Fall in Toronto

New House

Our Street

Our rental house

We have moved into our rental house now. Whew, its good to out of the 30th floor! Our new house has 3 bedrooms and a backyard, which is a bonus. There is an unfinished basement (all houses in Toronto are required to have a basement), so plenty of storage. I'm hoping to get a small inflatable bounce houses or a small trampoline for the boys to put in the basement.

This house is about 80 years old or so, and lots of things needed to be fixed. Luckily, or unluckily the fridge and washer have both quit, so the landlord bought us new ones. Also, being an old house, the closets are teeny tiny, so we had to buy Ikea wardrobes. We didn't bring alot of furniture with us because we didn't know what size house we would have, and I'm so glad we didn't bring alot! We've had to buy more furniture that fits this house, but thank goodness for Craigslist! Today we just bought the last of it, a TV stand so now Aaron can set up his Xbox. Unpacking has been slow because we haven't had a place to put anything.

We are in the midtown area of Toronto; our neighborhood is called Davisville. Toronto is a full of little neighborhoods, if you move one street over then you're in a new neighborhood. I've also heard it called Mt. Pleasant Village, so go figure.

Ethan and Kona

Ethan LOVES dogs.  All shapes and sizes.  When we are at the park he runs up to a dog and pets it (gently and nicely, I might add).  A while back he claimed a stuffed dog out of Micah and Joel's stuffed animal basket.  We named the dog Kona.  About a month later he claimed another small stuffed dog and I named it Hilo, which Ethan promptly dubbed "my udder (other) doggie". 

Kona's new bed.

So today we went to Costco and we had the boxes left.  Ethan dragged it into his room and put Kona in it and declared it was his bed!  That wasn't enough, however:

He had to sleep there too!  Needless to say he stayed in that bed for about 15 minutes.

Nueva escuela de espanol

Today Micah starts his new escuela de espanol.  It is an private after-school program and the only one in this city of 5 million people that we could find geared towards kids.  He'll go once a week to the "club" and then individual tutoring twice a week.  Praying that all goes well!

Toronto Zoo

Joel was too scared to see the bear!

On Monday we hit the Toronto Zoo.  The clouds looked menacing, but I thought, "We're Seattlites, right?  We laugh at rain where we come from!"  The difference here is that it actually, rains, as in POURS.  In Seattle its more like being in a mist... most of the time.  No one ever ever uses an umbrella in Seattle.  Here, many do.  Anyway, we got drenched, but we saw some indoor exhibits.  The Children's zoo was very unique with lots of interesting exhibits for the kids to climb around--like climbing into a turtle shell, turtle eggs, pretending you're in a prarire dog, etc.  The racoon habitat looked like a backyard of someone's house.  They also have a HUGE spray park with slides.  It looks super fun.  We can't wait to try that out next summer. 

We also saw the snake/reptile house, jaguars, tiger, Australia, macaws and polar bears.  They have an exhibt where you can walk right through the middle of the kangaroos/emus!

at the Children's Zoo

Library

Sometimes its just the little things that make your day.  Like being able to aquire a library card.  In my infinite wisdom I forgot to pack any books for the kids, so they haven't been reading much.  Micah was in heaven and is now busily reading away.  There hasn't been much for him to do here so that is a blessing.   This place is so small we couldn't have really brought much else anyway. 

Now if I could just get a frying pan, THAT would make life just plain easier!! I only have 2 small sauce pans and 1 medium sauce pan for cooking. And no cutting board.  There is only service for 4 here and at last count we had 5 people in our family!

Niagara Falls

So thanks to my good friend, Dana, we were able to pick up our car on Saturday.  We had it shipped to Niagara Falls, NY since it was half price to ship it in country rather than internationally.  I forgot to bring the title to the vehicle with us so I had to overnight the key to the safe to Dana who then went over to the house and found the title for us. THANK YOU!!

