Day: May 28, 2017

 

Killer smile!

Sierra’s first birthday was a resounding success (that’s what she reported).

The formula to a successful birthday is calculated as such:

• Sleep in an hour later
• Have a killer breakfast
• Have a party where you are the center of attention
• Have some icing
• Open some gifts
• Go for a three hour nap in the afternoon
• Live like a queen for the rest of the night
• Don’t get bit by a mosquito while sleeping

Vero spent the past two weeks planning Sierra’s birthday and it paid off in spades.  The only thing I felt bad for was how she spent so much time trying to figure out how to make a cake that doesn’t contain milk or soy…and then Sierra just ate the icing and none of the cake!  Ah well, she looked like she was enjoying the icing.

Super special thanks to everyone who showed up for the party.  It was a fantastic afternoon to hang outside (other than the million mosquitoes) and I’m glad that everyone seemed well fed.  I have to say it’s a lot harder to make sure everyone is well fed at a one year old’s birthday party compared to the Christmas party where it’s basically a potluck.

Some highlights:

• When a kid comes upstairs and says that something is broken downstairs, you know it’s going to be bad.  Turns out it was Uncle Greg’s record player.  The hinge broke off while the kids were playing around there.  I’ll have to fix that up.  At least it wasn’t the TV!
• Ethan, who generally is the go-to drummer in the gang of kids, comes upstairs and declares “It’s much too loud downstairs!”.  It definitely was.  I’m pretty sure we’ve created a new kids band.
• Sierra loved the cake icing!  I was quite surprised at how much she was into it.
• Rob pressure washing my lawnchairs (aka, getting around to something I needed to do) was a good sight to behold.

Onto the photos, taken mostly by our resident photohound Mike!

It’s pretty lonely waiting for your party to start.

She wasn’t eating too much lunch as she was eyeing up the feast about to come her way.

Sierra was super lucky to have a lot of friend visit and shower her with gifts.  Please note that the shirt I’m wearing was the same I wore a year ago when she was born!

The main event!

Keep the eye on the prize kid.

I’m surprised she hasn’t dug into that cake yet!

I made a comment about all the people who wandered in behind Sierra during the photoshoot.  Then I realize I was as guilty as the rest.  Ah well, focus on the happy girl!

Yummers!

Has there ever been a happier birthday girl?  Nope.

At one point Sierra threw the cake off the side of her tray and Vero caught it.  Vero thought it would be funny if she smeared icing on my face.  It wasn’t funny.

This is the point of the day where we are wondering when she is going to dig into the actual cake.  Spoiler: she doesn’t.

One year old!

Ok, enough photos of Sierra, let’s take a look at who else was around…

Grace, who was clearly happy about being here.

This photo probably has a limited life on this site as Ferda will email me and say “For Pete’s sake, take the photo of Kaya picking his nose off of your site!”  Get it while it lasts folks!  Let’s also remember how Cora was in behind Ferda and somehow managed to make her mom fall down on the floor, head over heels.

Ben, showing us all how it’s done with Ellie.

Killer birthday card!

I love Krista’s face in this one.

Every party always has the child possessed by a demon.  Hey, yet another photo that will probably need to come down after Chantal asks for it down.

Here’s a better shot.

Here’s an even better shot!

Jenna hanging out next to the doll that was called Jenna on the package.

 

Killer time with the trooper helmet!

Sierra hanging out in the lawn away from the party.

Vero and I are super excited for the upcoming year of Sierra’s life and we had a fantastic time with her in the past year.  Bonne fete Sierra!

I swear I have messed up on the counting along the way…oh well, here is Sierra’s final month before her birthday!

Sierra was helping me put up some safety locks on the doors.  Little did she know that she was an instrument in her own unhappiness.

We kept telling her it was too early in the year to go into the hot tub with her new toy but she wouldn’t hear it!

Look at those chompers!

We’ve had a lot of fun carrying around Sierra on our front.  However, she was getting a little too heavy to make it a fun activity so we found this backpack that Anne-Marie hd given us.  Two thumbs up for this thing!  We’ve brought her up a few times and she LOVES it.

Here is a photo of the Ottawa river.  In the distance you can see how high the water was getting.  It was nearly touching the bottom of the Chaudiere bridge!  That is quite ridiculously high…there’s usually a 100 foot drop to the water!

Etienne and I went down to get a closer view of the action.  Look at that pipe swaying back and forth!  Shortly after this, they had blocked off access to this stairwell.  I can see why!

Etienne and I scoping out the damage.

Almost a year later, Sierra finally gets to take her new wheels out for a spin!  Mom and Dad bought this at the Vars garage sale a year ago.

Etienne and I had a good vantage point of our colleague Claudia’s going away party.

I’m not sure how doing the same thing day in and day out can be…but she always loves putting this stuff on the floor!

I love how it looks like she is taking out her tooth!

*cue the maniacal laughter*

All aboard the SS Toybox!

Multiply this by 1,000 times and this is basically Vero’s typical day.

Fun at the playground!

I may or may not have had a hand in giving Sierra a new hairstyle.  I call it ‘finger in the electrical socket’

I finally picked up a Raspberry Pi!  Pretty amazing how small this thing is…the size of a credit card!

I went to the Ottawa ComicCon with Trish.  We vowed not to go back unless something amazing was happening and then John Cusack swooped in and won Trish’s heart.  However, the coolest panel was a retrospective on the show ‘You can’t do that on television!’.  I had no idea it was filmed in Ottawa until many years later.  Turns out that these kids had this acting gig just like you and I have a part time job at Wal-Mart.  Some of their classmates didn’t even know the show they were on!  Very neat to see some of the cast get together and share their stories.

Shopping date!

 

I love the dinosaur jacket that Nicki got for Sierra!

Here’s a pro tip for all you Dads out there.  If you are going to head out for a hike in the woods near the cemetery with your daughter on your back, make sure you take a close look at the forecast.  We were deep in the woods when this massive downpour hit us!  We hoofed it back home in the pouring rain.  Poor Sierra’s hands were freezing but once I got her home, I found that she wasn’t wet under her dinosaur jacket so at least she wasn’t cold all over.  I warmed her up with a blanket and we were fast friends again!

Doing some gardening.

Ruining some pictures and having some fun at Tulip Festival with Etienne, Emilie, Andree and Nat.

Speaking about tulips, this is how my front yard turned out with those Canada 150 bulbs…Mom, how do yours look?

You’ve seen one tulip, you’ve seen them all.  Time to take a break.

I don’t know what this tree is in our yard, but it blooms for a few days in the spring.  Here’s a lovely shot of my wife.

I mean, HERE is the lovely shot of my wife.

Here’s how my brain works.  I look at something (like my driveway) and say “Psh, there’s no maintenance needed!” and I leave it for years.  Then I notice neighbours getting their driveway sprayed and I think “Ah, I don’t need that.  Even if I did, I can do it myself.”  Then a few years go by and I actually do research and realize that maybe it’s a good thing to seal my driveway every few years to make it last longer.  So I spend a few years thinking “Yeah, I should look into how much it costs and what’s the best way to do it myself etc etc etc.”

Fast forward to seeing some guys doing all my neighbours driveways.  I walk over, ask if they can do my driveway and then slap $500 in their pocket.  Sometimes procrastination is ridiculous and you just need to go for it.  Plus, if all your neighbours are getting it done, you’re not the only one getting screwed if something goes wrong!

I had a good laugh at this sign in the washroom at Pele Mele.