Summer Snapshots

A few last pictures from our summer so far. It has been a wonderful and relaxing time for us as a family; Abby doesn’t realize how blessed she is. Mornings are spent outside – walking, playing soccer, exploring the world of rock-picking, -throwing, -eating (insert other appropriate verbs here). Several other children in the apartment complex dote on her and she revels in their attention. We’re convinced she’s convinced that she is one of “them.” She has little interest in kids younger than herself, and insists on planting herself in the middle of any action.

Enjoy!

Canada Day

“Independent Playtime” – one of my parenting tricks. Abby plays contently in her bed for 40ish minutes several mornings a week, reading books, talking on her toy phone (thanks, Sarita!), harassing her stuffed animals, throwing every. single. toy. out of her crib…and dancing. Music plays the whole time, and invariably, when I come to get her, she’s just standing in her crib bouncing up and down to the music.

Abby loves to walk. She loves the outside. Meltdowns frequently occur when Mommy/Daddy are ready to go inside (in case you’re wondering…Abby is never ready to go inside)!

Abby rarely falls asleep in her car seat, but a morning play date with a baby around her age did the trick…Seriously, could anything be cuter than a sleeping toddler with flushed cheeks?

“Swimming” in her birthday gift from the Abriels.

“Pesh”ing (Abby’s term for “push”) her “elmo” (which sounds suspiciously like her pronunciation of “Elmo” the Sesame Street character, but should not be, because she is very serious in requesting her lawnmower). And yes, this FisherPrice contraption blows bubbles. It takes her by surprise when bubbles suddenly appear, and she gets distracted and chases them mid-mowing.

Her first introduction to the childhood rite-of-passage: the sprinkler. Water levels have been low, so this was her only time playing in said sprinkler, but she loved it. See did not love, however, having to come inside to get changed. Of course when a sprinkler is spraying freezing water directly into your face it’s hilarious…when Mommy dribbles a 1/4 teaspoon of warm water onto your head at bath time, it’s a full blown catastrophe.

First time colouring. She now points to this picture on the fridge and says colour.

More mowing – the neighbours joke that she should be paid for all the lawn work she does. She struts up and down the sidewalk, over lawns, through mulch piles. At first she would veer off course every few seconds and wait to be rescued. But now she’s happy to take her mower “off-roading” and can back it up, steer, and avoid shrubs like a pro.

Flashing that adorable smile. She has wooed everyone around us.

Abby Talks

Not surprisingly (given her parents tendencies), Abby loves to talk. Her pronunciations have us in stitches, especially when she says “turtle” and “bubble.”

Cape Split Trek

John and I set out this summer with two exercise goals – hike both Blomidon and Cape Split. While we accomplished the first hike mid-July, the latter kept getting pushed further and further into the summer. It’s a long enough distance from our house that it takes some planning, and we knew that we wanted some company for the long walk. Specifically, our close friends the Abriels. Last Monday evening I came home from a run and walked into the kitchen to be very literally “surprised” by the Abriel family, who paid us an impromptu visit. Then and there we decided this would be the weekend! Lunches were prepared, back-packs were filled and off we went.

Preparing to head off on our hike (Photo courtesy of the Abriels)

It’s a lovely, well-maintained trail. At 16 km round-trip (with no alternate route out other than walking), it’s not for the faint of heart, but we hiked it in record time this year (a little over an hour each way). The views are spectacular, and the weather was perfect – a bit overcast, cool, and calm.

The view at the end (from Jaydon’s perspective). Photo from the Abriels

Abby slept for a portion of the hike heading out to the Cape. She devoured lunch, and then had a great time exploring.

We stayed at the end for about an hour – enough time to eat, enjoy the view, and rest weary muscles. Before long it was time to pack up and head home. Of course, to me at least, the walk back always seems longer (even though it is more downhill walking). I wore Abby in the Ergo on my back (we’re trying to get her used to this carrier since we’ll be taking it to Denmark); the last kilometer or so she was getting less and less happy about her perch on my back, so Stacy, Glen, and I serenaded her with an assortment of Sunday School choruses.

Beautiful butterfly out at Cape Split.

We make sure to take at least one picture in this tree during each hike out.

One of the colourful mushrooms John noticed on the way back.

A bit sore, but feeling successful in our adventure, we headed home. To hold off supper for a while, we headed out (sans John) to the local reservoir. Not quite the water retreat of Grand Lake, but you work with what you have. Again, Abby was thrilled, and refused to get out even when her little gums and tiny teeth were chattering.