Evergreen Brick Works… or as Aidan would call it- Sick Bricks

We woke up this morning with Kendall coughing pretty badly and me not feeling so well. I let Kendall sleep in a little bit so we didn't make it to church this morning :-(

Daddy still wanted us to go out as a family as it's the last long weekend until school starts on Tuesday. I suggested we go to Evergreen Brick Works.  I had heard about this place from my co-worker and she said it would be a great place to take the kids. I didn't think daddy would oblige as Evergreen Brick Works is close to downtown and he never likes going there. 

It was a scorcher of a day. I think it was close to 40°!

There was a beautiful pond at the Weston Quarry Garden where you and Kendall looked at turtles, tadpoles
and bugs. 

Lounging by the red Adirondack chairs by the pond.

You knew that these were lily pads. I don't know how you knew, but you were looking for frogs. Unfortunately
we didn't see any. 

The beautiful surroundings.

Everything is possible.

You and Kendall took turns watering the plants at The Children's Garden in Chimney Court.

You asked why it said 'Valley' and I said it's because we were by the Don Valley. I don't think you understood.

Inside the Young Welcome Centre. You and Kendall wanted to pose with your butts out. Aish!

The Kilns building. This was a really neat space where bricks were once fired. 

There were lots of graffiti on the walls and equipment. You said they weren't graffiti, but Pokemon designs.
Now that I see it, it does sort of look like Pokemon designs.

Kendall in front of the many graffiti signs at the Brickworks.

Daddy wanted you to pose in front of this cry baby photo. I asked you why daddy wanted you to and you said,
"It's because I'm a cry baby." True dat!

We went over to The Pavilion to check out the Farmer's Market and most importantly, to check out the food.
We got this pulled pork thing from Pimenton and it was delicious!

Fish tacos. This was okay. We also got Jamie Kennedy's infamous frites, beef dumplings, chorizo sausage
wrapped in pastry, fresh oysters and fresh squeezed lemonades. 

My family.

Enjoying the view. What a great day we had.

"For the strong, silent type"

I have a weird obsession of loving watching kids eat french fries. I think it's the way their little hands hold the fries. Every time I watch you eating your fries when you are eating your Happy Meal, I pause and just stare. Am I a freak or what?

Maybe I started my obsession when I saw this 1987 McCain french fries commercial?

Today was Nate's birthday party. He turned 4 this year. We were invited for the celebration at 4pm so we decided to walk over. Too bad it poured as soon as we left the house and we got drenched!

Your cool rain gear outfit.

And guess who made a special appearance? Spiderman! 

Look how cute you guys are. I think you will be the best of friends when you are older.

Guess who's allergic to fish?

As if it couldn't get any worse, I discovered today that you are allergic to salmon and trout. The allergist said you may be allergic to white fish, but that I should still try giving it to you as the test results didn't come out 100% positive. On a positive note, you were actually amazing at the doctor's office today. You didn't cry and you were in such a good mood (as seen in the photos above). I also saw the most current issue of Best Health Magazine in the waiting room!

Mommy's magazine at the doctor's office.

Mario and Mario

Daddy got McDonald's takeout for you guys tonight as a special treat. Your Happy Meal toy was a Super Mario visor. So cute, no?

The happiest place on the planet…

…and no, it's not Disney World. It's Ikea!

Ikea just knows how to do things right. They are so accommodating to families- they have affordable house goods, affordable food, their washrooms are built with little ones in mind (did you see the kid sinks??), and their kid's showroom section is every kid's fantasy playroom. 

I didn't really have anything to buy there, but today was a day where I was just bored and wanted to get out of the house. Auntie Jess and I have been really bonding over this Summer because you and Emma are at an age now where you play really well with each another. We've been meeting pretty frequently during the weekends and today was a day where we decided Ikea would be a great place to meet. You and Emma had a blast playing the kid's showroom. I think you were there for almost 2 hours!

Pretending to sleep. 

Usually we have you in the shopping cart when we come to Ikea, but today, we let you roam free with
Emma and you were going everywhere, touching everything and you guys really enjoyed your time there.

This ceiling lamp caught my eye. I think it will be really cute in your bedroom. I really don't like the ceiling
lamps on our 2nd floor so I'm always on the lookout for nice lamps.

And the price is good too! I'll have to keep a mental log of this.

What I did end up buying were these fake flowers. Yes, fake flowers don't have the best rep, but these
looked pretty darn real. 

I cut the stems a bit shorter and put them in these soda bottles that I have been collecting. I think flowers
look so good in cool soda bottles. What do you think?

I put these bottle vases on the ledge going down to the basement. I think it makes this area a bit prettier because
of the hit of colour.

I actually took this photo of you while we were at Burger's Priest. They opened one not too far from
where we live so I took you there for lunch. You absolutely loved their french fries. You were playing
with your iPad while I was waiting for our food. Look at those lashes! Women would kill for those lashes.

I think it's a hit!

I got this ice pop kit at work so I thought it would be a great idea to fill the mould with orange juice and give it to you as an ice pop treat. I gave you one today and you looooooved it! I think I might make smoothie pops next time. It will be good since you hate eating fruit. 

I feel loved

There were no shortages of Mother's Day cards this year. I guess now that you can pretty much read and write simple words/sentences, you made me so many cards expressing what you wanted to say to me. Honestly, I'm going to treasure all these little notes and cards that I get from all of you for the rest of my life.

This was the card you made at Korean school on Saturday. You actually wrote the message in Korean!
It means, "I love you" in Korean.

You made this card from your daycare.

Such an artiste. You said we were wearing space suits. Not sure why…

Kendall even made a present for me at her daycare :-)

A beautiful butterfly painting made with her foot prints.

Kendall presenting the present to me. I almost cried.

I just love it.

Your masterpiece that you made from school.

Don't you have great penmanship?

And this was from daddy this morning. I had woken up and went to the bathroom to brush up and there
was a box of chocolates and a card left on the bathroom counter. I was so pleasantly surprised.
Daddy isn't one to get me cards (even when we were dating) so it means so much to me when he puts in
the effort to do so.

Short and sweet.

Daddy took you to Canada's Wonderland this morning (we got season's passes again this year) so I had a mother/daughter day with Kendall.

We went grocery shopping and had lunch at McDonald's.

Daddy had to leave for soccer at 4pm so I decided to have a picnic in our backyard with you and Kendall. It was a nice way to enjoy the weather (first time this year passing the 20 degree mark) without packing a ton of stuff and driving somewhere. You've always asked me to take you on a picnic so I surprised you with one. It was sooooo nice spending time outside and enjoying the sunshine.

Blankets rolled out, food ready. Time to eat!

Kendall with her sunhat and best friend- baby Elmo. She takes him everywhere!

My sunshine boy/girl.

Kendall eating Sherpherd's Pie.

You guys had such a blast eating, playing and dancing outside. We have to do this again!

I taped a cute video of you and Kendall jumping outside. I asked you how high can you jump and this is your response.