Earthquake

This afternoon there was an earthquake. It seems the epicentre was 45 km north of Gatineau and registered 5.5 on the Richter scale.

I had just stepped out of the school assembly for a moment and was in the classroom by myself. All of a sudden, it sounded like the wind had picked up and was blowing so hard that the walls seemed to shake (as if I was in a tent or log cabin) and the windows rattled. I just felt a mild rumble and it only lasted a moment.

I wondered at first if it had been an earthquake or just a really wobbly chair at the computer station!

Nobody in the assembly seemed to notice! With 400+ students plus staff, can you blame them?

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! Here I go again! My my, how can I resist you!

Last night, Eric and I took the girls to see Mamma Mia. It was my Mother's Day present but it's kind of funny how I 'cashed' in my gift on Father's Day weekend!! It was last week that I realized that, with the G20 in town this week, the theatre was going dark early and cancelled the last week of shows. Ooops! Gotta buy my tickets fast! Yikes! But yes, that's me, always leaving things to the last minute.

What a great show! We had good seats for last minute. There was a last minute promotion on tickets and prices were super reasonable. We were on the balcony but right in the middle so we could see the whole stage. (When we went to Sound of Music, we were on the side and I always felt we missed the 'edges'.) The usher at the front door was nice enough to inform us that booster cushions were available at the coat check. Thank goodness we knew about it before climbing up to the stairs to the balcony. (Poor people who we crossed on the stairs on their way back down the stairs to pick up their own boosters!!)

The four of us loved the show. The music was great. The spandex costumes in the finale were hilarious. The set was simple yet so amazing. I am always impressed with how they can take a simple set of two walls on wheels and swing them around into different positions, add a few props and completely change scenes, all the while still singing.

Alia's review - "I liked the first part and the second part." (cute...there was only act 1 and 2!!)

Kyra's review - "I liked the wedding and all the dancing at the end."

Traffic getting downtown wasn't too bad. We got there early and had supper at Penelope, a greek restaurant across the street from the theatre. It was the perfect evening to eat on the terrace. The waitress complimented the girls on their behaviour in the restaurant. Guess she has seen her share of kids-run-amok in her time! Alia and Kyra were perfect!

What would life be? Without a song or a dance what are we?

So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me.

All is quiet now

Everyone is asleep right now and I guess I should be too. There is a sense of calm at this time of night that is soothing. It is finally nice to be able to sleep with the windows open! It is a crazy week (and I don't even know where it has gone). All I can say is "thank goodness for pizza day at school tomorrow"...don't need to stress about making lunches tomorrow!

Good night. Fais des beaux rêves!

Feels Like Spring!

The girls are playing with the basketball on the driveway, the garden clean-up is done for the day and nothing left but to put our feet up and relax!

Still can't believe how many yard waste bags we go through. The garden is very over grown and so little by little, we are trying to clear away the dead branches and prune the hedges. I think I filled a bag today just of dandelions.

This morning we went shopping for Alia's 1st communion outfit. I am very grateful for the fact that the kids will be wearing robes for mass next week. Hence, no need to go super crazy with the fancy dress and all. We found a nice sundress that Alia can wear this summer. Found shoes too. We were about to leave the mall when I realised that she didn't have any appropriate footwear to go with her new dress! The sandals we bought last week are too sporty and her school shoes are starting to show their wear and tear. Kyra was a good sport to tag along. We stopped at the Disney Store to buy t-shirts for our vacation and some extra sunglasses for Kyra. We also stopped to play on the computers at the Apple store (gotta love them!) and used the girls' Tim cards for a snack at Tim Horton's.

All in all a very good day!

Swimming Lessons and so much more!

We are just back from our Thursday evening swimming lessons. Both girls were swimming back and forth with their instructor. Alia even started doing 'catch up' front crawl arms. Kyra jumped into the pool at the end of class without holding on to the teacher's hands. It is impressive what they have been able to accomplish in just three lessons! Can't wait to see them swimming after their set of ten lessons.

Safety First!

The girls started swimming lessons last Thursday. They haven’t been in a while and Eric and I both felt they needed to learn how to swim properly. We found as small private pool nearby that offers semi private lessons (4:1) for a reasonable price. They focus more on swimming skills and technique, which is what we want. Other programs offering a water safety component is not necessary for we can cover that as parents. Both girls really enjoyed their lesson and are looking forward to next week.

Several weeks ago, Kyra asked to play my guitar. I let her sit on the couch and strum away. I asked her “Would you like to learn to play the guitar?” “Yes”, she said. “But I want to do swimming lessons first.”

“Ok”, I answered. “What about the piano?”

Kyra thought for a moment. “First swimming lessons, then guitar, then piano, then taiko, then flute.” There was a slight pause. “And then I would like to learn how to climb a tree.” She looked at me with a serious look and added, “but only after I ask an adult for permission!”

April 9th! Already??

Don’t know where the time has gone. All of a sudden, it is April. March Break is a distant memory. Easter has come and gone. And now we are heading into the mid-April weather blips, ranging from shorts and popscicle weather to “oh my goodness, how are my tulips and daffodils going to survive the overnight freezing and snow! “En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil.” I googled the expression to find a translation. One version gave me “don’t put your umbrella away yet”. Forget the umbrella, we use those year round. It should have read “don’t bother washing and packing away the winter jackets just yet” or “keep the mitts on hand” (especially if you are on morning yard duty)!!

This year, we invested in a family membership at the Ontario Science Centre. It is relatively close by and the deal was too good to pass up. The temporary Harry Potter exhibit opens this weekend. Don’t think we will be going on opening weekend but we will definitely visit the exhibit during it’s stay. From the news coverage, it looks really interesting. We have until August to find a time to go.

A couple of weekends ago, we went to the OSC and visited the Kidspark area and watched the IMAX movie Hubble. It was really interesting to learn about how the astronauts had to go up and fix the famous telescope and what kinds of information and pictures scientists are now receiving. Seeing a space shuttle liftoff on the big screen is pretty impressive too! (Maybe not as much as seeing one live but that’s a little harder to organize!) On our way home, we stopped by MacSushi for the end of day sale. Kyra had requested sushi for supper that morning and I was not sure I would get around to making it (especially after a day out). However, the price was right, and the sushi is fresh and very good for “shopping-mall-food-court” sushi. The Spicy Dynamite rolls are fabulous and usually my first choice (spicy salmon and shrimp tempura maki) however, ‘end-of-day-sales’ are usually ‘take-what-you-can-get’ and there was enough great selection to choose from. We brought our sushi home and I made a quick batch of inari-sushi to add to our meal (Alia prefers them over maki rolls)

It was also Earth Hour that evening, so we let the girls stay up a little later, unplugged everything, and played Clue Jr. but oil lamp and flashlight. Must say, that it was challenging to read the clues by candlelight. I don’t think it was as big of a success in Toronto as it was in 2009 (participation was down, according to news reports later) but we had fun.