The Raccoons Ate My Parking Ticket

I like to think that if the parking ticket guy at the Vancouver Aquarium had noticed the two car seats in the back of my car, and lifted his head to notice that at least 75% of the lot was empty anyways....he might have cut me some slack. What parent of young kids is not perpetually 20 minutes late? Especially when those kids are busy having fun at the Aquarium and you can't physically pry the toys out of four hands, when you only have two? And there's no way to pay for more than 3 hours of parking at a time? And "running out to plug the meter" is not as simple as it sounds for all of the above reasons! Does $85 sound fair? I didn't think so either...
Anyways.
We went to the Aquarium yesterday! Maybe you got that already....
Before we met up with our fishy and not-so-fishy friends we took advantage of the glorious fall weather and ate our snacks on the grounds. All was well until...these guys crashed the party!

They just crawled out of the bushes like that, right between Liam and I! I stomped my feet and shooed them away, but to no effect. Sarah tried too....she didn't have any luck either. So we cut our picnic short and went for a walk, but we must smell like good cookin' because those raccoons followed us everywhere! Sarah was not impressed.


What she does like though, are fistfuls of crunchy leaves. And ducks!




Into the aquarium now, where both kids launched a raccoon-like assault on Jacob. Poor kid didn't see the Cox storm rolling in until it was right in his face and wouldn't leave him alone!

The kids were probably more interested in Jacob than the fish, but we did see some interesting creatures. And Merran, just be warned. Liam would like to know what exactly fish do. I told him to ask you. :)

Fall-Ing

These two can - and do - fight like cats and dogs. They look innocent enough, but turn your back for one second (or don't!) and you can be sure that one or the other will be letting out a blood curdling shriek because someone:

a) took something that wasn't rightfully theirs
b) looked at something that wasn't rightfully theirs
c) touched/ate/bit/pinched/slapped/hid/threw something that wasn't rightfully theirs

Supposedly.

Our house is loud. And my yelling, growling and pleas to "STOP PUSHING EACH OTHER AND GET YOUR SHOES ON. WE. ARE. LATE." are often the loudest of all.
But the sun came out this afternoon. And we didn't have to be anywhere. So we ditched the list of errands, and headed outside into this glorious scene in search of the biggest fallen leaf....with a prize for the winner and first runner up! Something magical happened while we were out there.....

But first, we had to make a pit stop at the park where Liam promptly removed his boots and socks so he could fill them all up with pebbles. At least he gave one to Sarah to fill.....


Next stop, some late season blackberries!


Sarah's was sour....
On to the Leaf Hunt! (The red one there turned out to be our winner. Either we're not very good at finding big leaves, or it's a little too early for this game!)

Found some more!


No leaves, but when you're this cute it doesn't matter if you play by the rules!


Something strange is happening here. The only "Time Out" we've had so far is to check out a beetle on the sidewalk!


Sarah doesn't have anything against these flowers...that's just her "sniffing face"....


Back home to measure up the leaves and declare our winner(s)! They're so excited they forgot to push/bite/hit/pinch each other!


Oh my gosh! What is happening here?! Have we entered....The Twilight Zone?!....


Alas, it didn't last. They each received a "prize" of one animal cracker...Liam for "Biggest Leaf" and Sarah for "Yellow-est Leaf". But I faux pas-ed and gave Sarah the pig cracker, Liam the horse. Liam cried foul. And to make matters worse, Sarah grabbed and tore one of Liam's leaves and the tentative peace treaty was called off.
Sigh.
It gets loud.
That's just how it is.

Go Team Canada!

One of these days, Liam is going to have to choose: Canucks or Flames. There is a clear divide between the cheering squads in our household, but we can agree on one thing. We all cheer for "Team Canada"!
Of course, that doesn't do much to resolve Liam's conflict when the first NHL hockey game he attended was Canucks vs. Flames! Matt and Liam enjoyed a "Boys' Night Out" tonight at a preseason (read: cheap) game. Liam was so excited. All day long he kept reminding Sarah that she wasn't allowed to come. "Men only."
Here are those "men" in their Team Canada Red (a happy coincidence for Matt the Flames fan) as they were heading out!

Of all the people wearing this get-up, Liam probably looked the least ridiculous:


Their seats were way up next to the rafters, but they got there early enough to see the teams' warm-up skate from up close. Waiting for something to happen....

Still waiting...

During one of our impromptu living room face-offs I told Liam that hockey players stretch before they play hockey....kind of like doing yoga. Liam relayed this to Matt, who declared blasphemy. But Liam insisted - because if Mommy says so, then it must be true. (That's one thing I love about this age!) So he enlisted me to find proof on the internet (he is a product of the YouTube age!) and we found just that. Matt very grudgingly conceded, but I bet Liam was feeling pretty smug as he watched this scene unfold....


I think I need to photoshop a picture of Luongo onto Liam's other shoulder....Good and Evil trying to win him over!


And wouldn't you know, Steve Staios (of the Flames) won Liam's affections by tossing him a puck. Chalk one up for the guys in red! Liam and the puck are now inseparable. He's going to be Too-Cool-For-Preschool with that little treasure!


Contemplating life. And a bench made of hockey sticks...


