Beautiful autumn Sunday

In the morning Anna drew pictures while Rowan did her homework.

Meanwhile on the other side of the living room Victor read Rowan's (french) comic book while Colin built with Lego.

The monkey bars at this park had been Anna's nemesis, so she had wanted to try them again with her new mastery. We decided this beautiful autumn Sunday would be a good day to do that. She conquered them!

And then Rowan had to give them a go.

And then Victor and Colin.

“Moose sighting at local park.”

Anna found a way to beat Caity at Tic-Tac-Toe.

After the Tic-Tac-Toe game there was collaborative drawing.

Meanwhile Rowan, Victor, and Colin did word searches at the other side of the table.

Monkey bars!

Anna had to show off her new monkey bar skills when I picked her up from after-care (she'd had ballet earlier, therefore the outfit). She can do them now “leapfrogging” bars, where both hands are never on the same bar.

Victor felt obligated to show that he could do that too.

Morning art

When I got out of the shower this morning there seemed to be a collaborative drawing session in progress.

Anna reading!

After cleaning her room Anna wandered over to my office to hang out with me. I pulled out some beginning reader books that we hadn't done in a little while. Last time we'd tried these books Anna didn't have the self-confidence to push through them. But this time, she did it! She was so proud out herself that she immediately went and read the book again to Caity, and after that went read it again to Victor. Go Anna!

(Victor did not at all mind the distraction from cleaning his own room.)

Sisters reading!

Caity and Anna reading together.

Choir

Arriving at choir in the morning. They were both keen.

Picking them up at after-care, Victor really wanted me to carry his backpack. This is unusual for Victor, I can't remember him asking before. He promised it would make him go fast. Since time was tight to get to Beavers, I allowed that I would carry their backpacks so long as they were actually fast.

They were indeed very fast.

Except for when they went through this apparently mandatory hedge. That was not so fast.

Boat!

Anna joined the group making boats at after-care. Apparently her boat won because it kept floating even after they'd put all the scissors on it.

Walk in the Park

Caity, Janine, and I decided to take a walk in a nearby park. Janine had her camera and it seemed a nice place to take a few pictures...

Hmm, this is the only picture containing the photographer. I'm sure there was more than just the one...

Goofing around

Sometimes Victor and Anna can be pretty silly.

Ok, maybe I need to put it differently. It happens, on rare occasions, that they are serious.

Off to pre-care

I won't be letting Anna bring that stroller again. Which was actually the standard policy (no bringing toys) but she managed somehow to convince me. The deal was that she had to go fast and that I'd take it back home when we got there (she couldn't keep it at pre-care). But she was slower than she would otherwise be, and Victor decided that since Anna brought something he'd bring some Lego minifigures. He did not inform me of this decision and I did not notice that he was doing so. So we naturally spent many minutes after post-care looking for those minifigures which he was heartbroken that he had lost. Which he hadn't, actually... we discovered an hour later than they were in the one pocket he didn't check.

Catching up #1

I can't believe it's only been a month since my last post. It's been so busy I had assumed it had been much longer! So a random assortment since the last post...

Eating out.

At a cottage party, Colin decided that I must go in the water. Might have had something to do with my tossing him into the water a little earlier. Victor felt that the cause was just and he should help.

Anna loved just bobbing around in this little tube and did it for some time.

Not sure what errand we'd been running, but by the time we were done Anna needed a nap.

Later than day, Anna shows off on her bike.

Anna having a tea party.

We went camping... Janine and I said that Anna could climb into our sleeping bag. So she slept horizontally across the opening.

Camping was awesome.

Victor built a Republic Gunship. And Victor really did built it: I help him slightly with bag #1 on the first night, it took a couple of hours. There were 9 bags. He proceeded to complete the next 8 bags over the next couple of weeks without any assistance at all.

This is Rowan, somewhere. No idea. Not sure how this picture got onto my phone, in fact.

This is Rowan, “trapped” in the basement.

Victor and Anna after the first day of school. This was the best picture I could get, silliness seemed to be in the air.

On the way to pre-care, aka Breakfast Club.

Victor reading while Anna was at a playdate with L.

It seemed to be contagious because later the whole crew was reading.

Anna the Gatekeeper requires all to pay a toll before entering.

Anna is still too short to drink standing on the ground.

It was a great day for biking today.

I added #1 to the title of this post because I'm sure it won't be the last time I need to do a catch-up post!

Screen time

Fancy

As I was showering, Anna came into the bathroom and asked, "Is this fancy enough?" I looked, and she was holding up a summer dress. "Fancy enough for what?" Then I reconsidered my answer, and said "Yes," which in my experience is usually the right answer to such questions.

But apparently my answer was not satisfactory, and when I came out of the shower she was putting on a shirt, and I discovered the reason for the question: Victor had decided that he was going to be dressy today, and Anna felt the need to match his sartorial splendor!

These are the outfits they had came up with. I helped them put on the ties they had picked, but that was the only assistance I provided.

Anna needed to show off this paper doll cat she had created with boots, sunglasses, and other accessories.

These outfits are perfectly sensible for "active living week" at daycare, right?

Disparate loads

So Victor is carrying his backpack, Anna's backpack, and this other bag full of stuff Anna decided that she needed to bring home from daycare. And Anna is carrying... a desire to pick that flower?

Kittens

After supper they played for a long time at being kittens.

Here Anna is hissing at Victor. I'll note that she does this at other times too, she thinks it is great fun.