Pirates Ahoy

After Pirate Adventrures we had a lull in the Pirate costumes. But they're back!

With BigE's cousins in town for a visit all the old toys are getting pulled out. This first picture was taken on Thursday. Friday morning they got up and back on went the costumes.

They even went to breakfast dressed like this!

BigE in his pirate costume a couple of hours later. I thought he was caught stealing some pirate treasure (chocolate chips or marshmellows) but he has his hands open pleading his innocence.



Notice that his cheeks seem a little bigger!

Swiper Cup

Here's an odd little thing BigE and I did a long time ago. I want to say almost a year and a half. We had just gotten some Dora stickers. So just for fun we stuck two onto one of BigE's cups.

One was a Dora sticker. The other a Swiper sticker. Well that poor old Dora fell off on the first run through the dishwasher. No suprise really. However that sneaky fox Swiper has managed to stay on the whole time.

This thing has been through at least 30 runs of the dishwasher.

So Swiper get's our lasting achievement award!

Sand AND Water

I think there was a toy called the Sand and Water table that we were going to buy for BigE a long time ago. Thankfully we saved ourselves thirty or fourty bucks by simply leaving the top off the sandbox.



Sometimes it's fun to have the sand next to the water. Sometimes having the sand under the water is fun.

PS that green thing is a scoop shovel and it's floating!

Who needs jammys?

Somebody loves his new red shirt. Guess what he wore to bed?

Our little trooper

Our little boy was taking it easy after a trip to the park. We were playing a running game around the sand park when BigE took a couple of spills. BigE had a couple of series Owies. Fortunately we concluded that we could fix the owie with a trip to the MACs for a Slushie. Boy that perked things up.

As we got home the BigE's legs were still hurting him a little. So I told him we could break out the cold pack to make his leg feel better. The dish cloth is covering the cold pack


As Max & Ruby ended somebody was stalling. I said you could finish watch the last of the recording if he stood up a photo. Well that seemed to fix the old energy problem



But now BigE is in bed and actually asleep. He had one busy day with Momma

The Little Fireman

Here's out little fireman. He loves his fire fighter water toy. It gets pretty good range for a soaker pattern. Dada was able to cover 20 plus feet.

And there's nothing better then a little game of "I'm going to get you"

The cat came back the very next ...

It's 6:15. 6:15 AM. Momma wakes up Dadda. She wants to take Arnie for a walk but there was an issue.

The CAT!

There was a lonely cat that was sitting on our steps waiting to come in. The last thing Arnie needs with a bum leg is the excitement of a cat. Momma had taken it to the curb, come back in, grabbed Arnie, turned around and there was the

CAT!

Hence why Dadda was woken up. Slip on the shorts and sneakers I take the cat from the front door and hang out in the driveway two doors up. That gives Momma a chance to take Arnie out for a pee. As the head back indoors I release the cat and head back to the house. I get ten feet when I turn around and see

The CAT!

So I eventually take the cat to the corner of the street. Then run the distance to the house to put some space between us. That seemed to do the trick. Of course later when we are heading out to daycare I must admit I peaked out the door to see if the cat was there. No it wasn't

Mobile BBQ

Ok so this has little to do with tbf.ca except Dada's dreams:

"It's Not a Motorcycle, Baby. It's a Mobile Barbecue Pit" [via]

Back to School Part I

Part one is for Dada. I started back tonight after work. I start the semester with a stimulating intensive course on "Management Skills". It seems as if maybe I'll have to expand my current management skill set past just jumping on the table and scream verbal obscenities at anyone who passes.

And do you know what the best / worst part is? I think I screwed up the days the courses are on in the fall. I had Momma work the shifts to make sure certain days were off. Now I think I blundered that. D'oh just doesn't cut it.

Quote of the Day 26

It's bed time and we're finishing our milk and snuggle

BigE "I want another DADDY"

Me: "Hunh?"

BigE "I want another daddy"

Me "Why?"

BigE "To play with"

Hmmmm

BigE "And I want another Momma"

Me "Another MOMMA? Why"

BigE "So they can talk"

It wasn't till after that I realized that one minute before we were talking about how Dadda wasn't going to be home tomorrow night. That's what my ego is willing to believe.

Got your dot com?

Yahoo News is running this AP piece Tots getting Internet identity at birth. They're noting how people are snatching up the .com web addresses for their kids. It's along the same basic line that parents are Googling possible names for their children.

So it shouldn't be surprising that you can go to BigE's real dot com. It's just a place holder for now. But I do have it registered.

PS BigE.com heads to hollywood.com

Be careful what you do

you may need to repeat it a 1000 times more. Words to live by with BigE.

Sometimes we'd have an Eggo in the car. Usually on the way to daycare. A couple of months ago I received a verbal reprimand for not having two Eggos. Somebody is a big boy and likes two Eggos.

Today BigE was lounging in my spot in bed when he told me he was hungry. Do you want toast? No. Yogurt? No. Eggo? YES! But then most importantly I hear

"I want ONE here and TWO left downstairs."

Me "One for now and two for the car ride?"

"YES"

Routine.

