UP, UP AND AWAY

Flying from Toronto to Orlando is about a two and a half hour flight.  It felt like a year.  It was Baby C’s first flight and as I had predicted, it was a bit of a challenge keeping her entertained for that whole time.  She is our most active daughter so sitting in a small area with lots of bags (yes, I’m THAT mom who doesn’t believe in checking in bags) wasn’t ideal.  However, I had armed myself with enough goodies: books, snacks, colour flip chart (yay Pinterest), comfy blanket, The Wiggles, and of course, her OWLivia.  We weren’t sure if we should lug around her favourite stuffie (it’s not exactly compact), but really glad we did.  It made travel and long days that much easier (I attached a ribbon to it using safety pins to the stroller).

We woke her up over two hours before her usual wake-up time.  She was happy to get up (my kids were warned not to storm in which they sometimes do after nap time and startle the heck out of Baby C) and it was an adventure. Different car, different car seat, and why were there so many suitcases out front? She was great at the airport and ate her blueberries in line while we waited to go through security (the declared blueberries were pretty much no longer as we spoke to the US officer).  We let her roam the airport as we knew there would be no roaming once we got on the aircraft.  After all the activities and a little lullaby singing (courtesy of me), Baby C fell asleep at 11:45am (very close to her 11:30am naptime).  I had a 45-minute break before I whipped out more activities and soon we were landing.  The pressure killed my ears, but Baby C didn’t even seem to notice.  Thank goodness for small miracles.

Where did we go?  More pictures and posts to come…

HINT: It’s a small world after all…

Happy Birthday to our Middle A!

Today, our middle daughter turns 6!  Where did the time go?  From being the youngest to now being an older sister, Middle A has grown up before our eyes.  I have to say, she is too adorable (ok, a little biased).

I remember comparing her to Big H (which I know we shouldn’t, but it’s natural) and worrying about her hitting her milestones like her big sister did.  Big H just did things quicker so when Middle A came along, my mindset was “Did I miss something? Why wasn’t she doing it when H did? Was it because I didn’t do baby classes everyday?”  Somewhere between fighting me on doing her printing when she was three (her printing is better than her older sister’s) to now reading at a solid grade one reading level (she will start Grade 1 in September), Middle A has just blossomed (funny enough, the kid loves to draw flowers all the time).

She’s grown into her Middle Child Role with a touch of Middle Child Syndrome.  She is more artistic than her older sister and definitely goofy.  She is more easy-going and not too hard on herself.  We’ve created the term “Awkward Middle Child” which she thinks is funny and embraces with her memorable silly faces and crazy dances.  The funny thing about the term is that she’s not awkward at all – silly, sweet, and loves to read and draw.  She is a girly girl and was thrilled when she opened up her gifts from us – dresses and books.  She has adapted to being a big sister with open arms and loves to play teacher and embrace Baby C (sometimes a little too excitedly).  She still comes to me for cuddles and loves to give kisses.  She always picks me to be her partner for rides and says I’m her best friend.  She even offers the occasional massage when she knows I’ve had a long day.  What a doll!

In many ways, Middle A, is still a bit of a baby.  We have a running joke about how her goal is to go a day without crying.  “Use your words, A.”  She gets easily frustrated and cries at the drop of a pin.  To get a full picture, she will cry even if complimented (“Ooh, Middle A, did you win the contest?”)  She doesn’t like attention (like her folks) so any kind of particular focus and she feels embarrassed and uncomfortable.  Hopefully, with age, she will gain a bit more understanding and can communicate her likes and dislikes and the crying will stop.  This could be the year…fingers crossed, everyone.

Happy Birthday to our smart, cute, and adorable #2!

WHAT’S ON YOUR BBQ?

Last night, we hosted a barbecue with Big H’s godparents and another set of friends.  Yes, amidst the heatwave (ironically, we were worried about storms and instead we had 33C heat), poor Hip Teacher Dada stood outside making our dinner.  (When Big H’s godfather came, he took over, work clothes and all.)  The kids opted to stay inside and eat in the basement, but the adults and one lone teen headed to the backyard.  We didn’t eat until almost 7pm so luckily, the sun had hidden its ugly head by then among some clouds.

