Playing "Billy Goats"

Cam decided that this was the perfect venue to play "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and cast himself in the role of the troll.

Ian on Bullseye

After breakfast this morning, the four of us went for a walk around the neighborhood -- practice for all the walking we're going to do when we're on holiday -- ending up at the park. Ian decided that this horse is Bullseye from Toy Story 2, one of his favorite movies.

Backyard Bunny

We noticed this little guy lying under the smaller maple sapling in the backyard last night after dinner.

Working Out with Mumma

Ian decided to help Joanna with her cool-down stretching this morning's workout.

Ian's Sleeping Positions

Ian's a much better sleeper than he was just a month or so ago -- rarely wakes in the night, tends to stay in bed well after the rest of us are up -- but he does tend to get a bit twisted around in his sheet.

Cam Swims!

Okay, it may not be the most attractive of strokes, but he put his face in the water (with his mask on), picked his feet up off the bottom, and managed to slowly make his way across the shallow part of the pool. :)

Pool Time

With highs in the 90s and humidity above 60%, today was a good day for the pool. This is Cam, Nana, Elena (her first time in this pool), and Karen.

Cousins Playing (and Pappy's Foot)

Cam and Ian enjoyed playing with Elena's birthday presents so much that Karen and Arthur have promised to buy them nothing but pink plastic toys for their birthday. Oh yay.

Joanna Relaxing

I don't think she liked that I took this picture. Bummer for her.

Three Generations

Elena with her mum and her grand-mum.

Elena & Grands

The birthday girl with Nana and Pappy.

Elena's First Tea Party

A Quiet Moment

In the midst of the present maelstrom, Elena takes a breath and asks herself, "What that heck is going on?"

Helpful Cousins

They boys wanted to show Elena how to tear the paper off her new tea set. Then they wanted to show her how to play with it.

Size Comparison

When you're one, your presents are sometimes larger than you.

Baby Bird

Boys & Mum Eating Cake

They didn't seem to notice that the cake had no cake in it.

Eating Cake

Okay, "cake" may be a bit of a stretch — because of Elena's allergies, this cake-simulacrum has no wheat (soy flour instead), no dairy (soy milk), and no egg (egg substitute made from corn starch and algae extracts). For all that, it was pretty good. And yes, in this photo, the frosting (we won't go into what that's made from) does make her look a bit like a seventeenth-century fencing master.

First Birthday Cake

You can almost read her mind here: "Why the hell is everyone looking at me and singing?"

Kickabout with Cam

After lunch, Cam and I went out on the back deck for a kickabout while the others got the cake ready.

Cousins at the Birthday Table

Today is Elena's first birthday, so the whole extended family — grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins — are in Durham to celebrate. To keep them from repeatedly shouting "Cake! Cake! Cake!" the boys got to dig in first; Elena had to wait until her soy cheese cubes were ready. (Bleh!)

Elena & Ian

Ian used to be the smallest member of the family. That is definitely no longer the case.

Ian's Tower

Okay, he got a bit of help with this. Anything to help feed a nascent Lego addiction.

Ian & the Truck

We don't know why exactly, but Ian has taken to playing with some of his toys under the blankets in bed. That dump truck just looks rather odd here....

Front Yard Visitor

As if yesterday's bird on the car roof wasn't enough, today we got home to find this guy lying at the foot of the maple in our front yard.