And On Hot Days....

...we sometimes stay inside.

Izzie is getting (almost) big enough to use her Christmas present!

Sunshine

The sun has been shining for a few days now, and we just can't get enough of it. All of us, including the cats!

Our snow is almost completely gone. So much that Izzie and I went to the park today. And stayed for a while! Oh it was glorious. Then we headed home....ran over a broken beer bottle and got a flat tire. And then I stepped in dog poop while walking home. But since today is baking day it turned into a great day with delicious homemade pizza and apple crisp. Nom!

Link time!

Trying to get someone to watch this movie with me. Anyone? Anyone? Oh, and to drink French red wine while we do...

I used to be a theatre geek. I would perform a 3 hour show (sometimes as the lead, sometimes not.) for two weeks and be so wiped and gross by the end of it. This just blows my mind. Never mind the audience, what about the actors?

I want to try this recipe...and this one.

Everybody else seems to be talking about this video, so I will too.

My dream kitchen.

I have been looking for a new purse for a long, long time. I could never afford this or have the patience to make it, but a girl can dream.

Because of my friend C, I am now addicted to the show Bones. Nards.

And lastly, tomorrow is St. Patricks Day. Here's a few tunes to get you through.

We went tobogganing. Not the tobogganing of last year....oh no siree.

No, this is the toboggan of 2010.
Look at that face. She's blissing out.

or....not.

We were at a park near our house where a soccer pitch was built last summer. It has a slight down grade leading to the pitch which proved to be a perfect sledding hill.....for Izzie.

"Get on Daddy! Now push."

"K, that's done. Now get off and pull me back up. And then down again."

"Sweet"

It was above 0 Celsius. Lovely.

That picture makes the hill look really small......it was.

Going for a tour around the soccer pitch.

Mommy's turn. Get to work mommy.

And we're off. Hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!

Trooper

He's a trooper.

It's -12 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) but -20 (-4 Fahrenheit) with the wind chill.

And he loves it.

Bike safely my dear.

Lazy Days of Summer

..in September!

We are enjoying some lovely weather.

Going out for bike rides

Biking to the park and/or water park

Picking up some fine things at yard sales

Eating outside, picnic style

Running around in diapers...well, Izzie is at least

Basking in the warm glow of the sun and then breathing a sigh when a cool wind comes.

Yes siree, summer is upon us. (Hopefully for longer than three days. We're in day number two right now.) And the in-laws are coming to visit today and Phil is taking some time off of work. That's right, we're having a family weekend in the middle of the week.

Am I a lucky gal, or what?

A Few Pics..

...from the weekend.
No bike ride is complete without Izzie's Dog and Cat books. Man, that is one full bakfiets.

In the park, Daddy/daughter time while I...
..watched the sunlight through the trees.
Then I was attacked by my little dinosaur!

A very lovely weekend, if I do say so.

18 months old

Yesterday marked Izzie' s 18 month "birthday." She has grown so much in the last few months that sometimes I stop and am amazed by the young lady she's growing into.

Her fascination with bellybuttons grows.

Found yours!

I informed her that since it is her 18 month milestone, that means a trip to the doctor! For shots! This was her reaction.
So we piled into our bakfiets and set off.
Our neighbourhood is in full bloom! And the worms have stopped dropping from the trees which makes the view even sweeter.
Being originally from Ontario, the sight of vast open prairies makes me feel slightly agoraphobic. The neighbourhood of our doctor is very prairie-ish.
Water break. Also, we were super early so I decided to stop for a bit.
Just before the shots. I didn't get an after because I was a tich busy. But I did get this picture....
...when we stopped at an uber long traffic light on a quiet residential street. Note that the hand is still in the snack trap!
But all was well. Izzie went back to tormenting her little "brother" as soon as we got home.

The Tormentor!

I decided it was also time to get on this potty training thing. Not to force Izzie before she's ready, but to have the tools (step and toilet seat reducer) handy should she want to try.

And she was interested...in the toilet seat packaging.
Oh peanut! Please don't change, I love you just as you are. You goofy monkey.

Happy Canada Day!

To all here and abroad. We have three possible festivities in biking distance today and I'm very excited. We can go to the Forks, Assiniboine Park or the Osborne Street Festival. Excited! So excited I dressed Izzie in her Canada Day outfit first thing!

Of course once the picture taking was done I put her in a turtle neck and pants. It's only 10 degrees Celsius outside! But it's going to warm up....and the weather network is never wrong....

Now the penultimate question....Do we take Izzie to the fireworks which start 3 hours after her bedtime, or is she too young for that?

