March 2, 2011 by Barbara.

Reid and I went skiing on Saturday night. Camp Fortune, the ski hill we go to, has night skiing from 4-10 and it’s 2-for-1 admission on Saturdays. Reid is free because she’s under 7 and I’m bold, so I approached a strange man and asked him to buy the 2-for-1 one deal with me.

We got to the chairlift about 4:30 and soon Reid was looking around, noticing that the sun was beginning to set. For the record, a sunset in the Gatineau hills is a beautiful thing. The lights came on before it was full dark and we admired the shapes and shadows they made and also the effect our goggles had on what we saw. We made several runs as it grew darker and then it was time for supper.

When we came out of the chalet after supper, Reid stopped suddenly and said reverently, “Mama, it’s beautiful.” After a short pause (while she appreciated the lights on the snow in the full dark), she added in a breathless voice, “I’ve been waiting for this moment!” We stood together in the moonlight, admiring the scene for a bit before going to the chairlift. As we rode up, Reid told me that she thought Ken and I should have had our wedding at Camp Fortune - after dark, presumably. Reid told me that she will get married at Camp Fortune and then they’ll go down the ski jumps. I can’t wait for the wedding!

On Sunday, I discovered an online business, called Tail Wags, that sells helmet covers. Reid’s been admiring covers on other people’s helmets and so have I. I decided to get one for Reid to wear in the parade on her last day. Reid had a great deal of difficulty choosing between the princess and the poodle options - I ruled out the bridal helmet cover because it seems unsafe to ski with a veil - but she decided on Fifi the Pink Poodle. It’s ears are so soft that even Clio and Leo forgive Reid for choosing a dog.

Now we just need the rain to stop and the snow to start to have a good last day of skiing lessons.

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December 9, 2010 by Barbara.

Reid’s hockey team - one of the many, many, many Timbit teams in Canada - was invited to play a mini-game between the 2nd and 3rd periods of the Ottawa 67s game on Sunday. Over the weeks between when she found out and the actual game, Reid talked a lot about the “big game on the big ice”. Her excitement was contagious and both Ken and I were looking forward to going. Scotiabank provided 2 tickets for each player but I was sure we’d be able to sit together once I bought my ticket.

We watched the first period and a half of the game and then trooped over to the dressing room to get Reid into her gear. The kids were all lined up and waiting by the time the second period ended. One of the fellows with the 67s organization had them all standing with their hands out, waiting for high fives when the 67s came off the ice. After a short delay due to some fisticuffs, a number of the Kingston Frontenacs and most of the Ottawa 67s gave the Timbits a high five as they went to their dressing rooms. Reid and her teammates looked so small next to the big guys! I wonder if the big players thought about when they were little or if it’s just a part of their routine each week.

The kids hurried onto the ice and began the long skate to the far end while the parents went to the players benches for photos and videos. I resisted the urge to record video while walking but one of the other moms didn’t. The video I took in Scotland convinced me that movement + video = motion sickness.  I did take many photos of the scrimmage and Ken too some video. My Flip video camera is small enough that I can take video while I take photos but it’s nice to have another person (another reason I’m glad Ken is back :+)

The coaches tossed a couple of pucks on the ice and the kids split into two swarms. They all moved from one end of the ice to the other a few times in their 10 minutes of fame. Reid was triumphant as she came off the ice, excited and proud of herself. She wondered if we’d seen her play and we assured her we had.

The 67s Six-O Power Dancers (like cheerleaders) came into the dressing room while the kids were changing. They seemed surprised to see a girl hockey player and made quite a big deal over Reid. Reid was stumped when one of them asked what position she played and I had to say that she played them all for now. I explained to Reid that the players who try and score are Offence and the ones who try to prevent goals are Defence. She decided that she wanted to be Defence. In a later conversation, Ken told Reid that players on defence were called “defencemen” and she countered that the girls would be “defencewomen”. He told her that it was “defencemen” for both. I think Reid and I will just stick with “Defence”, the way that Chairman/Chairwoman has become Chair. It sounds a bit odd at first but it’s equal.

The 67s staff gave each kid a box of Timbits (of course ;+), a medallion with the 67s logo on it  and posters of a few of the 67s players. The kids all seemed to have a swagger in their step as they left the dressing room. Their big game had gone well.

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October 10, 2010 by Barbara.

Andrea over at Peak inside the Fishbowl inspired The 10photos Project. Throughout the day, I took a photo at the top of each hour for 10 hours, starting 7:00 am EST. The earliest photos are at the bottom. I’m also uploading to the 10Photos Project Flickr Group.