Since we *had* to drive down to Niagara Falls anyway, we decided to make a day trip and go on Maid of the Mist.  That was amazing!  Honestly, I know you've heard this 100 times, but pictures don't do the Falls justice.  When you are on the boat , you have 180 degrees of water encircling you, it is just amazing. It is like you are standing in a running shower, full blast.  We also were able to see a rainbow while on the boat! 

This is Horseshoe Falls  from Rainbow Bridge, which connects the US and Canada.  We took a disposable camera on the boat so it will take...ahem... a while to get that developed!  Joel was looking at the camera and he was pushing random buttons on it...he said "how do you see the pictures on this?"  HA, he thought it was a digital camera!  I don't think he's ever seen film.

Documenting our short 6 hours in New York.

Once we got over to New York we found our way to the lot with the Sequoia and then went shopping of course!  With import duties and 15% sales tax, things in Ontario cost A LOT MORE.  We hit up Target and the outlet malls, and gratefully replaced our previously-stolen GPS!! 

One note about Niagara Falls.  The Canadian side is so much prettier, owing to the  fact that both Falls face the Canadian side, so they have the prime real estate to invest in touristy-type attractions.  (But if you have the chance, go on the Maid of the Mist from the American side, its cheaper, and you see the exact same thing).  But it was interesting to cross the border and suddenly be pretty much in the ghetto.  Granted we didn't turn into the tourist part of town, but suddenly we saw boarded up windows everywhere.  Contrasted with a Clean Las Vegas -feel from the Canadian side. 

Toronto!

Some have suggested I resurrect the blog to tell of our adventures here in Toronto. We decided to move here for 1 year for a temporary position at Microsoft Canada. We thought it would be a good move for the kids to experience a different culture and an adventure to explore a new place.

We arrived the 28th of August. The next day we house hunted like crazy and found a place, thank goodness! Our current temporary housing is on the 3oth floor of a high-rise building. Very claustrophobic with 3 boys, to be sure! We are now waiting for our shipment of goods to arrive here to be able to move in.

More pictures from Day 2

Micah in the Parque Central

The Cathedral


Lake Nicaragua

The Fort

Parque Central

Ancient "alligator statue from museum

our hotel room

Day 2--Granada

Cathedral San Francisco

The kids were SOO excited to be in Nicaragua that they woke up early. The time change was in our favor, but that didn't stop Micah from coming in at 4am (2 am PT) and announcing that he couldn't sleep anymore. Fortunately Micah did get back to sleep and after a few more hours, we woke up to wonderful sunshine.

The first hotel we stayed at was Hotel Con Corazon in Granada. The hotel was started by a few Dutchmen as a non-profit with all the profits going back into the community to fund education--helping with books and uniforms. The hotel kind of has a youth hostel kind of feel to it but is very neat and very clean. In other words, perfect for families like us with kids. Our room was the family suite with 2 rooms and a "jack-n-jill" bathroom in between. There was a pool, hammocks and a giant chess board. Every morning they served breakfast in the courtyard. Since Granada is a Spanish Colonial city, nearly every building has a courtyard garden. This made the pool nice since the building provided some shade from the sun.

The first day we walked to the Cathedral San Francisco. Next to the church was a museum with art and some ancient artifacts. Micah read the signs to us in Spanish. I understood about every 3rd word or so and could get the general drift of what the displays were about.

We then walked to the Central Park of the city and took a horse-drawn carriage tour around the city. Granada is a Spanish Colonial city, built in 1520, making it one of the oldest cities in the Americas. One thing that is very interesting is that they still use the horse-drawn carriage as a means of transportation. This isn't something they brought in for the tourists. It has been used here continuously for hundreds of years. We'd see regular people riding to the market or work in a carriage-taxi. Horses, bikes, cars and oxen all shared the road. Our carriage-driver spoke English and took us on a tour of the sites of Granada, including some churches, Lake Nicaraua and an old fort which had protected the city from pirates.

