One of the most popular features of this Canada Day party were the three balloon artists. Here is an example of some of their crazy elaborate creations:
It is a little out of focus but you get the idea
We also saw kids on balloon horseback, monkeys in trees, balloon accessories, the works. Dylan and I made an attempt to line up for the most coveted item, but gave up after 30 mins of waiting and absolutely no line progress.
After dinner, Uncle Jay took up the cause. He and Amelia hit the lodge and got in the epic line.
Soon we go the call that uncle Jay was near the front!
Dylan was so thankful!
And then the Balloon Artist asked Dylan what he wanted.
Would it be a sword and shield? A bow and arrow? Spider? Horse?
Nope...
A blue dog.
Even Amelia looked disappointed...
She got a yellow duck and the kids were ecstatic.
Uncle Jay was super excited that he got to wait for TWO hours!!
Look at what he had to show for it!
Seriously though, Dylan is still playing with that blue dog, and let me tell you,
This year we were so glad to be invited by Jason and Holly to a fantastic Canada Day party.
The first thing we saw were these cool kid sized jeeps.
Dylan hit the road in style!
While the boys were practicing their driving,
Holly and I staked out a good spot.
Canada Day hugs!
We found a great spot to watch the fireworks later that night.
Canada Day crew
Once we knew our spot and stuff was secured, Dylan lined up for an ultimate challenge - a very cool bouncy castle style obstacle course. He competed against a much older kid and as we all patiently waited for him to finish, we eventually heard "I think that I am FINALLY at the end!" from the top of the slide. Then Dylan emerged!
After the bouncy castles, we hit the pool and then the splash pad. In the splash pad Amelia terrorized the kids as a zombie baby, turning everyone she touched into a member of her zombie army. Not sure what the other parents thought, but Jay and I thought that it was hilarious.
I am really tempted to leave this post up for the rest of the month...just to bug Katie. (She pointed out that last year, the bread and honey post was the only blog for a month!)
Don't worry Katie - there will be a new post soon. I promise!!
There was a pony ride!
Woody and Bullseye!
AKA Dylan and Stardust
Riding in the boat with creepy twins...
Neeeeeemo!
We took a break, went home for lunch and a nap and came back just at the perfect time to snap this:
Dylan and Hazel!
She was not really in the mood for pictures, but we took this one anyway. Luckily there were some at the fair that were more in the mood...this tiger posed with several children!
He was very friendly and had far less handlers than the Mayor.
You remember...it was May 2-4. Right. And we have a tradition to get together with the gang for some 'old-fashioned' fun. Last year it was REALLY old fashioned. This year, we went out to the ballgame.
The kids posed for their requisite shot. They were in the mood to play along since Aunt Katie had just bought them all delicious treats.
We had a fabulous afternoon and then headed back to Minto street to celebrate the Rapture. It was a wonderfully fabulous day!
Listen, it has been awhile. But you are used to it. We have been up to a lot of things in our absence from the blog. I was very busy with Convocation at York University.
You may have heard about this - a proposal onstage during one of our 13 ceremonies!
The amazing video was created by the fantastic team from LTS at York.
So I know that it seems weird but this was SO MUCH FUN.
On Saturday, we went to Appleby College (gorgeous) for our orientation session and to pick up our race kit. In Dylan's words, "we stood for awhile and paid attention." The coordinators of this event are great and answered all of the parents' questions. We picked up Dylan's racing bib and when he looked at it, said "Oh number 43, cool." WITHOUT any prompting!! It was a very proud parent moment, and we haven't even gotten to the race yet!
Our athlete had a hearty breakfast and we hit the road. When we arrived, we set up our transition area, and went to wait for our wave to be called. Just before we went in we saw Dylan's first fans! Nana and Ba!!
I didn't get any pictures of Dylan's other amazing fans
- the Duntgomery family
It was difficult for spectators to get into the pool area, so there are no photographs of this leg, but he did an amazing job. Second one out of the pool!!
Off we go to the transition area. Dylan was really into the race by now, as you can see from his race face here:
pay no attention to my shoddily
photoshopped bathing suit...
I love the spectator laughing at Dylan's very serious face.
When we were done the transition area, we head out to the bike leg.
Same bathing suit, different photoshop...
Here is a little video of Dylan starting the biking leg of the tri. He really picked things up after the kid blew past us over the speed bump.
And then we got off the bike and made a run for it! Dylan was amazing and really gave it his all. He had so much fun and was so excited about his medal.
Here is a great little video that Nana edited of Dylan crossing the finish line at his triathlon on Sunday. My favourite part is where he points up to where 'FINISH' was written. Dylan was so lucky to have such a huge cheering section!! More posts later this week...for real.
So I was just going through the posts, and it looks like I did not cover this AT ALL.
Katie, and Leah, and my mom all put up posts about my beautiful boy, but I guess...well...I got nothing. Ooooh! I just remembered! We ran out of space on the harddrive! Could not edit the photos right away...and then...well...I got nothing.
Here was his birthday in a nutshell:
The big 0-4
We made some t-shirts for our friends
We baked a "Special Agent Oso" cake
played in the sun
"what's going to work? TEAMWORK!"
did our balloon training inside
While the parents sat outside
discussing important business
like why only half of us got the "wear plaid" memo
Then we did the chicken dance - serious business!
opened presents - did some more chicken dancing
THANKS SO MUCH!!
The next day I got my own Oso!!
On Dylan's actual birthday, we went to the zoo! Our birthday tradition!!
oh hai! we are just waiting up here to RIDE a ...
CAMEL!! (Disappointingly NOT named Alice.)
Ran into some old friends - Alistair and Cam
saw the elephants
rode the merry-go-round
saw the polar bears eat their lunch
"what is behind me?!"
posed with Secret Cat and an orangutan
the weight of the world
weighs heavily on the next generation
