The New Photographer

This year, our school hired a new photographer for school photos. Not only did she take great outdoor photos, but she also took sibling photos (and I didn't realize quite how many siblings there were in the school until I volunteered to help on photo day).

I find it very challenging to convince all three girls to smile simultaneously, but our new photographer didn't seem to have any issues...

We Didn't Know She Needed Glasses.

She never complained of difficulty seeing, never held anything up close to her eyes, and her teachers didn't report any concerns. In fact, we were quite surprised when I finally found time to take the three girls to the optometrist for their first ever eye exam that our 9-year old needed glasses.

In fact, her right eye was a +0.5, and her left eye a +2.5, and the optometrist explained that due to the discrepancy between the eyes, she would need glasses. One eye was compensating for the other, therefore she never reported any visual disturbances...

I needn't worry that she would not like wearing glasses. In fact, from the moment we ordered them, to the week after when they were ready for pick-up, she couldn't stop asking for them..."Are they ready yet?"...She takes good care of them, and has even asked me to buy a pair for her American Girl Doll.

Here she is with glasses:

At the optometrist 

At home with a puzzle

Apple-Picking with the girls.

On Thursday, Papa's company had decided to have a team-building event at an apple orchard in a nearby town. We decided to meet him after school, and filled four bags full of delicious Spartan apples. Later on, we picked up a few small pumpkins. Here are a few photos from the fun but cold afternoon:

Decorating the pumpkins in the basement

She Put Her Foot Down, Again

Out littlest one put her foot down last month. This is not an unusual occurrence, but this time she persisted. "No", she would not do ringette this season. She wanted to "figure skate" instead. And she was adamant. Didn't she understand that as the third child in ringette, her fees would be covered? Apparently not. In the end, the goal was for her to learn to skate well, and so we caved. She started her classes the day before yesterday. She fell a few times, but that was expected as it was her very first skate with "figure skates" as opposed to "hockey skates". She had a great time, spun a round a few times, moved up at least 1 level.  She even got the royal treatment at the end of her skate: Her sisters removed her skates. Here are a few photos:

September News

September has been a busy month, from homework, to school meetings for the parents, and now the after school activities have started. So far, ringette for the older two has started to form their teams, and swimming lessons have begun for the little one. Dance starts this weekend for our 6-year old, and next week, swim team starts up for the year. So, in fact, the first two weeks of September have been relatively calm. Piano also started yesterday, and our little one had her very first piano class. She hadn't been looking forward to it, but she absolutely nailed it. Here she is:

Day Trips With The Kids

Over Labour Day weekend, rather than going away, we made several day trips. Sometimes there are local gems that you suddenly realize you haven't taken your children to visit... And so it was that last Saturday we visited the Montreal Botanical Gardens. Not only did they get exercise by walking around the extensive gardens, but they also saw some beautiful blooms, played in a nature-inspired play area, and attended a beautiful concert by Caroline Planté, a flamenco guitarist from Quebec. Here are a few photos from the visit:

Finally, Vacation

Eight straight days; no rushing to and from soccer matches and swimteam practices. No preparing meals three times a day. In fact, the eight days were interrupted by the first day of school, on a Friday before a long week-end of all days! We didn't travel far, but it was relaxing! Here are some photos from our "rest and relaxation", in no particular order, in addition to the first day of school:

Right after the first day of school...