Swimming is in the Genes!

Alia and Kyra went to their first swimming session on Monday. After talking with some friends and family reflection, Eric and I decided to register the girls with Mallard Swim Team. Both girls surprised us with their successful tryout session (we had never seen them swim like that before since they usually 'bob' or play in a pool). We calculated it would be cheaper that registering for swimming lessons and, frankly, we were not too impressed with the local swimming lessons the girls took last year. Can't learn to swim in a bathtub folks! Poor Alia would take two strokes and then reach the wall. No wonder she could never swim farther than two or three arm pulls!

Since I was busy with taiko practice (big concert on Sunday), Eric took the girls to the pool. He came home and recounted how impressed and proud he was of both girls. They swam for an hour, did several lengths of the pool and even started to learn how to dive. The girls loved it. They got to use their fins for part of the session. (Yes, we were asked to provide pull-buoys and fins for training purposes!)  Alia and Kyra also got to see their friends from school (who's parents introduced us to Mallards). They swim with a different group but were in the lane next to their group.

I can't wait until Friday when I get the chance to go and watch the girls swim.

The Kids are Growing! More Tacos Please!

When we meet up with family and friends whom we haven't seen in a while, the first comment is always "My, how the kids have grown!" I am guilty of this cliché and proud of it. But when we live with our children and see them on a daily basis, we don't notice these changes. What we do notice are the milestones. Like...

"Why didn't you tell me that the shoes were too tight?!! I would have replaced them 3 months ago!"(usually heard after seeing the 'indoor school shoes' at the end of a school year.)

Four toddlers plowing through a complete family lasagna on their own!! Remember this one Aunty Rhi/Uncle David? What are the adults going to eat for supper?

Pants too short or too tight, long sleeve shirts that are now 'fashionable 3/4 length' tops and the list goes on!

Tonight, our family can check off another milestone. We finished off a 'hard/soft taco kit' (the El Paso kind) in one meal!!!! Both girls ate the same as Eric and I, which means we each had three each! So much for having leftovers for lunch tomorrow (which probably is a good thing since packing and transporting all the dressings is not so practical for school lunches.)

Phone Calls Home!

Multi-tasking!

The girls enjoy calling family and friends in Montreal to recount their tales and Toronto happenings and we try to call as often as possible. Both girls love dialing (which sometimes involves squabbling and/or negotiating over who’s turn it is to dial) and Alia’s even memorized phone numbers.  Here are some memorable moments of the girls on the phone! 

Folks, we do our best to try to minimize the distractions when they are on the phone. But as you can see, sometimes little things slip by!!

We took this picture on the first day of school as Kyra recounted her day to Mana. Not sure if she gets better reception this way!

Testing Postings by Remote

Good Morning world. I recently joined the world of smart phones. Will I get more done? Or less? Only time will test.

Currently I am testing an app that will let me blog even when I am away from my computer. Maybe now my blog will be more up to date!!

Back to School! C'est la rentrée scolaire!

The girls started back to school today. Both girls came home full of exciting news. Kyra is in Grade 1 and has M. Denis. Alia is in Grade 3 with M. Loya. Both girls were excited to be in their classes.

Alia was very excited to be ‘on the second floor’!! Alia came home with homework for the week today (yup, on the first day!) but it is not that difficult. It is a series of handouts on Multiple Intelligences and completing a survey to see which intelligence best describes themselves. Alia says it’s easy! I’m glad she feels Grade 3 is easy! Hopefully it stays that way! Ha!

Kyra is in a Grade 1-2 split. She didn’t get any homework today but said I could teach her and asked for work! No problem. I purchased exercise books at Costco back in the summer for just this purpose.

We are back into the routine of filling and emptying lunchboxes, checking school bags for notes and the list goes on!

This morning I started back to work too. I got a call back last week to come back to work in the SK French Immersion class like last year. What an interesting exercise to be there on the first day. Last year, I started in December, when the routines had been established and the students understood some French. Today, it was back to the beginning. Very cool.

Day one was a success. 199 to go!

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

Did anyone see a flying car go by?

Last weekend we took the girls to see the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Ontario Science Museum. It opened back in the spring and Eric and I really wanted to go see it. We were not sure if the girls would appreciate it. We tried to watch the 1^st movie together but Kyra found it scary. We ended up watching only half of the movie (up to the scene with the sorting hat and Harry is sorted into Gryffindor). But on other visits to the OSM, the girls had asked to go see Harry Potter.

“We want to see the real Harry Potter. Not the movie.”

So last weekend we ordered our tickets for the first time slot on Saturday morning. This was a great move because the exhibit was empty and we could take in all the displays without the crowds.

The exhibit was a collection of costumes, props and recreations of different scenes from all the movies. It was so interesting to see up close all the tiny details that went into the items that either movie viewers don’t see or don’t notice in the movie! All the thought that went into creating the costumes to help create the characters we all love (or hate).

We made the wise choice of renting 2 audio guides to share. There was a lot of interesting information about the movie and the development of the props used in the movie.

When we first walked into the exhibit, we were greeted by a ‘professor’ who sorted guests into houses! The girls were too shy to face the sorting hat but Eric and I were sorted into Slytherin and Hufflepuff! We then walked through the doors into a ‘movie’ room where we watched clips from all the movies. It reminded me very much of the way Disney controls the crowds with themed ‘holding pens’ for large crowds. After the movie clips, the doorway opened onto Platform 9 ¾. The Hogwarts Express was waiting for us, steam and all. Pretty impressive.

As we walked into the exhibit hall, we were greeted by other ‘professors’. One professor asked the girls to light her lantern with a wand. They had wands from all the characters (amazing how they are all different). When we first walked in, the painting of the Fat Lady was tomented by dark magic, but she soon reappeared a little later! They had set up Harry and Ron’s beds. Beautiful.

Many of the robes of the different professors (Snape, Dumbledore, Moody, McGonagall …) were on display along with their wands and props.

We got to try Quidditch by throwing Quaffles through the 3 goal posts. We pulled out squealing Mandrakes! We sat in Hagrid’s chair and walked through his hut. The girls found the Forbidden Forest a little scary but then, it’s supposed to be!!

The lifesized Hippogriff was amazing to see, all the feathers individually stiched in.

Poor Ron’s dress robes were on display, along with Harry’s robes and Hermione’s ball gown for the Yule Ball.

Of course, no exhibit can exist without the gift shop at the exit! Didn’t see myself spending $45 on a Marauder’s Map! Settled on $0.69 postcard and two pencils!

In all, it took us about 90 minutes to go through the entire exhibit. Eric and I are glad the girls didn’t rush through the exhibit but took their time along with Eric and I. We were also very glad we went early in the day. We started our visit with 3 other families (maybe 15 people max) so we had full access to the displays. By the time we finished, it was a lot more crowded.

Maybe now the girls might want to watch the movie (at least the first one since the other ones are a bit scarier). But then again, maybe not. And that’s ok.