Roberto Luongo (goalie)
Jonathan Toews
Wojtek Wolski
Alexander Ovechkin
Henrik Sedin
Daniel Sedin
Evgeni Malkin
Duncan Keith
Chris Pronger
Keith Yandle
Sergei Gonchar
Want to join him? Send us your list and we'll hang it beside ours, and track 'em all.
On our wee getaway last weekend, Leif and I headed off to Vancouver for the last Canucks game of the season. We had a grand adventure. Shona and Ryan opened their home to us, so we had a lovely place to rest after our days of roaming town on the transit system, which Leif wholly enjoyed. We hit up Science World and took in all the exhibits. Leif tried to power a laptop with his legs
and fit into a tiny box
and ski a course on a simulator. For a boy who's never skied in his life, it was tricky indeed.
We took in an Omnimax film while there, which was both amazing and scary-in-a-I'm-never-going-to-do-that kind of way. It was about finding organisms that live in extreme environments (extremophiles) so this involved caving in very hot and dry areas, and cave-diving in areas where freshwater meets salt water. It was crazy, and very cool.
The hockey game was great, and Leif bought himself a Canucks jersey with the last of his birthday/paper route leftovers. He really struggled with the unfairness that a plain jersey was $80 but a jersey with Luongo's name on it, the one he wanted, was $180. We talked about did he think Luongo's name was worth the added $100, and he felt it was so nasty to create such a huge gap in the pricing. And all this time we were passed by kid after kid in such $180 jerseys. It was really hard for me not to just give him the extra $100, but I had to remember how ludicrous such a price was in the first place. Credit cards can inspire really stupid ideas. In the end he was happy with his choice, and is debating having me paint Luongo's name on the back of his $80 jersey.
Once home, as he counted out his cash and lay it all in my palm (he was short $2, but I let that go) he and Hannah both suddenly asked "Can we get a paper route again?". Leif wanted his old route back, 64 papers and $40 a month, and Hannah asked for a smaller route, after Leif refused to share his route and earnings with her. On the one hand I was happy that they were willing to earn the money they sought. They've never simply asked for any, nor said 'other ids get allowance, birthday money, etc', they've aways accepted that this is how life works. You want some money, you need to go earn some. But the other part of me wilted at the thought of once again dragging Ivy and now 2 wagon loads of papers around the neighourhood twice a week, having the debris from the paper delivery all over the front yard, and just generally not wanting to o this gig again, never mind do it twice! So I talked it over with Kit, and we decided if they shared one route, we'd match their earnings by 50% each month. So less work, but still a decent pay (Leif would've earned $40 a month on his own, by our matching it, he'll do half his old route and earn $30, as we'll cough up $10 more). Plus, I said in 6 months we'll match whatever money they've saved so far. That got their attention, and both vowed to save, save, save. Time will tell. I'm just glad I got out of doing a second route!
Our other adventure in Vancouver was a stop at the aquarium. Leif captured many fish and beings on the camera, and we tried to re-create a great shot of him at 2 years old, in the aquarium in Maui, underneath a sting ray. This shot's close, and man has he grown!
One of the best moments? Getting his fave smoothie from Cafe De Soleil and perusing his newly bought (thanks mom!) Hockey News, which had the playoffs guide.
Hannah's been thinking about habitats this week. That was the topic at last week's science class at Swan Lake. So she took all her info and built her own (plastic) habitat, for her critters.
At the bottom is the baby habitat, complete with babysitter (for a gal who's never had one, what's up there?) and then a labyrinth of ladders leads you to the adults habitat, complete with pond and food supply.
During said nature science class, the kids were scooping up stuff from the lake, and Hannah caught a stickleback fish. Class mates had caught invasive fish, and they were fed to the turtle who lives in the classroom, but Hannah's fish got to join a few other stickleback's in the class aquarium. Proud moments my friend. (And yes we're leaning towards an aquarium at home).
Why a home aquarium? Because if you'll recall, our pond fish are all gone, and a fabulous tribute has been created by Hannah.
Hannah's piano playing has expanded for a new song this week. The theme song to Avonlea, and it sounds lovely!
Ivy has been getting her own quiet moments, watching her favorite video rental, (The Seasons of) Ludovic. it is the best movie for little ones, no whiney cartoons, but stop motion toys, with the main character Ludovic (a bear) having the sweetest, whispery voice and kind disposition. Look for it at your local indy video store.
And Ivy and I are learning all about waterfowl these days. While the older two are in the class at Swan Lake, we grab some bags of flatted oats and go feed the ducks.
Mallards, widgeons, wood ducks, white ringed ducks, plus some coots, cormorants and hissing Canada Geese. It is good times on the water.
At home, she's doing stuff like this:
Maybe I can dress her up as Sheena Easton for Hallowe'en? I doubt she's channeling Lillian Van Der Zalm here.
xoxo
C
No comments:
Post a Comment