Wilson

In early September we had to say goodbye to our amazing dog Wilson. We found out in July that he had a tumour in his spleen and surgery kept him with us for a few more weeks but he had a cancer that was in the blood and it spread quickly. Rather than dwelling on the end I thought I would highlight some of the great memories we had of him.

1) Picking him up from Salmon Arm and watching him experience grass for the first time at rest stops. During the ride home he rode on the arm rest of the car door.
2) His first hair cut where Kerry cut his bangs a bit crooked.
3) Chasing him around the dining room table at our town house whenever we needed to get him to do something. He was very fast and cornered great.
4) His fear of the saxophone playing Santa Clause. He hated every year that we brought that thing out.

5) His ability to destroy every toy we got him except for a baby pooh bear that he slept with for all his puppy days. (He eventually turned on him. Not sure what happened between the two of them.)
6) His poor looking self whenever he got a bath and his happiness afterwards as he ran around spraying everyone getting dry.
7) Our trip to Seattle to get Callie's crib where when Kerry accidentally got his nose caught in the automatic window on the passenger side.
8) His pink belly when he laid on his back and his terrible looking ID tattooed there.

9) The day of destruction when he pulled every shoe we owned out of the closet and tipped over our plants.
10) The time we didn't realize his puppy feet were not strong enough to walk on pavement during his first walk at Canada place. He hated the leash from that day forward.
11) His need to wear a cone whenever he had a cut or irritation because he would chew his own leg off without it.
12) His first snowfall and the huge balls of snow that would stick to him whenever he was in the snow.

13) His soft fir that was different from any other Bichon we knew.
14) The sound of his collar everywhere he went.
15) His warm body in between Kerry and I at bed time. He always moved to the end of the bed after about 10 minutes so he could get some rest without us crushing him.
16) His love of sitting in Callie's baby swing.
17) Uncle Corey and Uncle Ronnie having to use a golf club to get him out from under the bed before they left for work.
18) The time he chewed the bottom of our box spring and found a way to hide inside of it.
19) His love of chewing plastic water bottles.

20) Taking him on all of our local hikes.
21) The time he had a birthday party with his cousin's Captain, Hanna and Spencer and all of them wore birthday hats.
22) His love of giving Captain 'special hugs'... from on top of him... from the back...
23) His joy of sitting on top of the couch overtop of your head.
24) Whenever he would dig in the garden and come in with a black beard.
25) That time we rebuilt our deck and he was somehow able to walk on the joists.
26) His contentment when he slept in a warm hamper of clothes.

27) When Callie would dress him up in hats.
28) Holding him like a people with his arms wrapped around your neck.
29) His bed on the landing of the stairs.
30) His spot in the window behind the curtain in the living room.
31) The way he would race out the back door whenever we let him outside so that he could ensure the backyard was free from creatures.
32) Watching TV with him by my side.
33) When Captain taught him to bark.
34) When he would bark at the news paper carrier every time he came up the walk.

35) His blue Wilson blanket on the back of the couch.
36) The fact that he remains the name of our home WIFI network.
37) The way he licked the utensils in the dish washer.
38) His love of toilet paper rolls.
39) Always having to keep plates where he could not get them unless you wanted him to clean up your ice cream bowl.
40) The fact that he was always there.

Thanks Wilson.

The Eclipse - A Bad Time to Memorize Your Camera

If you know the exact time to plan for a once in a lifetime opportunity you should probably do so. Unfortunately I did not. I knew full well when the 'Super Moon / Blood Moon / Full eclipse' was going to happen and I should have taken the time to memorize every operation of my camera but I never got around to it and by the time the eclipse was upon us I was in the dark trying to figure out where the buttons were without being able to see them. If I had memorized their operation so I could do it with my eyes closed, it would have been a much less stressful event.

I did get to see the eclipse itself and it was amazing. The temperature was perfect for nighttime viewing and the sky was crystal clear. There were several eclipses this past year but none with such clear skies for us. We didn't get to see it enter the eclipse since the moon was below the horizon however we did get to see it in full eclipse and as it left the earth's shadow. For the next celestial event I will be prepared to get some better pictures.

Carter's Birthday

Carter's birthday is at an inopportune time in our household. With school starting, everyone is still settling into the new routines and there isn't much time for birthday planning. Thankfully Carter was able to plan much of his own party this year. It started with a theme. Dinosaurs. Carter is usually quite fickle with picking a theme and sticking to it. (For example he picks at least a half dozen halloween costumes.) However, this year he picked a theme and stuck to it. Kerry had him on Pinterest looking for ideas which included the T-Rex watermelon head.

He also found plenty of ideas for games. One he had his heart set on was a bean bag game involving a T-Rex head. This was more ambitious than I was willing to help with and was only going to be good for one year so I went a slightly different route. I created the typical three hole bean bag game and decorated it in a dinosaur theme. He was very pleased and now we can re-use it for other events. A point scoring system was right up his alley and I had it ready the night before so that he could practice.

Kathy is always great at doing something special for the kids for their birthday and this year she found some great dinosaur options including some rock like eggs that had dinosaurs hidden inside them. She made them quite a ways in advance so they were very hard when it came time to open them. I was glad we were getting a new floor because we needed the old floor to try to break them open.

Other games included a fossil dig in the sandbox and pin the horn on the triceratops.

The party was a complete success but the highlight for Carter started in the morning. We had tickets to the Kratt Brothers. They have several animal themed shows on various channels and were coming to UBC to do a show. I was fully expecting actual animals but it seems they had a similar show in mind. It involved a mix of on stage and animated scenes on the big screen and was based on their most recent show 'The Wild Kratts'. Carter loved it and even wanted to get the super hero costume that the Kratt brother's wear. Luckily it just fit him.

First Day of School

A very short post on the first day of school. Rather uneventful this year. No strike, no big changes for the kids. Carter is still in the Primary grades and Callie is still in the Intermediate grades. We did take our annual trip to Ricky's for pancake breakfast afterwards. The first day of school is still typically only one hour for the kids while the teachers get together to plan the year. This means Kerry is at work and I have the kids for the rest of the day. I originally started the Ricky's tradition so that Callie would be less apprehensive about the first day but now both kids enjoy it and this year had to remind me.

PNE - Super Dogs and Deep Fried Mars Bars

As part of our donut dash entrance fee we got free tickets into the PNE which runs for the last two weeks of the summer every year. It includes rides, animals and lot's and lot's of food. The highlight for me is always the Super Dogs. I don't know the full history of them but they have been at the PNE for many years. Some of the dogs are from the SPCA and they have numerous breeds, all of which have their own special skills. They typically break them into teams and each side of the arena gets their own team of dogs to cheer on. (Our team won quite handily. We chose wisely.)

The food highlight for me was finally trying a deep fried Mars bar. I've known about them since I moved to the lower mainland but had never had one. It was surprisingly good. A light breaded coating and a quick dip in the deep frier and you've got a fun treat. I wouldn't want to make them at home.

We also spent some time on the rides. They definitely aren't cheep and the kids only enjoy a few of them so we bought tickets rather than an all inclusive pass. Carter and Callie had great fun on the mini roller coaster. Unfortunately I dropped about half the tickets when I went to the washroom but I think everyone was pretty tired by that time anyways.

Donut Dash

At the end of August the family signed up for their first race together along with Melissa and Kathy's families. It was actually my first official race as well. The kids participated in some events when Kerry did the Tinker-bell Half Marathon in Disneyland but I have never been in an event where we intended to run. (We've done the walk for the Child Development Centre but that was 2k and we walked.) This particular race was 5k and was located at the PNE. We arrived before it opened and the race took you through the PNE and Playland grounds. It was fun walking past the rides with no one on them.

I should mention that this particular race was called the Donut Dash. The PNE is famous for it's little donuts. They have machines that make them automatically and you typically buy them by the dozen. It seems only fitting that the first official race put on the PNE would be donut themed. I originally thought there would be donuts everywhere however they were a bit more reserved than that. Nothing for the first 3k and then they offered some small bags of cotton candy and donuts at the 3k and 4k marks and you finished off with a chocolate covered donut with sprinkles. Probably a good idea that we didn't get too much. Running and donuts don't really mix.

The race started okay but I think Callie and Carter didn't really enjoy running in the large crowds and were a bit apprehensive about their abilities. Carter was very unhappy that we had to do jumping jacks and various warm up exercises as a group before the race started. I think he felt we were using all of our energy up. We walk/ran as a family for the first 2k but then I decided if this was my first race I wanted to actually run for a portion of it. I ran on ahead and since we had done so much walking, I was able to pass several hundred people who were also walking. My time was 45minutes for 5k which is quite terrible but not so bad when you consider I walked 2k. Me running ahead was apparently a bit of an incentive for the kids who started running more as well. Everyone finished happy and we got our medals. The kids are already starting to show an interest in other races. (Disney themed of course.)

Callie's Birthday - Spa Day

Callie officially became a tween this year when she turned 10. Some of her friends have already stopped having birthday parties but I was happy to hear that Callie still enjoys them. She's never had a party outside the house and this year was no different. The theme this year was going to be 'A Spa Day' and every good spa has freshly cut flowers. (A small detour as I talk about our garden.) This year was great for cut flowers. The roses bloomed at least three times and we had lily's, dahlia's and gladiolas. I have a separate area of the garden where there is no order and the intention is that everything is for cutting. It's working out great.

Back to the party, Callie's spa day included making your own lip balm. She got the containers from Michaels and found a recipe online. The materials were all pretty easy to source and I think they had a lot of fun. The highlight for everyone and unfortunately I missed most of it was probably the face masks. A goopy application of oatmeal, avocado, honey and yogurt, topped off with some cucumber slices for the eyes.  You could tell from the pictures this was the first face mask for several of the girls. They weren't quite sure what to think about it.

We also have a four person hot tub for the spa. Actually it's more like a two person hot tub that fits four adults in a pinch or in this case 8 tweens and a small boy from the side. By the time they were all out I had to add about 50 gallons of water back in.

The day ended with a sleep over in the living room. I think they went to sleep around mid-night and the first early risers were up around 6:00a. Thankfully it was Sunday morning so they had the rest of the day to recover.