Callie's New High School

This year Callie is in grade 7. That means that next year Callie will be in high school. I'm okay with it but I think it will drive Kerry mad. She's pretty much been within 100 ft of Callie her entire life with the exception of dance which is 4 blocks away. High school is only 2k but it might as well be another planet if you talk to Kerry.

In January we had an opportunity to go check out the high school Callie will be going to. Since Kerry is a grade 7 teacher she does this every year but it was the first time I've ever been. I had heard some bad things about North Surrey from work colleagues however I've discovered that was all old news.

The high school was rebuilt in the early 90's so anyone that had gone to North Surrey before that time had been in a rickety old wooden building. The new building was much more modern and way more than what I was expecting. There is a great art studio, wide open cafeteria, lot's of computer labs, two gyms, a band room and even a stage with seating. What impressed me the most however was the woodworking and machinery area. They've got an enormous wood shop and a separate machine shop as well as an automotive area with two car lifts. Apparently the school offers first year apprenticeships to several trades. As much as university has worked out for myself and Kerry it may not end up being the best direction for our kids. Hands on capabilities are disappearing and the trades may have the best job opportunities. Still a few more years left before they have to decide but it's good to know they will have options.

Sledding at Cypres

We don't get a lot of snow in Vancouver however we are only a 30 minute drive to the local ski hills so we try to go at least once per year. We attempted a trip last year but were a bit late getting on the road and the mountain was full by the time we got there. This year we were much more careful about understanding what time the mountain opened. The mountain wasn't technically full last year however there was no more parking up top which meant we would have had to shuttle up which is a bit of pain with smaller kids and your sleds.

Our annual tradition is to go with the Kilden's. Ryan isn't a big kid but I'm pretty amazed at how long he lasts walking up and down. This year he outlasted both Callie and Carter who got a bit bored and went to the snack shack early. (I was there too.) Next year I want to do tubing instead. I've never been and neither have the kids and I think if we bring some of their friends they will last a lot longer. The tube parks are great because they include a lift and the tubes are much more comfortable.

Gingerbread House Extravaganza 2017

We continued our on again, off again tradition of making gingerbread houses again this year. It's a fairly involved process to create all the parts and I refuse to purchase a kit so it seems we've been doing it every second year lately. This year the plan was for each of the kids to invite two friends. I make all of the parts using a form from Lee Valley. One year I think I'll try just doing parts by cutting them out because I think it's a lot easier. I like the form because the parts come out very consistently sized and are designed to fit together. They also have imprints of the doors, windows etc. so it's a bit easier to decorate.

The last time we had kids over we had their parents over as well which I think was a bit to hectic. We had to visit with the parents and the parents felt inclined to help put together the houses which was a bit of a disaster. It was much easier for the kids to decorate themselves and have me put them together. I don't have any specific trick other than using soup cans and lot's of icing. I made one at a work function this year and we only had teacups instead of soup cans. It worked but I think we left one of the cups in the house.

We did the party like a grown up party with appetizers and non alcoholic beverages. Callie and her friends are the first picture and Carter and his friends the second picture. Not a huge difference in overall house quality however Callie and her friends had a lot of fun decorating the yards. I think they made each house a theme from a book series they are reading. I have no idea which one so I don't quite understand them. Everyone had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed eating the roof off of Callie's which was solid peppermint chocolate wafers.