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| I *really* wanted to read something other than the second Warriors book to Linden at night, so Juniper happily took over the Warrior-related duties. Win-win-win. |
I realize that "Surviving February" is relatively dramatic (and cliché) in both title and concept. But on this dreary Monday morning, with the wind howling, and the rain hammering down, and Clark getting ready to leave for a week in Winnipeg, this is exactly how I feel.
I also realize that I didn't post last week. This was not because of any dire or particularly good reason (as my mother feared, when she called to see why there was no post), but rather because... well, to be honest, there wasn't a whole lot to post about. Or, at least, there weren't all that many photos to help tell a story. I've been laying pretty low over the last - oh, 19 weeks or so - which means that even when I do feel up to joining in on adventures, I often do not also also have the hutzpah to lug the camera along. All this is by way of saying that these posts may switch to every two weeks for awhile - at least until my energy level goes up a bit.
Anyway, I do have a bit of a hodge-podge to offer today, with some of the ways we've been weathering the shortest, dreariest month.
1. Dates
We reinstated an old favourite that had fallen by the wayside: date days! This particular time around, it was a mama/daughter, father/son divide, but next time we'll switch it up. The kid gets to choose the activities, and gets a parent all to themselves. We might as well cram as many in while it is still feasible! Clark didn't take any photos of the boys' adventure, but I have a couple from our day. It involved lunch at Subway, some knitting instruction, a game of open-handed cribbage (Juniper is only just learning, but will hold her own soon), some general library hangouts, and then a snack at Pete's Frootique. It was all pretty great, except that we were forced to sit beside a guy at the library who snored loudly the whole time. Ah well.
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| Knitting concentration |
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| Pete's snack! |
2.
Outdoor activities
We are, obviously, a very outdoor-oriented family. February, however, makes it VERY tough to be enthusiastic about our outdoor options. This is especially true around here, where the weather is constantly in dramatic flux. One day, it is warm and rainy, the next it is freeze-your-face-off cold, and it is basically just always break-neck icy in between times. But when possible, we persevere. This past weekend, for instance, we gathered up all the gear and headed to the skating Oval at the Commons. I did not skate (in fact, I didn't even hang around long, as the wind chill was something ridiculous, like -25 C), but Clark and the kids sure did!
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| Gearing up |
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| This makes it look like they had the Oval to themselves, but it was packed! |
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| Happy little skater |
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| Linden, rocking the hand assists that were available |
3.
Indoor Activities
There are way more indoor-oriented activities in February than there are other times of the year. Luckily, there are many thing to keep us occupied. We've started accumulating some great family board games, and there are always toys and books and cards, and any other number of things to fall back on. In addition, this weekend we put on a huge push to start clearing out the tiny little office downstairs, so as to move Linden down asap. The plan is to turn his room into the nursery, and the office will become his. We have already purchased a loft bed from IKEA (so as to make it fun AND to maximize space), so once the room is really and truly empty, bed construction will be the next big event. Hopefully it all works out! Anyway, I have no pictures of that labour-intensive project, but I snapped a couple of random shots from when I found the kids happily being quiet and industrious:
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| Mid-floor, PJ-ed Crazy 8s |
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| Linden is becoming a Mechano aficionado! |
Alright folks - that's it! See you (most likely) in a couple weeks!
