Offline for a few weeks...

We'll be off-line for awhile. We're heading to a spot without internet or cell-phone access for 3 weeks! We'll be back in mid-August. It's just the kids and I for this trip so wish me luck. We'll be with my side of the family so there will be lot's of excitement. I leave you with some pictures of summer's bounty, all served outside on the deck. Thanks to our friends for cleaning it up while we were away in the spring.

Dessert


Gravlax made from the salmon which the boys caught, served with shredded beets from the farm we subscribe to. Arugula pesto on the side. (no I don't concoct this stuff, I just enjoy it immensely)


Blackberries picked by t. and I, from the alley one block over. These are early this year. I hope we don't miss the whole crop while we're away.

Summer Fun

We've been having a lovely summer here. The weather is good and since we've discovered the really big deserted beach, we've spent more time in the sand than any summer I can remember. To be fair, I can't remember much these days with the interrupted sleep but we are definitely getting our beach fix. Our local park also has a wading pool and an activity coordinator to help entertain the kids. When T. is busy, we usually manage to spend time there having fun.

When I can manage not to worry about A. and the future, which is surprisingly more often than not, things are really lovely and fun these days. She must be working her magic on me already.

So here are a few shots of some fun we've been having, in no particular order.

Beach time on Canada Day


Windy Ferry ride

A. wondering how she's going to escape this crazy family.


No running on the pool deck!


Beach Ball

Visit to Farfar and FarMor

There are many days when I'm way too tired to write anything. Other days we are way too busy. That was one of my hesitations in starting a blog but I'm still glad I started because I've felt more in touch with all of you and I've met a few nice people from around the world besides. I still haven't joined Facebook though. I can't imagine having time for that too.

So, a few weeks have passed since we visited Farfar and Farmor (father's father and father's mother in Danish) on the island but it was great fun and it's worth posting a few pictures. As usual we feasted like royalty. They always put on a huge spread of delicious food. We also visited a local beach which we had never seen before and the fisherman's wharf. Little A enjoyed being held and loved by her grandparents and t as always, enjoyed being a big ham for everyone.

Here are FF and FM on the beach


Here are t and FF showing off their belt buckles.


Cowboy t found a good horse


Cuddles with FM


Story time with FM

Boys Fishing Trip

Well, I have a backlog of material from weeks past but I can't wait to post events chronologically.

Big T and little t just got back from a super luxe fishing trip arranged by T's buddy who has a lodge on the west coast of the island. They had a wonderful time and caught a coho to boot. This photo was taken from an iPhone (not ours) and sent to me in near real-time. How exciting. I could almost feel the sea spray. t was very reluctant to leave me at first but of course once he was there he was reluctant to come home. He seems to take a developmental leap each time he takes a trip. Once again, he is cranked up to 11.


In the mean time A and I had lots of fun hanging out at home, hiking with Auntie M, baby VV and doggy T, visiting Auntie S and Uncle B and more visiting with Auntie L. We thought we'd be cleaning house but it's way more fun to be with friends. This photo was taken from my new Nokia 6301 2 mp camera. Not too exciting for a phone but a huge improvement over my old one.

IDP Visit # 2

Earlier this week (Mon) we had our 2nd Infant Development Program session (IDP). This time the IDP consultant (C) actually assessed A's progress against a list of developmental milestones. She gave me the choice of which style of milestone list to use. There were three types. Two were quite broad and one was more detailed. I chose the detailed one because it was easy to interpret and very specific. For example one of the milestones is 'holding a toy for a certain period of time'. This detail also gives me ideas on what to work towards between sessions. The danger for me is that I'll get overly anxious if and when she is not meeting a milestone readily. Please, once this happens, send me encouraging messages.

The good news is that for now, she is doing all the things expected for a typical baby her age. The list didn't mention grabbing parents' glasses, but she's quite adept at that.

The IDP consultant says that usually kids with DS fall behind between 6 & 9 months old. The first milestone they are usually late on is getting themselves into a sitting position and sitting unassisted. The best attitude for me is to expect that she'll do it all and just be patient.

Here she is at Farmor and Farfar's place playing coy. More on our visit to Victoria in an upcoming post.

Happy Canada Day

No pictures today, it's too late. We went to the beach again and had a great time. We actually crossed the border into Point Roberts which is a little spit of land belonging to America but attached to Canada. We just wanted to look around and see if there are any nice beaches there. The line up to come back was nearly an hour and there was an altercation between a car trying to butt in line and the buttee. The latter crashed into the former and it was pretty silly. Meanwhile the kids are exhausted and A starts crying because the car is not moving. I'm not anxious to go back there.

I told t stories of Dad (Grandpa J) leaving Hungary and arriving in Canada. How he and Uncle F landed in Vancouver and had to take the train to Ontario. They had offers of adoption from all kinds of people but they eventually made it to Tillsonburg, went to school, learned English and grew to be fine Canadians. Canada Day was really important to Dad and it still means alot to me. What about all of you? What stories about Canada do you remember?

Various goings on

Sometimes days and days go by and there's just no time to sit down and write. We are trying to purge our place of unused clothes, toys, papers and junk. In between we have doctor's appointments for A, kids' birthday parties and beach days. A is 13.5 pounds and 60 cm. Her pediatrician is very happy with her progress. Her eyes are ok too. They were checked last week and although she is more far-sighted than normal for this age, it's not worth correcting with glasses at this point. I suspect someday she will join most of the rest of her family in sporting some sassy eyewear but I'm glad it's not this soon.

I'm trying to fit in some reading. A friend gave me a book called 'the MemoryKeeper's Daughter'. It's a fictional story about a family who had twins in the 60's, a girl and a boy. The girl had DS and the father who was a doctor sent the girl to an institution. The nurse can't leave her there and decides to bring her up as her own. The book runs parallel narratives of what happens to both families. It's very well written and pretty emotional. I don't read much at a time but I do love this book.

Here is a picture of us at a recent patio party that got rained out. We're dressed up because the theme was come in your favourite wedding party outfit. I'm wearing the bridesmaid dress I wore for Sue's wedding (with a crazy boa just for kicks). Tor asked me what kind of animal it was. Polyester my son, polyester. A is wearing her new dress from Auntie A. Tor's outfit speaks for itself. He is all cowboy these days.