How long till a Blog dies from inactivity?

Here's a post simply for the purpose of making sure my account doesn't get yanked due to inactivity. It would be nice to store the blog as a sort of journal - just haven't really looked into how to do that yet.

Another photo show, with some armchair commentary.

This fall photo from Windsor Park was supposed to be our 2007 Christmas card photo, but we never pulled it together to actually get it printed out. So here it is in all it's non-paper goodness.

Amped up in the leaves.

We got to check out our first Remembrance Day ceremony last November, and it was surprisingly nice out. I seem to recall that it always poured rain when watching this on CBC as a child, which seemed fitting given the somber nature of the ceremony. Our view was terrible, but it was great to see the massive crowd that had gathered. Ethan even managed to sleep through the fly-past and the 21 gun salute.

Getting some help with supper.

Random stuff

I spent a couple of days in Pennsylvania in early October, and just had to take a photo of this "car commercial" style winding road I found myself on. Not two minutes later, I had to hit the brakes, and wait for 5 wild turkeys to cross the road.


Thanksgiving supper at M&L's.








On an impulse, Soph's friend Jane flew into Ottawa for a 4 day visit. Here they are getting blown away at Champlain lookout.





Bub REALLY loves games of peek-a-boo right now with his old man (hiding behind the headrest).






Ever try to do a family photo, using a 10-second timer, and a tripod? I'm so glad for digital, because 90% of the photo's never worked out. How are you supposed to get a baby to look straight-ahead at the camera, when Dad just pressed the shutter and is running back towards you? ( by snapping fingers of course).

There - that one worked.

Lake Placid

Near the end of September, we had this great idea to head 3hrs south to the Adirondaks in New York, and take in the changing leaves.





The view from our hotel on Mirror lake, situated in the town of Lake Placid. It's an historic little resort town, made famous through hosting the 1932, and 1980 Winter Olympics.

Heavy cloud cover obscured most of the highest mountain tops during our 3 days, so we opted not to do the drive up Whiteface. It looked like an epic snowboarding location though, and I've made a mental note to come back.

Rest stop at the side of the road.









Burning off some energy before bedtime.



Driving back from Heart Lake.

The Mush Chronicles

Ethan has been demonstrating all the signs of being ready to eat solids for a while already, and we figured the extra calories may help to push him through the night. Our first attempt was with rice cereal while we were in Winnipeg, however, the entire trip seemed to throw his groove off, and so we abandoned it until returning to Ottawa. Since then, he's tried all sorts of foods, going through phases where he liked to sit in his chair, liked to sit on our laps, preferred a spoon, and sometimes preferred for us to hand feed him.

Ethan is still occasionally a bit cautious about the whole process, and may be asking " What is this strange-textured stuff? There's no way I'm eating any more of this crap until I see papa take a spoonful as well". At one stage, he abandoned the solid foods entirely, and went on a brief two week hunger strike. On reflection, we figure it was likely just due to a cold. After that cleared up, he seemed ok again with the prunes, sweet pototoes, wax beans, pears, blueberries and the full-fat yoghurt. It's shocking though how many clothes he is plowing through now, even with the bibs. The cloth ones turned out to be useless, and we opted for the wipeable plastic ones instead.

A Dissappearing Summer

Even though the daylight hours start diminishing in June, I usually only start to get shocked, and dismayed by the lack of sunlight come August. I'm definitely not ready for winter yet, and am already dreading those upcoming months where I'll leave for work in the dark, and come home in the dark. The fact that hockey is starting again offers little consolation, especially given the fact that Ottawa came up as the bridesmaid last season.

All of these feelings led to an urgency to get in some last minute outdoor activities: Here they are:

Left - We scrambled up the 400m Eardley escarpment in Luskville, Quebec on a steaming +30C afternoon. The backwards facing baby carrier was the ticket - Ethan giggled the whole way up watching Sophie follow my tracks.

Looking down on the Ottawa valley from a lookout point close to the top. This is one of those vertical hikes, where you think the reward will come on the way back down, yet the trek down was actually way harder, and I blew out my knees for a good 48 hours afterwards.

Sophie trying out the baby carrier on the front during an evening walk along a path below Rockcliffe park.

Chillin and illin (literally) on the floor - I had to clean it up.

Sophie standing at the entrance to the lobby of the world's largest log cabin - the Chateau Montebello. This hotel made of red cedar logs, has also gained familiarity through recently hosting the US, Mexican, and Canadian Tri-lateral meetings. As we approached the grounds through a beautiful nature trail in the woods, it was hard to believe the place had only recently taken on another life as an impenetrable fortress.

