And they are off.......!!!

Boxing Day and the weather was warmer, so we grabbed the opportunity to get out in the mid day heat!!!! And went to the Nordic ski centre for a xc ski. Finlay had a good nap as I towed him around and Heather enjoyed practicing her down hill skiing in the tracks .We then went to the Banff Springs hotel, which has lovely decorations and a famous Gingerbread castle.

Heather was beside herself when she saw the ballroom and in her mind she was a princess at the ball, dancing with her prince...Daddy of course. I was the fairy Godmother and Finlay was the mouse!!!!! Even on the way home she was talking about the horses that were pulling our carriage and when we were fueling up...well that was us stopping so that the horses could get more food, cause they were hungry !!!! A three year olds imagination is such a glorious thing.

In the big open rooms and corridors, Finlay was able to work on his walking, now he is there, fully confident although still a little shaky, but he is doing it without his walker

Merry Christmas

Heather really began getting excited on Christmas eve after going to a service up at Silver tips golf course and was very keen to get home and prepare Santa's and Rudolph's snack.

Thankfully, due to the later than usual night, the kids slept in until 7.30 am.Heather asked to go downstairs to see if Santa had left her a present..... Well she was so surprised at just how many presents he had left her, the amusing thing was that she even checked out the advent calendar to see if the Christmas fairy had been and was in fact a little disappointed that there were no treats in the calendar !!!!

After all the presents were opened we were able to go out for a walk in -20 ! Finlay had a well earned nap and Heather enjoyed sledging. We then returned home and they both had time to play with their toys while we made dinner. It felt a little unusual, while standing at the cooker and not having little people crawling around or tugging at my trouser leg or shouting from the living room !!! It did make me smile.

The kids played all day and were still on the go at bed time!!!

The beauty that exists at -30

Frosted glass in the true sense.

This is the window in our "mud room" (poarch)....not our bathroom!!!

Last weekend we had blizzards and freezing temperatures of -20 and the cold temperatures stayed with us and gradually became colder as the week went on, reaching as low as -30 in the mornings. We still managed to get Heather to school and even managed a trip there by sledge and I managed to get them out for a quick bit of sledging in the afternoons . There is a little play park two doors down from us that has a little hill and the kids had fun being towed around in their sledges and then having fun going down the hill. We arrived back home with rosy cheeks big smiles and I had a bit of frost around my chin!!!!

The beaty of frost.

We all felt the benefit of the fresh outdoor air. The kids are less irritable, they can then return to playing with each other as opposed to trying to annoy each other. The house seems to get a break and I come home with new energy .
It seems that as long as the sun is shining, temperatures of below -20 can be bearable for the kids for about 30-60 mins before the sun disappeared behind the mountains.


The house feels warm, almost too hot sometimes when the sun is shining and we open the blinds to allow the heat of the sun to warm the air in the house. As soon as the sun sinks behind those tall mountains at around 3pm the "heat", or supposed heat, disappears and you can feel the air in the house cooling down, that is when the thermostat goes up and the blinds are closed. If you are outdoors, that's the time to come indoors!!!

I am so glad that we live on the sunny side of the valley!!!!

The people who live on the other side of the valley loose the sun at 11am during Dec and Jan and the snow can last an extra month. Brrrrrrr can you imagine how cold that would be!!!!

The Banff Santa Parade

This weekend was the weekend of the Fire department children's Christmas party in Calgary and a family Christmas tree hunt with some friends. However there was a large snow storm that hit Alberta on Friday night, with heavy snowfall, gusting winds and temperatures of -30. The thought of traveling was far from everybody's mind, let alone with 2 kids. And the thought of trampling through the snow to cut down a tree with 2 kids was even less impressive !!! Unfortunately we had to for go the party and the tree hunt. However there were lots of other festivities happening around Banff.
On Saturday there was the Christmas lights parade in Banff. Lots of activities for children indoors like face painting, cookie decorating, xmas crafts caroling and also photos with Santa.





Heather had a go at everything and looked quite settled on Santa's knee.....unlike Finlay, who couldn't wait to get off !!! Heather said to Santa " You, gonna come to my house and leave a present for me ??" But she doesn't really have a clue what she wants and I'm unsure as to how much she really understands the concept. When I ask her what she wants from Santa she will say things like " A green present" or " a frog present" . More recently we have been reading her a little Poppy and Sam Christmas book and the little girl in that gets a bike....now when asked...she wants a bike...A tall order seeing as she already has a great bike!!!!!




The day ended with a 30 min parade of Christmas lights down Banff Ave and finished with Santa riding in a horse drawn carriage in -20,







This was followed by a parade of Xmas lights, music and ofcourse finished with santa riding down Banff Ave on a horse drawn carriage

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Well in Canmore we had a great dump of snow in October, however that quickly melted and really we have not seen any on the ground in town since. The mountain tops are covered and the skiing season has started off great with mid season like conditions. There have been the skiing and snowboarding injuries coming in at work giving me a taste of what is out there. Our mind set is not in winter yet and my skate skiing lessons are starting this Wed.
So we thought that we would grab the opportunity of a couple of days that we had off as a family to go and seek some snow. We drove an hour west to Lake Louise and caught up with friends. We tried some xc skiing...how times have changed from the 2 pairs of skis and poles. Now we are there with the 2 pairs of skis and poles, the chariot with ski attachment for Finlay, the pulk for Heather, the skis for heather just in case she wants to try and lots of snacks and warm clothes for all four of us.


We managed to ski for about a kilometer and then Heather wanted to have a go, once we got her skis on, she was happy to come along beside us and join us on the gradual incline and had fun on the down hill. The pace was slow, the temperature was low and so was the heart rate. Perhaps James and I have to adapt our clothing choice now that we are skiing with a toddler, but the fun that she had and the smile on her face was worth it.