A Trip on the Bus and Train

Yesterday that was what BigE wanted to do. So in the morning Momma and BigE took the local route to the strip mall. From there they hopped on the train for a ride to the end station and back. That's not a long time. Maybe 20 minutes or so.

Once back to the strip mall they checked out the local Chapters, picking up a new set of books, and having lunch. The books are a 6 pack consisting of 3 Dora's and 3 Backyardigans. Oddly I can't find a link on Amazon to show you. But they're the longer stories (for this type of book).

A short post? Yes. Momma needs to provide more details.

It's just not my bedroom

Momma and Dada were heading out to a movie. BigE was going to sleep over with Jakie. He'd sleep in Eric's bunk bed. Once a path had been cut through the mess of clothes like a path in the rain forest.

We call at about 8:45 after the movie. Jakie says he's in bed. He goes to check. There are those little eyes still wide open looking back. BigE says he wants to talk to Momma.

BigE "Momma I wannnnnttttt youuuuuuu"

And so ends the sleep over.

Update on Arnie

An update to Arnies Cruciate Surgery. Boy Arnie seems to be doing really well. He's already started lightly using that back leg. When we do our tiny walk out the front door for business he's dieing to go for a walk.

The incision looks to be healing really well. It was very sown up very tightly.

Yesterdays fun was removing the medication patch on his hip. It was covered in tape and quite sticky. Things weren't looking very promising until Momma remembered she had some bandage remover. Which basically looks like a wet nap. With that and 2 minutes later the patch was removed.

The big bonus was Arnie didn't pant constantly between the hours of 12:00 am and 5:00 am last night so I was able to get some solid sleep.

Fire Deptartment Fun

Another old post. This time waiting for the pictures to be uploaded.

------------------------------------------------------------------
BigE had two fun adventures with the fire deptartment.

On Friday a fireman / fireperson / anti-fire individual showed up to daycare to teach the kids fire safety. A little surprising was that BigE volunteered to demonstrate stop - drop - and roll. Now maybe it was the souvenir plastic fire hat that motivated him. But I was surprised to hear that. But then when it came time to S - D - R somebody backed out.


On Saturday the WB's had booked a visit to the local fire station.


A fireman, Eric, took us on a tour of the facility. The boys got to see a call come in on the 80's dot matrix printer. There was a little tour of the living area which was interesting.




But the boys were excited to go see the trucks in the garage. BigE got to see a Pumper, ladder and fire tanker trucks. There was even a couple of boats for water rescue. Fireman Eric took out a bunch of the tools used by the firemen. Oddly all of the pry bars reminded me of digging holes in the home province. The boys even got a demo of a fireman putting on all his gear.


But of course the trucks were a big hit







And the boats were a hit. Yes they had boats because they have to patrol the river and canal way.

Quote of the Day 25

It's lunchtime and we're sitting and eating Dora-ghetti when BigE Shouts "STOP BEING HOT!"

Dada "Hunh?"

BigE "I was talking to my food"

Here I had foolishly suggested blowing on his food.

Organic Weeding

As mentioned in Organic Lawn Care it can be hard work dealing with the green. Now I find out about these tools from leevalley.com

First up is the Water-Powered Weeder. Ok kind of neat. Softens up the ground and root.

But then comes propane and flame! OH YEAH!!. Flame and yardwork in the same sentence!

Check out the Giant Weed Torch

The Auntie Bevie Camera

Even comes with a Pink case.

A Trip to Granby Zoo

In a last minute move BigE and Momma headed off to the Granby Zoo on Tuesday. BigE's buddy N from Daycare was going sometime over the next two weeks.

Suddenly Monday night we found out they were going on Tuesday. Momma sucked it up and off they went. Turned out to be a good 3 hour drive.

I have a few more pics at home to post later today.



BigE and N at the park


One of the few pictures where BigE actually smiled!


One very tired boy


The Zoo also had a water park. They didn't last there too long but did manage a few rides



So after 14 hours on the road a tired pair of people showed up on the door step!

The New York Trip

The New York Trip was a lot of fun. BigE had a blast in the pool and loved his new Backyardigans DVD. Dada managed to out spend Momma.

Things were very busy with the trip and work so most postings got dumped up when possible. So I thought I would take a minute and put them all together in one little place.

Our Little Family Trip

Port Today eating at Dinosaur BBQ

Hotel Sleepy time catching a few shots of BigE before he became the night time waker. Trying to stay up as late as he could.

Museum of Play our big event in Rochester.

Swimming in the Hotel Pool a few pics of the boy showing off his new found water bravery.

Arnies' Cruciate Surgery

Don't know who was aware but Arnie (aka Ernie) went in yesterday morning for cruciate surgery. Early reports yesterday were that everything had gone very well despite a long surgery. Big Dog equals long time apparently.

Well today we hear that he's already back up on his feet at the vet anxious to get moving. Acting as hyper as ever.

I'll be picking him up super time today.

More info on the surgery. Note we didn't do the TPLO method.

Swimming in the Hotel Pool

There's nothing like a pool. A hotel with a pool gets two bonus stars. It was very important that our hotel have a pool. Boy was BigE in luck.

