Forever Family Day !!

Hard to believe that March 2003, we were in China holding our eldest daughter, Rosalind for the very first time. A curly-haired crying little bundle who took three days to decide we were ok. Then we saw the smiliest bubbliest little social butterfly emerge !! Seven years ago - they have just flown by.

So tonight to celebrate we went out to the Kings Buffet and enjoyed a great meal followed by a trip to Build A Bear. Rosalind's friend Cassandra has a birthday this coming weekend and the birthday plan is a fantastic sleepover prefaced by a trip to Build A Bear. So I admit it I stole the idea as I thought our two would just love to do this together - don't think it will steal any thunder from Cassandra's party - Rosalind will be thrilled to get to do it again and Carolina will be ok as she will have one Build A Bear of her own.

Well Rosalind chose a wolf ( Cuddles ) and Carolina chose a unicorn ( Pink). That to my surprise took very little time. Then we went to the stuffing station and there the little critters were stuffed to their new owners idea of perfection - soft and cuddly or firm ( or firmer ) The girls picked hearts to put in their little stuffies and there was a little ceremony around the heart going into the stuffie. Then on to the fluffing station and then the clothes. The clothes - oh my heaven - that took forever ... so much to choose from , it was almost overwhelming but the girls had a great time taking their selections to the dressing rooms to try outfits on their new pets. It was fun and they came home totally exhausted with their new stuffies in their box houses !! Those are some expensive stuffies but it was a very special day !!!!!

And A Good Time Was Had By All ....

Well the Olympics are over - the flame is out, the flag has been passed on to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 winter games. The party last night was amazing !!! Vancouver and Canada - well done !! It was just so fantastic to see all the athletes - to see Joannie Rochette carrying the flag for Canada - all come into the stadium . To see the kids with their snowboards all stream in - a thousand kids !!!! Party, party, party - all over the country ...part of King St in Waterloo was closed for the celebrations !!

And we created a new record for Olympic gold metals won in any Winter Olympic games - 14 !!!

Now we are back to business as usual - sigh - no more silly late nights while I try to see every last minute of every event so I can report to Rosalind at breakfast the next morning ( this is required even though the KW Record does a much better job ). Deep breath and back to business...............

Canada 3 USA 2 YEAH !!!

Well, we have watched nothing but curling, skiing, hockey, skating, luge and bobsledding, in this household for the past few weeks. Its been total olympic immersion in this house !!!

But today, the last day, was THE game. And what a hockey game it was. Both teams played so hard and so well - right up to the end and then into overtime - what a nailbiter !! We loved it - though I think Rosalind may have finally hit her olympic wall !!

Breaking the record for total number of gold medals for a country in the Winter Olympics was pretty cool too !!! All in all an awesome show put on in Vancouver - one for all Canadians to be proud of.

Rosalind to my surprise was quite caught up by the Curling ...she was right into the strategy from the outset. So we watched both mens and womens right through to the end - silver and gold !!

Family Day Weekend Cont'd

Two little cuties dragon-dazed and with well fed tummies !!!

The DRAGON himself

Today at the King Tin restaurant in Waterloo, we went to our Chinese New Year / Valentines Day / Family Day dim sum that came with its very own Dragon Dance. Food as usual was awesome and the Dragon Dance was terrific !! Carolina was completely openmouthed by the experience , Rosalind was a bit overwhelmed as well. The 'Dragon' came right up to Rosalind and was nose to nose with her - too close and too quickly for a photo op unfortunately !!!!! I wonder where you rent a dragon when you need one ? Hmmmm - Dragons R Us- Chris thought.

Family Day Weekend

Well this weekend we will be celebrating Valentines Day, the start of the Winter Olympics and also Chinese New Year - Year of the Tiger, not to mention Family Day on Monday !!

The girls went to school Friday with their little bags of Valentines for teachers and friends and dressed in pink and red to mark the special day.

Sunday, we will be enjoying brunch at our favourite Chinese restaurant - who will also entertain us with a Dragon Dance at noon.

Rosalind will be watching the Skating closely over the next couple of weeks as that is her favourite winter olympic sport though I think the luge and bobsled events are favourites as well. We have the complete schedule on the fridge so we don't miss anything !!
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Year of the TIGER

Saturday the Chinese Cultural Centre sponsered their New Year's celebration at the Waterloo Recreation Centre. We arrived in time to see some of the dances and a Tai Chi demonstration. Also had some yummy yummy eats while we watched !!! We tried gingseng (yuck ) tea and tangerine ( yum yum ) tea !!! And picked up some decorations to put on the front door to mark the New Year festivities. They do a great job and are so welcoming to those of us who have adopted from China. It has made me think once again of Mandarin classes for the girls ( and us too )... we 've let that go by the boards a bit and we shouldn't be !!!!




Today we went to King Tin for their Sunday dim sum - Chris had a water heater maintenance appointment at one of our buildings so it was a girls only brunch. We took Lisa and Jillian ( Erik was working ) with us .... While there we found out that next Sunday they are having a Dragon dance at their restaurant so I booked us four in for brunch on the Feb 14th as a combined Valentines Day treat for Chris and us and because Chris did miss todays brunch . Rosalind and Carolina love the whole dim sum thing...the idea of ongoing snacking on amazing little dishes that are wheeled to your table and a bottomless teapot of Chinese tea is just so much fun !!!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii !!

Well I have to admit - I really resisted !! I am not an electronic game player ...I like my games the old fashioned way - board or cards. The Xbox, Nintendo (other than Wii ), Play Station, etc game systems always seem to isolate people not bring them together and I hate that !! Well my son Erik encouraged it by buying one for his family and letting us know how much fun they were having with theirs ( and also where the the game happened to be on sale prior to Christmas ). So we bought a Wii Game System for ourselves for Christmas and Chris and the girls went out on Boxing Day, braving the sales, to get a couple more games. We now have Mario Olympic Winter Games and Wii Sports Resort which are the 2 favourite and I've just ordered Just Dance. I was completely surprised by how family oriented the system is ...we've had family bowling and golf, Chris and Rosalind have played team Olympics. In terms of using it Carolina and I tend to bring up the rear ..we do play a fair bit but not as much as Chris and Rosalind.

I think its the twenty first century version of board games !!! We are hooked !! We also have the Active Personal Trainer which I've not had a chance to try yet but hopefully will this week. With winters being so bitter cold , it may be my salvation fitness wise.

Our star Wii player is Rosalind by a long shot and she IS GOOD !!! Family night now doesn't seem to have to be planned - we just Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii