Faith's horse show

Faith's riding stable held its first horse show of the summer, and this year we were actually in town so Faith could participate. She was a little unsure of the whole thing but once she decided to go for it, she was determined to win some ribbons.

She entered three classes, which I can list out, but have no real clue what the criteria is for "good". I just know that she can control her saucy horse, Nomi, really well. And, that she rides bitless (which Sydney would love).

George, Blake, and I watched all the classes and, for the grandparents, I videotaped two of them. Sorry for the strange clicking noises -- this was me zooming in and out. And, the quality is questionable. (Does this mean I need to upgrade to HD video?) You'll see Nomi is a handful, even at 22, but Faith keeps her cool.

In the end, Faith came away with two thirds, and a fifth. Not bad for her first official show, no lead lines. And, she's determined to do better next time. She also wants to start jumping more. Like this (yikes!):

More horse show pictures

Sunday Stills: The Rule of Thirds

I actually had time to participate in the Sunday Stills challenge for the week. The theme this week is the "Rule of Thirds". For those not familiar with this photography rule, take a photo, cut it into thirds horizontally and vertically. The sweet spot is the points in the corners where the lines intersect. Honestly, if you follow this one rule with your photos, you'll start noticing some surprising improvements. And, once you know about it, you'll never look at another photo, or movie or tv camera shot, the same way again.

Here are some examples of the rule of thirds, which strangely turned into an animal theme for me. From our Zoo trip this week:

And, one from the stable where Faith does her riding lessons. Ashley bought this mini-horse for $56, including tax, from a horse auction. Jackson is in poor shape due to neglect, but Ashley will have him back in shape in no time. Jackson will eventually weigh about 80 lbs or so, but can pull about 700 lbs, and carry a 150lb person on his back.

Staycation: The Zoo

We've been talking about going to the TO Zoo for the last three years. Finally--finally!--we scheduled a date and did it. The weather was sunny, and hot, but we missed all the rain and thunderstorms that have been plaguing us this week.

After surviving the TO traffic mess that is the 401, we arrived at the zoo around 10:30. The parking lot was just filling up. It was a pit stop of backpacks, strollers and sunscreen. ("You're not going to the zoo unless I put on your sunscreen!" Lather, rinse, repeat.) We made sure everyone had hats before we set out--bright, shiny purple and blue for the girls and orange for Blake. Best decision of the day. We could always pick out the kids from the crowd.

We saw all the usual suspects at the zoo, although the butterflies were a little unexpected. This one landed on George's hat and hung out for awhile:

The weather was a little hot for the animals (human and otherwise), but we did get to see elephants, orangutangs, white-handed gibbons (my personal favourite), snakes, lizards, turtles, lions, zebras, giraffes, tigers, and hippos, which is what George is showing Blake:

Zoos are definitely good places to learn about Mother Nature in all her glory. Blake explained before we went that we would see lots of women's "bo-bos" while were there. (I'll have to defer to George's observations on this one.) Then, as we were looking at the giraffe, he loudly pointed out, "He has a penis Mommy!" A true learning experience.

The highlight for Faith and Cordelia was the Sharks and Stingrays exhibit. You actually got to pet the stringrays as they were gliding around a giant pool. George and I were both sure that Blake would love this exhibit too, but not so much. Cordelia and Faith were completely into petting the stingrays (the barbs were filed down, so no danger), but Blake thought the whole thing was way too scary. And, when the sting ray splashed him with water, the whole thing went to hell. (Stingrays feel like wet rubber, in case you ever wanted to know.)

After sting rays, we spent what amounted to the GDP of a small country on ice cream for all of us (a bribe to calm the nerves of the little dude). Then we were off to see the polar bears, thinking that this would be a good way to "cool" down in the afternoon. Not so much. Apparently the polar bears don't rate air conditioning. They just hang out in the shade.

After that it was back to the car to head home at 3:00 before the traffic got out of control. To be honest, it was long enough at the zoo. The kids were ready to go, and when we got back to the car, it seemed like everyone else had the same idea--lots of empty spots around us.

We enjoyed the zoo, although I did have that uncomfortable feeling when we went through many of the exhibits. Perhaps the tiny environmentalist in me wondering if zoos were really the best place for all these animals. Seeing Polar Bears in 35 degree weather just didn't seem right. But, as George pointed out, many of the animals were safer here than being hunted in the wild. Still...

If you're interested, more Zoo Pictures are posted on my flickr photostream.

Staycation: The Science Centre

I took this past week off to hang out with the kids, and do some activities we've been talking about but haven't had the chance to do based on time or age (Blake's, not mine).

On Monday, we hit the Ontario Science Centre. I haven't been to the Science Centre since I was in high school. And, on that visit, we spent most of the time hanging out in the cafeteria telling funny jokes and laughing our asses off. Not so much with the enlightenment, but definitely fun.

This time, we met George's brother's family, and his cousin's family to do a tour that started with the Harry Potter exhibit. All of us are fairly big fans, so it was a good chance to see the costumes and props used in the movies up close and personal. And, I must say, it was very cool seeing Hagrid's huge costume, Dolores Umbridge's sickeningly pink, confectionary suits, and the surprisingly small sizes of the costumes for the kids -- hard to believe they were that young when this whole franchise started.