It's amazing to see how far he has come in the last two months of water time. Check out his jump from the little pool wall separating the kiddie section from the main part.



In mid flight



Splash into the water



Here's our little swimmer. Since he's seen N kick his feet to swim he's picked up some real swimming form.



He's become so brave in the pool. BigE made a friend in the pool. The two of them were jumping into the pool shouting "Belly flop". Even if it wasn't quite a belly flop. The next day BigE was shouting "Cannon ball". I think BigE is getting the hang of the pool.

The only thing I didn't get a picture of was a pair of flippers we picked up from the dollar store. It took a try to get him to wear them. He didn't like them when they fell off. We did one length of the pool and he flew like a rocket.

The Museum of Play

Friday we headed to Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. Here are some of the shots we took.

The front of the building (to the street anyways) was a pretty dead give away.


There was a little garden filled with flowers and butterflys in front of the main entrance.


There was the field of play area. What is kind of hard to see in the back left corner is a tower made of skinny metal rods. There are simple 10" inflated 99c balls inside. The type you'd find at the grocery store. You can lift them up to the top where they fall through holes in the tower that are linked to different areas by wire cables. So the balls can run the full length of the room.


No play area is complete without a crazy angled room. There was also one of those classic warped perception rooms. Where the angles and room sizes are backwareds. The front of the room is tiny and the back huge.


We had a little fun on the climbing wall. But it was a little tough on the small kids.


They had a Sesame Street exhibit. Which had the real old style Sesame street. Not just that little a-hole Elmo.


A ramp up to an elvated play area was mocked up into a dual rotor helicopter.


There was even an indoor train running on a 100ft track.


A Carousel ride in the front.


Several games in giant size including connnect 4


and chess.



We never did get any pictures but we did check out the Dancing Wings Butterfly exhibit. It was pretty good. They had a laminate card with the different types of butterflys. BigE was excited to match real ones to the pictures.

Hotel Sleepy Time

Here are some shots of BigE while he was still happy about sleep time. Let's just say he got to stay up extra late. Well that was because he was lying on the bed for hours keeping his eyes open. In the end what's the difference?

He was very insistent upon having Momma snuggle and sleep with him.

The Middle of the Rainbow??

After returning from the trip we caught a little evening rain. As we looked to the North there was a rainbow in the sky

and to the south the other end.


Were those pots of gold expensive mansions in our neighborhood? And what's in the middle of Rainbow anyways?

BigE Photo Shoot

Continuing BigE's Photo Shoot we have some more new photos

The CBC morning Birthday Stars



Pulling up Lunar Jim on the DVR



A close up of BigE



BigE's toes

Pork Today!

Today we had lunch at the Dinosaur BBQ. That was some pretty good ribs. Momma insists that the Montana's Ribs back home are just as good. I'm not so sure. But for the sake of scientific study I think we'll go back there just to compare.

Now the pulled pork sandwich was impressive. That pork was smooth and soft as ... well ... silk.

As far as the layout and decor it was a good thing we knew it was a bit of a biker bar. The bathroom decor was highschool bathroom.

That was about 2 days worth of meat and a week of cholesterol.

Our little family trip

As the last post of the day indicated we're on a little family trip to the state of New York. No not to the big city. We'll be posting when we can.

As Momma says so "Dada needs to get his fix"

Quote of the Day 24

We're at our hotel and BigE wants some Cereal. It's one of those plastic dispensers with the wide mouth and handle. Of course we fear the worst. BigE does the pour. Things aren't too bad but we do spill. After all the cereal does pour out of those things.

Not 30 seconds after we sit down and older gentlemen steps up to get some cereal. WHOOOSSE the cereal pours every where.

BigE "Hey he spilled the cereal too"

Momma [barely able to control her laughter]

I don't want to get dressed!

After a few days of daycare and some fun pool time BigE was pretty wiped yesterday. So after a morning of lounging I asked him to go the grocery store to pick a couple of things ups. Somebody wants to go but not take off his pj's. He decides to solve the problem by just putting on the shorts


But then he realizes his problem. Everyone will still see his pj's.

We eventually solve our dilemma by simply getting dressed.

Falling out of bed

Little BigE fell out of bed last night. It was just after 11 and I was about to go to bed when I hear a THUMP and a bump. Could easily have been Arnie jumping off the spare bed. But I was pretty sure Arnie was in the basement.

I listen for a few seconds then I hear the cry. By the time I get upstairs BigE has already climbed back up on the bed. I pick him up to comfort him. That's when I realize despite the bang and crying he's still basically still asleep. So I put him down, give him a hug, and put the blanket back over him. Ten seconds later he's asleep again.

Next morning he thinks I'm joking when I tell him he fell out of bed. "Dada your joking" as he likes to say now.

It's the only the time we think he's done it.

BigE's Photo Shoot

Somebody wanted to take a few pictures. It's an interesting sequence.

Here's the TV


Here's our Lunar Jim DVD starting up


Then came the picture of the fridge and Arnie's bum


Then came the calendar. This one I have no idea why



Busted! What are you doing?