Rose birthday party

We had the whole family over for Rose's 2nd birthday (except for James who got stuck at work).  Paige was very confused as to why Rose was having a party on a day that wasn't her actual birthday.  She kept saying it was her "party" and not her "birthday party".  She keeps thinking there is a friend party on Rose's actual birthday. 
We had a BBQ and cupcakes.  There was a mickey mouse theme.  I think Rose had a great time and was happy about the decorations and balloons. 

Updates

We got a pickup date for the dog.  May 9. It is going to be a long journey--6 hour round trip.  Hopefully there'll be  movie in the car, a nap (??), and then the dog as distraction, as well as a couple of stops on both sides.  We're used to long rides up to the cottage, but never there and back in the same day in a short time span!  The breeders have tentatively tagged the smallest female puppy as ours, but they are not all sold.  There is room to switch.  They still have to do field tests, but apparently they did tests with a pigeon and the puppies all carried it around--real pigeon? I'm not sure.  They also need to shoot guns off and see which ones scatter.  In case you forgot, Mike wants to bring the dog hunting. 

Mike and I leave for Vegas in 3 days.  Rose is a little unsure.  A few days ago, Grandpa was sitting with Rose and asking her about coming to stay with them for a few days.  Rose kept saying "mommyyyy....mommyyyy..." very slowly and quietly.  It looked like she was getting worried that Grandpa was there to pick her up and bring her to his house! I'm hoping to talk to her more about it, and get Paige to gear her up.  Paige is pumped.  She has visions of dessert and fun outings.  She also likes playing with different bath toys and sleeping in a different room. I still have yet to do any packing but we had some warm days where I needed some of the clothes I would bring on the trip. 

We ordered a ridiculous suitcase.  I would post a picture, but perhaps I'll leave you in suspense.  We weren't sure what size to get but decided that since our current suitcases were 26" we could order the 30" heys hardshell with the 4 swivel wheels.  This way we can mix and match our suitcases depending on the trip.  We figured a larger one could hold both of our stuff for a quick trip.  This thing arrived on our doorstep one day and it is taller than Rose.  I could definitely fit myself in it and zip it up.  It is silver, and with the hard shell, it definitely looks a little James Bond-y.  I guess we'll test it out on our trip, but we will look a little hilarious.  People will definitely comment.  The thing is, we still can't go over the weight limit, so we can't just stuff it full.

Paige, Rose and I received our Nexus passes in the mail.  I'm so happy that at least mine made it for this week.  Woohoo! We'll be through customs and security in probably 5 minutes.  I'll definitely be sad dropping off the girls, but I will then have something to look forward to at the airport right away! We'll try to remember to take a picture of me with the suitcase. 

Gymnastics

I felt our weeks were often dragging on a bit, and Rose's class wasn't running this session.  So, I enrolled both girls in gymnastics!  Paige has done it lots before, but not recently, as I didn't want to enroll Rose just yet.  So at the same time Paige goes in her 3 and 4 year old class, and Rose and I go in the mom and 18 month to 3 year old class.  In a way it's too bad that Paige is the oldest in her class.  There are some kids that are pretty young in the class and she may not make any friends.  Then again, she may focus on the gymnastics.  She was doing well and listening and helping to rally up the youngsters when they drifted off.  Rose was a natural.  Hasn't perfected the balancce beam or swinging on the bars, but her jumping on the trampoline is fantastic.  2 feet jumps all the way down the tumble track.  So funny to compare the 2 girls...they seem to excel at different areas at this age.

Rose had a meltdown when we left and refused to go, but finally scooted on her bum all the way through the lobby and then bit me on the arm as I carried her to the car screaming.  A switch has definitely flipped in Rose lately and she's in full on temper tantrum a LOT.

Easter night

More egg hunting at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Easter Egg Hunt...



 Paige was really really excited this year for Easter.  The night before she asked us to only stay up "this long" indicating a time frame of about a milimeter with her thumb and forefinger.  she wanted to ensure the Easter bunny would come in the nighttime.  I think the Easter bunny visits other peoples backyards sometimes, but as we are from Alberta where the Easter bunny wouldn't dare stick eggs out in the snow, he continues to visit us inside.

Paige holding up her school craft:

 After it was all over:

Chocolate in the high chair after breakfast:

Then I did a double take when I saw a female mallard duck on our fence:

And then the male.  They were resting on the fence after taking a dip in the rainwater on our neighbours pool cover:

Another Rose getup...

"Mommy come here i have a surprise for you...."

Bronte Creek

I took the girls to Bronte Creek a couple of weeks ago.  We got to see tiny baby piglets, play in the barn, have a snack out in the sun and play on the playground.  We plan on getting a season pass (it is a provincial park) to take advantage of the leash free area once we get the dog, as well as the swimming pool, which will be great in the summer (it is a 2 minute drive from our house).



Favourite tunes...

Lately the girls have been enjoying the music of the Lion King (Hakuna Matata specifically), and most recently the sound track to "Rio". While in the Gap last week one of the songs from Rio came on and Rose started yelling "Rio! Rio!" and doing her trotty dance around the store.  I could hear the salespeople saying, "Is she saying Rio?....aww that's so cute".

Both girls love listening to music on Paige's little CD player and dancing around the room.  For Rose's birthday I'm ordering the soundtrack to the "Wishes" fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom.  She loves the fireworks and the music.

Oh, also from the Lion King--Paige loves to belt out the beginning of the Circle of Life while in public.  The song starts out with a loud yelling in the African Language zulu (I just looked it up).  She just makes it up and yells it really loud.  Fun when your kids innocently do something to embarrass you...

Puppy...

We have talked about getting a dog for a while now, knowing that some day we would.  Mike was set on getting a lab as he wanted a hunting dog.  I think a lab is a good idea too as it is supposedly one of the best family dogs. It must be the most popular dog in Canada, US and Britain for a reason.  Anyway, I sent an inquiry out in my facebook status about labrador retrievers and was reminded by Marilyn Barr that she has a friend who breeds them in Ontario.  I checked them out and they had 2 litters due the following week.  Talk about the moon and stars aligning.  We took this as a sign and contacted the breeders who did indeed have puppies available.  We placed a hold on a yellow female by sending in a deposit.  Now all we have to do is wait for 6 more weeks and she'll be ready to come home with us!

The breeders will help us select the dog since they live 3 hours away.  We didn't really want to add in an extra trip.  They are aware she will be a hunting and family dog and have promised they will pick a great dog for us.

I think we'll be ok with a dog.  She'll get a lot of exercise, I'm home during the day, and Mike has enough free time to train her.  She'll love the cottage and will be a great companion for the girls, easily fitting in to our schedule.  Even though it will be a lot of work, and a random stranger at dance class overheard me talking about the new dog and gave me the unsolicited advice to "really think about it",   I think we have the time to invest in this new addition to the family.

So now we wait.  We have 2 dog toys at home, but need to stock up on everything else.  Boy-- this 6 weeks wait for our new family member a lot easier then the last 6 weeks of pregnancy...

This is where she's from. She's in one of these photos, just not sure which one she is....;)

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