Thursday, September 27, 2007

September So Far...

There's a definite sense in our house that the fall is rapidly becoming a busy time. Action Girl is still really enjoying Grade 1 and is positive every morning. Last Friday she and her new friend were named "very important people" of the week to recognize them for their extra help cleaning up at the after school program.
 
 
Super Girl is also doing well at play school. She spends some time helping a special needs assistant work with a couple of boys in the daycare and seems to really enjoy that work. Mostly, she holds toys until the boy says "please" when they ask for them. I think I had a job like that once.
 
On the fun front, Super Girl has started dance lessons and Action Girl starts her second year of skating next week. Last night we took my new remote control plane to the filed behind our house. Its amazing how much fun you can have crashing something 15 times in a row. No great damage, but I need to re-install the front landing gear.
B.
 

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

My Early Birthday Present

For years I have wanted to own and fly a remote control (RC) airplane. After some thought and encouragement I bought a Fly Zone "Sky Fly" last Friday.

Here it is.

Play School Parachute Sept. 25, 2007


Play School Parachute Sept. 25, 2007
Originally uploaded by Binky's Photos

This is Super Girl's entire play school (minus the babies) huddled under a parachute. They had a fun and games time after their Terry Fox Run this past Monday. I took a couple of hours off to help with the run.

Fun!

B.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Quaint Wood Islands Play Ground


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Originally uploaded by Binky's Photos

Does anyone else remember this place? I can remember going there at least once as a child.

B.

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Robot Ferry Proof


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Robot Ferry Proof
Originally uploaded by Binky's Photos

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Island off Pictou


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Island off Pictou
Originally uploaded by Binky's Photos

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Pictou from the Hector


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Pictou from the Hector
Originally uploaded by Binky-photos

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Hector's Rigging


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Hector's Rigging
Originally uploaded by Binky-photos

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): The Hector


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): The Hector
Originally uploaded by Binky-photos

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Just Ducky


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Just Ducky
Originally uploaded by Binky-photos

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Reba the Rabbit 2


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Reba the Rabbit 2
Originally uploaded by Binky-photos

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Pier in Wood Islands


Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Pier in Wood Islands
Originally uploaded by Binky-photos

Monday, September 17, 2007

Grade 1 So Far...

Day eight of Grade one and Action Girl seems to be enjoying her self everyday.  Every night she lets slip a new French word or two and mentions with whom she played at recess.  Lunch and milk tokens are no longer great mysteries and our morning routine runs smoothly.  She especially enjoys, recess, gym, and music.  Yes, both gym and music are in English.  Last week was meet-the-teacher night.  It went well and was quite informative.  Home work starts next week.

 

This past Saturday we bought a Popomatic Trouble board game and have played a couple of games.  Happily, Super Girl is just strong enough to press the bubble to “roll: the die.

 

Fun times,

B.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Summer's Bonus Level

A long time ago, back when video games had only two dimensions and very
obvious pixels, players of a certain skill (more than mine) could often
"earn" bonus levels between regular game levels, simply for fun and
extra points.

Last weekend was the summer's bonus level for us- extra fun that we
weren't expecting. On Saturday we drove the extra half hour to spend
the afternoon on a south shore beach at low tide. You can say what you
want about muddy south shore beaches lacking the world class white-sandy
glamour of the north shore (where we live) but our daughters are still
talking about the fish, crabs, barnacles and snails that shared their
afternoon adventure. Not bad for September 8th... We had only planned
on making a sand castle, hanging out for a while and then leaving. It
was much more fun than that.

That night the adventures continued. The girls and I finally managed to
spend a night camping in our yard. We made several discoveries that
night. First, there's a surprising amount of traffic on our road after
10PM. Second, despite its many imperfections and weeds, our lawn makes
a reasonably comfortable mattress, at least through the tent bottom.
And third, adventurous fun can be had 20 feet from our house. Happily
both girls and I made it through the night safe and warm.

B.

 

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Action Girl's First Day of Grade One

The page has turned. Action Girl had her first day of school today! The day really started the night before when Action Girl and her mom made her lunch. Action Girl was excited but managed to get to asleep without much fuss.

FIRST DAY OF GRADE ONE

06:30ish all family members accounted for, some even up.
07:00 Breakfast
07:25 Goodbyes and hugs for Mom
07:43 Leave house
07:43 Come back to house for camera
07:44 Come back to house for sneakers (crocs are dirty- in the end she wears them anyway.)
07:45 Leave!
07:55 Arrive at Daycare. Talk to teachers everyone wishes Action Girl well- hugs and goodbyes for/from Super Girl
08:00 Arrive at school
08:01 Wait
08:02 Wait
08:05 Visit after school club (Action Girl isn’t going in the mornings but we wanted her to see it first).
08:10 Waiting again. We decide to listen to a Bob Marley in the car for a while.
08:15 More Bob
08:20 Leave car for Action Girl to see a grade two friend in the parking lot.
08:25 More Bob and chatting in the car
08:40 Leave car, chat with other parents and kids. Worry. Action Girl gets quieter.
08:45 Go into school. World does not end. We find her classroom. No tears. Action Girl goes to school.

All kidding aside, Action Girl had a great attitude and seemed to get off to a great start. The school was very welcoming. No, I did not cry either. She can’t wait for tomorrow and neither can I.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Our Shadows in Wood Islands


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Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): Just in Case...


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Our Day Trip to Pictou (Aug 30-07): The Other Ferry, MV Confederation


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Our Day Trip to Pictou


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On August 30th, my parents and I took the girls "across" on the ferry to Pictou, Nova Scotia. It was their first time on a boat/ship of any size. The above posts are some pictures from that great day.

B.

Grade One: One More Sleep!

Twelve hours from now, Action Girl will be on first real school-girl
recess. She will be in grade one! How is this possible?

The good:
She is very keen, even psyched!
She is well-prepared academically.
She knows a number of kids in her class/grade.
Her teacher has a really good reputation.
She has the coolest backpack in the universe.

The not-so-good:
The world is scary.
Our daughter is young.
We have no control once she's there.
This, like the world, is scary!

News, reviews, and pics to follow!

B.

 

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Your Reply Needed

This is possibly the best spam e-mail I have ever recieved.  Its arrival in my inbox today brightened my afternoon.  If only things were this easy:

________________________________________
Greetings,

I am a Civil Staff working under United States Marine Corps
operating with the Engineering military Dept unit in Baghdad, Iraq, we
discover about $65 Million US dollars that we want to move out but we
need a good partner we can trust. This fund is oil money and legal.
Click on the link bellow for more information

http://news.bbc.co.
uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm


We will be moving these funds out of
Iraq through the assistance of UN diplomatic officer. But the question
is can we trust you when the funds get to you? You will take your 30%
for the assistance and keep the remaining for us in a safe custody.
Your role is to find a safe place for the funds while our own part is
sending it to you.

Your Reply Needed

Michael Joseph
________________________________________