It was basic BBQ fare last night as we are newbies to cooking on the grill.  Growing up, my parents said not to do it often because of health reasons.  I love the taste of BBQ, but I always keep that at the back of my mind (my dad passed away from cancer and everyone has probably heard the BBQ, high temps and cancer connection).  Still, ribs, wings, and burgers…I cannot resist.

On the menu last night: sirloin burgers, veggie burgers, honey garlic sausages, quinoa salad, red potato salad, and grilled veggies.  Our guests brought some shrimp and chicken wings for the meal and some ice cream sandwiches and cheesecake for dessert.  Mmm, yes it was delicious!  We haven’t yet purchased our cedar planks, but when we do, we will try to do salmon.  We’ve tried steak, but not meat kebabs.  We’ve done sweet potatoes, but not regular ones.

Any easy suggestions or recipes for us? Feel free to school us in this aspect.  We are BBQ babies.  

 

GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL!

I learned about this phenomenon a few days ago.  My friend’s husband is apparently obsessed with this game and has left the house on several missions to play Pokemon Go.  Since then, I’ve seen a few more friends post about their gaming experiences from here in Canada all the way to California.  On our way home from Costco yesterday, I saw a guy in a suit next to a guy in shorts holding up their phones near the local fire station pointing around. It looked like a game in progress during their lunch breaks.

I remember learning about Pokemon (shortened form of “pocket monsters”) when I was still in teachers’ college.  My third-graders told me about Ash, Pikachu, and all those cute little characters.  I instantly had a favourite, Squirtle (a turtle-like creature).

Pokemon Go was released last week to Android and iPhone users.  It is not officially available in Canada yet, but serious players have managed to do a work around and downloaded it nonetheless.  Hence, the teens and guys in suits walking around holding up their phones at noon.  Pokemon Go uses GPS technology to help create an augmented reality world where you can “see” Pokemon on your phone and capture them in real time.  You can grab them with a swipe.  You can battle other players by taking over gyms in the area.  As of Monday, over 7 million people have downloaded this free game.  (I can’t play because of my beloved Blackberry, but that will change soon as I received a notice that Whatsapp will no longer work on my precious BB.  I’m in too many chats to lose Whatsapp so I will be upgrading my phone.  Hip Teacher Dada says, “It’s about time.”)

The concept is pretty cool to me.  If you walk in a forest location, you’ll find grass or bug types of Pokemon.  If you are looking closer to water, it is more likely you’ll come across a water Pokemon.  I’m sure people who grew up with Pokemon (those younger than 25 will probably not know what this is) find this game comforting and overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia.  I know I got a sense of that when I started to read about this new game.  (Oddly enough, last week when we went to Canada’s Wonderland, we noticed that they had Pokemon as prizes!  I thought that was odd, but I was out of the loop!  They must’ve anticipated the Go release and now more games are being played there too?)

There have been some negative experiences with Pokemon Go in the United States.  People have been robbed because their geolocation was anticipated by strangers.  They were in a dark isolated area and it seemed like the perfect target.  Other people have been injured because they were so busy looking at their screen and not at the lamppost ahead of them.  Parents and teachers on Facebook have varied opinions on this game.  Summer school teachers are having more trouble than ever asking students to put their phones away.   Some parents like the idea of their kids actually moving around rather than gaming in their family rooms.  This game reminds me of geocaching which has been a recent phenomenon for school excursions.  Developing navigational skills seems pretty important.  I think it’s a great game to bring into the classroom, however, the amount of area needed to find Pokemon may be bigger than a regular school Wifi span can cover.  People have also said that mobile usage and battery power has become an issue with this activity.

Once this becomes available in Canada, I’d be interested in trying it out as a family.   We do after-dinner walks or park visits anyway so why not grab a Pokemon or two?  It’s in my competitive nature to want to catch them all.

Have you played Pokemon Go?  What do you think?

HOW TO STAY COOL THIS SUMMER

We’ve had quite a few heat alerts this season and it’s just the start of summer vacation.  We try to do outdoor activities with the kids in the morning so it doesn’t get to those crazy 40C temps.  We’ve done Canada’s Wonderland early (two to three hours when it opens) and the park.  We’ll do basketball and neighbourhood walks after dinner so the sun isn’t as strong.  We’ve even done splash pads mid-morning.

