Remembrance Day Service

On November 11th this year I took Meg and her little friend Avery out of school for the morning and we went to watch the Remembrance Day service and parade downtown Cambridge. It was a beautiful day and the girls enjoyed seeing all the soldiers and marching band.

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see her picture on the front page of the Cambridge Times! I didn't even know the photographer took it. Meg and Avery spent most of the time running around so I was surprised to see the photographer captured such a great shot. 

The  caption reads: 

"Ready to Remember: A young girl, wearing poppy pants to commemorate Remembrance Day, gets a smile from a band member during Tuesday's ceremony at the Galt cenotaph."

Happy 5th Birthday Meg!

Meg had a fantastic 5th birthday! She was excited for weeks planning her birthday party, right down the little details of what kind of food we would have and what would be in the goodie bags. She finished and distributed her invitations in late September for her party October 25th. She invited 10 friends and everyone came! Princess Elsa made an appearance and played games with the kids and painted faces. The kids coloured Frozen pictures and spent a good amount of time running around chasing Nathan.
When I put Meg to bed that night she told me she loved her party. She also said "Mommy, can I make a card for Elsa and Anna tomorrow and mail it to Arindale? I love them both so much." For those of you who don't know, Elsa and Anna are from the movie Frozen :) 
A perfect end to a great princess party.
Happy 5th Birthday Meg!

Meg dressed as Princess Anna poses beside her 5th birthday sign

At the request of Meg, Grandma McLaughlin made Meg a Princess Ariel cake

Meg also wanted her mom and dad to dress as a King and Queen for the party...

...and of course so did Grandma Kathi, Grandpa Roy, Grandma McLaughlin and Grandad :)

Elsa did an amazing job painting faces! Claire, Zoe and Chloe all go the same design.
Not sure if it is a butterfly or a cat but all the kids wanted fangs

Marley, Avery, Maia and Meg all got the same face paint. A bat with a rainbow and fangs - of course!

The piniata was hilarious. Some kids took out a lot of frustration on it!
We never thought it would open but eventually it did.

Everyone singing Happy Birthday to Meg

Present time!

Happy Thanksgiving

Friday Meg stayed home from school to make homemade pumpkin pies with Grandma McLaughlin. It started off slow but Meg quickly got into it and was a good little helper. She was also a good taste tester! 
The pies look amazing and Meg had a great day with grandma. 

Grandma showed Meg and mommy how to strain the pumpkin after it was cooked

Meg learned how to roll out the dough

There was enough dough left to cut out shapes for the top of the pies and f
or Meg to make her version of dough cookies

Meg cracked the eggs and did a great job!

Pies made with love!

Voila! Now we just have to wait to eat them. Happy Thanksgiving!

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

It wouldn't be Fall without an annual trip to the pumpkin patch - it was a beautiful day for it!

Back to School

Meg had a great first week of school. She was really excited to see all her friends and teachers and super excited to be in the group of the oldest kids in the Montessori class. This means that this year Meg doesn't have to have rest time, she gets to do big kid jobs like set the table for lunch, pull out the cots for the little kids to sleep and help the younger kids with their learning. She is over the moon excited with all the new responsibility and is already talking about the flowers her teachers will give her at graduation at the end of the year :) 

This week Meg also got glasses. She has been complaining about headaches so I took her to the eye doctor where they told us her eye muscles have not fully developed yet so she should wear glasses when her eyes hurt and that she should outgrow it. Meg was allowed to pick out her own glasses which of course are purple and pink :)

Meg all dressed up and ready for her first day of Senior Kindergarten at Montessori!

Meg at the eye doctor trying on her new glasses for the first time

Meg with her glasses fitted and ready to go!

Visit with Elsa and Anna

Every little girl on the planet is in love with Frozen right now and Meg is no different. Tonight Elsa and Anna came to Playfit for a sold out party and Meg and Claire got in on the fun! Both dressed in Elsa dresses they ate pizza, played on the inside park, had Frozen Kinder eggs, did crafts and got to meet them. All in all one of their best days I can imagine.

Claire and Meg enjoying their pizza supper before Elsa and Anna arrived

Meg and Claire watching the show intently. They sang along to all the songs.

Meg definitely thought they were the real Elsa and Anna but could not understand why Elsa
wasn't wearing gloves. Her magic should have turned everything to ice when she touched it!

Frozen Kinder eggs!!!!

The meet and greet with Elsa and Anna was what the night was all about

They really were the best age for this!

Claire posing with her Olaf craft

Meg and Claire both posing with their Olaf craft, however Meg had hers half eaten

Summer Vacation in BC

Meg, Maxx, Nathan and I spent 10 days in Whistler and Vancouver in July, spending lots of time with family. We arrived on the day of Grandpa Gibby's 65th birthday and went immediately up to Whistler. Spending 7 nights there we spent lots of time at Auntie Marnie's checking for eggs in her chicken coop, swimming in the hotel pool, spending time on the rides at the bottom of Blackcomb and just spending lots of time together in general.
The weather was a bit on the chilly side but we made the most of it. 
Meg and Maxx had a great time with their cousins!!! 
Here are some pics from the trip.

Regan feeding two of the chickens, the third chicken Pumpkin is not as friendly as the other two

The three chickens live in a coop but Auntie Marnie let's them out each day to run around the backyard.
Surprisingly neither her dog or Uncle Zacc's dog scared them away!

Meg's job was to check for eggs every day. We were all able to try fresh eggs and they were delicious! 

On this trip we also met Auntie Marnie and David's new dog Josie!

Maxx and Regan were brave enough to hold the chickens!

Lots of fun in Auntie Marnie's yard! Regan had a personal best with the hula hoop - 1 hr and 9 minutes constant!!!

Spagetti and meatballs family dinner at the place we rented. Delicious!

Meg, Uncle Zacc and Uncle Zacc's dog Monster

One one of the nicest days we got outside and went canoeing and kayaking.
The water was perfect and the scenery was beautiful!

Meg and mommy in the canoe...

...and Maxx in the kayak. He was a master in it after all those lessons at Camp Wabanaki!

Our plan to spend lots of time at the beach was not a reality. Maxx, Meg and David jumped in the lake once. Immediately after this photo was taken we went right back to the hotel and the kids got in the hot tub. They were freezing!

In Vancouver Uncle Tyler was determined to get the kite up!

Meg was an eager helper and eventually this kite and another kite were flying high!!!

Meg poses for a shot in Steveston while she waits for her lunch...

...a gourmet oceanside lunch of fish and chips!!! mmmm! 

Daddy and Meg at the beach. All in all a great trip and it was great to spend time with everyone!