Padre trip

Last month we did what the Daniels and Williamsons do every summer-we went to Padre Island for a long weekend. This year's trip was special though-for the first time, we were there on Daniel's birthday.

It's fun to see how the kids' experiences change from year to year. It's the same beach, same condo, same ocean, same sand, but every visit is different. This year we got the kids inner tubes and with those, they played in the ocean a lot more than in past years.

Of course, they still enjoyed playing in the sand too. We dug a lot of holes and built walls (of the non-offensive variety ;)) and had fun filling the holes with water to make swimming pools.

Kevin buried each kid in sand.

There was also time for swimming in the pool...

Super-Rebecca captured in flight!

...and cuddling with grandparents Mimi and Baba...

...and trying on their glasses.

For Daniel's birthday dinner we went to Gabriella's, one of our favorite island restaurants. 

But what was Daniel and Rebecca's favorite part of the whole trip? Sandcrabbing with Mimi and Baba, of course! That was their favorite thing last year too and they're always asking when they can go back. This year Daniel was brave enough to pick up the crabs himself!

It was a great trip, and we're all looking forward to going back next year!

Daniel's 6th birthday

My boy is 6 years old now! We celebrated our birthday boy in style.

For Daniel's first birthday we did a pool party at an aquatic center in Coppell. It went so well we've been on repeat and had every birthday party there since. It's always been a fun time with friends and this year was no exception. It was especially nice to give Daniel and his school friends another fun time together as they prepare to part ways and head off for kindergarten.

Last year he requested a "Prince Wednesday" cake modeled on one he saw on a Daniel Tiger episode, and he asked for the same thing again this time.

He also had a special request for his birthday breakfast-our usual weekend eggs, pancakes, and bacon, but dyed green! It looked like the Grinch took over our kitchen.

When we got home from the party he got to open his gift from Mommy and Daddy-his first pedal bike! He was thrilled.

Later that afternoon I took him to the field near the playground by our house and pushed him as he go the hang of steering. About 10 minutes in I let go and this happened!

Since then he's progressed further, first riding loops around the parking lot needing help pushing off, then starting on his own and now, the other day, riding 6 miles on the Campion Trail with me. He loves that bike and I'm looking forward to a lot more rides together!

His birthday party was actually the weekend before his birthday. We spent the actual day at Padre Island as part of our annual beach trip-another post.

It's been a wonderful 6 years with our sweet boy. I'm excited to see what the next year has in store!

Quebec trip

Another summer, another foray to our neighbor to the north. Last summer we enjoyed our visit to Victoria, BC on the west coast of Canada so this summer we explored a new area of the country none of us had been to before-the province of Quebec, near the east coast.

After my half Ironman in Victoria I immediately started researching other possible races for this year and settled rather quickly on Mont-Tremblant, QC. It sounded like a beautiful area with lots of family-friendly activities, scenic and challenging course, and an exceptionally well-organized race. I registered the day registration opened, which proved to be a good choice given that all spots were filled up that same day.

Mont-Tremblant is a small town about 90 minutes from Montreal, the tourist-focused part of which is a ski village.  It certainly makes business sense for the town to make itself into a triathlon designation during the summer, when there's no skiing, but the ski village set-up with shops, restaurants, and activities all within a compact walkable area also makes for a very athlete-friendly setup for those who travel with their families. 

Our hotel was right in the village and all the shops, restaurants, and attractions were within a 5-minute walk. So was the race transition area and swim start-can't get much easier than that!

We got into Montreal early on Thursday evening. Unbeknownst to us the next Friday was St. Jean Bapiste day (a "national holiday" in Quebec, however that works) so we wound up sitting in what I gather must has been holiday weekend traffic for a longer-than-expected drive to Mont-Tremblant. To make a very long and unhappy story short, I made the decision to ship my bike to and from Canada via FedEx. It arrived but was far more exciting than it should have been. Anyway, my bike needed to be picked up from the local shop in Mont-Tremblant that evening and we made it with 15 minutes to spare. I rode it back to the hotel to meet Kevin and the kids and we set out to find some dinner. When we came back to the room the kids were excited to discover that we had a fireplace in our room...not that we needed it in late June, but still a fun treat.

