cottage life

almost 11 months old, at the cot

The cottage is the best! The pictures can do most of the talking on this one, but I do have to add a few things: not being connected is so... so... what's the word? Nice? I was going to say refreshing, but that's not really it. The internet is fabulous, but not having the pull to check email or facebook or pay bills or do any of the bazillion things that can suck up countless hours on the comp-ter is... nice. It was also super nice to only go to the grocery store once in an entire week, to read read read and to not feel guilty about not getting up to much. In the week and a half that we were up there Alana learned to go down stairs (three of 'em) head first, to roar like a dinosaur (see vid), quack like a duck, woof like a dog and she's showed more interest in books - and less interest in eating them. No news flash on this one: she's still packin' back food like a half-starved Romanian dog.


Hendrik kept busy busy at the cottage (no naps) swimming, playing construction site, jumping off the dock, swinging, fishing, boating, frog-hunting, playing volleyball, badminton, doing beach doves, stick-hunting, reading, eating and then, at the end of the day, sleeping like the dead. Well, that might not be totally accurate; Steve and Hendrik shared a bed, and it sounds like he could be pretty roly-poly squirmy-wormy in the night. Enough talking - here are the pics (lots of them):

like his dad, he loves looking for lunkers

lots and lots of water fun

wearing the summer 2013 cottage collection, and looking good.

our beauty

two years and eight months - our guy is growing!

campfire time! (and marshmallow face - he wasn't a fan of the gooey sticky roasted mallows - he liked them better out of the bag)

me and my babes

frogs!

getting ready for bed - i probably asked hendrik to look at me and smile 50+ times, and got one smile (bottom left)

and then meltdown. i love alana's reaction...

a rare moment of calm, brotherly love (he'd rather rough and tumble)

what a view for dinner!

the big boys and their fish

"I'm just a little bit tired of catching all those lunkers" - he came up with that allllll on his own. Really.

to the cot!

We're cottage bound! Here are a few pics before we go - the next blog might be a while; internet-free, book-full living, here we come!

pretending to be franklin

a beaut!

weekend recap, finally!

July 13, 2013

What an awesome weekend this past one was, with all of the family together to celebrate Barb and Ralph's 50th wedding anniversary; there was good weather, good food, good speeches, and of course, good people. The kids had a great time and everything went off without a hitch, hurrah. The Brinkmans - Erin, Fred, Marg, Bob and Steve and I, sang a Freddy-Erin original to the tune of Do Wah Diddy - an ode of sorts, to Barb and Ralph, and it went like this:

There Ralph was tryin’ to find someone to meet

Singin’, You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

Goin’ to church nearly seven days a week

Singin’, You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

He looked good (looked good), He looked fine (looked fine)

He looked good, he looked fine, That’s when he caught Babsie’s eye

Before he knew it they were standing face to face

Singin’, You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

Her skin like gouda and her hair as fine as lace

Singin’, You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

They talked on (talked on), They both laughed (both laughed)

Ralph tried to steal a kiss, Babsie’s dad said not so fast

Whoa-oh They knew they were fallin’ in love

Yes they did, so Ralphie bought a ring once he’d saved enough

Back in the place where Ralphie started on his search

Singin’, You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

They were standing at the alter of the church

Singing, Let’s get married and start a family too

They had Pam (had Pam), They had Rod (had Rod)

They had Pam, they had Rod, then little Paulie came along

Whoa-oh They only fell deeper in love

Yes they did, now their life is everything they’d been dreamin’ of

Now they’re together for fifty golden years

Singin’, You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

Raise your glasses and join us in a cheers

‘Cause we’re almost finished and we need some help from you

To Ralph (to Ralph), To Babs (to Babs)

To Ralph and Babs, everybody clink your glass

You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

You look pretty.  Can you make boterkoek?

You look pretty.  Do you have wooden shoes?

You look pretty.  Hey, you’re Dutch?  I am too!

 

It was awesome!

A few others spoke, and the bride and groom of 50 years said a few words too - and the whole time I was thinking about my family and our future and what will get us through the next 46-plus years of marriage. Ralph said something that I really liked, and his piece of advice was this: The best thing you can do for your kids is to love their mother, or to love their father. How true?! If love and all that love means, is a key part of the family's foundation - the parents - there must be a pretty good chance for longevity. It also made me wonder what our 50th might look like: who would be there? Where will it be? Hendrik and Alana will be in their 40s... ouf. With all that everyone says about time passing so quickly, I hope it doesn't come too soon.