Contemplating the sweet things in life whilst waiting for Poutine, and beer made from Spruce trees at a diner in the Laurentians. (actually - I decided to pass on the Spruce beer, and picked up a king can of cheapass Molson Export for the campsite later that night)

Watching the sun set from the quay in Oka.




I would have been thoroughly dissapointed had we let summer pass, and not attempted camping at least once with Ethan. We figured we'd test the waters first, doing some simple car camping in Oka national park, only 2 hours from home.

Sophie and Ethan showing the tell-tale signs of getting wicked "eye-ers" from the smoke all morning long. I think bub is exhibiting a bit of tent-face as well. We had a blast though, and I have to say our first try at camping worked out very well, even if it was car-camping. I'm always surprised at how quickly I forget about the fact that there are no mosquitoes - it's one of those things we've started to take for granted already.

Wakey, Wakey, eggs and bakey. Actually, no bakey for us. I think we had yoghurt and granola bars. (note the dead king can on the table though! I had to stoke the fire with a few all-nighter logs to finish that one off. I'm so lame.

Smith's Falls and the Chocolate Factory

We took a day trip down to Smith's Falls in late August. It's a historic little town of around 10000 people, made famous by its numerous locks on the Rideau Canal, and for the Hershey Chocolate Factory. We felt an urgency to visit the town, as Hershey has announced that they are closing the chocolate factory in 2008, and moving operations down to Mexico.




Left - we began the day with what we thought would be a quick lunch at a local Pizza restaraunt. It started out well enough, with orders being taken right away, and a generally busy diner atmosphere to keep us entertained. Bub was happy, and the country music playing over the sound system seemed fitting for the hard-done-by town. However, when you hear the one waitress, arguing with the one cook, about why the kitchen lost the order, and why so-and-so ain't showing up again, you have to brace yourself. Nothing will test your patience, like waiting an hour and a half for a rubber omellete, all the while dealing with a baby who doesn't think hanging out at the table is the coolest thing anymore. Needless to say, when the next song coming through the speakers was "tequila makes her clothes fall off" - I was ready to leave.



When I heard about the chocolate shop, and the free self-guided tour around the chocolate factory, I had imagined the whole thing may be a bit overblown...a tourist trap perhaps. But when we pulled around the bend, and were within a block of the company, the overwhelming smell of chocolate filled the air. We parked and entered the chocolate shop, which could only be described as a chocaholics madhouse. The place was packed, and people were lined up 5 deep trying to get at the bulk bins. I've never seen the like.


The shop sells almost the entire line of Hershey products at close to "at cost" value, and so the binging was monumental. After we left, it was easy to see how the local town is fighting so hard to keep at least the shop open for business.


Amongst the throws of people wandering around frantically, we partially succumbed to the insanity, and left with WAY more than we needed to.

The Exersaucer of Madness

Ethan REALLY LOVES the exersaucer that his cousin Keelin has leant him. Unfortunately, his mom has to take the blue sucky thing right off of his console lest it drive him (and her!) completely nutso!

Otherwise, it's a great play station for him. He spins all around and manages his world from there. For a little while, anyways. (Hey, I don't even have that long of an attention-span!) Greg calls it Ethan's "control centre", as he spins around frantically pushing buttons and generally throwing stuff.

Winnipeg summer '07

Soph's post - Grandma P had lots of fun giving Ethan rides on her chair. He was pretty keen and especially enjoyed being outside on the back porch - then he could at least hear the cars going by on Corydon!

Other advantages to being on the popular strip, is going for pints with friends. Dylan thought he'd show Ethan how good a pint of Keith's can taste. Hmm hmm good!

Ethan enjoyed watching the traffic go by on Corydon while sitting on the back of the couch at Grandma Ps house. He also got to spend a good amount of time in the van, which he had a love-hate relationship with (it all depends on how bumpy the ride was).

We spent an afternoon and evening in St.Lupicin with the family during the last weekend in July, when they were putting on a music festival to raise money for the church. Cousin Eric drove the shuttle truck from the parking lot to the festival site (you can tell he really hated that job!)

We got to swim in the pool at St.Lu, but Ethan thought it was a bit cold that day. He did have a fantastic swim at Marj and Jim's pool a few days earlier, where the water was as warm as a bath. The weather hovered around 36 deg C for most of the time we were in Manitoba, so we either hunkered down indoors in the a/c, or hung out in other people's pools. Thanks for that!

