Autumn Mini-Break

This past weekend we took some time out and had a fantastic family mini-break. A day in the valley with Gran, savouring the harvest bounty of apples and pumpkins.

A long relaxing dinner al fresco at an innovative family restaurant.

And an afternoon spent wandering through one of our favourite old haunts, Granville Island. Fallen leaves, warm sweaters, jelly doughnuts and the toy stores of the Kids Market.

Far to much fun to capture in one post. Stay tuned for more of our adventures.

Cookies For Sale!

Our preschool is fortunate to have several very dedicated parents who took it upon themselves to overhaul the preschool playground. The final push for fundraising came in the form of a Tim Hortons smiley face cookie campaign. Between Tim Hortons and our forty families we needed to sell 3500 chocolate chip cookies.

That's right, 3500. An impressive amount by any means. But considering the population of our little coastal haven is about 4200, that's nearly one cookie for every man, woman and child. Oh, and we had ten days to do it.

So together with our friend, Josephine, and her parents we re-named the lemonade stand and set up shop at the soccer field on Saturday afternoon. It was a great plan, bored parents and hungry kids. Between us we had purchased 80 cookies to sell.

We sold four. Four! We easily consumed at least thrice that ourselves. We had hoped that when the game finished we would have a flood of worn out kids heading our way.

Our over tired, sugar-crashing kids never made it that long. The novelty of yelling "Cookies for sale!" soon wore off and we were forced to head home before total meltdown came.

Good news, the school raised $3900 from our amazing community.

Please send a self addressed, stamped envelope if you'd like a cookie. I have more than a few of these impish little guys hanging out in my freezer.

Local Cinema

One of the quirky joy's of small town living to me, is the local movie theatre.

Typically, there is one film a week, shown once a day. If you want to see that particular movie you have to act. It will be gone before you know it.

So last night I dashed out at 7pm for the 7:15pm showing of "Eat Pray Love". That's right, fifteen minutes between leaving my house and the movie starting. No traffic, parking issues or line ups to deal with.

Admission was five dollars. Five dollars! Need I say more.

The concession sells little bags of five cent gummy candies for $1.50.

Then there is the theatre itself. The seats from the back have the usual downwards slope, until you hit the halfway point. Then, the floor starts sloping upwards towards the screen. I've never seen anything like it. I love the upwards trajectory, blast off feeling of those seats.

There are no coming attractions magazine, instead people wave to their neighbours and chat with friends. When the lights finally dim, somewhere in the vicinity of the advertised time, people are slow to end conversations. What is the point of watching previews for film that will never make it to the coast?

And an added bonus on this night, three quarters of the way through the projector shuts down. Does anyone complain or shout rude comments? Of course not. More time to chat with friends. When the movie begins again, a cheer.

Admission $5. Our local cinema, priceless.

Autumnal Fare

I love autumn cooking.

To me it represents the best of comfort food. Pumpkins, apples, cinnamon. Roasting, braising, slow cooking all day, hearty aromas filling the house. Warm and substantial to take the chill off.

Tonight? Roasted butternut squash soup with apple brie panini's. Mmmmm....so happy there's enough left for lunch tomorrow.

Preschool Boy

Jack already has half a year of preschool under his belt. With a January birthday and an older sister in preschool, he was more than ready to start his education early. But that class wasn't his peers, some were nearly a year older and he seemed so little in the schoolyard.

This class though, this is where he'll make his friends. Not kids he has to hang out with because they're Anna's friends or because his mom likes their mom. These will be friendships just for him. Forged out of similar interests in Star Wars and Lego.

And I'm thrilled for him. My little man is coming into his own, navigating the complex social network of the playground and realizing that he can be a leader, not just a follower. 

But while my baby bird starts to test his wings, I know he will always return. Because Jack likes to tell me that "even when I'm old, mama, I will still be your baby" and that just makes my heart sing. 

Bigger Digger Day

Ok, how lucky are we that we have not one, but two digger days in our neck of the woods?

Why "bigger digger day"? Because this one is at the gravel quarry up the coast from us and the scale of these machines make the other ones look like Tonka trucks.

The tires on this dump truck must have been over 7 feet tall, and what sort of loader has a bucket you can do wind sprints in?

The littles loved every moment of our dusty, sand-filled adventure. Of course, free hard hats and all the juice and cupcakes you want doesn't hurt either.

Kindergarten Girl

"Some how or other, it came just the same." - Dr. Seuss

Where have the last five years gone? I still remember this baby, smiling, happy to be held, the biggest eyes you've ever seen.

Now we're in uncharted territory. With a past career in early childhood, I knew my ages and stages. With the onset of the school age years, I feel a bit adrift in the ocean.

But my girl? She's as confident as ever, eager to make new friends, learn new things. Make her mark on this world.

I hope her beautiful light will remain strong through these years, that others will be drawn to her sunny disposition and imaginative ways. And that, she will remain endearing, quirky and confident as ever that "girls are tough".