Sierra
June 2021…the end of the school year! This was a big deal for Sierra. I’m not sure she really understood what was happening. We didn’t bring it up too much but you can tell that the teachers must have been pretty excited for the summer and inherently Sierra was too! “Trois semaines d’école Daddy!”
Without knowing what we were getting into with virtual learning with a four year old, we are really happy with the results. She surprised us with how attentive she was, or at the very least, how much she stayed in her bedroom while school was on. I would say personally that she had a 90% attention span. She didn’t pay a lot of attention in the early morning where it’s mostly the show and tell portion (everyone is asked to bring up to three items that match the sound of the week) which is understandable. Unless a kid is showing you their awesome new Laser Tag toy, you’re not going to be that interested in them showing you a ball or an orange.
But after snack time things really picked up and she would be excited about story time, or math problems or science experiments. I think Maman took over the lion’s share of that work which was usually in the afternoon and required parental assistance.
She made a few friends and I really enjoyed how they had ‘breakout rooms’ where kids could just play amongst four of them. The first few months didn’t amount to anything as sometimes I would notice none of the kids talking to each other. But with some coaxing Sierra must have started chatting to other kids because she was always talking about some friends in class and I also remember meeting some of them while preparing lunch one day!
All in all it was an overall pleasant experience for Sierra. I can’t speak for other kids and I know that the kids who had to flip flop between physical and virtual school a few times in the year did not have the same experience Sierra did. We will see what happens in the Fall. For the time being we have registered her for virtual class as they had a deadline to do so, but who knows what the future will bring with lower COVID cases and high vaccinations around?
Ezra
Ezra is a talking machine these days. It’s still hard to figure out what he is saying! Here are a few words that I’ve been picking up lately:
Maman
Daddy
Ah-Ah = Sierra
Bobin = open
mado = tomato
poon = spoon
ork = fork
He’s really good on his feet these days. Last year I had the back deck all barriered up so he couldn’t crawl onto the lawn by himself. This year I’m staring at how he has progressed from crawling up and down the stairs to actually walking up them with the help of the guardrail. He has even started sitting at the kitchen table with us although he has had a few bad falls on his head so we try and limit him for the time being.
The other day I let him play with some play-doh which he is really enjoying. I think the next year will be starting to think about what activities are generally introduced in a daycare environment and introduce him to that. I already play songs for him in the mornings sometimes and he loves helps making meals on his high tower bench. He still has to learn now to eat some of the ingredients! Ha ha.
Must have been some Thunderstruck playing with these dance moves!
Check out the fish Grandma caught!
Virtual school has been neat as we had to photograph everything she did in the school year.
Ezra started to play with blocks a little more. He understood when we asked him to build a high tower. Pretty good!
I bought this Besnard Lakes shirt one night and realized I need to keep a note of what all those symbols meant for when someone asks me!
A day off of school during the week means that Sierra and Ezra get to go on an adventure together! Here we are at Cassandra Park
Snacktime! Did I mention that Sierra biked alongside me all the way to the park? She’s really good around town now.
Where’s Ezra?
There’s Ezra!!!
It felt like a long wait but the day had finally arrived to get my first vaccine for COVID19. I had an appointment out in Rockland. Other than some road closures, it was easy to find and it was well set up. They had people in the parking lot announcing when we could enter. Then we all lined up (as you can see) and entered the building. They lead you through a maze of checkpoints of people asking you if you have symptoms and checking your health card and finally you get seated next to the person who gives you the vaccine and then onto a waiting area in case you faint. This particular vaccination clinic was in a hockey arena and reminded me of the one back home.
Big thumbs up for dessert
Showing Ezra my bandaid
Cool sky. This was hilariously the morning where I declared that we would head to the beach. Vero did comment that the skies looked quite black in the distance. Sure enough there was a massive thunderstorm coming our way so we just took another route back home.
But we did manage to stop and do something on the way back home. A visit to the giant rooster! It was so windy that Sierra had to hold onto her hat!
The cool tub gang
Look who snuck in the front seat! Nice try.
Determined to go near water, we went to Petrie Island on a Sunday morning when the temperature was already in the high 30s and it was jam packed. My mind raced to think of a spot near water without people. We ended up in Cumberland and walked down near the ferry and voila! A great spot to hang out. There was a few glass objects around that I had to move away but it was fun dipping our toes in and watching the ferry come back and forth.
Watching the waves
Hanging out on the shore
Enjoying a snack
These flamingo hats that Maman ordered are a hit!
Here’s Ezra with his best friend in the Summer of 2021
I’m pretty impressed that Ezra caught a photo this good of me!