After being suckered into $4 chocolate frogs for the kids in the gift shop, we had lunch and then headed out to see the rest of the Science Centre. A particular favourite was the cave, where the kids decided to hide in the nooks and crannies:

Faith and her cousin, Ava

Wyatt, Blake, and Nathan

Other highlights included the examples of snot, complete with a simulated sneeze, and the Kids area where they ran around like maniacs. I decided to keep the kids at the centre after the others left so we could see the Under the Sea IMAX picture. Stunning - even though Blake fell asleep half-way through. (No, we didn't see any sharks in the movie, in case he asks.) The nap was good though, so the kids could keep going through the rest of the exhibits, including the Science Arcade, where they got to pretend to drive, learn about leverage, and have fun with mirrors:

Faith & Cordelia

We ended the day with a trip to Swiss Chalet to refuel before the trip home. Faith learned she liked Caesar Salad (thanks to Cordelia), and Blake charmed the waitress by handing him her plate at the end of the meal.

The trip home was uneventful (the best you can ask for with TO traffic). We got home exhausted but very happy with the whole experience.

Sunday Stills: Shadows

The challenge this week was Shadows. This is a bit of a difficult challenge at this time of year, based on how early sunrise is, and how late sunset it, but I found a couple of shots to use. And I threw in one from the past that I particularly love.

This is the morning sunlight coming through the front upstairs windows, reflecting on the wall -- taken at about 6:00 am:

My lovely niece came to visit this weekend, and we got to babysit while her dad (my brother) cut down a tree at a friend's house. This was at breakfast, complete with bedhead. Pearl's name matches her disposition, and her beautiful round face, (corny but true):

And, I couldn't resist this one, a blast from the past, but one of my all time favourite portraits. It's of my Dad very early in the morning when he brought us out to see a new colt. The morning light was perfect, and we were standing beside an open barn door:

The Queen

For the first, and likely last, time in my life, I got to cut a meeting short at work by saying, "The Queen is here. I have to go." Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stopped next door to our office today today t0 tour a RIM manufacturing building, and pick up a free Blackberry.

I saw a couple of people with Canadian flag lawn chairs set up at 6:30 am this morning, but most people showed up closer to 10:30 to wait for her arrival. It was quite the production number, involving helicopters, motorcycles, SUVs, limos, horses, and the poor dude who got stuck on the roof, dressed in black and on the lookout with his binoculars. (More pictures on my photostream.)

I just saw her off in the distance walking to her limo (in a full hat, coat, and dress, in 40 degree C weather!), but I did get a good spot to see her driving out of the parking lot, with the customary wave. In this shot, you can see her and Prince Philip waving...at me, right?

And another one....my favourite actually.

I wasn't too excited about seeing the queen until it actually happened. Then, the atmosphere around the office, and around the RIM building was festive. I even met up with a former co-worker as we caught up along the fence line and waited for Her Majesty.

I'd say it was once in a lifetime, but my grandparents actually took me to see the Queen when I was a kid. I remember waiting a very looong time to see this woman ride by in a car, waving. A little deja vu today, but with a 20 minute wait instead. It was a spectacle that was fun to be part of. And, it was just next door.

The long weekend

I took an extra long weekend -- Thursday to Sunday -- so we had time to do some fun family stuff. And, we even got to sleep in a couple of times (as in slept past 6:30 am).

Canada Day itself was very low key, which is my ideal. The next day, however, I decided that it was time to make a little bit of history and take Blake to the movies for the first time. I'd avoided this until now because, although he does enjoy movies, he's also one active kid. I was a little worried I'd have to chase him around the theatre.

We decided to make it a first for all of us and went to see a 3D movie, Toy Story 3. I splurged for kiddie snacks for the kids, and adult snacks for me, so the whole thing cost us the GDP of a small country, but it turned out to be totally worth it. Blake sat up on a booster seat with his popcorn and drink tray on his lap, and his 3D glasses on his nose, looking completely like a grown-up little guy. The movie started late, which worked out well for strategic washroom breaks, AND we got free passes to another movie. Worth the extra 15 minutes.

When the previews came on, all in 3D, Faith leaned over and said, "This is COOL." I leaned over a few minutes later and said, "This is VERY cool." Blake said nothing the whole time, except for laughing. Toy Story 3 was probably the best of the bunch, and had a three-hankie ending (adults only, kids thought it was fun). As soon as the credits rolled, however, Blake was done. Cute extras in the credits? Who cares!

That was our Friday afternoon. Saturday afternoon was another adventure, this time with my brother and his family. They have a new camper and were on their inaugural voyage. The kids played at the beach, and generally ran around like shiny, happy people.

For supper, we had the traditional cookout of burgers and hotdogs, with marshmallows for dessert. Faith was in charge of marshmallow production - burned or brown. I think we went through about 40 of them. Crunchy, soft, warm, gooey, goodness.

Jordyn didn't get to eat marshmallows, but I think she was drooling just at the smell.

We ended the evening with fireworks over the lake. Quite the show actually, for a small campground. It was these two guys out on a raft in the middle of the lake lighting up the fireworks. A little too close to explosives for me....and we did see them jump out of the way a few times when some of they exploded a little too soon.

We rolled the kids into the car at 11:00 and headed out, two kids passed out in the back, and the soothing tones of the GPS guiding us back home.

Sunday Stills: Framed + Happy Canada Day

Yes, it's Monday, evening in fact, but it was a busy weekend, so....what can I say? This week's Sunday Stills theme was "Framed", which was actually pretty difficult to figure out. So, I went with a shot in honour of Canada Day weekend.

This picture of the kids in the window was a harder shot than I thought...not bad but I couldn't get the filter to get rid of the reflections as much as I'd have liked.

This one represents the gorgeous weather we had this weekend, with a little world cup soccer thrown in for good measure.

Stay tuned for another "framed" shot. The subject is the Queen of England. Yes, the Queen!