Our 7-year Old Climbs Her First Wall

Our 7-year old went wall climbing for the first time, and I was not there. The field trip fell on a Friday, and parents were invited to come along. However, Friday is the one week-day that my preschoolers do not attend school...I considered taking them to the wall-climbing event, however the minimal age was 5. Luckily my cousin was on hand to take some photos. It would appear that none-of the grade one students made it very high off the ground. Ironically, the back of their gym t-shirts reads : "Your attitude determines your altitude"...

First Snow Day

Our girls celebrated their very first snow day on Wednesday. Schools were closed island-wide, and most people were staying home and off the perilous streets. Our girls sure had fun playing in the snow and later in the afternoon watching a french movie. They had so much fun, in fact, that our 7-year old forgot to do her homework. Furthermore, Mama did not go to the gym as she got a work-out shovelling snow. I heard from another mom at school that there had not been a snow day in 5 years!

Our front walk

Where Did March Break Go?

It seems as though March break flew by. Yet we did manage to do quite a bit:

-Ski school every morning for 5 days
-One swim practice
-One mini-build at the local lego store
-One play date for our 7-year-old and her school friend
-A get-together with my friend and her two kids
-And finally, a Disney on ice show

Here are a few photos:

waiting for her sisters

ready for the show

watching Big Elsa on ice

Building an Ice Castle

In anticipation of the annual ice-castle build at school, we started freezing 2L cartons of coloured water several months ago. We had three cartons as of last week, but unfortunately, with the warm February weather, they had melted. So several days before building the ice castle, we placed them in our freezer.

The build took place Tuesday, one of many activities for carnival week. By Wednesday, it had melted. But we had a lot of fun building it. I was able to volunteer while my 7-year old's class came out. My job was to cut open the cartons with a sharp knife. Within an hour, my gloves were soaking wet, but it was well worth it!

With her pink block

The finished product

The two youngest

The night before it melted

Our Oldest Daughter Turns 7!

How time flies by! While our 7-year old missed celebrating her birthday down south by only 2 days, she still had a great time in not-too-cold Montreal. First, she received a lovely birthday card in the mail from her great-aunt:

Next up, she played a very good hockey match. She even got to skip her homework for one day! In the evening, we had a few family members over for dinner and dessert. And gifts, of course!

And thankfully, she wasn't sick this year. In fact, it was not until the very next morning at 7h that she started tossing her cookies. She would go on to miss three days of school, after having missed an entire week...but she recovered quickly, and no one else in the family has been sick!

Our Middle Daughter Turns 5!

What better place to turn five, than in warm and friendly Dominican Republic? Although the day did not start off too well (waking up crying and sucking her thumb after having wet her bed), the rest of the day was very memorable:

First, she got to don a shirt advertising her new age:

Next, she got to eat her new favourite breakfast, fruit loops, by the ocean:

 

After breakfast, she tried the trapeze, then jumped as high as she could on a trampoline:

Then, she ran into the beach with her sister:

After lunch, she played some tennis with her older sister and parents:

Normally, you have to be 6 to try archery, but an exception was made for the birthday girl:

A little tired, she requested a piggy-back ride from her father:

She chose her own clothes for dinner, and found a lovely flower for her hair that had fallen from a tree:

She opened a special birthday card from her great aunt Lois, and enjoyed blowing out the candles on the pop-out cake:

And finally, the chef had prepared a very special chocolate cake that she couldn't wait to taste:

The Hockey Jersey Are In!

The hockey teams are made, the jerseys are in, and the team is adorable. The girls were able to play on the same team, despite their 2 year age gap, making our week-end schedule much easier. They practice Saturday morning, play a game on Sunday, and every player gets their turn to be a goalie. Our almost 5-year old has declared that she doesn't like the practices, only the games. When I inquired as to why, she replied that she likes to score!