This is more his style when you look back through his photos
This was a pretty cool gift that Vero and her sisters got her Dad. He is a bricklayer and the person who made it took a silhouette of him from a photo and put it into the trowel.
Flying into orbit!
This is a typical spot for the kids to hang out when I’m preparing lunch…right at my feet! Maman has the same issue for supper!
This kid can’t stop dancing
Weeeeeee!
There are good adventures and then bad ones. We wanted to check out a trail fairly close to us and got eaten alive even after using insect repellent! We basically ran down this trail for a bit and decided to run back!
Since the trail was a bust, we decided to go to a cemetery near town. It turned out to be an extremely hot morning but was fun for the kids to run around in and there was a nice shady spot under a tree for a snack later on.
Cemetery fun
I can’t remember but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t even raining that morning and he just wanted to dress up like this!
Behind the scenes of the Don’t Fret sessions. There’s a lot of gear to be set up and I was going to tear it down for the first time in months since my parents and Nanny Sybil were going to visit. Afterwards I streamlined my setup and it went pretty well with just using the camera audio!
What a mess of wires! I was not sad to see this get eliminated from my setup. Originally I wanted it for two reasons…reverb, and a recording of the show. But I started noticing that it wasn’t recording properly. Then I realized that one night my ears were ringing after an evening with headphones so I decided not to do that again. In the end, I’m not sure if anyone noticed the reverb but the first time I played without it, it didn’t sound like it made of a difference across the internet.
Well well well. Look who is getting back into LEGO. Of course I bought this so the kids could play with it as well.
Ezra was really interested in this video about firefighters
One lovely afternoon on my walk, Sierra decided to join me and I brought along a treat. Now when I ask if she wants to take a walk with me she asks if there is a special treat in it for her!
The kids don’t look too sure about being on this ride
Giving the garden some love
The winds were fierce so we tried out our new kite!
Ezra always loves playing with Maman’s sunglasses
Checking out my father’s day card. It’s cool that the kids are getting to an age to give me personalized gifts!
Looking at a great photo book I received for Father’s Day
Ready to hit the road!
A walk in the woods
The Castor River hit the mark for my wish to spend time with my family near some water on Father’s Day
We were adventurous and I carried Sierra out to the middle of the river!
She wanted to model herself out in the middle
Harrrr
Later on in the day we tried to go near the water in Casselman but there were a bunch of anglers there so we played in the park a bit before picking up some St Hubert
A WITCH!
Day 1 of the R2D2 build
I love this photo. He was enjoying using some chalk.
Hanging out one morning
The last day of school is something to be celebrated! The number of professions she wants to undertake is impressive!
There was a virtual Disney World parade to attend on the last day of school. We all enjoyed seeing all the Disney characters go by and how excited the kdis were.
A treat after supper on Sierra’s last day
Sierra took this great photo
I still have a good laugh when I see this image
Hammocking
Visitors! Ezra hanging out with Nanny
Look at all the smiles!
Enjoying a snack
Day 1 of Dad’s visit I ask him if the trailer is worth saving. He says no. I say ok. Two days before leaving he says “I thought about it and we can rebuild it.” And so started the adventure of rebuilding the trailer!
A Kapuskasing 100th anniversary beer…supposedly only available in Timmins where it’s brewed unless you specially order it? Not sure if that was a smart plan. Also…talk about a light beer!
Ezra showing Papa his iPad games
Nanny mentioned that this was her favourite spot at my house
Awhile ago I wanted to order this feeder for the kids but I decided to send it to my folks first to see if it was a success or not first. I had a good laugh when they showed up at my house with it! We were hoping for birds to go into it but we had some hungry chipmunks in there to watch instead.
Playing slinky
Look who showed up the next day!
Grandma playing pirates
After a raccoon sauntered out from under a deck a month ago, Dad helped me patch up all the holes
Enjoying some watermelon
This might be my all-time favourite picture of Nanny!
One day I was scrolling through Facebook and Sierra saw a photo of buttertarts and said “Oooh, what’s that?” Then Grandma showed her how to make them.
Eating cheerios with Poppa
Giving this kid a haircut was quite the adventure!
Happy Birthday Mike! Mom helped make this creation come to life. I thought it was a fun gift to give for his fortieth birthday.
Pretty sure we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes in this photo
After this photoshoot I had to explain smiling and looking into a camera
It was great seeing my folks and Nanny for a few days. They hit the road and we started preparing for Canada Day
Beautiful!
R2D2 got put aside when Grandma brought a few of my old LEGOs down.