Little Ray's Zoo

Finally...I am into February postings...just in time for March! A couple of weeks ago we went to Little Ray's Reptile Zoo at Exhibition Park. There were lots of reptiles, a baby tiger, and birds of prey. Matthew had a great time and was patting all the animals...except the tarantula. He went around and around to all of the exhibits many times :-)

Matthew really liked the big turtle.

Patting "Ana" the anaconda...he's much braver than his Mom!

Sissy enjoyed the zoo too...from the comfort of the stroller :-)

Crosby On Ice

After a couple of months of playing hockey in the house, Matthew hit the jack-pot at Christmas and got skates, a helmet, a Crosby stick, team Canada puck, and a Penguins jersey. Early in January we decided to take Matthew to the rink for his first skate. After a few minutes Matthew informed his father that he was ready to do it himself...slowly he made his way over to Chad.

After a few "steps" he got a little steadier :-)

Waving to Mom and Sissy :-)

More Winter Fun

The activity of choice for Grampy Smith's birthday in January - sledding! Chad, Terry and Matthew went to the hill in Kentville with the GT snowracer for an afternoon of fun. Here go Matthew and Grampy!

Dad's turn!

I heard later that it was really tiring carrying the sled and Matthew up the hill "lots and lots of times" - Matthew had a really fun time sledding with Dad and Grampy!

Winter Fun on Benttree Lane!

Early in January the whole family (even me!) went outside for an afternoon of fun! Chad was able to get a really nice shot of the house all covered in snow too :-)

First activity- build a snow cave! Following this picture, Anna walked into the garage and pointed to the stroller so we wandered around the lane for a bit while Matthew and Chad played in the cave. Riley enjoyed just runnng back and forth, keeping a close eye on both packs.

Laughing in the cave

Next activity - turn the cave into a snow slide...nice coincidence that Matthew insisted on wearing his new helmet outside that day :-)

Me and my boy

Anna thought the snow slide looked fun from the stroller...she's not so sure in this pic...meanwhile, Matthew is beaming!!

Ooops! Sorry Sis...

Good thing she is a good sport...let's try again...

Much better :-)

...and the grand finale!

Toronto Visit - Welcome Baby Owen!

I became an aunt again in September so Anna and I flew to Milton to join Mom and Dad in welcoming Baby Owen to the family! This trip closely coincided with Dad's birthday, so we all pitched in to get hockey tickets (Go Pens!) and Jersey Boys tickets for him. I was the lucky one to get to go to the events with Dad and we had a great day in the city! here's Dad outside of the Air Canada Centre.

Me just before the game started - we were in the "lower" upper bowl at centre ice...great seats!

Face-off - it was a great game - Crosby had 2 goals, Gonchor too, and Malkin had a couple assists I think. Good night to be a Pens fan :-) No pics from Jersey Boys, but it was fantastic!!

Mom, Dad, Anna, and I also had fun exploring Milton and hitting my favorite places. here's Anna at Kelso - we spent Thanksgiving 2007 at Kelso too :-) It was a beautiful day and we hiked to the top of the escarpement...too bad those pics are on Dad's camera...along with the Springridge Farm pictures - I must get copies!

Anyways, it was to spend time in Milton and downtown, and especially fun to meet....

Baby Owen!! What a little sweetheart he is - I can hardly wait to visit again!

Anna couldn't stop kissing him when Grampy was holding him...she wasn't as impressed when I was holding Owen :-)

Randoms...

The past couple months Anna has taken more interest in Riley...she loves to pat and hug him, but still does not like to be licked!

I brought a mini Crosby stick back with me from Toronto and Matthew just loved it! He refers to himself as Crosby when he's using it - proud Mom! I then order a Geno stick and a goalie stick (we say it's a Fluery stick) so that we could play hockey in the hallway. Once my Geno stick arrived, Matthew called me Geno for 4 straight days...

Sissy never wants to be left out :-)

Chad's birthday was mid-November, but with the family still getting over the battle with the flu, there was just a small celebration. Grammie and Grampy Smith were able to come in and brought delicious stew and cake!! High Five!

Halloween - Better Late Than Never!

We had a very busy fall full of busy work schedules and the swine flu, so I've been very behind on the blog. Halloween this year was very fun as Matthew was fully aware that it meant lots of treats! We spent Halloween in Middleton again this year so that we could visit family and go for a fire truck ride. First stop was Grammie and Grampy Barker...I think Matthew weasled some extra treats :-) He is not wearing his hood, but he is a monkey...or a monkey monster according to him!

On to visit Grammie Cole and Ed where boxes of the Cheerios as well as Halloween treats were waiting!

The fire truck ride was a highlight! Matthew and I went last year with Dad, but in the little truck, so this was his first year on the big truck! It was also Anna's (tigger) first fire truck ride. Here are the kids with Grampy (Nana was holding down the fort at home).

Me and Chad with the kids waiting for our turn to go up on the truck. The kids were surprisingly well behaved and had a lot of fun on the truck. I'm sure we'll be back next year!