The Delinquent Blogger

Well, it has been ages since I have posted anything, which is not normally like me. But, like anything, once you get out of the habit, you kind of lose your grove. Well I am back. Here is a post with some of our winter photos. Some of the activities in the photos include Brodie and Grace's Winter Recital, a visit from Auntie Connie and girls, Kenora hockey tourny, Ironman Hockey tournament in the "old school" Corning Rink, babysitting Alexander and Zoe Wright, amazing March weather and Grace rides the motorbike, amongst other photos. These photos take us from January into April.

Fiona's 4th Birthday

Fiona's birthday was way back in January, but I thought I should share some photos from that event. Our family celebrated her birthday by having cupcakes on her birthday and she opened up all of her family gifts. She got some awesome clothes, new colouring stuff and Hungry Hippos, which was BIG hit! She had her "friend" birthday party on the following Sunday.

She invited seven friends over for crafts and games and supper. We played balloon games, hot potato with a nail polish bottle (whoever got caught with the bottle got their toes painted) and then did a butterfly craft. With all those girls of ages 4-9, the key to success is keeping them occupied! Fiona ordered up Kraft Dinner and hot dogs for supper. We also added fresh vegies to the menu. She had a tonne of fun, got lots of crafty gifts and loved her butterfly cake.

Trip to Edmonton

We hopped on as service flight and went to Edmonton from 3-6 Jan. It was a great trip because we got to visit Jamie and Kevin and kids, my cousin and her little guy, and GO TO THE WEST EDMONTON MALL!!!! What a super trip. It was such a great family outing. The kids loved the wave pool. None of them drowned or even got close (ref: Uncle Chad at age 7) and they were not scared to go down the water slides...well, most of them. It was great to visit with Jennilee and Lucas as well as meet Zoe for the first time. Here are the photos:

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was great. We went to the lake and the farm finally to my sister's place for one night before returning to Winnipeg. Highlights of 2011: skiing, skating, snow fort, red solo cup party, the bouncy castle place and of course, spending excellent time with family.

The kids went downhill skiing for the first time ever. They did great, especially the boys who were whizzing down the hill by the end of the day. It was hard to keep up to them. We also went skating on ex-NHLer, Pat Falloon's ice pad on Lake of the Prairie. At the farm, the kids and Clay built an awesome snow fort. They eventually put a roof on it and roasted marshmallows inside it. It was super cozy in the little castle. The last day, we went to Regina to visit my sister and family. The kids burnt off some energy by bouncing all afternoon at a bouncy castle place.

Pre-Christmas Photos

Well here are some highlights with photos before Christmas:
1. Clay got a buzz cut, to the bone when he got back from India.
2. The rink was ready to go about 17 or 18 Dec. It was later than last year because of the crazy warm weather.
3. Clay's Squadron did the Christmas night flights which flies the families over Winnipeg to get a birds eye view of the Christmas lights.

Here are the photos.

Clay's Trip to India

Surprize! You're going to India. Clay's boss asked him to go to India with him from the 17th-21st of November. How could he give up an opportunity like that? So, he did. It was a very educational trip and the purpose of it was commemorate the creation of 435 and 436 Sqn during the second World War. His unit, 435, was born out of India. Pretty cool. Just a little bit of culture shock. Photos never do things like this any justice, but, hopefully you'll all get a hint of his experience!




A few cool facts:

1. As India is a commonwealth country, we have a High Commissioner and not an Ambassador there.
2. There are only two McDonalds in Delhi and one is at the airport and has no beef on the menu.
3. Honking in traffic is not rude and is actually considered a means of signalling to other drivers.
4. The red dot on a woman's forehead means that she is married.
5. The Honourary Colonel of 435, Loreena McKennit, narrated the Tinkerbell movie and sang some songs. Google her name and Tinkerbell to hear more.
6. Thankfully, Clay didn't get Delhi belly.

Coach Daddy

Not sure who all knows this, but Clay is Riley and Brodie's hockey coach....and Grace's assistant coach. He loves being out on the ice with the kids and hates sitting on the sidelines so he took on the role as the boys head coach. Grace's team kind of fell into his lap as he showed up more often than not and then coached her team when the head coach went away. What does this all mean? He actually has to leave work a little earlier than he did in his first year, but he has tonnes of quality time with the kids.