Life in fast forward

Kitty cat Bean making salsa

Schmoo after her first day at Rhythm Ropers

Has it really been over a week since my last blog entry? I guess so. Our road trip to Vancouver last weekend already feels like a distant memory. And this week has been full of activity - not one evening where Papa and I have spent the evening together at home. Crazy!

Vancouver was wonderful. A big thanks to Grandma Lady again for making it happen. We had beautiful weather for driving (there and back) and for enjoying the day in Vancouver on Saturday. It was one of those blue sky days where living in Vancouver seems like the best idea in the world. We had a fantastic visit with V & D and their little boy, M. We had a double date on Friday night to a local mexican restaurant, thanks to D's parents coming to babysit M. It's been ages since the four of us have actually sat down and had an adult conversation, so it was a real treat. And the raspberry margherita was yummy too! Saturday Papa and I spent about 4 hours just wandering around Park Royal mall. Again, something we've never done without our children. We had a takeout lunch from Whole Foods, wandered the shops, bought some new bed sheets and then made our way back to the house for some one on one Super Mario Cart action on D & V's Wii and home theatre movie screen. What fun!

The Mason Jennings concert was fun. We had a wonderful seafood / fish dinner at Joe Fortes to start, including vanilla creme brulee for dessert. The concert was at the Commodore Ballroom, a venue that brings back lots of memories for me. We were up way past our bedtime, but had a great time grooving to the mellow tunes of Mason. Sunday we headed back early to make it home to help with bedtime and a visit with Grandma Lady. The kids had had a great weekend, with a daily trip to Dairy Queen, of course!

On an exciting note, Schmoo finally got the call to the Rhythm Ropers this week. She has 4 visits to try it out and then they'll let her know (and she can decide) whether she makes the team. Monday was the first session and wow, do they work hard. Bean and I stuck around for the first 45 minutes and watched her do some warm-up games and then learn how to skip double dutch. When I picked her up at 5pm, she was red in the face and exhausted, but higher than a kite. The other kids were really welcoming and lots of people commented on how fantastic she had skipped. Here's a picture of her tired little face when I got her home. She's back at it tomorrow afternoon and again next week.

Bean's passion this week has been playing "kitten". They made kitten ears at school and painted the kids' faces with whiskers and red noses. So here's Kitten Bean helping Papa make zucchini salsa from our garden.

This week has been manic. Soccer on Monday night, movie date on Tuesday night, month end on Wednesday night. Tonight is soccer night for Papa - his last game before they move indoors later in October. I enjoyed a relaxed "day after month end" day today with both kids at school and the day to myself. A trip to the gym and an afternoon snooze makes for a happy mom, especially after a middle of the night wake up from you know who this week. Tomorrow is another home day, but I'm off to another meeting in the evening (seriously!!) and Papa is going to give the co-ed soccer group a try. We've got a dinner date with some other families on Saturday night and Sunday Papa has a golf game. No rest for this little family.