Catch Up

This year it worked out that we could spend Mother's Day in Ottawa with Gillian and Sofia, who were alone while Raffi was out in Vancouver. Adam helped the girls get the table all set up with our Mother's Day gifts at breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed out to the Tulip Festival. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we drove around the city and gawked at the amazing gardens filled with tulips from the comfort of the truck. We stopped in at the International Pavilion and walked through the tents admiring the wares from the various countries that were represented there, as well as all the delicious smelling foods.

At lunch time, we had a "tail-gate" party in the 4 Runner. Sofia was the lucky recipient of an indoor seat and free access to the hummus and pita!

After lunch, we moved on to another spot where a little mini fair was set up with a few cute rides for kids. Adam took the girls up on the Ferris Wheel.

Even though it was raining, they had a great time and saw all the sights from up top!

Calli was a little wary of the whole thing, but she giggled her way through.

After the Ferris wheel, Gillian and I took Calli on the Scrambler ride. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Calli was whole-heartedly giggling throughout the ride and it was making us laugh just listening to her!! Part way through, the ride stopped and before it started again, Calli said, "I'm having so much fun, I can't keep my eyes open!! But this time, I'm going to keep them open....the WHOLE time!!" It was a LOT of fun.
I do have to mention that Marin was the one who wanted to go on the Scrambler as soon as she saw it, but she wasn't tall enough and watched from the side lines, completely disappointed.

Afterwards, we took all 3 girls on the Carousel. They had a great time imagining that the horses were actually real horses!

Sofia held on tight. See the Parliament building in the background?

After the carousel ride, Sofia went on the cute little car ride. She was so cute and giggly! When she would pass us, she'd put her head down and steer the wheel and then look up at us on the way by and be completely surprised that we were standing right there!

Isn't she the cutest??



Even though it was raining and we were completely soaked through, the girls were good sports and sat for a photo with the beautiful tulips. Little did we know that Sofia had her hand dug very deep into the soil during this photo shoot....

Marin and the tulips.

My crazy children, posing, with the Parliament buildings looming in the background.

Calli, Marin and Sofia in Ottawa. This is Calli's new photo face. What a character.

Sofia had enough standing around in one spot.

Calli and Marin

After a bit of discussion, we decided to help Gillian out by taking Sofia off her hands for a few days so she could concentrate on her work. We had SUCH a fun time with Sofia! The girls all played so well together and kept Sofia very entertained, or vice versa. I love this clip where she is demanding the girls to "Sit. Marin. Sit."

The happy little cousins!

Here, the girls have dressed Sofia up in dress-up clothes and Sofia is making an important phone call.



We went to the park one afternoon, but I had to head home ahead of everyone as my allergies were acting up and my eyes couldn't handle the floaty stuff in the air. See? It even suffocated the dandelions at the park. Clearly my eyes didn't stand a chance.

Adam found another way to entertain his dog...Picking her up by the scruff and throwing her...

...she loved it....

...and raced back for more... Look at the smile she's got! What a crazy dog.

Adam has also been working on Nellie's obstacle course skills.



There are a few things we really wanted to do before we move out of here and going back to the EcoMuseum one last time was definitely on our list. So with Gillian's suggestion, we headed over there last weekend to visit with the animals. The girls all had a great time seeing everything.