Hallowe'en Night!

At long last, the final day of October arrived and with it lots of fun and festivities as October 31st can only mean one thing to little ghosts and goblins: Hallowe'en! At our house, three youngsters suited up in their garb and took to the streets in search of as much chips, chocolate and candy as could possibly fit in their modestly-sized loot bags. But before the celebration could begin, Isabelle headed off to see her personal face painter (same lady as last year - she uses Isabelle on her promo materials!) to get adorned with makeup to match her Monarch butterfly costume. She is such a brave soul, she has been battling a cough and a lost voice all day but soldiered on, determined to make the most of Hallowe'en. Her up and down day took a sharp turn up when her pal Logan arrived to start the trick-or-treating. It was like someone turned a switch, she was bounding around from house to house, not a shred of shyness in this Monarch! Everyone on the street enjoyed seeing her and Oliver, who made his Hallowe'en debut in style as the most adorable caterpillar ever created. His tiny loot bag filled up quickly but he mostly just enjoyed being out and about and seeing many new faces. A great time as it always is, we are already looking forward to next year when Isabelle really shows the ropes to her brother!

Super job, Jacky!


The lion of 2009 on the top left! Where's the royalty cheques?


Enough pictures, there is candy out there!


Hurry up. dude!


Oliver, the very hungry caterpillar


Caped crusader leads the way


A beaming, beautiful butterfly

Happy Birthday, Dad!

We love you and wish you all the best on your big day! Happy birthday and happy Hallowe'en, too!

Dynamic Duo

Two more sleeps and Hallowe'en is here! Isabelle and Logan aren't willing to wait, however, and got things kicked off at their annual school party today. An eclectic collection of costumes cuties, everyone from Optimus Prime the Transformer to Max of the Wild Things was happily in attendance. Was there any doubt that Isabelle would be raring to go in her first costume of three straight days of dress-up. Today she graced the halls of the school as Sleeping Beauty, and upon arrival immediately linked up with the modern-day version of a prince, the superhero Batman. No sign of Robin so Aurora stepped in as the trusted sidekick for today's mission. They had a grand time on their parade through the office building, collecting oohs and aahs from the workers, plus the bonus of treats in their loot bags. Isabelle received a set of Belle playing cards that was clearly the highlight of her day. So the princess we all know and love from the other 364 days of the year actually got to dress like one today and clearly enjoyed the opportunity. Tomorrow is another day, another costume as the gymnastics class celebrates the season!

A princess and her apprentice


Even princesses need to stay warm when waiting for the bus!

Wheels on the Bus

For some people, the daily morning commute on the bus is a real drag. Isabelle is not one of those people. The girl just absolutely adores her morning bus ride. Every day, she hops out on the front porch, hands her Dad the Globe and then climbs onto his shoulders for the walk to the bus stop at the top of the street. The shoulder ride avoids the potential conflict of trying to get a dawdling toddler to understand the concept of the bus being scheduled to arrived at a specific time.

Thankfully over the past couple of months, she has become just as anxious about missing the 8:11 bus, all due to the impending appearance of her favourite bus driver. When Isabelle asked his name, he said he had a grand-daughter her age that called him Papi, so she could do the same. She is so excited to see Papi's red bus come up the street. She shrieks with delight as the bus arrives and I think it has become one of the highlights of Papi's day as well. He has brought her candy necklaces and gummi treats, and last week brought a camera to take her picture to show his grand-daughter. She looks forward to her morning chat with him and has asked everything from "What are you going to be for Hallowe'en?" to "Is it dark when you wake up?" to "Do you bring the bus home with you?".

As he drops her off, she smiles and waves vigorously as she crosses the street to catch her transfer with some other less-exciting bus driver. See you tomorrow, Papi, same time, same place. Save a spot for me!

Fall Fun!

What a great weekend to be in Ottawa. Birthday wishes, friends in town, fall colours abound and today, sunshine! We kicked things off Friday with birthday cards and some wicked cupcakes, and with a dozen in the box, the treats will continue for a few more days! Later that night, our friends Alli and Sean (the houseswappers from a few weeks ago) arrived with Isabelle's four-legged friend, Kobe. They were in town for a wedding but we were lucky enough to have them stay with us and catch up on how they are doing, plus they got to spend time with Oliver, who had only met them at their wedding back in May.




