Summer Season

The summer swim season is in full swing. We are part way through the second of three sessions at our neighbourhood outdoor pool, and the girls are having a blast. Morning activities include swimming lessons, diving lessons, and swim team. And when the weather is really warm, we often return for free swim in the afternoon.

#2 learning to dive

Playing a game in between swim classes

Grandpa Turns 80!

We drove to Cambridge this week-end for Grandpa's 80th birthday party. Everyone, including the kids, had a blast. They had some very funny questions, like:

"Papa, how did you meet Grandpa?"

"So Papa, Grandpa is older than you?"

And my favourite:

"Can we stay here forever and ever and play with our cousins every day?"

Grandpa with his 5 granddaughters

Our #1 enjoying an owl-shaped cookie at the party

Playing with their cousins and a friend

Canada Day

We were very fortunate to have had two holidays over a very short period of time. Last week, we attended our community's "Fete du Saint-Jean." We were fortunate to have my aunt and uncle visiting form Calgary.

And this Friday, the girls celebrated Canada Day. The morning started with waffles and freshly picked local strawberries (picked by the girls the day before). This was followed by Canada Day inspired crafts:

After lunch, we headed over to the Canada Day celebrations in our community. There were plenty of inflatable structures, including a surf-board that spun around within an inflatable structure. Our six-year old proudly lasted 30 seconds. In addition to the usual face-painting, there was a round of mini-golf.

After heading home for a snack, we swung by our local pool for a quick swim, and got home just before a rain storm...

Kindergarten is Finished!

Kindergarten ended a few days ago, and I find myself relieved. My daughter seems unfazed, but I find myself simultaneously exhausted and relieved. We can turn off the alarm clocks, we don't have to worry having white, blue, or red clothing, and we no longer have to worry about keeping up with the endless stream of notices coming home with her.

Overall, we are very impressed with our choice of school. It proved to be welcoming, the teachers superb, parent involvement was welcomed, and my daughter is now fluent in french...what more could we ask for?

The lead up to the last day has been fun-filled; last week, there was the carnival:

This was followed by a day at a splash pad, and a picnic in the park:

With her beloved kindergarten teacher

And while I dont have a photo, apparently the last day of school festivities included an in-class piñata filled with treats...In fact our daughter had so much fun over her first year that she is already talking about grade 1!

Last Day of Preschool

Our youngest two had their very last day of preschool on Friday. We had gotten a shocking notice from the YMCA a little over a month ago that our preschool was closing down at the end of June. The parents banded together, met with the management, and tried to convince them to stay open. Unfortunately the plan did not work. The enrolment was well below capacity, and had been for years. With most parents choosing full day daycares, more and more half-day preschools like the Y's were closing their doors.

So with heavy hearts, we headed to class one last time. The teachers had only found out about the closure one week before the parents, and they too were shocked and saddened. While our girls will miss their friends and educators, the memories will certainly endure.

I spent several weeks researching alternative preschools for the next scholastic year. We decided on a school just a few minutes from our home, an thankfully a few of our friends from the Y will be joining us.

Spring Swimming Session Ends

The spring swimming session has officially ended. Our girls particularly enjoyed their last day, called "fun day" which involved minimal swimming, and maximal fun!

Our little swimmers cannot wait for our outdoor pool to open. While the pre-season has begun, the weather is currently far too cold to start our outdoor season.

Our three girls progressed well throughout the season. Our 4-year old even learned the basics of butterfly, arguably the most difficult stroke. She can swim about 5 metres of Butterfly before morphing into something quite different.

Our littlest swimmer

Our # 2 hanging out!

The Duathlon

Our kindergartener participated in her very first duathlon at school this week. After a quick warm up to dance music, the girls from all four kindergarten classes ran to their bikes. In the first part of the duathlon, they rode their bicycles around the block. After disembarking, they ran around the school's soccer field and finished to applause, and snacks. There were nearly as many volunteers as there were children participating. The girls were followed by the boys, all the way up to grade three.

The vast majority of kindergarteners still had training wheels on their bikes. We had removed ours last fall, and had practiced many times. As of last week, our daughter could ride over 1km on her on, and start, but not stop. So I asked the organizer for special permission to leave my volunteer post to run along while my daughter rode, just in case she ran into difficulty.

What I had not anticipated was that with Papa away at a work-related conference in the United States, our daughter would refuse to bike with me as her helper. In fact, she screamed, cried, and had me hold her handlebars the entire route. After a painful lap around the block, she disembarked, ran speedily, and surprisingly did not finish the race last. She was very proud of the participation ribbon the received at the end.

When discussing her behaviour later on in the day, she claimed that I was not "very good" at helping her with her bicycle, not "like Papa"...And sure enough, the day after the duathlon, with her father by her side, she was riding without a care in the world!

Thankfully, we have another year to get her accustomed to riding alone alongside someone other than her father...

Bike drop-off

The warm-up

Nearing the finish line

The finish line

A cool snack

The day after the duathlon!