So besides the big par-tay on Saturday afternoon, other highlights from the week include a trip to Cedar Park Resort (a water park with something for everyone), a family coffee and treats gathering (with donuts from the Orono Bake Shop), pool time at the Crockers, and back yard activities here (kiddie pool, sprinkler, construction site). Steve and I have also been out and about on our own a bit (bike rides, evening, kid-free visits with cousins, siblings and friends), and that's been great too.

And it has been HOT. Hot hot hot. I want to say a bit too hot, but hey, I'll take it. Before we know it winter will be here and we'll be complaining that it's too cold - ak. To finish: I have too many tabs open in too many browsers, and to complete my three goals of the day, I still need to exercise... so I'd best be off (the other two were to blog and to go shopping - both accompli!). Oh, and volleyball is on tomorrow at 4:30 (eastern) on Sportsnet One - for the first time ever, Team Canada is in the final round of World League; they take on power house Russia, and the stadium is sure to be packed. Stay cool, tune in and enjoy...

Hendrik with a postcard from Auntie Sarah - who doesn't like getting mail?! He loved it!

playing construction site - le backyard activity of choice

family!

ode to alans

fun in the hammock!

This girl... she's a piece of my heart, crawling around outside of my body. I love her to bits, and the time that is up and coming, when she'll be walking around and not so easy to cuddle and keep close - is going to come all too soon. More odes, to Babs and Ralph and family time here coming up soon...

her signature move, the point!

beauty

just like bob!

Is this picture priceless or what?

just like bob!

We made a typical last minute decision yesterday to drive to Bowmanville a few days earlier than we'd originally planned - we were on the road at 3:00, just two hours after we started the packing frenzy. Since we'll likely be gone for two (ish) weeks (here for a bit, cottage for a bit), there was a fair bit of checklisting; however, since Steve is back practicing tomorrow morning, we didn't have to make sure all the stinky diapers were out - he can do that later this week. So he's back in the Gat solo, and will rejoin Friday (I think), just in time for the big reunion celebration on Saturday. I get to enjoy family time here with Bob and Marg and Erin and Fred and all of the Tukker clan... yay! I pick family over staying in Gatineau, and I know Steve would too if he didn't have the Team Canada pull going on. So on that note, I'll join the people. Stay tuned!

update!

Man oh man, I could have written a blog every night this week - I have that much content but mmmm not that much time. I mean, I could have that much time, but then the kitchen would be a disaster, I wouldn't have read The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (loved it), and nor would I have fit in an anniversary dinner with my husband or pounded out a Wednesday evening workout. At this very moment I am eating chocolate applesauce loaf (low-fat but with a serious chocolate punch) and listening to Steve try to get Hendrik to clean up his room before he'll give in and play "mole sisters"... again. (And now: "jammy excitement - daddy, watch it go flying!") I'm thinking I'll see if I can get a family update sort of update in here, and maybe - hopefully? - everything that I could have put into writing Monday through Thursday, will find its spot somewhere, with someone. But first, a few pics from last weekend - we made a last minute decision to spend Canada Day at the cottage, and enjoyed almost two full days with the Fab Four:

Alana

Our girl hit the 10-month mark while we were up at the Crowe, and she sure is a'growing. She's crawling and pulling herself up and getting into everything, and knows exactly where everything that really isn't for her is, and goes for it. She learned how to climb stairs (we don't have any chez nous) in five minutes, and is letting people walk her around - we hold her hands and she marches. Her current top skills, in my opinion, are eating, pointing and smiling. She can eat. The quantities that she ingests don't really follow suit with the size of her stomach let alone her body, but... I remember Hendrik being like this too. And she isn't picky - salmon, spinach, broccoli... she'll eat it. Favourites are blueberries, pasta (both kids love rice pasta) and clementines (she'd eat them whole if she got her hands on them). So yeah, she's eating three meals a day and I'm still feeding her five or six times a day, depending. Her current favourite books (this means she pays attention and turns the pages instead of mouthing them) are Pat the Bunny (she does all of the actions minus the smelling - I love it!), I Am a Bunny, Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. She said one of her very first words yesterday - "quack" - !! She can do the mama-mama thing but I don't think it's really directed at me yet - she's just saying the sounds. Wait, let me get back to her top three skills; she points at everything! She'll pull out a fully-extended arm - shoulder to index finger, and direct it at whatever (dad is a favourite on this one) - and follow it up with a smile... it's heart-melting. And skill three - she smiles a ton, and is there anything better than a happy baby? No, there is not.

the point!

