Sunday 29 November 2015

CN Christmas Train Pt 2

And here are the rest of the pics.  Dan really enjoyed himself and while all the little ones were getting tired on the way back, he even survived a brush with santa.  Only taken 5 years for the fear to go away :)


Being a conductor isn't sll it's cracked up to be.


Fear of the bearded man conquered.


The engine in all its glory.   Complete with comedy nose....



Me and Dan napping apparently.

CN Christmas train Part 1

Mew friends of ours and Daniel invited us to join them for the CN Christmas train for the first time this year and we had a great afternoon.  We turned up and had a hot chocolate then found our seats on the train.  We rumbled out around 4:30 and our journey took us from Edmonton up to St. Albert and back again.




Dan with the most excited person there :)


Purdy sunset.


Dan with his amazingly photogenic friend William.


Bubbly and scary gumdrop the elf.


Dan got hold of the conductor's utility vest and he was a very happy boy.

Saturday 28 November 2015

And up go the decorations.

Well it's almost December and we have a child so decorations have spontaneously appeared in and outside our house.  I did the heavy lifting and now Jacqui and Dan are sticking the pretty bits on as appropriate.





Dan's Birthday 2015, belated post due to aliens

Dan's birthday was a simple thing at our house this year, he had a few friends and all the children got dressed up.  Then they got too hot and lost the costumes.  Our friends lent us a bouncy castle which we dumped in the basement and Jacqui organised some cookie decorating.

Dan had a great time and he got some excellent gifts from his friends.


Ian, Norah and Brendan play castles in the play room.


Dan and Rhys play dinosaurs.


William and Noah are discovered under the table football.


The social set socialise.


Preschool pileup.


Richard gets his fingers bruised.


And we're done, sugar rush has dissipated, friends have left, just enough energy to watch tv.

Thanks everyone. 


Sunday 15 November 2015

Birthday Stroll for Jacqueline.

We went out for a bracing walk this afternoon around Lois Hole park.

It was a bit cold but we stopped halfway at the Enjoy Centre for cake which helped enormously.

There were hundreds of geese flying round and landing on Big Lake right next to us, which was pretty cool.

Dan handled it pretty well given that he is jet lagged and therefore it was like a long walk at 10 pm for him

Successful Morning

We got Dan a train set for his birthday, and this morning we put it up on its legs where we wanted it. It needs a fair bit of tlc but it's perfectly serviceable for a five year old.

Jacqui and I have started negotiations regarding whose responsibility it is. I asked her if she wanted to fix it up and arrange things, she countered with 'I'm not good at finicky things'. I have unilaterally declared it to be something 'fun' for her and Dan to do.

I shall be employed to glue things, screw things and do things as required.

Friday 13 November 2015

The Night Before the Triumphant Return

His generous aunt Carolyn sent me some cool pictures of Dan before he went to bed.

I have to say I missed him and his mum. But she didn't write me a letter so I missed him more.

Fun in the Leaves

Dan with his cousins Tom, Edie & Jake, enjoying the autumn weather and the huge piles of nature. I assume Erin was taking the pictures :)

Dan at the Farm.

Couple of pics of Dan (probably:) ) enjoying a farm in deepest England.

Saturday 31 October 2015

Obligatory Hallowe'en Pictures

Just of Dan and pumpkins though, serious lack of sexy witches so you weirdos carry on :)

Well the costume Dan was given two years ago now fits, yay hoarding! And I spent two hours carving pumpkins which were appreciated by several male visitors, which was nice.

Thursday 29 October 2015

That was sudden

Apparently Jacqui left him a sweet note and a pick me up on his 5th birthday.

Sunday 25 October 2015

Life is hard at 5

Just look at his smug, happy little face.  Makes me jealous, sick and angry all at the same time.  When did I lose that?  Well the answer to that is about 30 years ago.......  Luckily I got some of it back 5 years ago when Dan joined us on this spinning lump of rock.

Biased? Yes, definitely.  But he is objectively perfect, assuming I ignore his defects.  He makes my life so much netter and I would not give him up for the world.  (Given a large enough percentage of the world I may negotiate.)

The other, less important, children in this picture are Brendan and Chloe :)


Saturday 17 October 2015

SOCCERBALLPLAYER in Glorious Technicolor

The boy done good. He listened, tried and didn't get upset. Can't ask much more than that.

What starts today??

SOCCERBALL!

Yes I am trying to alienate both my English and Canadian friends all at once.

Today Dan starts his first indoor football season and he's a bit nervous. Luckily he has friends on his team, that should make up for his parents shouting abuse from the stands.

And apparently ripping your shirt off and challenging other parents/coaches/referees/children to a bare knuckle fight, is frowned upon in this so-called civilized country.

Hopefully at least one us enjoys it :)

Thursday 8 October 2015

Couple more good pictures

Going through getting rid of the suspect ones and found these. Hope you enjoy them.

Monday 5 October 2015

Annual Horse Riding Excursion

A farm very near our new house has a couple of open days every year, and Dan has been once a year for the past three.

He gets to ride a horse, visit a petting zoo, wagon ride and a coach ride. The weather was cold and crappy but that just meant we didn't have to queue.

Open Day at the Fire Hall

We had a pleasant trip to the local fire station yesterday. Dan got to try out the driver's seat in a number of vehicles, as well as bouncy castles, snacks and competitions.

Jacqui and I demolished hotdogs and ice cream :)