December Vignettes

I should have lots of time to post occasional tidbits here as my parental leave wraps up -- I mean, a guy with no job should be able to fit these things in. I've got a bunch of photos to upload and a bunch already in Flickr that I haven't posted here...but here is a minute and a half of video clips from our last couple weeks. Prepare to be dazzled by the intense action of: Ivy reading to her siblings, Tannis throwing it down on the lanes, Ezra waking up angry, Ella striding hard on skates, Ivy's Christmas concert, three siblings frolicking...yes, better make some popcorn for this film extravaganza.



A few notes about December, many of which don't show up in the photos or videos:

• Despite some remaining snow, the trails were rideable again this week -- felt good to be out there spinning pedals after I had already played some noon-hour hockey a couple of days before.
  
• We were hosted for wonderful pre-Christmas parties at Lorne and Nada's, Liz and Richard's, and Myron and Tracey's -- feeling lucky to have great friends here in town who are so generous with us even when we're not hosting them very much.
  
• Ivy had a terrible week a couple of weeks ago -- intimidated by her substitute teachers (beloved Mrs. Hopkins was sick all week), no fun at the dentist, and just feeling blah. This week, she was thankfully back on track. Christmas parties for her school, skating club and gifted class went really well, which certainly helped.
  
• My staff party was fun this year...a feast and wine at Summerhill Winery, followed by local comedian Herb Dixon, who had us howling. Thanks to mom and dad for watching all the kids yet again...which reminds me that Pearl watched the kids when Tannis and I had a decadent date at The Cellar Door Bistro earlier on. Gooood livin'.

Happy Birthday Tannisita

My best friend, beautiful wife and the mother of my children had a birthday this week. We didn't go too crazy with the celebrations, but tried to fit in a few special things for the special birthday girl. Breakfast at the Beanery, and Shaughnessy's stepped up with an excellent supper; probably the most fun we've had there and the kids were super mellow. Then over to Summerland Lanes for a family bowling session, which Gus won in convincing style over me, Ivy and Ella.

Snow Job

If forced to generalize, I'd say we had a colder fall than we're used to, punctuated by fewer glorious days where you forget that winter is just around the corner. The end of November was cold enough that I was freezing my toes and fingers on most rides, and then last week we got a few good dumps of snow that ended the riding season. Myron and I did some good work on his incredible backyard rink, packing and leveling snow inside the boards to make a good solid base to flood over.

Got a few snowy photos around the yard: Ella pulling the sled, snow-capped apples in the orchard, sunflowers and vines...but then this week, it turned freaky warm with highs in the low teens. Goodbye snow and backyard rinks, hello mountain bike trails. Not sure how long it will last, but it's a nice little reprieve from the inevitable.

Update on Dec.9: After three wonderful rides in four days this week, we woke up to snow and -5 again, so maybe winter's back for a while.