The next day we explored the village more. The kids enjoyed riding the luge sleds (alas, since each of them needed an adult to ride with them, we didn't get any pictures) but also just enjoyed the simple playground right behind our hotel. It was a very kid-friendly town.

At lunch we saw Toufou, the Mont-Tremblant mascot, and the Ironman mascot.

We also played on the big Snakes and Ladders (Brit-speak for Chutes and Ladders) board.

Fun fact: In most of Canada British English (harbours and such) is the dominant language with French as the alternate. Quebec is French with a side of English. Most signs were in French first then (usually) English in smaller print and we were greeted almost everywhere by "bonjour hello." I've never felt the need to brush up on my French before visiting Canada but it would be helpful here. One day I needed to go to the magasin (general store) to buy some screws and batteries. I was able to find the batteries but could only find a screwdriver, not screws. The sales clerk asked me in French if I needed help and I was trying to describe what I needed but not well. I thought about having my phone translate but was concerned it might suggest a meaning of the word that I didn't intend and I might cross the line from being the pleasant and bumbling tourist to the offensive one. We muddled through and sorted it out but I may brush up on my French before my next visit ;)

The kids' very favorite thing in Mont-Tremblant-probably in all of Canada- was the big carnival slide set up in Ironman village. They wore that thing out sliding over and over and over. Rebecca was proud and excited to graduate up to the fastest red slide that Daniel was on!

One of the reasons this was such a great place for a triathlon was that everything was right there. Friday I went to packet pickup at a nearby hotel 100 yards from where the kids happily played on the slide as Kevin watched them. Saturday Daniel helped me walk my bike the 5 minute walk from our hotel to transition for drop-off then played on the slide as I listened in on the athlete briefing. The kids enjoyed walking around the Ironman village vendor tents, making cheering signs, and of course picking out a spectator shirt. It was much easier to let them be part of the race experience than even most local events I do, and it was great to have them along.

Our days in Mont-Tremblant passed pleasantly and between the compact footprint of the village and the lack of any ambitious sightseeing plans, it was easy to just take it all in and relax, exploring without an agenda and just doing whatever we happened upon that looked fun. Like the splash park, bungee jumping (for Daniel; Rebecca was too small), and climbing wall all tucked away at the top of the village.

On race day while I was off swimming, biking, and running, the rest of the crew, joined by my parents, enjoyed another fun day around the village. They just missed seeing me exit the swim but they were there to greet me when I biked in and then again standing outside the entrance to our hotel as I headed for the finisher chute at the end of the run. It was easy for them to check in on the race then get back to their day. I'm going to guess a fair bit of that time was spent on the carnival slide!

When I got up on race morning, I was greeted by this sweet sight:

Fun during the day:

Daniel showing off his race sign:

He explained to me that it says I'm going to go 100 miles an hour (all the distance markers were in kilometers, but I appreciate the thought) and he put go "moms" instead of "go Mom" because he wanted to cheer on all moms ;)

The next morning we bid adieu to Mont-Tremblant and headed back to Montreal for a few days. First up on our to-do list was a visit to the Notre-Dame Basilica, which was beautiful.

That night my parents watched the kids and Kevin and I enjoyed what has to be among the best dinners in our lives at a place called Bouillon Bilk. Between us we had the strawberries and tortellini starters, the scallops and a halibut entrees, and the mascarpone mousse and strawberry desserts. Yum!

The next day we took the Metro to the Space for Life museum complex to explore the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium and Biodome. Daniel studied outer space this spring and has been fascinated and eager to learn more so he was excited to watch a show about asteroids and then see the (simulated) Montreal night sky in the planetarium theater and was surprised to see that the same planets he can see from our front yard in Irving were in the night sky more than a thousand miles away.

The Biodome featured animals and foliage from 4 different habitats. Rebecca and Daniel were especially excited to see the penguin feeding.

