Ormstown
We spontaneously took a trip down to the annual Ormstown Fair today: the kids watched, petted and fed animals, ate hotdogs and cotton candy and climbed on farm equipment to their hearts’ content. They would have been even happier if we’d been willing to shell out big bucks for the carnival rides and booths, but they (mostly) mastered their disappointment.
Here’s Charlie, hanging out with a python:
William was even braver, and allowed this tarantula to stand on his shirt for a minute (you can’t see me freaking out in the background, but it was a pretty unnerving encounter):
Here, Elijah tries out his farming skills on a mini-tractor:
We all had a great time at the fair, although it would have been better if the drive home hadn’t been agonizingly long as we inched our way over the Mercier Bridge into Montreal; they’re doing major construction work, and we all ran out of patience before we’d even crossed the bridge. Once the CD player and the “I spy” game stopped entertaining the kids, we had to endure the boys’ hysterical laughter and Charlotte’s equally hysterical tears. Good times.
The boys have been playing soccer for a couple of weeks now. Here’s how they look in their new uniforms:
Elijah on the left, Will on the right
Their team is called the “Dolphins”, and our boys are super excited about the soccer practices and games they’ve attended so far. Elijah’s shown some real speed and skill, and he scored a goal during their very first game; we were so proud! Will, on the other hand, managed to score on both his own net AND the net in the next field, which was less impressive. In the middle of their last game, William also sat down and tried to build a sandcastle out of the dirt in centre field, although he did chase after the ball some of the time. At least they’re both having fun.
Speaking of fun, the boys are finally old and calm enough to enjoy playing board games, which is a great development for rainy days. Here, Charlotte is teaching William to play tic-tac-toe, using a cute wooden bunny set:
All three kids playing “Candyland”:
Charlotte’s been working her way through the Harry Potter books, and she’s just started number 4 (“The Goblet of Fire”). She was a little taken aback when she saw that it was 600 pages long (twice as long as the last book), but as soon as she flipped through it and recognized the characters, she dove right in:
Charlie had to create a family tree for school, and she was very proud of the finished product:
Finally, here’s a picture of my dad (“Poppa”) reading to his grandsons, and valiantly ignoring all the stuffed animals they’ve draped around his head:
School is finally winding down for me, and soon the summer will officially be here. I am looking forward to the break!