"High five, Heather!!!"

After a warm drink and lunch we returned to our cabin and after Finlay had a nap they were eager to get out in the snow again for sledging.

Loaded up

...oops lost one!!

...and found him again !!!

Fine dining at the Gunn's

If you love your food and you know it ...clap your hands!!!!!!

Feeding time is still a messy process. Finlay wants to feed himself and this way he enjoys his food....he enjoys tasting it, feeling it, throwing it and wearing it, however, as long as he is eating it, then I am happy!!!!
With heather still having the occassional spillages on the table,on the floor and on herself, it just means that I will be treading in food, picking crumbs off my socks and sweeping countless times a day for a few more months...or years!!!

Enough balance to dance....what about the walking!!!

Finlay has developed the act of crawling down to a T and has become so good and so fast that why bother walking. Over the past few weeks he has been trying to work out his balance and has gradually been able to stand for longer periods of time, before he giggles and then looses all control. However we have caught him managing to stand and have enough balance to wiggle and twist to music, which seems to be more of an incentive than walking between mum and dad, or being dragged around with Heather's helpful hands. One of those times was when he was at music class. All the kids were sitting around the big drum and banging to the beat of the music. Finlay stood there took his hands of the drum and wiggled his hips and arms. He loves to dance and when he is standing holding our hands he will twist and bend his knees. He is up to seven steps now, and this is increasing everyday as his confidence increases. Recently we saw him perched at the edge of the little wooden chair, twisting his body to the music, when he suddenly slipped onto his feet and we saw the shock on his face as he managed to take a couple of steps to keep his balance.

First steps in books

Introducing Finlay to books has been a completely different experience to the one we had with Heather. Heather enjoyed books from an early age, I seem to remember that Heather could sit through quite a few books at one reading, she was always interested in pulling books off the shelf and either playing with them herself or bringing them to us to read. With Finlay it seems to have been a very different process..... even while I would read to Heather at night, Finlay would be on his own agenda, climbing on a chair and sitting there with a cheeky grin on his face as he pivoted on the edge, or he would be emptying drawers or playing with the door or bouncing on the mattress, not at all interested in listening to the story. To get him to sit through a short story it had to have a Peepo hole that we could play peek -a- boo or a little puppet that he could grab.
However in the last week there has been big changes, he is pulling all the board books off the shelf and turning the pages, exploring the textures and listening to the noises, he is talking and pointing and even listening to a whole book at bed time, just one though and then he wants to do it himself.
After these big steps on the book front, I know what I will be adding to Finlay's letter to Santa......
Great books about trucks, diggers noisy vehicles and animals....all to capture and keep this interest that he has found.

The Lantern Festival

The lantern workshop!!!

This weekend was the Lantern festival in Canmore. Over the past few weeks there have been workshops for locals to go and make really cool lanterns, however as our schedule is so busy, we had to have a little lantern workshop at home one afternoon. Heather loved making a pretty pink lantern from a jam jar, tissue paper, glitter and sticky jewels and became excited about walking with it in the dark.
The procession of light began down town with hundreds of people holding fantastic creations, and our little jam jar looked cute as it glowed too. The procession started with drumming as we set of to wandered in the trails in the woods around the river. There were a few entertainers with fire spinning, fire hula hoops, fire juggling, didgeridoos and fiddling and ended at Riverside park with bonfires and hot chocolate.
We were all wrapped up warm and laden with blankets in the stroller, Heather proudly walked half way round in the procession holding her lantern, until the little tea light faded and then she happily snuggled in the stroller beside Finlay, while I realised that I should have not only worn my thermals, but also my ski pants !!

This little light of mine.

Anyway we all got home and enjoyed some pop corn and a movie with the lanterns on the mantle piece.

Such a stroppy sook

It seems that our wee Finlay boy has reached the terrible two's at 16 months. First it started with wriggling and chasing at bum change, then it was a chase to get his coat on, then it was a struggle to get him in the car seat, and now it seems that it is a struggle with all of these things as well as getting him in the high chair !!!! ( and he isn't walking yet ). At first I thought that he may be just acting up to me as James seemed to manage the bum and the coat, however that idea was soon dissolved when meal time came!!!!

A story of popping shirt button comes to mind !!!....and it's not my side of the family...!!!!...well actually it could be !!!!!

At times I find myself wondering if that extra errand I want to squash into the afternoon is really worth it. Anyway it does seem that a quick visit to the park diverts that energy and all is forgotten when he is given the opportunity to climb and go down the slide head first.
At the same time he is the sookiest wee boy full of smiles and giggles, loves kisses and hugs

Halloween Preparations

Halloween time again and once again, a big deal in Canada. People start decorating their house 2 weeks before. In our house Heather and Finlay loved seeing the pumpkins being turned into funny faces and this year they even had names...Polly and Sassy !!!

The kids enjoyed trying to look scarey

There was the pre school party.....

the friend's party.

On the day there was the candy to organize,

and costumes to wear


then there was the waiting.........

...and the trick or treating

...then at last the eating....

The kids loved seeing the children and rushing to the door to give away candy. By the end of the night Finlay was determined to put the candy into their bags by himself and enjoyed waving and shouting bye as they left. He was even starting to get upset as we closed the door until the next group came round.

Hula Girl

While daddy was working in the garage and Finlay was napping, the girls decided to bake some treats in the kitchen.........
In between taking cups of tea and cookies to dad, Heather enjoyed finding the hula hoop and tried to figure it all out.

The run bike

Quality memories with the grandparents