At the Cathedral Gardens

The river Rio San Juan connects the Carribean Sea with Lake Nicaragua, on which Granada sits. Pirates would navigate the river up to the Lake and then attack Granada. Lake Nicaragua is a huge lake (think Great Lakes) and is home to the only freshwater shark in the world. Granada was a very important city before the Panama Canal was built because once boats got to Granada, then it was only 50 miles over to the Pacific via horse. During the gold rush this is how everyone got over to California from the East Coast and Europe.

After our city tour the kids were excited to swim in the pool!!

Day One of our trip to Nicaragua

playing at SeaTac while waiting for our flight

I'm going to post date these to when they actually happened, regardless as to when I actually wrote them. =)

Day one began with us waking early to make our 8:30am flight to Houston. We had a 3 hour lay-over there and then on to Managua. The Houston flight was 3hr 30min and the Managua flight was only 3 hours. It was nice to have it broken up like that. I get REAL antsy on flights now that I have a super active 2 year old. Its like claustrophobia sets in on me too. The boys overall were very good. It helped that now we had a seat for Ethan and he had a car seat. I think that made him more comfortable and he was able to sleep in it for at least part of the time.

Customs and Immigration in Managua was very easy. We had some forms to fill out and we had to pay a tax of $5 each. We were the last flight of the night so there were no lines to wait in. All the bags showed up and then we had to haul them over to our waiting van. Right away I noticed chivalrous nature of their culture. Aaron and I both had a luggage cart. An immigration official noticed me struggling and right away came over to help me with the cart. The van driver insisted on opening the doors for us. This happened over and over to us while there.

The ride from Managua to Granada took longer than expected. It is VERY dark and you never know when a cow will meander into the road. Our driver was very safe, so that meant we drove a bit slowly. We made it safe and sound to Hotel Con Corazón.

They whisked our bags away and put them in our room. We all collapsed on our beds. We had actually made it to Nicaragua!!

Wisdom

Micah today at the Aquarium:
"See that group of fish, that's a school of fish. Oh and see that fish in the front by himself? That's the teacher."

Our first "cast"

We went to see a children's orthopedist at Children's Hospital. Let's see that brings the count to ....7 children's specialist for our family. When we checked out today after the appointment they give you a print out of all your next appointments at Children's. There were no less than 4 upcoming appointments with various specialists, all for Ethan.

They took more x-rays with a better machine and I was able to see the break clearly. A horizontal zig-zag across the bone. It is on his left ring finger in the bone closest to his hand. They almost put a cast on it but since he is so young it would be hard to keep it dry. Instead they wrapped it up with co-flex tape. He has to wear it for 3 weeks.

On the up side, it seems as though this hasn't slowed him down in the least. He's been very happy and playful. I pray it heals correctly!

Fractured Finger

Today, we had the first incident of a broken bone amongst the children in our household. I am amazed that with 3 boys, it has taken this long. However, it has only taken our youngest 20 months to now enjoy this claim to fame.

Yesterday I was outside with Ethan talking to a roof estimator and he was happily playing in the yard on a large rock, climbing up and down. He stumbled a bit on the way down, I guess falling on his hand the wrong way. His left ring finger is black and blue and bruised at the base of the finger. We went in to get x-rays today and the doctor thinks it is fractured so he has a splint taped on with a sock to cover it so he doesn't rip off the splint. We also have instructions to see an orthopedic physician at Children's early next week.

Micah and Joel were super excited to see the x-rays of Ethan's hand. Micah was the doctor's helper when she was putting the splint on his hand. Micah said "wow, we've never had a broken bone in our house before!!" Was that more than just a touch of jealousy? Micah does have the record as being the first to have stitches... although I'm sure Ethan won't be far behind.

summer

I just noticed something very funny. The outfit Joel is wearing in the banner picture is the same one that Ethan is wearing in the post below this one. Okay, I know I need to update the banner. But see, that is the reason I blog (sometimes) instead of scrapbooking. I hate making this blog cutesy and change things all the time. I barely have time to write a coherent sentence.

