GIVING THANKS

The boys had a P.D. day on the Friday of the Thanksgiving weekend which made it easy to make a quick escape from the city after Dave and my half day of school.  Thankfully traffic wasn't too bad and even after an early dinner stop and a grocery store stop up North we were still on the dock by 6:30pm in time to enjoy the gorgeous sunset while we jumped on the trampoline.  The cousins arrived super late that night which was a great morning surprise, as we had thought they were coming up on Saturday.  Grampa Mike and Uncle Connor made the journey over from Ottawa arriving in the afternoon.  It was wonderful to gather around a table together for a delicious meal and many, many laughs.  We all have a lot to be thankful for and it is always nice to stop and reflect on what we are most grateful for in life.  Auntie Erin, Uncle Paul, Aunt Kristen, Kaitlyn, Sean and Auntie Meg were missed this year.  We will cross our fingers for 100% attendance next Thanksgiving.

Quinn out testing Grampa's new kayak

Q and K out for a morning paddle

The sun was shining and it was warm so why not go for a dip?

No turning back now...  Kieran is OFF the dock!

And quickly out -  BURR!  That is cold!

Sunsetting, stand up paddle boarders out for a paddle

Leaves dancing on the lake - a sure sign of Fall

Uncle Dave with all of the kids on the island

Uncle Darin getting some tips on how to carve a turkey courtesy of Grampa Mike

Cute face playing "Challenge, Challenge"

Maeve dressed for dinner.  Her special hat made at school and her bathing suit, of course!!!

GRAMPA MIKE

We were grateful to spend some time with Grampa Mike over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Given the distance from Ottawa to Toronto we don't connect with him often enough, but when we do, it is obvious this Grampa is loved and adored to the moon and back by all of his grandchildren.  Thanks for all you do Grampa Mike!  We love you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

This amazing family picture was brought home by Quinn end of day Thursday.  On the back it explains what he is thankful for.  Simply put, he is thankful for our love.
This Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things, among them to have a family to love and be loved by, to be healthy, happy and oh so fortunate for all that we have.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Kieran's response upon seeing this pic for the first time, "That's really beautiful Quinny.  Why the heck am I wearing a pink shirt?"  Quinn for the record, I love my dress but what happened to daddy's feet?

I am thankful for my family because "they love me."

X-COUNTRY

I had two very excited runners today.  We were down at Ashbridges Bay for the TDSB X-Country Race.  The youngest runners are grade ones, so Quinn was thrilled to be able to participate.  Kieran has loved his x-country experiences in both grade 1 and 2 and was excited to be back racing in the grade 3 boys race.  I was amazed at the number of people there.  In the grade 1 boys race alone I heard there was more than 300 boys (Quinn placed 15th overall) and just under 300 in the grade 3 boys race (Kieran came 36th overall).  Both boys ran their little hearts out, but most importantly had a complete and utter blast while doing it.  Grams, Grampa Claw and my uncle Pat came down to cheer them on.  Between their team mates and family they had quite a fantastic cheering section spread around the course.  Huge thanks for coming out to share in the fun of the day.

A nice msg from dad when we came down for breakfast

36th place overall

NO FEAR!

Quinn no longer uses the park climbers the way most kids do.  His climbing skills, confidence and fearlessness have him shimmying up the outside of the plastic tunnel slides while kids slide down inside of it, hauling himself up the poles rather than using the stairs and climbing to the highest point of a climber just to hang out. 

HELPERS EXTRAORINAIRE!

Dave was down in New York State last weekend with more than a dozen athletes from our school cross country team.  They were competing in a major race run annually which Dave attended when he was a student at SMCS.  The positive impact and memories it created in Dave's life have made him enjoy taking his athletes down now that he is the coach, hoping it will have the same affect on them.  The weekend prior Dave had reseeded the lawn.  He had been sure to turn the sprinkler on each evening to water the grass with the hopes of a good growing season ahead.  With Dave away the boys, unasked went to the garage, set up the sprinkler, hauled it out to the front lawn and turned it on.  I had gone upstairs to get dressed and came down to find the grass being watered.  Impressive, helpful and thoughtful little people.

GOALS AND WISHES

Last week we attended Curriculum Night at the boys school.  Given that we have been the teachers giving curriculum night for so long, it is such a treat to be on the other end of the stick, attending as parents.  We enjoyed wandering each of the boys classrooms, getting to know their teachers, some families in the classroom and look at some of the work done to date.  Both Quinn's grade 1 class and Kieran's grade 3 class had set goals and made wishes for the year ahead.  I thought they were worth sharing.

Quinn enjoying reading in the classroom at night with his buddy Cooper and C's sister Lola.

Quinn's grade one wish

Room 204's School of Fish Wishes

Kieran's grade 3 goal and name fish.  "My goal in grade 3 is to be a better writer and practice writing once a day."