October 2023: Another month that was quite busy and didn’t get to update the blog that often. Here are some highlights that happened. At the start we went to Ottawa, to the mall. We are finding it very stressful to go to the mall with A and B – they don’t like to sit in the stroller, and they want me to carry them all the time. They aren’t that small anymore, so I can only carry one at a time, and even then, they are heavy! Especially B. I was trying to train them to walk more, it’s just a lot of crying. We also went for a short hike in Brockville, while Frank marked in the car. It is very hot, for October, so there were so many mosquitos, but generally SAP really enjoyed it. They seem calmer after a nature hike. Then I went to Ottawa for work the next day and did some shopping in the mall again, trying to buy clothes to take nice family fall photos. Alice and Peter also had dentist appointments – they both went well. Hopefully no more cavities next visit.
Weddings also continued in October; we had three. So usually on Wednesday nights I stayed late in the barn cleaning it, and Frank cut grass on Thursdays. Weddings all day Saturday, and Sunday is usually a recovery day and family day from the craziness. One wedding we had, was full of drama, there were fights breaking out and the bride almost cancelled her wedding but then was convinced to keep it going. One wedding was high class and had such retro vibe – 60’s music all night. I think it was my favorite wedding. The last wedding was nice, it just got cold, and the furnace couldn’t keep up. We had lots of power problems too. We also hosted a dance, for the church, it was Irish dancing, it was fun!
Skating also continued, 3 nights a week for the girls and Peter once a week. Peter also does gymnastics with Babi on Saturdays. She comes and picks him up and they go hang out for about 5 hours – doing gymnastics, Lego building, and lunch. He loves that time with her, and she also enjoys it very much. On Thanksgiving, we all went next door to my parents’ house. It was nice of them to host all of us! We also went for a hike behind the railroad tracks, I think the kids liked it. Frank is into teaching kids spelling and has spelling test with them often. At school they told us that Sophia and Alice are behind on English, so we really need to read with them more. We started reading a page a day from a children’s encyclopedia book.
Frank continued to work and me too. He had one week off, but it wasn’t much of week off for him because our daycare provider also had a week off, so he A and B at home. On the last day, there was also a PA Day, so I took a day off, and we went to Toronto for three nights. We stayed at a hotel in Vaughn and did many things – the Aquarium, the Mall, the CN tower, the ROM, took the subway, streetcar, and walked around downtown. I think it was a lot for the kids. I think they enjoyed the aquarium and the pool in the hotel the most. Maybe next time we will just go somewhere with a pool and hang out there all day. I though, enjoyed seeing Toronto again. I do miss it from time to time. We went to visit, Jim, Franks friend, and he lives in a house right by where I used to live, it was nice seeing that neighborhood.
Thank-you, Marie Babak