Is it summer yet?

With the ups and downs in the weather, we've done our best to be outside and exploring as much as possible.  I had an awesomely productive day last week that involved Canadian Tire, my garden, the gym, coffee with a friend, and quality T-time (where the T is for Tamsin, of course), but mostly, there's a lot of rushing and bustling and trying to clean up from one meal or snack in time to have the next meal or snack and still actually interact with the kidlets.

And that, your honour, is why my blog is woefully behind.

So, in no particular order, I give you:

Soccer!  There's a bit of a time lapse, as the action is too far away to identify anyone, but at about 14 seconds, you can see Vaughn break from the pack with a clear lead.  He definitely has the fitness and skill, but lacks the ... um.. um... what?  Oh, right.  Focus.  That's it.

But I think we can all agree that I have all the makings of a fine soccer mom. 

CF Family Day:  we had pony rides!  Petting zoo!  Bouncy castles!  Fire trucks!  Snowbirds!  Free ice cream!

But the high point of the day was getting to shoot a storm trooper.  Sigh.  The guy in the orange flight suit was eerily perfect as that guy who gets shot down on the way to the Death Star.

This is Susie.*  We found her in our window well, not nearly feathery enough to fly out, so we scooped her up and put her in the shade, under her family's nest.  Tamsin was gracious enough to share some formula and rice cereal. 

Susie managed to hop/flap her way out, and took up residence behind our composter for about a week, where her mom and dad kept watch and fed her, until she could take wing.**  What good parents!

Druncle Ryan came to visit!  We were all so happy to have him around to distract the kids and entertain the Fis.  Of course, we waited for the rainiest day to go check out the Peace Tower. 

Super-cool outing, by the way.  I think I was the most excited person there.  The observation deck is directly below the clock faces, so you can look right up at them -- it's very Back to the Future.  Also, the elevator doesn't go straight up and down -- it goes up at an angle!!!  How cool is that?

And Tamsin continues to delight and amaze (with her delightfulness, of course).  Many things are awesome.

Like lunch.

* According to Ailsa, all creatures, dolls, animals, etc. are named "Susie".  They just are.

**  I hope.  The daily "pile-o-feathers" patrol hasn't turned up anything to the contrary, at least.

Quck snapshot from early summer

These were taken in early summer, before the insane heat and long drought (note that my lovely lawn was still lush and green, not light yellow and sad-looking).  You can click on them to enlarge.

There is only one possible caption required for these photos.

Wait for it...

"Man, these Hufflings sure are intense!"

Ba-dum-bum.

(Note:  if you need this explained, please contact me in person so I can remove you from my address book)

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

First of all: Summer is NOT over.

But what did we DO all summer? (instead of updating my blog, you mean?)

We played in the backyard! This was Ailsa's first time with her new pool - it was a bit cool to sit in, but great to splash in!

As the summer progressed, and the water was warmer, she warmed up to the idea, too.



Bathing beauty.




I got a haircut! About 10 inches, gone. Yes, I miss it.

Sometimes, it rained. So we built forts!

And here's last Saturday morning: we had gone to the market, come back for snacks (samosas!), put Ailsa down for a nap, and slip-n-slid while the diapers dried in the sun.

3 months old: Life Goes On... ish

Ok, where the heck did summer go?

Not to blogging, that's for sure. Or to sleep, for that matter.

It went to swimming lessons! Our splashy baby turtle was enrolled in Duck level this year, and is a still a relaxed and happy little guy in the water. He'll blow bubbles and kick...in the bathtub... but has mastered laying perfectly still in the pool and saying "kick kick kick"...well, he can't go up to the next level till he's 3, so there's no point killing himself to pass Duck this year, is there? He doesn't seem to mind being dunked, either, especially at the bottom of the slide.

I orchestrated a cunning plan in which a babysitter sat with Ailsa on the deck while I squoze my squeezables into a tankini (the bikini may have to wait till next season...more on that in a bit) and jumped in the pool with the V-man. We had really good weather, with two exceptions: the BC forest fire smoke day (Fis said we had to stay inside), and a cool, breezy 18-degree day, which we bailed out of, after witnessing the total-body shakes and purple lips on a nice 21-degree day!

It went to smiles and giggles! Ailsa shows us what she thinks of this whole paparazzi business. Our little girl is getting more and more interactive and funny by the day. She gets bored easily, though, and is very, very needy around dinnertime, of course! We just got her a high chair so that we can have her join us at the table...hoping that will help us have just ONE meal with both of us eating!

Sleep is still a challenge -- I've cut out the past-midnight feedings (much to someone's dismay!), but we're still working on staying asleep through the night. She's done a few 7:30 - 5:45 stretches (with a dream feed at about 10:30), so I know she can do it, it's just convincing her to do it every night. But again, when you go in at 3 am to tell her to can it, and she's lying there gurgling and cooing...

"Who, me?"

It went to growing! The Tarzan baby look is still chic this season, but she's already busted out of all of her newborn clothes, and is starting to put stress on her 0-3 month collection. Vaughn wore his new overalls twice before he couldn't stand up straight in them anymore. Oh, and Fis has officially vetoed the large, hot-pink hand-me-down diaper covers (and any photos of him therein), since his mediums are likely to pop open with a good inhalation! Party pooper. (but thanks, Aunt Tracey!)


Note to self: there seems to be a correlation between feeding the kidlets and them needing new clothes... hmmm....I could take all the money I save on food and clothing and blow it all on hats!


It went to trying new things! Like popsicles!


This was a nice summer night, where, instead of the usual post-dinner trip to the park, we sat on our lawn and got all sticky.

It went to travel! The Huff Household managed a drive up to Redmonton for a weekend and two trips to Ottawa.

Here, Vaughn, having exhausted all the fun to be had with a sprinkler (and accordingly, being clean), now explores the fun of getting dirty all over again, in Grandma's garden.

Grandma and Grandpa were excellent and very-much-appreciated babysitters during last week's trip to Ottawa; after all, somebody needed to watch the kidlets while Fis and I met with a realtor...