Sunday, April 22, 2012

A Month in the Life... February 2012

It was a busy month (which month isn't, really)! Between multiple trips to the Children's Museum, Valentine's Day, and our Oscar party, we were jumping here at Casa Burton!

Sophie put on a dance performance in the dining room, and decided that she needed a greater audience than Mom and Dad. Her solution? A crowd of animals, complete with fan signs chanting her name. Are we in trouble as she gets older?

Our cat Gabby, loving up one of Sophie's tiny stuffed animals (one that didn't make the "fan club" cut above). Don't be fooled: she's loving enough, but this particular lion had been exposed to catnip before being handed over...

Winter in Canada = skating time! We're enjoying skating as part of the school curriculum, so Sophie and her friend laced up their skates and put on their helmets all month long in gym class... a great way to improve their skills!

Much to Sophie's disappointment, our previous next door neighbours moved this month. Their 3 kids and Sophie would play constantly - they were over in our yard at least a few times a week. We've welcomed new neighbours though, who (while childless - a big detractor in Sophie's book) seem lovely... this was the "welcome to the neighbourhood" card I slipped into their mailbox.

Puppy love... we've all had puppy on the brain lately. I'm not sure what's causing it, but we've all been talking about "when we get a dog"... the mind set wasn't helped by the day we spent at the Children's Museum in February, when ARF came with lots of puppies to love up. Sigh...

Baking bread is great any time of year, but when the wind whips and the thermometer drops below 0, it really seems appropriate! These two loves were baked to accompany a nice lasagne dinner... mmmmm!

With a family membership to the Children's Museum, we're very much regulars. One weekend in February we thought it would be fun to turn our regular family date into a playdate for Sophie, and we invited two of her friends along! Sophie, Olivia and Julia clearly "got into" this Egyptian exhibit!

February = Oscar Night!  We glammed up and welcomed friends over for our yearly party celebrating the glitz and glam of tinseltown! It was a fun night... good food, good friends, and lots of little golden men!

Teresa, one of our VIP's, makes the most of her photo op on the way in the door on Oscar night. Next year, we're trying to figure out how to incorporate a cheering crowd... 


A Month in the Life... January 2012

Well, it's come to this: we're too gosh-darned busy out there living life to sit down in front of the computer and blog about it! In an effort to compromise, I'm going to keep our little blog up and running, by under the guise of a monthly snapshot instead of a weekly or daily one. Still a wonderful way to keep up with friends and family far and wide, but not enough of a time commitment that I can't keep up with it. So that said: what happened with the Burton family in January 2012?

 Summer and Sophie went to the JLC to see "Disney Live!"... our little princess naturally wanted to dress the part!

We took advantage of some of the rare snowy days of this odd Canadian winter by getting out there and playing whenever possible! 

Chris practiced his photography skills, both with friends and on his own... he's getting to be quite the shutterbug! 

We laughed. Cause this is us... in our most natural state! 

 We cheered on the London Knights at a home game at the JLC (and despite the smile on my face, they played well under their capabilities that night... sigh!)

Chris and Summer spent an evening at the London Food & Wine show, a belated anniversary "date". Wonderful... it was fun visiting all our favourite wineries without having to drive to Niagara! 

Summer and her mother Pamela went on a long-planned cruise, to celebrate Pamela's perseverance through her recent health challenges. With a perfect cabin aboard Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, they had a wonderfully adventurous and yet relaxing week away...

Summer, raising a toast to Chris, who sent the lovely cheese and fruit tray and bottle of wine that she and Pamela enjoyed as the ship sailed out of Fort Lauderdale. There couldn't have been a more perfect bon voyage present from her honey back home...

Pamela, sipping a "Bahama Mama" aboard the sailing ship Random Wind in St. Maarten. A slice of heaven, without a doubt.

Walking the canopied path around the walled city of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's a wonderful city with an amazing history and enough diverse architecture to keep your neck craning upwards while you walk the cobblestone streets. Fantastic. 

 Some of the amazing architecture of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Summer and Pamela enjoyed a walking tour that included a progressive lunch at several small local restaurants while stopped here, and both are ready to go back at the drop of a hat!

 The final stop of the cruise, Labadee Haiti, a private peninsula run by Royal Caribbean. White sand, plentiful swimming, blue skies, attentive staff, and ample opportunities to enjoy a "Labadoozie", the local speciality. We found lots of little slices of heaven on this trip actually!


 Summer is an avid member of Cruise Critics, and was excited to have the opportunity to meet with several other members during what's known as a "cabin crawl" - with several different classes of cabin to explore (including the Royal Suite!) we had a blast travelling around and getting to know one another...