Sunny skies and sunny smiles

Recently the weather has been beautiful with sunny skies, warm temperatures and many people out and about enjoying the outdoor life. We have enjoyed walks down by the river and Heather loves to walk or run the whole way round. There is a grassy area near the river called central park and Heather loves to run up and down the hills. Just at the other side of the path there is the river and Heather also loves to throw stones into the water with varying degrees of success as you see below!!!...Lucky they didn't land on her head!!!!

She also loves to go to the park and is now asking to go even after dinner. There is no need for bundling up the kids so they have more freedom and ability to move around....a lot faster...., it is amazing to see how well she can suddenly climb, jump and run. Her confidence has grown as much as she has.


We have also enjoyed a few family bike rides. Once we managed to leave the drive way.
Heather was so excited to get her helmet on and go...but then she decided that she wanted to ride in the shopping bag on the back of the stroller or walk, by the time we explained to Heather that it would really be safer and more comfortable sitting down, Finlay was crying as he wasn't sure about the helmet situation!! With a little cajoling, a few kisses and smiles and excited giggles from Heather as we left, everybody seemed happy to be out!!

The helmet situation

music man

Chirping chick

Easter has been good this year. The weather is beautiful with warm sunny days and it has been great getting the kids outdoors without having to bundle them up so much. There is still snow on the mountains and at the Nordic centre in town where we XC ski and it was only last week we were skiing there and had to strip down to T shirts. And as you are probably guessing....Yes we did see someone skiing in shorts!!!!

Easter has also been fun with the kids, making cards, baking Easter muffins and painting and glittering eggs. One of Heather's favorite presents was a little chirping chick which arrived in the post all the way from Scotland!!! When Heather holds it in her hand it chirps away quite sweetly. She was so taken by it that she kept it close by all day and wanted to take it to bed with her. We smiled and laughed as we listened to the chirping and the chatting for 30 mins before she fell asleep. The next morning we woke to the sweet sound of birds singing....or was it that chirping chick!!!!

Bouncing Baby

Finlay is getting to the stage now that it is unfair to leave him at the side of the pool while I swim with Heather. Heather loves swimming and often asks to go. So I had to devise a way to get them both in the pool single handedly. The best way so far is by using an old snuggley and having Finlay strapped on facing forward. It works really well, however they are both still a handful, and Finlay did get a face full of water at one point as I had to lunge for Heather, now that she is a little too confident in the water and wants to do everything herself even if the water is too deep. Thankfully Finlay is used to being dunked and still enjoyed the dual swimming experience he enjoyed kicking his legs and splashing his hands and I would often hear squeals of excitement as he watched Heather jumping around.

It was only a few days ago that I was thinking of removing the mattress at the side of Heather's bed......we never really needed it there, however......
One of Finlay's favorite things is to sit on Heather's bed and make himself bounce. One morning recently I was getting Heather dressed as she sat on her mattress on the floor and all of a sudden Finlay came flying down passed us!!!!!....Good job the mattress was there.....not that we need it for Heather ....but it obviously still has its uses!!!!!
He cried briefly, then laughed and put his hand to his head and then continued to bounce!!!!!

Music man

Spring in the Rockies

Spring has arrived and there are plenty of snow drops around, although not the flowering kind that are popular in the UK!!! We have been enjoying spring here and are still managing to get out and enjoy spring xc skiing and some snow shoeing. The milder temperatures of spring make it easier for Heather to enjoy and she has been keen to try xc skiing. Dad pulls Heather in the Pulk and I pull Finlay in the chariot, we always take Heather's skis as she often asks for a go while we are half way round.
Spring in the UK is when things start to grow and spring from the earth the start of new life... Here it means longer warmer days to do more fun things in the snow!!! However we have seen new buds on the bushes and the birds are chirping in the trees again. One of my friends did say that she saw a Robin red breast in her trees!!! But the sign of new growth is definatley here.