ETA - It seems I can’t count. This is actually a 10+1 photo project. I couldn’t bear to delete Reid’s cousin’s arrival pic. She, too, is a special kid.

 5:00 pm - Cousin arrives at Grandma Barb’s

4:00 pm - Walking in Brockville

3:00 pm - On the road to Grandma Barb’s

2:00 pm - In front of the Shenkman Arts Centre

1:00 pm - Making pumpkins in pottery class

12:00 pm - Finally, a shower

11:00 am - I’m no longer invited in

10:00 am - We fruitlessly searched for butterflies (we found them eventually but the line was too long)

9:00 am - On the run with my running group

8:00 am - Taking care of her pearly whites

7:00 am - Almost time to wake up

Posted in Holidays, Pastimes, Mama | Print | 4 Comments »

July 8, 2010 by Barbara.

Reid made a fridge magnet at Cosmic Adventures camp on Wednesday. As we drove away, she asked for a piece of paper and a pen. A couple of minutes later, she asked if I had a metal water bottle in the car. I handed it back to her and she stuck her magnet to it. That little light that floats above my head went on. Reid was testing different things to see if they were “magnetic”. She had developed a chart with an “M” at one side and an “N” at the other and was tracking the results of her experiment. She tried a couple of other things and declared that non-magnetic “won”. I bet adult scientists don’t have contests in the midst of their experiments.

* For some reason, the Littlest Hobo came into my head as I wrote this title.

Posted in Career, Pastimes | Print | 1 Comment »

June 23, 2010 by Barbara.

Posted in Sports, Wordless Wednesday, Pastimes | Print | 1 Comment »

June 22, 2010 by Barbara.

Reid is taking a month of CanSkate this summer. I’d thought about signing her up for a week of hockey camp but her coach suggested CanSkate instead. He was worried that she might not enjoy being the only girl. Reid has definitely enjoyed the program, though she prefers the less structured practices on Thursdays to the lessons on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, she has to follow directions more closely and who doesn’t like to avoid working on skills with which they struggle? Reid has taken a few courses through the City of Ottawa’s recreation department but the CanSkate is much stronger, in terms of structure and working on fundamentals. It’s more expensive, too, but I think it’s worth it.

Reid has improved her forward and backward snowmen, is starting to “make snow” when she stops and occasionally skates on one foot. Her two-footed hops still seem to involve more motion in the shoulder area than in the foot area. From the stands, it seems like her skate don’t leave the ice at all. They do a drill where the kids are supposed to bounce tennis balls on the ice and catch them again. I’m reasonably sure that this exercise would be difficult for Reid if she were standing on a floor in bare feet. Still, she is getting better at this, too.

It’s nice to come to the rink when it’s humid outside but cool inside. It’s less nice to be wearing flip flops when your 40-odd-pound kid steps on you while she is wearing ice skates. On the bright side, it seems that Reid’s skates need to sharpened. It hurt but I have only a small cut. Skating lessons were easier when Ken was in charge of tying skates but I’m considering this to be my pre-season training. Hockey begins in earnest in September. I have to get ready for my dressing room duties.

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June 19, 2010 by Barbara.

Reid’s Kindermusik teacher and some other Kindermusik teachers arranged a group trip on the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train for today. Melissa, Peter and the kids joined Reid and me for the adventure. They picked us up at 8:45 and we started what should have been a 20-minute drive. With the two closest bridges closed – one under construction, the other the location of an accident - we ended up driving for about 45 minutes and the kids were starting to worry about missing the train by the time we finally got to the train station. Fortunately, we had been told to arrive half-an-hour early.

Our tickets assigned us to the Aylmer car and, as we learned when we boarded the train, to four-seat groupings across the aisle from one another. Reid sat with Sarah and Stephen and Ben sat with Melissa, Peter and me. The trip to Wakefield (and back, not surprisingly ;+) took 90 minutes. Kim, the staff member assigned to our train car told a few stories and passed out activity books and crayons to each of the children. Sarah and Stephen barely opened theirs but Ben and Reid put quite a bit of time into theirs. A couple of the train’s musicians stopped by to sign to us – a country and western song and a traditional French Canadian one – as well. All the kids were pretty well behaved until Kim announced we were less than 10 minutes from Wakefield. It was like she had released silly gas into the train car. Not just our kids, but most of all the kids, were instantly fidgeting and eager to get off.