"You're not taking me to the fireworks?"

Saturday Fun

This Saturday we took the family to the Manitoba Children's Museum located at/near the Forks.

Getting ready, need shades.

The Museum had loads of fun stuff, but it was mainly geared towards older kids. And by older I mean pre-school+.

Just arrived.

Izzie makes an impression. Phil and I had more fun with this than she did. Well, I did.

Favored mode of transportation.

Since there weren't many age appropriate things for Izzie, I didn't think we'd stay long enough to get our moneys worth. That was, until, we saw the sandbox...

After the sheer bliss of playing in her own private uber sandbox, we wandered around the rest of the museum.
And then we were off! I think this will be the first of many trips.

Our New Car Has Arrived!

Note: This is not a product review. My family and I have received no compensation for this post and we paid for the bike with our hard earned (car write off) cash.

It's here! It's finally here!! Our beautiful bakfiets bike has arrived. And it sure is pretty...

Is that a banana in your bike, or are you happy to see me?

Phil stayed home for part of the day to be here for the delivery. (Getting a 100 pound bike off a FedEx truck? Not easy.) And then once we had our hands on it, we were off. We took a few test drives...and then we packed Izzie in and rode to the bakery.

She was so comfortable, she took off her socks and shoes!

Tall Grass Prairie Bakery...mmmm cookies time.

It was raining the whole time we were out. The handy canopy kept Izzie dry and warm. Now all I want to do is keep biking!

P.S. June! It's raining! I've got my eye on you....the evil, hairy, squinty eye!

Weekend Post (that turned a bit opinionated)

Well that didn't go as planned...

We didn't go to the Go Green, Go Dutch, Go Bike festival on Saturday. Turns out helmets were mandatory for adults and children, and I don't wear a helmet. If you are interested in why I don't wear a helmet read on. If not, skip the rest of this paragraph: It is not required by law here in Winnipeg, it gives cyclists a false sense of security (causing them to bike irresponsibly) and the helmet only helps for impact force. It does not help with rotational forces. If you are interested in reading more on helmet "safety" click here. Izzie does wear a helmet as children riding in bike seats are required by law. But I do think it's a good idea for children up to a certain age/skill level to wear helmets while biking, since they do help in the event of a fall.

Today we did make it to the Teddy Bear Picnic, but we were so late that we only ended up being there for 20 minutes. It was a madhouse, filled with super long lines and lots of sights and sounds. Izzie was a bit overwhelmed. I did meet up with a mom from my old playgroup and she told me about a playgroup for ages 1 - 4 in the Fort Rouge area of Winnipeg. Which is wonderful since Izzie's Baby Rhyme Time through the library just drew to a close and I've been scrambling to find something else.

I did not bring the camera to Teddy Bear Picnic, I was a bit spacey. Once we left, we had to come back for sun screen and Izzie's hat. Whoops.

But we had a wonderful weekend. Lots of biking, treats, excitement and time with Nana.

Bike Ride to Assiniboine Park

This morning I decided that we weren't going to spend the morning sitting around the house. I had a mission. And that mission was to bike the 8 kilometers to Assiniboine Park and the 8 kilometers back! Why did I want to do this? Because I will be doing it two times this weekend. Saturday is the "Go Green, Go Dutch, Go Bike" Festival and Sunday is the "Teddy Bears Picnic."

So this morning I was bound and determined to see if I could survive the trek.

Ready....set......GO!

Trying to get a handle on taking a picture while biking

Yup, right up my nose

Whizz, zoom. The cars flying by me.

This is was she looks like while biking,
Poor sad peanut

Lovely day for a bike ride!

Coming up to the underpass. Thank goodness we don't
have to cross Kenaston!

River to the right of us. Winnipeg rivers are brown

Now on the multi-purpose path. Lots of joggers
with headphones in. HEAR MY BELL DANG IT!

The entrance to the park in the distance.

In the park, stopping for a drink

Very lovely biking conditions in the park

Park buildings...I should know their names...I don't

Leaving the park, they want you to dismount too cross a very narrow street. Uh, guys? I understand the stopping and looking, but dismounting and walking takes a lot longer than just riding. And If I start going and a car appears, they have to wait...because I'm not stopping midway...and they don't like that. Just so you know, you guys who control these things...

Coming up to Academy and Wellington. I cheated and am on the sidewalk,
which I wouldn't have done if there were pedestrians.

Coming up to the bridge.

Water, bridge and basket shot.

And then we arrived home. No shots of that since it's a bit busier. Thanks for coming on our adventure! Now I must sit down on the couch and eat popcorn.