She gets along pretty well with her brother, but that's only because she doesn't (usually) mind getting manhandled. He can be pretty physical with her but - and we're not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing - she usually likes it. He'll steamroll her while our attention is elsewhere, and while we both think that it's maybe a bit much, she doesn't seem to mind. Now, when he tries picking her up by the neck - she yelps and we intervene immediately (obviously) - that's a different story. We still have to be nearby at all times, to make sure we let him (/them) know when too much is too much.

she looks like she could hold her own in this picture...

The sleeping, I feel like I really shouldn't say anything about; because doesn't Murphy's Law always apply to this sort of thing? Case in point: last night we stayed up late, and Alana was up twice in the night and Hendrik was up once... ugh. That hasn't been the norm as of late and I haven't fed her in the night for a few weeks, and then that was only because she was feverish. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

2 1/2

Hendrik

Hendrik loves: anything to do with construction sites (and playing construction site), cars and trucks , and dinosaurs. He also loves pretending to be Franklin or T-Rex, and we are frequently actors in his charade: Steve is a Baryonx or Bear, and I'm a Velociraptor or Bunny, and Alana is a baby Velociraptor (she doesn't factor into Franklin's cast). He'll talk in a high-pitched voice, and if we address him as Hendrik, he'll immediately correct us "No, I'm Franklin" and not follow directions until we ask "Franklin." And just now, he had Steve playing "mole sisters" - inspired by The Mole Sisters series, by Roslyn Schwartz. I wasn't crazy about the first one we got out of the library, but it grew on me pretty quickly - and I just realized there are a whole bunch of Mole Sisters books. Anyways, Steve and Hendrik put on a mole sisters show tonight - here it is: (They're acting out The Mole Sisters and the Wavy Wheat, entirely Hendrik's doing; "Oh dear! Yoohoo! Then they swept the mole holes" are some of my fave quotes. And at the end he asks to talk about cars and trucks ... love!)

Besides The Mole Sisters, his favourite books are probably Dinosnores (out from the library once more) and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food. He has a set of four dino puzzles that he likes, and is into asking us if he's been a good listener; if we say yes, he'll ask, "so what can I watch?" Hmmmph.

The potty training is going really well - most things happen on the potty during the day, and that makes me SO happy because it means I don't have to clean out wash out rinse out... yeah, you got it. Ummm what else what else - ? He entertains us constantly, and is such a sponge with information and new skills (Shanti taught him how to tip and a pancake last night - volleyball stuff), and he is always listening. Volleyball would be his number one sport, and he loooooves practicing. He can execute all of the skills, with his strongest being the spike/attack - if you lob a little serve at him, he won't bump it... he'll spike it. We'll get that on video soon.

Me

Ummmmm.... hm. I've found time to read which is awesome, and I'm into this Incorrigible series which is (I think) pre-teen/teen fiction, but I love it. It's so readable and refreshing and Jon Klassen (I Want My Hat Back, Extra Yarn) did all of the illustrations which got me onto it in the first place. I had a lovely evening out with my husband last night, and have another lovely evening out planned with Shanti tomorrow night - we're going to see Jersey Boys! Woot woot, should be good. I'm sort of but not really at all on track for training for the half-marathon, and I'll blame it on some knee pain which I'll blame on my erratic commitment to exercise. I mean sure, I could get a workout in every day but then I really would never blog and I'd never read and I'd never spend any down time with Steve. Are these excuses? Maybe. But I also know that the event is still almost two months away, and I'm still planning on running it - and running to finish it, not running to get a certain time. Aaaaand I don't really know what else to say.

Steve

The man of the house is training hard and enjoying some time off here and there too - spending the weekend up at the cottage was awesome. Depending on World League results he'll have some time off, and we'll head west once again to Bowmanville where his aunt and uncle will celebrate fifty years of marriage next Saturday. Then, more cottage time, more fishing, more swimming and lots of time with the kiddies. And hopefully, more Mole Sisters. :)

happy anniversary!

Together: 12 years, 12 countries, 2 kids, and 4 years since the best party I've ever been to; happy anniversary US! Shanti is babysitting and we're going out for dinner, apres Alana is in bed. Better anniversary photo to come plus (I hope) a year by year montage... I'll add it to the list of blogs to write!