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.

Reflections

It's been a hard 2 months since our dad, your halbi passed. It still feels like a dream. It's been so hard for me to post anything relating to him. Every time I think about him, my heart hurts. Yes, we did know that his illness was incurable and that he was lucky to have lived a year, but still… I miss him every day. And more so my mom. Every time I think about my mom, my heart is heavy. I know how much she misses him and how much she wishes he was still here on this earth. We know that he is in heaven with God and no longer in pain and suffering, but we can't help but to miss him. 

Since my mom can't drive, she is basically holed up in the house all day. I decided to meet her this chilly Saturday morning to go to a trail to get a breath of fresh air and to exercise. Since Aidan didn't have his soccer practice this morning, I took both you and Aidan to meet grandma in the morning. We went to a trail that is by the East Don River. My mom had talked about the trail while my dad was still alive. They used to go every day to walk for 2 hours. My mom would say how up until October of last year, he was very mobile and could walk faster than her. It was just sad to walk the paths that my dad had walked. 

It was very chilly even though it is Spring. The little puddles had formed beautiful ice forms on the surface.

Aidan looking at the ice with his grandma.

My mom said that in the summertime, the river has salmon swimming in it.

Aidan posing by a tree.

You decided to come out of the stroller to walk on the trail. 

We miss you halbi~

First snowstorm

You knee-deep in the snow after school today.

It is not easy doing the pick-ups and drop-offs when you have more than 1 child. And make that 10X worse when you live in a cold climate. 

We had our first major snowstorm yesterday. It snowed all day and I had shovel 3 times. I woke up with body aches this morning :-(

Because parking is nearly impossible by the school, I usually park at my friend's house who lives right by the school or I walk over with Kendall in the stroller. Yesterday, I was going to leave Kendall at home in the morning while she was still sleeping to take you to school since the weather was so bad. I knew that Kendall wouldn't wake up while I stepped out for 15 minutes. However, my friend Jenn (the one that lives near the school) wouldn't allow me to do that. She got her husband to walk over with a sled to pick you up. She also picked you up from school and dropped you off. That was so helpful. 

However, I decided to go out today with Kendall to walk you over to school since the snow had stopped falling. BAD MISTAKE! The sidewalks were still not plowed and I got stuck several times with the umbrella stroller. By the time I got to school, I was a sweaty mess. Luckily, daddy came home early from work so I didn't have to bring Kendall with me to pick you up.

That was yesterday after my 2nd time shovelling.

Walking home from school this afternoon. You can see that the sidewalk is still covered in snow :-(

Lazy Sunday

What a hot, hot day today…

I missed church this morning because I woke up late, so we went out to a park in the morning to get you guys out of the house and play. It was just unbearably hot…

We treated you guys to some Freezies at a local convenience store afterwards.

Please let this be the start of Spring!

Even though it is officially Spring, it's been mostly cold every single day. So imagine how delighted we all were when today's forecast was in the double digits. 

I worked from home and as daddy had a work event this evening, I picked both of you up at school/daycare. Instead of just staying cooped up in the house, we decided to walk over to the park and spend the rest of the evening just enjoying the sunshine. It was so nice! 

Pink lady.

Will you be my Valentine?

I couldn't sleep last night because of all the stuff that's been going on. I decided to take my mind off things by creating personalized Valentine's Cards for your school classmates. I used a template that I saw online (http://camillestyles.com/valentines-day/diy-printable-valentines/) and modified it. You aren't allowed to bring candy to school for some reason so I wanted to make special cards for all your friends at school. I printed the cards and left an area for your name blank so that I could get you to handwrite your name. 

Since the weather has been terrible this Winter, we've been staying home a lot. Today was another snow day- a perfect day to get you to write your name on the cards. 

I got you to write your name on 19 cards.

You knew how to read all 19 names of your friends on the outside of the cards. 

Here's how it looks like all folded up.

Another view.

So proud of his work.

Here's how one of the cards look.

And opened up.

And here's a video of you writing your name on all the cards.

More bad news

So now I know what's wrong with you. The good news is that what you've been suffering from was NOT an allergic reaction (thank god!), but it was actually Strep Throat. More specifically Scarlet Fever. That's why you were so red all over. I think you may have got it when we went to an indoor playground on Sunday. I also got myself checked out and the doctor said I have Strep Throat. We're both taking antibiotics, but that means we are contagious and can't go to work/daycare. I've been wanting to visit my parents for a while, but with all this sickness I couldn't. And now, I don't know when I can… 

The worst news of all is that my dad's tumour has spread to his liver and lymph nodes. Auntie Jessica has been working at their café all this week and plans to until they sell their store. Everything is happening so fast that it's frightening. I'm just so scared of what the future holds. 

Kendall had Wacky Hair Day at school so this is what I came up with. She already has wacky hair so this
was easy.

Kendall also got bit on the nose at daycare yesterday. I don't know if you can tell in this photo.
It's like things just keep going downhill…

Kendall kissing Rosco goodbye before leaving for daycare. That girl just loves Rosco,

This was the pile of snow that fell today. It's been the worst so far. 

Our urn covered in snow.

It took me an hour to shovel our driveway because my car got stuck trying to go in the driveway.