Daddy's birthday!

Yesterday daddy was treated really special.  He was greeted with cards and gifts at the breakfast table (Otis didn't really understand why we weren't having cake for breakfast).  At school my students threw me a mini party,and in Arlo's class his teacher brought out their special birthday celebration candles while his whole class sang for me😊.

After school the big boys and daddy hit westboro beach for a bit of sledding and exploring the ice along the shore.  Then it was dinner, followed by a fun game of twister (where we learned that Otis can pretty much do the full splits.  It was a full, and fun, day, and daddy was very lucky.

Jack Pine Trail

This weekend we went walking at one of our favourite winter trails. It's always exciting at Jack Pine Trail because of the wildlife. There are plenty of birds and squirrels that feed from your hand and lots of tracks left from other animals. In the past we've been lucky enough to see deer as well.

Here are some snapshots of the birds this weekend. It was an exciting day with lots of action. There were often birds rivalling for the seed and at one point Jenny had three birds on one hand and one on her hat. The boys thought that was hilarious!

Oscar Walks!

One year and one day... He did it!

Birthday Boy!

Oscar celebrated his first birthday yesterday with his brothers, and some cake with gifts.  Everyone was excited, with Otis possibly being the most wired for the event!  We also had Otis' good friend Eden over, with her little brother Gray, and family, for another bday celebration on Saturday.  Oscar loved being the centre of attention (well he loved everyone singing to him, anyhow).  Today we also hit the slopes for a morning ski.  Arlo is improving quickly, and can do runs all by himself now (without daddy holding it guiding him).  Ther are a few spills in the hill, but he is loving it.  Otis is fearless, but has less staying power for the lines and lift, he just wants to be going downhill.

Snowman fame

You raise them up from little snowballs, build them into snow people, and then set them out into the world, never knowing where life might take them...until one day you open the newspaper, and there they are!

The boys were really excited to learn that their snowmen were in the paper today.  We made them after dinner one night, when Otis needed to burn some extra energy, and they have attracted a lot of attention (possibly because the big one is almost 7 feet tall).

Daddy Time

Jenny came down with a bad bout of the flu.  It was likely the result of having to clean up after a committing Arlo on the weekend😟.  She was laid up Tuesday and much of Wednesday, so daddy got to stay off work and take care of things for a change.  

Tuesday's are home days for Itus, so this meant Otis, Oscar n daddy went to Otis' regular skating lessons.  He is doing really well for being only 3!  He has no fear, and incredible strength, so this helps him in a ton of things.  He was really happy to wear a team Canada jersey over his coat.  We picked up Arlo for lunch and headed to afternoon swimming lessons.  Both boys are super strong swimmers.  Arlo is getting really good at backstroke, and made it all the way across the pool this week.  His front crawl is a work in progress.  He just wants to swim underwater.  Otis loves jumping in.  He can launch himself over two meters into the middle of the pool from just standing on the side.  It is remarkable. 

Crazy hair Otis!

Another example of his strength...Otis dragged both brothers around the main floor of the house!  

After school today it was a trip to the toboggan hill got all the boys so we could run off some energy.