We spent Saturday doing some book-reading and Rideau Centre shopping, then we headed over to Renee and Shawn's for dessert. This means Isabelle and Logan got to meet outside of school. For some reason, they shriek with delight whenever they go visit each other, even though they see each other about 40 hours a week at school. Isabelle has even said she wants to sleep over at his place, but she hasn't mentioned again, not once she found out that her parents and Oliver wouldn't also be spending the night!


Today was a great day to enjoy the rainbow of fall colours with a "walk" along the canal, an exciting one as Kobe came along for the ride. Isabelle got a hold of the leash and "pulled" Kobe, although it appeared he did most of the pulling!







Isabelle discovered the fall colours on the way back as we encountered a huge hill covered from top to bottom in leaves. It seemed to be sitting there just begging to be played on, and Isabelle wasn't about to leave without having some fun. Needless to say, it didn't take much encouraging to get her to try rolling around for a while!



All in all it was a great birthday weekend for Mommy, spent with her three biggest fans in the world!

Birthday Wishes!

Happy birthday to the greatest mom, we love you so much!

Nanny 911

Even though having two little ones can bring on its challenges from time to time, we have two wicked great kids. We don't foresee ever having to make use of the services of Nanny 911, but perhaps Isabelle sees this as a future occupation!? As is always the case, she is already suitably attired to take the job!

Great Eight!

Oliver hits the 8 month mark today and is just about the happiest little bambino anyone could ever meet. Over the past couple of weeks he has two big questions on his mind.

First, will this first tooth ever come in? His cheeks always have a rosy glow and it's not due to the cool temperatures outside. In addition, our superstar sleeper has become a multiple riser as a result of the tooth situation. Hopefully the first little chopper will arrive soon so we can all get a bit more sleep around here. Isabelle is fine either way, she crashed out at 8 every night and has slept past 7:30 the last 3 mornings! She should share her secret with her brother!


Second question on his mind, can I have another Mum Mum? He has discovered how great they are with hummus and his clothes and Bumbo are displaying the carnage from his daily snacking. We also picked up some teething biscuits that make Mum Mums seem like the cleanest food invented. However, to see how much he loves these treats is absolutely hilarious. In case you thought he couldn't smile more than he usually does, try giving him one of these!


All in all, we couldn't be luckier parents than we are. He is a joy.

Spooky Sunday at Saunders

In what has become an annual tradition (with a new member this year!), we made the trip to the countryside to meet up with Renee, Shawn and Logan and spend some time at Saunders Farm! It's a great place for young and old and is only marginally scary during the day, not that anyone of us would want to try it at night! These guys know how to do it up for Hallowe'en. Haunted hayrides, live stage shows, play structures, face painting, FREE CANDY!?, who could ask for anything more? We got over some initial hesitation at the hayride, with Isabelle and Logan deciding to clutch their dads from start to finish, but soon after hot chocolate entered the mix and all was well. The two classmates had a grand time in the playhouses and Isabelle got her first taste of cotton candy on the way out (she's not a fan, which made Logan happy to reap the benefits!). Now we feel like we are really set for Hallowe'en. Isabelle practiced all morning, yelling at the top of her lungs "Trick or treat, trick or treat, getting candy from every house!".

I'm dressed. Let's go!


You're green and spooky. But you're giving out candy!


Checking out the show


Hot chocolate hits the spot


I'm way up high!


Cotton candy cuties


Best of friends


Practicing her scary face!


Saunders Circa 2007


Saunders Circa 2008


Saunders Present Day!

Happy Birthday, Olan!

We send our happiest birthday wishes out to the Maritimes as Isabelle's bestest pal of all, Olan, is turning 3 today! Such a sweet little boy that warms all of our hearts anytime he is near. We miss him tremendously and can't wait to see the strapping young lad again soon. The boy means so much to us and holds a kinship with Isabelle like no other. Two peas in a pod would even be an understatement. Hope you had a wicked day Olan, the four of us all wish we were there to share in your festivities. If there's any cake left, make sure to pack it up and send it to Ottawa!