Ethan and Jane at Safeway in Osborne Village....It was fun to finally be able to 'introduce' Ethan to friends and family who had yet to meet him. Everyone who has known Greg for the longest say Ethan looks like him, and everyone who's known me the longest say he looks like me. Hmm. I guess there's a good mix in there, eh?

There was a show on at Imax about sharks, and we got to see the display for it at the Forks. Ethan thought it was pretty exciting... We enjoyed walking around the Forks and sort of being tourists in our hometown.

Ethan and I survived the flight to Winnipeg and back to Ottawa, although it would have been nice to fly with papa. Good thing it's such a short trip....

Heather drops in

(Soph's post) Heather came through Ottawa in the beginning of July, and we had to take her to some of our favorite spots, one being a hike around Pink Lake in Gatineau Park. It reminded her and I of the good ol' days and canoe trips in the Canadian shield.

Halfway through our hike, we stopped at a lookout point where a couple was also enjoying the view, and they wanted to get a look at the bub hiding in the snuggly. When Ethan woke up and saw the strange couple staring at him, he started to laugh uncontrollably. It's a strange laugh, completely pure and innocent, and even he doesn't seem to know why he's doing it, but it goes on and on, keeping him entertained. The funny thing is that it's contagious, and everyone keeps laughing at him because it sounds so unique. He pulled off this stunt about a week earlier for the first time, when Sophie was walking in the park, and ran into another couple.
Seems like new people get him going.


The night prior to Heather leaving for her Algonquin canoe trip, she took us out for supper at the Courtyard restaurant in the Byward market. It was one of those characteristic summer evenings, where the weather was ideal, and the food was superb. The kind of evening you long for when winter is still threatening your sanity in March. The outdoor patio got Greg's added approval for being the only place left in the city that still had a remaining stock of Hoeggarden.


Heather liked this picture of Ethan doing the airplane, looking a bit stunned, while she kept the conversation rolling. Hey! She's a natural. It's like how I've learned to do so many things with just one hand (teeth brushing, meal prep, eating, etc)! It was great to have a visitor to Ottawa again, since the busy times of May are long gone already.

Oh, and we put in another order for a hat for the bub with Heather; he needs to have the hippest touque come winter, eh?!

Random stuff

Here's a post to clean up the last couple of months. Sophie's currently got the camera in Wpg., so no posts about the MB trip till late August (who am I kidding...it will be 2008 before a post comes out).

Back to June - Arn and Janet had us over at their farm near Ashton on Father's day for the June birthday's get-together. Most of the clan from Charles and Marie's family made it out as well for a relaxing day in the country. The hobby farm they have setup seems to be the ideal way to separate the nearby urban life from the more simplistic means of the country. So peaceful to just sit on the veranda, and overlook the wind blowing across the wheat fields in the valley below.

One of the perks of having spent most of 2007 working out of Ottawa, is that we get to have consistent weekend breakfasts together again. Nothing beats waking up on a Saturday, realizing you don't have to go in to work, and then whipping up some pancakes with Quebecois maple syrup. Our kitchen table is miniscule, but when the sun shines in, and Bub is well rested, it all seems to be just right.

The weather has been great from June into July, and so we spent as much time as possible exploring the region. Left is a photo of me testing the limits of the stroller through a bush walk on Petrie Island in Orleans. Some other highlights from that week: a late evening walk through the mystical Mer Bleue, a moss-filled bog reminiscent of a far Northern ecosystem. Sophie actually managed to spot one of the weird frogs making the "duhnk" sound, like water dripping in a deep well. My eyes are never patient enough to locate such details.

Left - We discovered a historic little town on a Northern section of the Gatineau river, nestled in amongst the surrounding hills. Wakefield is a resort-like town, with the main drag filled with local coffee shops, small pubs, ice cream parlours, and tonnes of local artisans. The entire town follows the shore on a wide expanse in the river. Upstream from the town, a long red wooden covered bridge is still maintained for pedestrian traffic. The town was especially festive the day we were there with Canada day celebrations going on.

Sophie and I finally succumbed to the Shawarma King, and picked up some Lebanese for a picnic by Lac Leamy in Gatineau. The tabouleh was OK, but baklava is now hands-down, the best dessert I've ever had. I've noticed how most cities in Canada have a prominent cultural food, the type that is sold in every other restaurant on the block. Vancouver has it's sushi, Halifax has it's donair, Montreal the smoked meat, but in Ottawa - it's all about the Shawarma apparently.

Left - Bub and I must go to the same barber.