Riding the Metro:

The next morning, our last in Canada, we drove out to Mont Royal, the mountain that gives the city its name. We didn't have long there but stopped to admire the view from the lookout and then spent a few minutes at a playground, then it was off to the airport and back home.

It was a fun trip and one we look forward to doing again!

International dinner, last day of school, preschool graduation, TOTShine Time performance, ballet recital

I'm a bit behind and have plenty more recent events to update but before more time passes, time to cover the last month of school events.

International Dinner

One of the fun traditions at the kids' school is the International Dinner held in May. Each class does a performance and then the whole school family joins together to eat a potluck dinner celebrating the cultural heritages represented within our school.

The toddler class:

Daniel's class:

We bought that lederhosen outfit in Munich on our trip in 2008 before we even had imminent plans to start a family. He's worn it every year for his International Dinner and it's gone from too big to just right to now, too small.

My favorite song of their performance-the planet song. Poor Pluto!

Blessing of the students

It's also a tradition of Apostles Day School that on the last day of the fall-spring school year, all the students and their families gather in the sanctuary and Father Tim, the rector of the church, individually says a blessing over each child. The classes went in age order beginning with the toddlers, Rebecca's class.

Then later, Daniel's turn with his class:

After all the kids had been blessed the younger classes returned to their classrooms while the graduating students remained in the sanctuary for their graduation.

Rebecca and her classmates singing a song for me:

Daniel receiving his diploma:

Each graduate also received an award recognizing that child's special gifts. Daniel got the "Thinking Outside the Box" award for his creativity and imagination:

With Penny, one of his best friends from his time at ADS. The two have been inseparable peas in a pod since meeting almost 4 years ago.

TOT Shine Time celebration

Around the same time the kids took part in a demonstration of basketball skills through the Teams of Tomorrow (TOT) program they do at school. They had fun showing off their skills for us and getting to do their TOT routine with their friends.

One thing I was really proud of Daniel for was that at one point in the routine the kids were supposed to pull ribbons from the plastic boxes by their spot and wave them around. For some reason his box was missing its ribbon. Daniel just waved his hands as if he had a ribbon and kept on without missing a beat. (Alas, when I told him afterward how proud I was being reminded of the missing ribbon upset him and he pouted. Oops.)

Ballet recital

This spring I signed Rebecca up for ballet classes (another program offered through their school) and when Daniel heard her talk about how fun it was he wanted to sign up too. They've both enjoyed their classes and we're excited to show off their skills and wear their costumes. They had a great time and Daniel soaked up all the applause for being the only boy dancing that day!

What a busy and eventful few months!

Rebecca-isms

A quick note before I forget on some funny things Rebecca has said lately. 

Most recently, the other night we had some loud thunderstorms which woke her up and made her scared. We told her it was just noise but nothing that would hurt her and that we would be right there as she snuggled in our bed but that didn't satisfy her. "The Lightning is bad because if it hits us it'll make us all dead." Well, there's that.

She also likes to tell us what flavors her hugs and kisses are. If we're lucky she has yummy flavors. But sometimes bad guys will steal all the yummy flavors and all she has are yucky ones. When that happens we rely on the "silly ghost" who followed us home from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride to go stop the bad guys and get her yummy flavors back.

But the really funny one was a few weeks ago. She asked to wear a favorite dress to church and on the way there, asked why she doesn't have to wear "pants" (bloomers) under her dresses anymore. I explained that those were for little girls who didn't know how to keep their dress down, but now that she was a big girl she knew not to do that. Or so we thought.

She went to the nursery to play during the service so I went to get her during the peace so she could take Communion. As we were sitting down and the priest began doing the announcements Rebecca noticed the teen girl who babysat for them sitting in the row ahead of us and walked if she could go over to say hi and give her a hug. 

When she reached the sitter though she did more than say hi--she pulled her dress up and loudly declared "look! I have no pants!" The people in all the rows around us cracked up. It was all I could do to keep quiet as I laughed so hard tears were rolling down my face. 

It would seem our discussion in the car was less clear than I had believed. Well, I guess we gave the people around us something to talk about on the way to lunch.

Love our funny, silly girl. She keeps life amusing!