Here are some ways we are staying cool:

1. Play outdoors early.  You’ll feel the heat, but not the burn (pun intended).
2. Always wear sunscreen.  It is recommended to choose 30-50 SPF as anything more doesn’t really matter.  We apply frequently.  (We have thinksport and thinksport for kids and both are 50+ SPF.  They have a EWG rating of 1).
3. Stay in the shade whenever possible.  For picnics, I always seek out “our tree” at the local park which provides great coverage (more than enough space for two large JJ Cole mats).  I’ve had mommy friends join me under that tree so we’ve had room for about four mat spaces there.
4. Wear light-coloured breathable clothing and hats.
5. Drink lots of water.  The girls love to choose their water bottles every morning so it’s good motivation to stay hydrated.
6. For longer outdoor events, I bring a spray bottle with water.  Every so often, a spritz feels so good!

 

EATS REVIEW: BAR BUCA: SUMMERLICIOUS

Granita

Testa

Vitello Parmigiana

Biscotti di Mosai, Torta Cioccolatino and Amaretti Arancione

What better way to jump start the summer than a Friday night out with the girls?  My mat leave friends and I headed downtown to Bar Buca for the first night of Summerlicious 2016. Toronto has two food festivals that are held twice each year: Winterlicious in February and Summerlicious in July.  Participating restaurants create feature menus for set prices which allow patrons to try a variety of their top dishes.  It also gives people a great excuse to restaurant-hop all over town.  These special menus hope to draw in crowds because those two months are generally the lowest in restaurant attendance (winter blues and cottage-goers).

We left home a bit later than expected so we didn’t get to Bar Buca until 8:30 p.m.  We waited quite a while for our table, but tried a Dolceamaro (Negroni-esque cocktail, a concoction of Martini Rosso, Montenegro, prosecco and orange) while we stood by the bar (ever find cocktail making oddly soothing or is that just me).  Conversation was a little challenging as the restaurant’s music volume was quite loud.  Halfway through the night, I realized why I never was into the club scene.  (Having a chat felt more like I was constantly yelling at my friends.)

We looked over the menu and all decided to try the same foods.  For the apps, we had the crudo (slices of Guelph arctic char topped with a liberal sprinkling of squid ink salt and fennel fronds) and then the testa (crispy pig’s head with chili sauce).  Our awesome waiter, John, advised us to have the testa second as it has a much stronger taste than the crudo.  I loved both starters, but the testa was amazing.  Crispy and flavourful!  We followed up the Dolceamaro with a second cocktail, another fruity endeavour.  Both had pretty generous alcohol pours which just made us all the bit more giddy and chatty.

For our mains, we chose the Vitello Parmigiana, which was Milanese veal, provolone, king mushrooms, preserved tomatoes, and arugula.  The size disparity was a bit surprising – two out of the four of us had huge pieces.  However, those two pieces were also the driest and my friends couldn’t even finish them. When a gentleman came by to clear our plates, he asked how we enjoyed the meal and a friend said it was “okay.”  It’s probably not the greatest comment to be given of food and so she was asked to elaborate.  He was gracious and quickly offered the ladies two more crudo appetizers to make up for the veal.  He asked myself and the other friend, but we had inhaled our food and were satisfied with our parmigiana so we passed on the complimentary crudo (I could go for one right now though).

Finally the desserts came and they were delicious.  The biscotti di mosai was heavier than I expected with lots of pistachios and other ingredients abundantly dotting the Italian cookie.  Definitely lives up to its name of being a mosaic!  My favourite was the Amaretti Arancione, a light lemon cookie, but with a nice chewy texture on the inside.  It wasn’t too sweet, but the citrus notes were refreshing.  I saved the heaviest for last, the Torta Cioccolatino, which reminded me of a creamier two-bite brownie.  Definitely sweet and rich (I was the only mommy who inhaled the whole darn thing), and I should’ve ordered a coffee to go with it, but I wasn’t in a coffee sipping mood.

