was supposed to write this blog that week too, but it didn't quite happen.
I do have to comment that we really have noticed the cold this year - we have had far more days of below average temperatures then last year. It can be pretty rough to stay busy and keep the kids amused when it's a maximum of -20 something, windchill of even more and you feel like you're being slapped in the face by the cold every time you step out the door. On the flipside, we have realised how much about winter here just seems normal now - like when you suddenly notice that 1/6th of the supermarket carpark is lost under a pile of plowed snow, or when it seems completely normal to have an igloo and a snow tunnel in your backyard.
So the next blog will hopefully be a little sooner then usual, and I can tell you all about our trip to Lake Placid and Winterlude here in Ottawa. Until then :)
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