This summer has turned out to be a very good one, very sunny and very hot. I never appreciated summer until I moved up here. In SCalifonia its pretty much sunny every day except for fall and the blasted Santa Ana winds. You never appreciate a wonderful clear, sunny day until you have lived a whole year in Seattle. The summers here are absolutely perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. Although natives tend to complain about the heat--when it gets above 80 the mossbacks will melt, apparently.

We're off to visit family this next week but then back to enjoy more of our great summer.

Superstar

My friend used to talk about her 2 year old smacking the ball off the tee when he was 2 years old. I could just never comprehend that. Until I had Ethan. He walked into the yard last week, picked up the ball, set it on the tee, (by himself) and hit the ball. With no one helping him or showing him how. Since then he has been crazy for baseball. He'll go outside and drag the bat out by himself. He loves and and every kind of ball. In fact it was his first word.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today was Micah's last day of Kindergarten. They sang a few songs and his teacher handed out certificates. It was very low key: no mortar boards or Pomp and Circumstance. His teacher than handed out a book to each child (en Espanol) that she had picked out for them, along with a class picture that they could have each child sign. It was so sweet. Here is a video of his class singing "Colores":

Here is a clip of Micah's class doing the weather and calendar just so you can see what his Spanish Immersion program is like.

Afterwards my Dad, Micah and I went out to lunch. Micah could pick anywhere .... and he picked Burger King; because of the playground. I swear, if more places put in those playgrounds they would get more business! We then went over to Coldstone. Micah throughly enjoyed his "Mommy and Micah" time!

Blogging?

I've been reflecting alot lately why I stopped blogging. Facebook maybe? At the end of the day I'm so exhausted all I have the brains to do is stare at FB and type out a sentence. Ethan is just one big ball of kinetic energy. Constantly go go go go. More so that out other kids.

Case in Point:

As you can see, nothing is safe anymore. We have to keep the chairs pushed away from the table. He pushes the chairs around, but he hasn't figured out (yet) that he can push the chair back up to the table. Shhhhhh, don't tell him.

In fact the other day I found Ethan in his crib with only a diaper on, his jammies on the floor, completely zipped up. He really is Houdini.

The other reason I find it hard to blog is blogger can be so annoying. I will probably be switching over to Wordpress.

Super Sunday

Ethan came down with yet another ear infection last week. I think he's had about 5 since August so we have a referral to go see an ENT at Children's. Everyone I've talked to says that tubes are wonderful, so I'm wondering what the downside could be? A couple of days later, he's on antibiotics and still running a fever, then throws up. Great, a virus on top of it all. Guess who he decided to share it with? Why do they have to share everything with mom? So now I'm down for the count and have to miss out on the Superbowl. The thing I'm sad the most about is missing out on Micha's spinach artichoke dip. And pizza. Oh, yah and friends. :-) Three things I don't get very much . So Micha, you'll have to make it again when I'm not hanging out in the bathroom.

The time leading up to the superbowl makes me sad, because it was the last time I saw my mom. We had a huge superbowl party here that year because the Seahawks were playing and my mom was here. She died a few days later.

What is it with our kids?

When Micah was about 3, shortly after Joel was born I awoke to hearing him saying "I have poopy on me, I have poopy" Great, another poop accident to clean up. I reluctantly get out of bed to clean him up in the bathroom only to find him at the sink with BLOOD ALL OVER HIS FACE! Apparently, he didn't know what blood was and called it poopy. He had found one of my razors and was attempting to "do like Daddy does" and shave his face.

Well, fast forward about 3 years to tonight. I hear footsteps back and forth upstairs, but quietness. I'm cleaning up the kitchen, so I ignore him because he's quiet. 1st mistake. He is continuing to make noise, Aaron goes upstairs to put him back to bed. I go up a while later after I still hear him running around. Joel runs into the bathroom and he has blood all over his mouth. He had someone found a razor and tried to shave and cut his lip.

Geez, when am I going to learn to lock up my razors?