All in all, Bar Buca was a wonderful Mommies Night Out venue.  Despite the long wait, the food was amazing and the service even more so.  (Yes, the company was terrific too, ladies.)  The 38-seat restaurant is quite intimate and if you get a seat by the kitchen, you can watch them do their thing (reminded me of Perigee).   Good location and trendy crowd.  I took a look at their brunch menu and am definitely ready to try their pastries and special coffee drinks.  Mommies Brunch Out, anyone?

LIT LIKE: DAVEY THE DEER

Davey the Deer is the first book in the Healthy Mind Series created by Rosaleigh Neal, French Immersion teacher, and Dr. Grace Vitale, a Registered Psychologist.  Both work in the Catholic school system in Ontario.  They created this children’s series because it was important to bring mental health to the forefront in the school system.  These books hope to spread awareness about mental health and to promote ongoing discussion in the schools, family, and community.  It is important that we recognize the signs of depression especially in today’s youth.  Students should be encouraged to talk to their parents so that help can be provided.  Professionals are there to listen, but without the initial exposure, parents may not be aware how depression reveals itself (especially in a young child).

Davey the Deer shows a deer getting ready for his everyday routine and going to school.  He isn’t too hungry, he doesn’t feel like laughing with his family, and he doesn’t care that he didn’t study for his test that day.  He is going through the motions and he’s just not happy.  On his walk to school, he meets up with a  good friend, but even that doesn’t seem to help his mood.  There was no positive feeling in Davey that day.  He was just feeling down.  Unfortunately, this was not the first time that he felt that way.  Everything he used to care about just didn’t really matter much anymore.

After his test, Davey wanted to go home to sleep.  He asked his teacher to call his mom.  He had been doing quite a bit of sleeping lately.  Finally, he asked his mom, “Why do I feel sad some days?”  His mom knew it was time to talk to their doctor.  After seeking her help, Dr. Winston suggested that another professional may be what Davey needed.  As the days go by, Davey begins to get back a little bit of his old self – he starts to  care about his friend’s feelings and he has an appetite again.   The story doesn’t end with a perfect fairytale ending, but that is realism at its best.  Depression isn’t an instant fix.  It does take time and a strong network of family, friends, and professionals, for improvement.  I’m glad this book is out there.  Davey the Deer is a good gateway to mental health discussion.  (My girls, 5 and 7, each read the book on their own and we had a talk about depression and moods after.  They both enjoyed reading the book and look forward to the next one in the series.)

For more information on the Healthy Minds Series, please visit their Facebook page.

HOMEWORK IN THE SUMMER: IT’S A THING

I recently saw a few friends post pictures on Facebook of their kids doing work during the first few days of summer vacation.  Most of the comments were, “Great!”and “Well done!” while others chimed in with, “Are you serious?”  I posted supportive comments because my girls have been doing the same thing.  It’s Journal and Math everyday and it takes about twenty minutes of their time.  It’s hardly painful and in fact, they were excited to get a new journal for their upcoming trip to jot down their memories.  Writing keeps their brains active and gives me a few moments where I can clean up quietly.  I don’t want them to become a statistic either.  On average, students lose up to two months of academic skills over the summer holidays.  It can be reading comprehension, math skills, or communication abilities.  With so much time and days off, why would people be opposed to spending a few minutes a day at a table with a pencil in hand?

There are those who are in the camp of “It’s summer – let them relax!”  I’ve seen THOSE students when they come to class in September and I’m sure I don’t want my kids to be in that realm.  They “relaxed” all summer and on the first day of class, forming a remotely comprehensive sentence is difficult.  Spelling, punctuation, and grammar have become a bit foreign and penmanship is nothing to brag about.  The students themselves have told me, “All I did all summer was TV and video games!”  Er, yes kid, I can see that.

While we encourage our kids to keep up some skills in July and August, it is not run like a school here.  We don’t have a set schedule for their work time.  They fit it in during the day when they can.  Sometimes we’ll be at the park in the mornings and be at home during the hotter afternoons.  That’s when they’ll do their work. After the writing is done, they are also encouraged to draw, colour, use Playdoh, paint, etc.  I have a “Things to do Before Electronics” checklist which includes writing work, chores, playing outside and doing something creative.  We aren’t about to grow couch potatoes in this Hip Teacher garden in the summer.