The Honeymooners

We had a real treat last night as Elizabeth and Petar were in town for their honeymoon and paid us a visit for dinner and some great conversation. How lucky and honoured we were to be one of the first ever hosts of Petar and Elizabeth as a married couple. After the usual hectic and frenetic pace of a wedding reception, we were thrilled to get a chance to sit down and relax and not only reminisce about the big event, but also get some much-needed catching up with both of them. They are such a great couple and are clearly still basking in the glow of being newlyweds, as well they should be! We had a great time hosting and Isabelle and Oliver warmed up to them very nicely. Isabelle chose her longest book of all for Elizabeth to read to her. A fabulous couple with a bright future ahead. Happy honeymoon!!!

Party people in the house


Chocolate chip cranberry cookie? Sure!


Oliver and the happy couple


Bedtime story

House Swap!

Our wedding invitation arrived at our home several weeks ago and we were excited to take the road trip down to see the nuptials. Knowing that our favourite Toronto B&B (aka Great-Grandpa's!) would be full with Isabelle and Oliver's grandparents, we sought out another option close to downtown. Little did we know how well it would work out. We found out that our friends Alli and Sean were coming up to Ottawa for Thanksgiving and we were headed in the opposite direction. Light bulb! House swap! In a complete fluke, the wedding ended up being at a church literally 3 blocks away from our weekend home, amazing! We were also perfectly situated to check out the Danforth in Toronto, a beautiful mix of shops of restaurants of a multicultural nature, mst notable Greek. We had a great time checking out the local shops, where we scored Isabelle's new coat, and partaking in a neighbourhood institution, the Square Boy for some super souvlaki. So thanks to Alli and Sean for allowing us to stay in your house. The kids really enjoyed exploring a home away from home, although Isabelle was very inquisitive about what was happening at our house. "Is someone going to be sleeping in my bed?"

Enjoying some Fancy Nancy stickers


Square Boy, where cute girls apparently get free fries while in line!?


Danforth dude


What luck! A sale!

The Lady in Red

Last week when we were preparing to go see the butterflies, we didn't tell Isabelle exactly where we were going, just that she was going to see something special. She responded by saying "a bride!?!?". Alas, she got her wish this weekend as we headed down the 401 to see cousin Elizabeth get married to her prince Petar. A fabulous event to see two people confirm their love for one another and also to have quality time with family members. It was a wonderful ceremony and reception whose beauty was only matched by the bride and our fashionista family (the kids I mean!). Isabelle was anointed Little Red Riding Hood by one of the groomsmen, as she paraded around in her cloche hat, long red dress and, in the find of the weekend, a stunning red coat purchased on the Danforth that morning! Could she be more stunning?


As she departed for the church, Isabelle, knowing she was headed for a party that went well past her bedtime, proclaimed that "if it gets close to midnight, I have to run down the steps!". She was an angel during the ceremony, spending most of it curled up with cousin Natasha, not a fuss heard or a colouring book needed! Oliver, looking dapper himself in black tie (thanks, Olan!), was also a superstar, only requiring one quick trip around the block to fall asleep mid-ceremony. At the reception, she let loose like a trooper, spending much of her time with a new friend, ripping around the empty dance floor, gathering rose petals from around the restaurant to place on a table and scoop with the lifter. Oliver, at times overwhelmed by the hectic activity in the restaurant, preferred chilling out on the dance floor as well. They both adored all the attention they were getting from everyone, and were so well behaved for being up well past their usual bedtime. A great time was had by all and we thank Elizabeth and Petar for making us a part of their special day.

All dressed up with somewhere to go!


Eagerly awaiting the bride


Beautiful bride meets pretty princess


Gabbing with the gals


Party boys


Rose petal delivery


Petal pals


Catch me if you can!


Our dapper little prince


Congrats Elizabeth & Petar, wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness!