Poppy Pride

Remembrance Day is one of the best days of the year to be in Ottawa, our nation's capital, where they really know how to celebrate and honour our veterans for their service to the people of Canada. We could not have asked for a better day. Sunny, clear blue skies looked over the War Memorial as a huge crowd gathered to give thanks to all who have fought, served and sacrificed for our great country. In addition to the honoured guests, the ceremony had an even more royal flavour than normal this year, as Prince Charles and Camilla were in town for the festivities. Isabelle proudly displayed her poppy and although she was a little bit spooked by the noise of the 21-gun salute and the CF-18s that flew right over our heads, she was a model attendee, even shushing her dad for talking! After the ceremony, we got the chance to get up close to the memorial, meet up with Logan, check out the beautiful wreaths and leave our poppies. The ceremony is always a great tribute to our forces and veterans, and makes us all feel proud of our country and of what they did for us. We look forward to being back next year. Special thanks to Great Grandpa and Uncle Roy, we are proud of you and can't thank you enough.

The march to the cenotaph


The Governor-General (in full uniform!) and her family


Isabelle was thrilled to see "a real Prince", but asked why he arrived by car!


Looks like the Liberal order was sent in late?!


Two proud Canadians


A crowded Tomb of the Unknown Soldier


The traditional leaving of the poppy


Thanks to all who have served, especially Great Grandpa and Uncle Roy. We love you!

Gym Party!

For the second time in the past month, Isabelle got some bonus gymnastics time thanks to two super-fun birthday parties at Starr Gymnastics. She loves her Friday afternoon classes with Denise at the OGC, but these parties are just a chance to have tons of fun with her school friends. Last month it was classmate Audrey's 4th birthday and today it was Carol's big #3. She was so excited to show her friend Logan the ropes that even having a boy teacher didn't stop her from having a blast. Warmups, balance beams, trampolines and the big highlight, a giant pit of foam cubes, perfect for diving! Tons of fun capped off by pizza and cake? Isabelle must wonder why we can't do this every week?

Isabelle has been going on about the cake at Audrey's party


Look before you leap!


The Ring of Fun


Kind of a close talker

The Maiden Tooth

Oliver's parents are thrilled to report the arrival of his very first tooth, which finally broke through yesterday. Oliver, on the other hand, is significantly less excited about this development. The discomfort of the tooth only adds to the little guy's recent woes, as he has also experienced both a high fever and a nagging cough. Poor little dude has struggled with sleep as a result, leaving his sister as the only family member getting uninterrupted sleep! Still, he is a resilient tyke and smiles so much. A super kid.

Mesmerized by his sister's favourite show: Bo On the Go

Yard-work?

Isabelle's definition of yardwork is a little bit different than the rest of us. She ventured outside this past weekend to "help" her dad with the annual collecting and bagging of the many leaves strewn about our backyard. She had her shovel and her rake to lend a hand but was soon distracted once discovering that she could run, jump and roll around in the giant pile of leaves. So long to Daddy's helper! After she grew tired of the running and the leaping, she rested but by the time she was rejuvenated and ready to start jumping again, the leaves were gone, prompting a question we hear a lot around here these days...."why?"

Congratulations Trystan & Katarzyna!

Much hoopla around us yesterday with not only the baptism, but with the big announcement that our friends Trystan and Katarzyna are engaged! The big question was apparently popped Saturday and we discovered the news yesterday at the church. A testament to their character, we chatted with the affianced couple for a good 15 minutes with no mention of the impending nuptials; they apparently were not planning to share the news outright for fear of stealing Oliver's thunder. But then Ron and Menna arrived and the news came out quickly after! In fact, the entire church then found out after the priest did the weekly announcements and asked if anyone had reason to celebrate. The Andrews clan did and Ron the proud father did the honours for all to hear. We are thrilled to hear of the upcoming wedding as we have such admiration for the two of them, such a great and happy couple with good heads on their shoulders and warm hearts in their chests. You could not meet nicer people. Young professionals on the move up in many ways, and now with an exciting wedding on the horizon. Enjoy the engagement, Trystan and Katarzyna, tell the stories, show the ring, and revel in all the attention. Congratulations!!!

The church announcement (sheepish Trystan!)


Skype-ing the news to Halifax


Three people with reason to celebrate!

Baptism Boy

Oliver is now formally one of God's children as he celebrated his christening this morning ay St. Johns Church! Appropriately, the boy was a true angel through and through, not a fuss or a tear from his eyes the entire service, not even when he received the holy water over his forehead. He was alternately referred to as Oliver and Henri throughout the ceremony but he didn't seem too put off by it! Mr Happy-Go-Lucky charmed the priest, the parish and all friends and onlookers with his bright eyes and big smiles. Not surprisingly he was loving all of the attention from the well-wishers and enjoyed himself immensely. His parents also enjoyed the opportunity to show him off to all who could see. Once again, we thank our lucky stars that we are blessed with such great kids.

I want that candle!


Family foursome


Isabelle had her best pal Logan there to share a pew and take in the festivities, and they were thrilled to join all the kids at the front for the explanation of the baptism. When the priest asked "What is baptism?", he replied to the whole parish "They pour water on your head." A star student at 3 years old, until the next question, "What day is tomorrow?". Real answer: All Soul's Day. Logan's answer (again out loud to the whole church): Tuesday! What a riot.

Attentive toddlers


Pew Pals


Afterwards, we hosted everyone at our house for a light brunch and some more wicked cupcakes, this time adorned with fondant angels to commemorate the occasion. It was so nice visit with everyone and share such a special day for our little guy with our closest friends here in Ottawa. And special thanks to Godfather Trystan and Godmother Meghan for accepting such an important role in Oliver's life. We love you both so much!

Cupcake frenzy!


The Godfather

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.