Do your kids have assigned work in the summer?  Do you think summer should be a “no work” time?

Happy Birthday, Hip Teacher Dada!

Happy Birthday, to the one and only HTD today!  He’s had a couple of celebrations already (that’s how he rolls) and this year has been kind of neat because the gifts we got him actually relate to the experiences.  I didn’t just take the easy way out and get him a pair of shoes (though that’s usually what he wants and gets).

First, we did ESC-IT (escape room game) with Big H’s godparents on Sunday.  HTD had always wanted to do it, but I wanted to wait for a special occasion and with more people.  I wanted it to be a surprise to I tried to throw him off the trail by telling him to wear comfortable shoes and said I had packed a change of clothes for him.  I walked around the house air-punching things so that he would think we were going to HERS Kickboxing.  I even brought along my gloves to sell the story.  In the parking lot, I walked him down to HERS before feigning disappointment, “What?  It’s closed today?”   I turned him around to ESC-IT and he was so excited.

I chose the Dungeon of Despair (because of our Game of Thrones addiction) and it really was dark and well, dungeoness.  We were each given a flashlight and a brief background to the story.  We had to escape or die basically.  The clock was set to 45 minutes and then we were on our own.  I’m not going to spoil it for anyone, but basically we got the key and got out.  The gift that went with that experience was Armani Code.  He mentioned he liked the scent and I’m always up for trying new smells.  🙂  Perhaps it’ll be his Scent of the Summer.

The second experience gift wasn’t a surprise because I had put it on our family calendar months ago.  I even got him to print the tickets.  It’s the Jays game on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers.  The giveaway will be a Roberto Alomar or Joe Carter replica gray jersey.  Wow!  Guess who’s going to be a happy camper that day?  (Me or him?)   To tie into the gift, I found a box of Golden Grahams with Jose Bautista’s bat flip pose on it.  How perfect!

To make the day even better, it’ll be super sunny and hot.  Let’s see how HTD wants to spend his special day.  My bet is shopping somewhere – who’s with me?  (If you know HTD, it is a safe bet.)

*As HTD likes to point out, he shares a birthday with Sylvester Stallone and Pau Gasol.  (Yes, he is a fountain of useless facts and I love it.)  I thought the Raps would get Pau and what a bday sign that was!  We didn’t so… 😦

Happy Birthday, Canada!

We started off the day with coordinated outfits (of course).  I love doing theme outfits for the girls (okay, HTM and HTD also wore the red and white) for holidays.  Why not?  I feel like it’s when I scrapbook – matching colours make everything just work better.

 

We went to dim sum because I’ve been having siu mai (little pork dumplings) cravings for the past couple of weeks.  As usual, Baby C was an eating machine and she inhaled some siu mai, cha siu bao (bbq pork bun), turnip cake, and sponge cake so fast.  She also ate blueberries and banana.  (Yes, she gets her appetite from us.)  After brunch, we headed back home for Baby C’s first nap.

A couple of my friends texted me that Lululemon had finally opened at our nearby mall. They know my fondness for the brand (despite some setbacks in recent years) so they thought I’d like check it out (boy, were they right).  I met the floor manager and a few nice educators that afternoon.  Treated myself to a couple of leggings and ran into a good friend shopping with her kids.  I’m glad Lulu JUST opened now.  If it had opened near the start of my leave, I’d be in serious trouble.

That night, we had a quiet night in.  We ordered pizza and caught up on Masterchef (not finding a strong favourite this season).  Baby C went to bed at her regular bedtime and Middle A fell asleep around nine o’clock.  My eldest one stayed up late so Hip Teacher Dada took her out for fireworks.  It’s our family tradition to swing by Tim Horton’s, grab dessert, and watch the fireworks from our car at a local playground (the girls are all in their cozy pajamas).  Maybe next year, Baby C can push her bedtime back and we can all head out.  I settled for watching them from Big H’s bedroom window.

How did you celebrate Canada’s 149th birthday?