We were invited to a Calgary Stampede breakfast at a friend’s house last Saturday. I’ve never had pancakes and bacon cooked on a barbecue before but I think those westerners onto something! Many guests brought fruit as their contribution to the meal. Our hosts laughed and said that fruit didn’t usually appear at Stampede breakfasts. That’s Ottawa for you. The food was great and the company was wonderful – as dozens of kids wandered around the front lawn, stopping sometimes to dance to the country music. Our hosts hired the Cow Guys (of course) to entertain as well. The show was funny and impressive and was truly fun for the whole family.
Archive for the ‘Pastimes’ Category
Calgary Stampede breakfast in Ottawa
Thursday, July 12th, 2012CHEO Teddy Bears’ Picnic
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012Reid and I went to the CHEO Teddy Bears’ Picnic on Saturday morning and, wow! did I not realize how much fun it would be. How did we miss it for the last 7 years?
We ate our pancakes and sausages as the grounds of Rideau Hall started to fill. Wrapping a sausage in your pancake makes it a finger food, right? Reid is all about finger foods and I was all about enjoying the sunny day. We wandered over to the face painting tent and then we met this guy:
The Governor General, David Johnston, seemed quintessentially Canadian – friendly, approachable and the sort of person who would be good to have with you on a long roadtrip.
Next, we met up with friends and watched the mascots parade and then sang along with the crowd to a few songs – including the Teddy Bears’ Picnic, of course – and then watched as local Olympians were introduced. Go, Canada, go!
We headed over to ride the carousel and then the kids shot some baskets at a kid-size basketball hoop and then they played with soccer balls.
The Teddy Bears’ Picnic is going on our list of things to do next year.
Photograph – Monday moments
Monday, October 24th, 2011If you looked at photographs from much of Reid’s childhood, you would think, “Wow, that kid goes a lot of fun places with her dad.” You might also think she does cool activities and wonder who was with her. To a large extent, I’m reluctant to give up control of the camera and Ken only occasionally takes it from me and gets me in a shot. Until…
Until Reid grew old enough to ask for the camera (expecting it to be shared) and to take pictures of both Ken and me – at the same time. All of a sudden, there we all are standing together at the top of a hill, overlooking a forest and lake at Deerhurst and Reid took a picture of Ken and me. Soon enough, the picture is printed and hung on a wall. We admire Reid’s photography skills and thank her for bringing us both into the photographic record.
Capital Mom provides a theme each Friday for these Monday Moments. Others have written about their own moments. I also wrote about other Monday Moments.
Running with the pack
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011Reid and I took part in the 2K Family Run on Saturday as part of Ottawa Race Weekend. All participants received race t-shirts and time chips to attach to their shoes, which had the effect of making Reid feel like a “real” runner and also enables me to tell you that Reid ran 2 kilometers in 13 minutes and 48.9 seconds. That’s pretty fast and put her in 86 out of 469 females under 8 years old. She ran much of the distance with only a couple of walk breaks.
We started our race in the company of Sara and Ben. Sara is one of my Losing It In Ottawa blogger buddies and Ben is her fabulous son. It was fun to have friends in the start corral with us and also to have people to share stories with at the end of the race.
After the race, Reid commented to me that this race was her longest ever. I agreed that it was true. Next, she grinned and said it was also her second. That, too, was true I said. Reid said that she also wants to run a 5 kilometre race next. I recommended a few more 1 or 2 kilometre races but now I’m wondering if we should train for a 5K. The thing with little kids is that they tend to run hell bent for leather and then fade on longer distances. With my Garmin GPS watch, though, Reid might be inclined to pace herself.
Can I explain the matching outfits? I saw the Running Skirts display at the Army Run last September but resisted buying one. Once I registered us for the 2K run, though, I couldn’t resist buying matching skirts for Reid and myself and then, once we had matching skirts, matching t-shirts and headbands seemed necessary. Reid loved it that I was her “twin”. We’ll have to run several races to get our use out of the outfits.
Everyone who completes a race receives a “Finisher” medal. Reid was delighted with hers. Now I’m wondering what to do with the collection of race medals that we’ve begun amassing.
When I was getting ready for my half-marathon run on Sunday morning, Reid asked how far I would be running. I told her 21.1 kilometres and she shook her head. “No, Mama. Yesterday I ran 2K. How many “K” will you run?” I grinned and told her that it was 21.1K and then I explained that the “K” represented kilometres.
I had to be downtown for my race at 8:00, for the 9:00 start. I asked Ken and Reid to come later and cheer me on near the end. They were stationed within the last kilometre, right where I needed them most. I was more than a little tired after more than 2 hours of running but I wouldn’t let myself be walking when I saw them. Nothing like pride to keep yourself going! Seeing them at the side of the road brought tears to my eyes – good ones – and the tap of the hand that I got from Reid gained me at least 10 seconds.
