James, Sheryl, Fionna and Abby on the lake

We went to the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory during our stay at Great Wolf Lodge before Christmas.

We weren't going to get a legitimate break from work during the normal X-mas vacation this year, so we pulled the girls out of school for a few days and went down to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls. This is a crazy, kid-themed hotel with a waterpark inside it.

As it turns out, we have a friend of a friend connection to a great folk singer from down in Toronto, Leah Salomaa. She comes up to North Bay frequently to visit family and will often do a concert while here. As a result, the girls have been listening to her music since a very young age. They've even attended some of her "adult-oriented" concerts, which are themed more along the lines of Celtic and meditative lines. We have fond memories of a concert last year that was held at one of the local yoga studios during the evening; the whole family sprawled out on a blanket just in front of the stage.




The girls have been using the iPod Touch to learn their letters, numbers and reading for a long time now. Ironically, it was only recently that they discovered that an iPod can actually be used to play music! It just hadn't come up before; most of our music-listening is done together as a family. Apart from listening to Peter and the Wolf over and over again, they also have Leah on there as a perennial playlist favorite.



They've listened to the stuff enough that they know most of the lyrics, Mondegreens aside. Name that tune!



Leah promised us there's another kids' album on the way some day. The girls are excited!

Thanks have to go out to Amanda and Derrick for hosting their second annual Easter Egg Hunt at their place. Twelve kids, twice as many parents, 120 eggs, good food by potluck and 27degree C temperatures! We paddleboated across to their place this year...which seems incredible for April 3rd, but there you go.

First, compare what the scene looked like last year, at this time...


And now, flash forward to this year. Slight change in attire. Abby seems to approve.




Here's the video of the mass start of Part 1: The Hunt! (Cloverfield-Style)




And here are some shots of  Part 2: The Much More Sedate Aftermath.




People who say that chocolate gets kids overly-wired have simply failed to perform Part 3: Keep The Kids Running Around For Another 2 Hours Before Trying To Get Them To Do Anything Useful.

I had set up the laptop in the library while chopping veggies to make an Indian dish for a potluck. Abby and Fionna had been cutting paper and doing crafts in there while listening to my iTunes library. At some point, I noticed there was thumping and giggling going on in there so I poked my head in there, but quickly retreated in favour of sticking in just my hand with the point & shoot Elph, in order to not disturb them. And this is what I caught:



Sheryl and I had had both girls in ballet lessons for awhile, but their initial excitement gave way to resistance and trepidation with each successive visit to the studio. The problem, we conjectured, was that the lessons at this particular studio were too regimented and no "fun"; stand on your sticker spot, hands THIS way, eyes forward, that sort of thing. Personally, I don't particularly care if the girls never set foot on a stage ever. But if I can keep them dancing like Leah Salomaa can get them to dance, we're all good.

Ok, now everyone on your feet!

And make no mistake she's the girl I'm gonna track 

Lots of other fellas try to get her on the back. 

But I'm thinkin' they'll have to get up early.

Chorus

Mari-Macs mother's makin' Mari-Mac marry me

My mother's makin' me marry Mari-Mac

Well I'm gonna marry Mari cause Mari's takin' care o' me. 

We'll all be feelin' marry when I marry Mari-Mac.

Now Mari and her mother are an awful lot together

In fact you hardly see the one without the other

And people often wonder if it's Mari or her mother

Or both of them together I'm courting

(chorus)

Wedding's on a Wednesday, everything's arranged

Soon you'll never change your mind unless you minus change

Of making the arrangements and feelings lots of rage

Marriage is an awful undertaking

(chorus)

Sure to be a grand for grand of that a fair

Gonna be a fork and plate for every man thats there

And I'll be a bugger if I don't get my share

All though I may be very much mistaken

Auntie Jen had brought me a bunch of geeky Star Wars themed clothing from Ecko Clothing. I've just now gotten to the stage in my life where I am established enough to wear this kind of cool clothing on an ordinary day and:

A) not be at ComiCon
B) not get chased down the hallway and get locked in a locker by the football team

The truth is, though, that even though I'm sort of in this sweet spot, I've also spawned in the meantime and then you have toddlers around, your possessions are not truly your own...

0400 Saturday AM: Fionna creeps into my room and snuggles into my bed, all upset


F: Daddy? I had a bad dream.
J: Mmmpfhhh? Hunh? What? Oh...c'mere .... [snug] 
[a minute passes...]

J: What was the dream about, hun?
F: The sun froze and got cold and went out, and all the buildings were falling down, and we had to had to leave and drive far away.
[another minute passess...]
J: Were we ok? Did anyone get hurt?
F: No...we were ok.
J: Yeah, hun. I've had that bad dream before. It's just a bad dream. Go on back to bed.
[Fionna goes back to bed, gets tucked in with Bo and manages to sleep through to morning. As does her dad, sort-of] 

Yikes.

I surrender. I'm surrounded by double-X chromosomes and the other night, I spent an hour helping to ice a Pink Princess Castle Cake.
 And here's a video of Abby with one of her favorite presents. Who knew she liked stick puppets?



We have the castle cake "kit" available for loan if anyone likes what they see and also wants an all-pink birthday party...