When he got home at 10:15pm (very late for this little guy!) he practically skipped into the house with bright eyes and a huge smile, so excited to show me his puck. I made an appropriate fuss, of course, and then he told me "I didn't want to leave, I was havin' so much fun!" Considering he is Mr. No and never admits to having fun, this was a pretty big deal!

As I got him ready for bed he told me all about the highlights:

Liam: "I saw a penalty!"
Me: "Really? What was it for?"
Liam: "I don't know....hittin' with a stick or somethin'"

*****

Liam: "I saw the hockey players do YOGA!"

*****

Me: "That is a pretty cool puck, Liam. You are a very lucky boy!"
Liam: "Yeah. If you want a puck too you can get one for your birthday. But you'll have to go to a hockey game and get it yourself." :)

And then I tucked that tired, extremely happy little boy into bed. With the puck.

Here We "Go" Again

She's telling us she's ready.
She's stripping off her clothes (and diapers!) as fast as I can put them back on.
She watches Liam in the bathroom and then copies him. We've got some work to do there.
She will sit on the potty for 3 seconds, then stand up and check for progress. None so far.
But if she's ready to try...I'm sure not going to stop her!

Island Adventure

A few weeks ago we headed west for some camping and a whole lot of sandcastle building. We even managed a cross-island trip to Tofino, our first time back since our "I Do's"....it was a whole different experience with two kids and a tent! Here's a little peek at our beach bums!
The kids were diggin' the ferry ride to the island. You will notice there are no pictures from the ferry ride home. That was a very different (very whiny) trip!


About 50' from our campsite was this little beach. We stopped here each night after the Ranger Show at the amphitheatre. The full moon was neat, but if you click on this picture you'll notice...ghost kids!

Liam's first date.....
The kids were almost as much of a tourist attraction as the massive trees in Cathedral Grove. Matt snapped this picture and as I was helping them get down from the tree a group of tourists started shouting "No! No! We take picture!" The kids obliged, but I think they found it strange too!

We found the "real" sand and surf in Tofino. Liam loved the big waves, Sarah did not! They both found ways to keep themselves busy....






So did Matt. Here he is realizing that the kids and I headed for shelter from the wind....quite a while ago! Nice drippy castle though, Matt!

I'm not sure which is more impressive....that we found an oceanside restaurant able to cater a children's menu to both kids special diets, or that the kids were super well behaved for an entire restaurant meal. In any case, we were all still smiling afterwards so we took in a little more of that salty air at the pier before the kids fell asleep for a loooong time!

That's it for our family camping trips this year! By this trip (our 4th) everyone was comfortable in the tent....no more tears over sleeping bags! Can it last over the winter?.....stay tuned.....

Hide Your Chequebooks

It's official: Liam is a preschooler. Which means I will be hitting you up for a contribution to improve the school's sand pit any day now. And every month for the next two decades or so. You have been warned. :)
This afternoon was Liam's orientation which meant it was my first day of preschool, too. He (we) learned where the miniature potty was, hand washing protocol, story time etiquette, and we also got to dig in to all kinds of sensory toys. It was an intense hour. (I am only able to write about it so soon because we got home and Liam promptly melted down with the exhaustion of it all, and is now napping!)I'm not going to lie, it was a rough start. Both kids have been Cranky. (Yes, that's with a capital "C"). Sarah has been biting/pinching/hitting with fervor and Liam has been in disobedient slow-mo. On top of that, we started Round 2 of Snowbunnies this morning. By the time Liam and I got to Preschool he was already pooped, so he decided to conserve energy by going mute. I'm hoping it was a one-day phase, but I'm also putting any plans for Soccer on hold until we really nail the new routine and manage to rewind bedtime back to a more reasonable (but not summertime practical) 8:00!
Aside from that, the day was a success. Fantastic school, fun, creative activities everywhere, an amazing playground and - most importantly - kind, extremely patient teachers.
Liam liked the Ikea egg-chair. For a minute I was worried he'd go mute and invisible, but there were too many tempting things to play with for him to stay hidden for long!

We're not too sure about this tub-o-corn. It used to be filled with wheat kernels and I think there may be some residue in the bin. Shortly after scooping some corn he got the sniffles, then the sneezes, then all of a sudden one giant sneeze unleashed two long, wiggly snot tubes stretching all the way down his belly. Still attached. I can still hear another mom's shocked/disgusted "Oh, MY!" I was there with a tissue today, but I can only imagine how long he'll let those things dangle when he's on his own.

Watermelon for snack...


Liam built a "pizza" at the light table.


"Worker man" is one of Liam's favorite games, so was he ever excited to find a work bench and all the appropriate gear. The purple gloves were his favorite. The kid loves purple.

I was impressed with Liam's ability to play with a bulldozer in a sand pit, and still keep his tissue clean in the other hand. Now, if only he would use said tissue.

This purple swing was calling Liam's name...


One more handprint on the barn...


Slides and tires. Tires and slides. This is Liam's kind of playground!

The lookout tower...
Hiding in the tunnel. I hope this is not a theme!


Next Thursday "real" preschool begins, and he will be on his own. The teachers sent each child home with their own preschool handbook that emphasizes that Mom and Dad always come back. I think this is going to be essential reading this week. And then....bring on the glitter and glue!