Reid’s Red Carpet Celebration
Sunday, May 15th, 2011Reid took part in A Red Carpet Celebration skating carnival last weekend. It marked the 40th Anniversary of the Gloucester Skating Club. Reid was excited to be participating a very good thing since she performed Friday night, Saturday morning and again on Saturday afternoon.
Reid’s class skated to a Hannah Montana song. I don’t know the title and Ken seems to have blocked any knowledge of what the lyrics were. My running clinic conflicted with Reid’s lessons and so Ken was the only one who saw and heard the weekly practices. He seems somewhat traumatized. ;+) (Just kidding. Sort of.)
We first put Reid in the CanSkate program last summer to reinforce her skating skills since she was struggling at hockey. She made such progress that we enrolled her again in September. I have to confess my anti-figure skating bias. When I was growing up, lo those many years ago, the kids who weren’t good skaters were made to feel like they were wasting the teachers’ time and taking ice time from more deserving skaters. As you might guess, I wasn’t one of the skilled skaters. I had some enthusiasm at the beginning but not much talent. I didn’t want Reid exposed to a be competitive or go away culture. The CanSkate program was not like this at all. There is a competitive stream but there are also lots of learning to be done without following that stream.
When Reid brought home the form about the performances, I asked whether she wanted to participate and she said, no. The day before the deadline to submit the forms, I asked again and the answer was yes. (It seemed better to ask again than to have a kid full of remorse at missing a deadline.) For several weeks the kids who signed up practiced at the end of the regular class. Finally, there was a practice on the Monday before the performances and I got to watch. Reid concentrated so hard to do the right move at the right moment.
At bedtime on Thursday night, Reid was stressing about the performance but I reassured her that even Olympic skaters fell sometimes and that the main point was to get back up and continue skating. I wonder if Reid’s worrying is common or if I can take credit for it. I certainly get butterflies myself.
When I took Reid to the arena on Friday night, they said she could stay with me for an extra hour or go straight to the dressing room. Reid chose the dressing room option I guess the butterflies had subsided and I half-watched the other kids performing. I didn’t watch too closely because we had tickets for Saturday morning, too, and wanted to be surprised with Ken. I couldn’t ignore the 3 and 4 year olds, though. They were so small and so cute that they brought tears to my eyes. How did Reid get to be so much bigger than these little ones?!
I volunteered in the dressing room from 1:45 til 4:15 on Saturday afternoon. Being confined to a regular-sized dressing room (with typical accoustics) with approximately 30 children was a bit of a challenge. I’m not used to spending long stretches of time with 5 and 6 year old boys and they’re louder and more active than Reid and her buddies. There was hitting and pushing and way more noise than I like. I guess moms of boys get used to it slowly as their own sons grow but I found it a big culture shock. Also, I question the intelligence of parents who send their kids into public with electronic devices that aren’t labelled. Really, when Mabel’s Labels says that they make labels for the things kids lose, they mean the DS and Leapster and that sort of thing. As the adult volunteer trying to mediate between two kids each claiming the same toy, I didn’t have nice inside thoughts to say about the parents who sent the electronic devices unlabelled.
In each of her performances, Reid followed the routine with great care. She did particularly well near the end when they cocked their hips and let their Hannah Montana attitude show through ;+) I wasn’t allowed to take pictures during the performance but I did take a few when we were in the dressing room. You can see the attitude that Reid took with her onto the ice.
Saving us money
Thursday, April 7th, 2011For reasons not exactly clear to me, Reid is interested in ways to save money. She isn’t thinking obvious ones, like eating at home instead of at a restaurant or not going places that charge admission, though. When we first started talking about Reid taking cello lessons, she said that it would be a good way to save money on electricity since we wouldn’t need to listen to the radio, just to her playing the music. We talked about taking art classes this morning and immediately Reid suggested that she could write and illustrate books. So that I wouldn’t have to buy any, of course. It’s good to have an artist/performer in the family to save costs right. (No, I never point out how much money the lessons cost. ;+)
At the supper table tonight, Reid was talking about how good it be if she could take art classes near the pool where her swimming lessons are held, especially if there is a gas station and bank nearby. She explained it all clearly: we could walk from the swimming lesson to art class without needing gas but when we did need gas, we could walk to the bank to get the money and then drive to the gas station. Many of Reid’s sentences are at least as long as that last one. It’s a gift we share.
I’m not sure if these are the first signs of Reid as a budding accountant or financial advisor but it’s nice to know that she has an eye on the bottom line.