Dinosaurs!

It has been a looooooooooong winter here in Saskatoon.  We most likely had a good case of cabin fever.  Some days it is too cold to go outside, and with two active boys and no family around... it can get hard.  So one of those days, we headed to the University of Saskatchewan to surprise the boys... who love dinosaurs.  Check out the cool pictures!  The boys were so excited!

 Josh and JS's pal Matt.  We had many playdates during the winter!

Journée au parc

Comme depuis un certain temps... je ne suis pas toujours disponible pour faire des mises à jour au blog... mais bon, la vie est occupée!  

Durant cette longue fin de semaine, le soleil est sortie (heureusement) et nous sommes parti explorer les parcs de Saskatoon... il y en a tellement!  Parc numéro 3 en fin de semaine et les garçons dorment bien le soir...  Nous voici à un parc ce matin après notre visite hebdomadaire au marché.

Mémére visite Saskatoon

Mémére (JM's mother), came for a visit in January. It was really nice to have family around, it provided for a little break for JM and I, and the kids really liked it. She was also part of JS's first birthday celebration, it was really nice to have family around for that.

Nous voici à Wanuskewin, un parc historique autochtone avec un site d'interprétation. Nous voici dans leure gallerie d'art.
Since we were the only ones there that morning, LP had the chance to be one on one with the person giving the workshop about archeology and bison in the kitchen. It was essentially a description of how each part of the bison was used after a hunt, nothing was wasted. Here he is sitting on a bison hide, holding a big piece of bone. JS was somewhere snooping around, being more interested in his new found ability of walking... away from us.
A stuffed bison. Wanuskewin is a place where natives came to hunt bison, and have done so for at least the last 6000 years. It is now a protected area and is quite impressive.
Art métis...
And Sandra did a lot of things with us while she was here (we're an intense family some would say), but LP would sum it up in three things: baking pies, playing hockey and reading books. Sandra must have read about 200 books while she was here. They played hockey in the basement everyday, Mémére is now a pro.
The kids missed her when she left. Her plane left at 6am after a week with us, and the kids were still sleeping when JM brought her to the airport. That morning, when the boys got up, they were looking for her.

LP: "Maman, j'ai cherché parrrrrrrrtout dans la chambre à Mémére, parrrrtout en-bas et j'ai cherché partout et je n'arrive pas à trouver Mémére."

Et plus tard dans la semaine...

LP: "Maman, et si on allait à l'aéroport chercher Mémére encore?"

Ah, this is what makes moving away from family so hard when you have kids!!

Merci pour la belle visite Sandra, xox.

Starfish and Sea Turtle

The boys started taking swimming lessons at the beginning of the month. LP has taken some before, but not in the past year in a half with all the buzz in our lives and this was his first time experiencing a swimming class (go Sea Turtles go!) without maman. The first class was, aaaaaaah, difficult. Although, I think it was probably more difficult for papa. LP needs to warm up to new ideas on his own. And papa was eager for him to follow with the group. So there were a few tears, but towards the end, when the instructor started to explain the "fishing game", LP made up his mind and he was game. Since then, he has been asking to go to the pool all the time and as I sit on the sidelines and watch him go, I see tremendous progress every week. So nice! I always find it so neat to watch my kids do their own thing, in the world, in their own way, without JM and I. Micheal the instructor is also quite popular with LP right now, and with four other kids in the group, it is becoming a good way for him to be immersed in English and to start picking it up. He has no idea what Micheal is saying, but he's still amazing in LP's eyes!

As for JS, in his typical fashion, he is really not a Starfish as his class name suggests. He gets quite hyper once we arrive at the Harry Bailey Aquatic Center. I have a hard time getting him into his trunks, keeping him out of the water, or keeping him focused on the activity. He splashes, laughs, is constantly thinking he's missing out on some action by looking everywhere all at once and is just a little worm in our arms as we try to get him to go through any particular activity. So yeah, he loves it.

I really dislike comparing the boys, but even though LP loved the pool as well at that age, he was so good at following instructions and being calm. They are so very different these two monkeys!!
And thanks Sandra for taking the pictures. Next blog post: Sandra's visit to Saskatoon!!

Dans les patates???

LP m'a corrigé hier, après m'avoir trompé sur quelques choses de mineur:

Chris: "Oops, merci Louis-Pascal, j'étais dans les patates, hein?"

LP: "Nooooooooon, t'étais dans les carottes!! Et moi, j'étais dans les navets. Et Papa lui, il est dans les haricots. Les haricots du jardin a Grandpa!"

Chris: "Ah ben oui!!!"

Promenade en traineau

Super belle journée à katoon aujourd'hui. Jean-Michel à apporté la gang en traineau dans le voisinage. Louis-Pascal avait hâte...

LP: "Papa, on va prendre le traineau et aller jusqu'à la mer!"
JM: "Ok... Chère, on va être de retour l'année prochaine."
Chris: ...
LP: "Prends un photo, Maman." (en mettant son bras autour de JS...)

Ah, mignons mes petits hommes.