We made it off the train quickly and went directly to the turntable to watch the musicians turn the steam engine around. Next, we started walking to the covered bridge. The kids were only dawdling a bit since they were hungry and we told them we’d have a picnic once we got to the covered bridge. Halfway there, the sky got dark and it was obvious we were lucky that we brought our rain coats. We made it to the covered bridge just as the first raindrops began to fall. We unpacked our lunches and started eating, enjoying the sound of rain on the metal roof and the fact that we were dry. We had to move midway through lunch when the rain started to blow in the windows. The longer it rained, the surer we got that we were going to have to walk back in the rain. The kids and Peter were lucky enough to have rain proof coats that mostly lived up to their billing. Mine was water-resistant and it couldn’t resist so much rain falling so fast. Melissa’s looked like it should have kept the water off but it most definitely did not. We were all soaked from above the knee to the tips of our toes by the time we got back to the train. Melissa and I were extra-lucky to have wet shirts as well, thanks to our coats. It was more funny than troublesome, though, as the day stayed warm and we were able to laugh at how wet we were getting. Reid, especially, liked the puddles and being out in the rain. Our only disappointment was missing the musicians performing. I suspect that they didn’t, due to the rain, but we’ll never know.

The ride back to Gatineau seemed longer than the ride to Wakefield. We took a walk to the snack shop / souvenir car and managed to resist all requests for purchases but other than that, there weren’t new diversions for us. Sarah and Stephen read, Ben played solitaire and Reid hopped around the aisle, making friends and talking lots. I was envious of the dads I saw having a nap on the return trip.

But here I am, at 10:15, still awake. I’m silly sometimes.

Posted in Pastimes, Ben, Stephen, Sarah, Melissa and Peter | Print | 1 Comment »

June 9, 2010 by Barbara.

View More Wordless Wednesday Participants, look at my previous Wordless Wednesday entries, or check out the cute babies and kids at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Posted in Wordless Wednesday, Pastimes, Uncategorized | Print | 4 Comments »

June 7, 2010 by Barbara.

As the time until Ken’s departure draws nearer, we’re looking for things that we’ve been meaning to do together or things we would do if he were here. We decided that camping at the KOA in Cardinal belonged in at least one of those categories. When I made the reservations and was able to get one with a porch swing, I took it as a good omen. The weather forecast calls for rain - making me remember all too clearly the last time we three came camping - but I’m holding on to the swing omen.

Ken and I got everything packed and then went to pick Reid up. The car was full with just a nook in the back seat where she would sit in her seat. Despite our best efforts, we’re ended up crossing Ottawa in the middle of rush hour. The drive that Google Maps said would take 1 hour and 12 minutes took much, much longer. We quickly unloaded the car and I prepared fried hot dogs and chips for supper. Nutrition isn’t my top priority when we get to a camp site. I think I learned that from Grandma Joyce.

After supper, Ken built a fire while Reid and I went over to the jumping pillow. I couldn’t face the pool but jumping isn’t so bad. Reid was excited to stay up late and I was looking forward to toasted marshmallows. Reid was looking forward to eating raw marshmallows and toasting others for me to eat. I like mine golden. Ken likes his to be on fire and then extinguished but still Reid has to cook for me. Reid was so pleased when she managed her “first-ever golden marshmallow”, after one sacrificed to the fire and another to the grass.  At this point, I must pause to say, marshmallows seemed much bigger when I was a kid. The miniatures seem right but what used to be “jumbo” seem much less so than they did back then.

We finally headed to the bathroom for a final visit about 8:30. As we went out the door, one of the friendly KOA people noticed that Reid was holding a wet paper towel to her arm. Worried that she was injured, the young woman asked if we needed first aid supplies. I assured her that we could manage the bite, that the cool water helped. We really don’t need to encourage Reid’s sense of drama over mosquito bites. Another time I should probably pack insect repellent and after-bite lotion. Reid’s flesh seems to be particularly appealing to insects. And to her mama, though I only *pretend* to bite.

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April 30, 2010 by Barbara.

Reid and I took advantage of the warm weather of Tuesday to eat in our backyard. I’m not sure if the fresh air inspired her, but Reid chose the middle of supper to tell me about some of her favourite things:

Favourite food: chicken curry (Madras)
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite toy: basketball, which she doesn’t own but plays at daycare in the courtyard or so she said
Favourite sleepy toy: Princess
Favourite thing she likes to do: sew, also at daycare

And after sharing this with me, Reid returned to her supper.

Posted in Growing up, Pastimes, Mama | Print | 1 Comment »