Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Week in the Life... September 13 to 19

If you're quiet and head for the back half of Woodland cemetery, you're quite likely to see several deer...
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...but only if you're VERY lucky will you stumble across the mythical Sophie-doe!
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Feeling fancy... I made Salmon & spinach Mille-Feuille for dinner one night this week - delicious!
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Park(ing) Day London... the Museum of Curiosities spot hosted by CityLights. My personal fave was the mummy...
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Yup... anarchy is about to rein. Guy Fawkes and Guy Fawkes Jr. at the spot hosted by the London Short Film Showcase...
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Sophie chats with her new little friend, a stuffed Echidna she was given at the "Day in the Park" booth hosted by (who else?) Echidna Solutions Corp.
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Sophie and I having a right giddy time at the Yo Gabba Gabba concert... what a wacky experience!
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Sophie and her friend Aideen at Aideen's little sister Keelin's birthday party on Sunday
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After starting the week quietly with a walk in Woodland Cemetery looking for deer, I'm swept up in a wave of volunteering once again... I do seem to keep recreating this situation. After spending last weekend working furiously on the school newsletter I chaired a meeting for the newsletter committee, attended a meeting for the South Collegiate Alumni Association, and hosted a coffee drop-in at school. Busy, busy... but I still had time to enjoy lots of Sophie-centered events this week too.
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We spent part of Friday exploring Park(ing) Day, an event that challenges our car-focused way of life by reclaiming downtown parking spaces and re-imagining them as people-focused spaces. In one of my favourite spaces they had even carpeted the parking spot with sod to create a real grass surface, and set up park benches, plants, and a generally very inviting environment. I noticed several people stopping by just to relax, even if they weren't taking part in Park(ing) Day. At another space Sophie and one of the Park(ing) Day hosts build a Lego masterpiece in a reclaimed parking spot they rechristened "LEGO SPACE!" - it was a great, think-outside-the-box creative endeavor.
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Saturday was spent at the much-anticipated Yo Gabba Gabba Live concert at the John Labatt Centre. If you're not familiar with Yo Gabba Gabba, it's quite the kids show phenomenon... and it's also completely nutty. I couldn't possibly explain it clearly, but I'll attempt to sum up: An orange-jump suit and fuzzy hat wearing dude named "DJ Lance" walks around with his magic boom box, then opens it up to reveal a set of five strange alien-like creatures that live inside... they dance and sing and generally horse around before climbing back in the boom box again. They sing about such riveting challenges as eating all your vegetables (There's a Party in my Tummy!) and welcome special guest that constantly surprise me (Sean Kingston, Elijah Wood, Jimmy Eat World!) It's surreal, and kinds psychedelic, and a heck of a lot of fun. Chris and I generally take turns sharing kids concerts with Sophie... I took her to Playhouse Disney Live, he took her to see The Wiggles, and I have to say I think I lucked out being the one to take her to Yo Gabba Gabba Live - I haven't laughed that hard in a while!
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We rounded out our week with a birthday party and good long playtime at The Children's Museum, making for a great kid-centered end to a pretty exciting week for us...
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A Week in the Life... September 6 to 12

Sargent Sophie pretends to radio her dispatcher Dad on OPP Family Day
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One of the many OPP Family Day demonstrations... the Tactics and Rescue Unit shows off their rappelling skills (upside down!)
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Sophie participates in the Bike Rodeo at OPP Family Day - she passed with flying colours!
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How is it possible we've arrived at the first day of school already???
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Sophie and Rowan watch their "witches brew" bubble... nothing like baking soda, vinegar and food colouring to entertain!
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Sophie and Rhys show off their "robot", complete with the instructions for making it (which Sophie's displaying.) Two prouder kids I've never seen...
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Yay for family fondu night!
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The official "end of summer" is upon us (let's all say BOO!) with the arrival of Labour Day and the start of school. As usual, Chris's work held their annual "Family Day" event on Labour Day, giving us the opportunity to see displays from many of the OPP's different departments including the K9 Unit, Emergency Response Team, Tactics and Rescue Unit (shown rappelling above), Ministry of Natural Resources and more. This year Sophie was able to participate in the Bike Rodeo, with her "big girl bike", which made her quite proud... and she and Chris enjoyed hot dogs while watching the K9 unit demonstrate suspect take-downs and their dog's ability to sniff out drugs concealed in household items like flashlights and tools. Great fun for all!
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The start of school... wow. Sophie's now in Senior Kindergarten, which makes her feel awfully special - some of the younger siblings of friends that were in her class last year are just coming to school as JK students, so she's able to help "show them the ropes". We're so lucky that she loves school the way she does - no scenes of hiding behind Mom at the school doors, or crying as she's being led in, thank goodness. With the start of her school year, so begins mine... my "full time volunteerism" has begun again, with meetings this week to discuss upcoming Curriculum Presentations, to help Home & School develop a parent survey, with the Principal to discuss School Council for the year, and with the Thames Valley Parent Involvement Council to discuss grant applications and the upcoming Director's Forum. A busy year for all of us has just begun...
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A Week in the Life... August 30 to September 5

Reason # 451 that parenthood is interesting: after prepping dinner I walked into the living room where Sophie was watching TV to find her pretty much covered in Kleenex. Her explanation? "I was a little bit chilly..."
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Sophie and her newly-won stuffed donkey prepare for a helicopter ride at the CNE
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Truly mind-blowing sand sculptures were some of the many artistic and creative endeavors we saw at the CNE
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My little ham checks herself out in the hall of mirrors
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Having a little visit with one of the President's Choice "Super Dogs" after the show. Looks like all that performing has worn the dog out!
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Sophie's last appointment with Beth at the Thames Valley Children's Centre. We'll miss going, and so appreciate all the work Beth has done helping Sophie with her speech.
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This week's big event was our family trip to the CNE in Toronto... neither Chris nor I have been there since we were kids, and we thought it would be an awesome thing to do with Sophie. As soon as we pinned down a date we called our friends Heather and Barrett in Toronto to see if they might be free, and they were able to join us in the evening - it made the day simply perfect. It was mind-blowing... so much to do and see everywhere you turned. And I have to say, although it was expensive, you got so much more for your money than we get at London's Western Fair. Admission tickets to the CNE were only $4 more than the Fair, and all the shows were free once we got inside... we saw stage shows with cartoon characters Sophie likes, the President's Choice Super Dogs, an ice-capades style skating show, and even Bedouin Soundclash in concert without paying a dime over and above our admission price. As you can tell just from the list of shows it was a busy day... add sight-seeing in many of the arts-themed buildings, eating both lunch and dinner, going on rides, checking out the huge agricultural building, and visiting with our friends, we were exhausted by the end. I have to give Sophie huge credit for her ability to handle it though... we arrived at 11am and didn't leave until 10pm (11 hours!) and she was still going strong by the end. Not even the torrential downpours that hit several times during the day got her down!
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This week also marks Sophie's last appointment with Beth at the Thames Valley Children's Centre. Sophie's been going to the TVCC since she was 2, when we identified that she had some challenges with her speech. Beth and the Speech Pathology staff at the centre have been wonderful to work with, and their sessions in combination with our work at home have really helped Sophie work learn and practice the sounds that don't come naturally to her - she's come a long way, and we'll miss seeing Beth's smiling face now that our time at the TVCC is done!
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