We're very proud of our little girl Abigail. She's been walking with help for a few months now, but in the last week, she's made little ventures on her own around the house. She often looks up at us, reacting just as we do to her, saying, "Oooooh!" This video was taken the day after she walked 5 steps.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
A Busy Summer
Sheena and I have been busy over the past few months building a shed, doing yard work and land clean-up, among other things around the house. Right now, we have about half our cleared lot planted with grass, we're hoping for a lawn next year. For anyone doing landscaping, we'd definitely recommend hiring a bulldozer. It makes all the difference. Here's a couple of photos of our progress.
Lets get caught up with some photos of what the girls and us have been up to: **warning, long post!**
In August, we all headed to Cape Breton for Abigail's baptism. There was a 4H club fair at the Brook Village Hall grounds, with lots of animals and displays for kids to play with. Rebecca and Abigail met some cows and other animals up close and personal. Rebecca has now determined that all animals are 'baby cows', 'baby sheep', 'baby birds'. She's quite taken with them.
In late September, Sheena and the girls went back to the Sackville Fall Fair to take in some of the events. Rebecca was particularly taken by the horseback ride that she was able to do. When asked if Sheena wanted to put Abigail on the horse, the cowboy had said, "they can start riding at six months!". Needless to say, she said next year for Abigail.
Since moving to Belleisle, we've also had the opportunity to meet some of our neighbours. One particular neighbour which has become more and more welcome is a friendly dog (one of the neighbours' dog). 'Alpine' actually spends most of the days at our place lately, sleeping on our deck, running around with the kids and just hanging out. We've been in touch with the owners, who are fine with him visiting. We all love him (even when he brings a moose leg home and buries it in our freshly planted grass.)
Abigail has been crawling like crazy and is pretty speedy now. She's also walking with assistance and has tried walking with chairs and Rebecca's old walker for the past few weeks. She's excited to do it and getting better every day. It won't be long before she'll be running around outside with Rebecca and we'll really have our hands full. See Abigail's video on youtube.
Last week, Sheena and I took off for a night to Charlottetown. It was a little getaway for Sheena's birthday and a treat for both of us. Our visit brought us to see some of the Fall Flavours Festival which is a food festival for all of PEI. Best of all, it's hosted by our favorite TV chef, Michael Smith. Sheena has been cooking some of Michael Smith's recipes for a couple of years now and even adopted some of his pantry styles! We've loved his east-coast inspired at home cooking show, which gives a fun and relaxed way to cooking some of the foods we see a lot in the east -- as well as foods from elsewhere to add some variety. Smith's happy-go-lucky approach to cooking is inspiring and fun to watch and try for yourself. So, naturally, we had to
meet him and planned to attend a book signing in Charlottetown. We met him (when he was almost ready to leave), but he spent some time to talk to us a little bit too as there was noone waiting around. It was pretty neat. The rest of our trip could be simplified to a couple our own of walking tours of beautiful downtown Charlottetown and a couple of times sampling some local food and beverages. :) One place we would recommend to anyone traveling is the Gahan House. Its a microbrewery pub, with great beer and gormet served food for pub prices. Unbeatable!
On the
2nd, it was Abigail's first birthday. Abigail was lucky to celebrate her birthday at different times during the day with different grandparents! We had some cake at Nana and Papa's in Moncton, then Gramma and Grampa from Cape Breton visited us in Belleisle for the weekend. Rebecca was lucky to have spent almost the entire saturday afternoon playing in the sandbox with Grampa.
That should get us all up to date, we promise more regular updates! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Fun with the Kids
Here are some good photos with Rebecca and Abigail. Abigail is now standing (she skipped crawling)Download Two stepping Abigail or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUTIbBMn2P4. She's a bit unbalanced at walking with assistance, but coming along. She's also now eating regular food in almost adult portions too, which is hilarious. She's off formula and will be going into grade 12 next week!
Both Abigail and Rebecca love visiting Brook Village and playing with 'gruhm pa' and 'gruhm ma' at the store.
Rebecca seems to be saying new words every day now and surprising us with what she can remember day to day and week to week. Rebecca is now sleeping in a 'big girl bed' and having regular trips to the potty. We're hopin to negotiate the 'twos' quickly, ha!
As for other photos, Sheena took some cool ones of birds near Brook Village. Here's some Evening Grosbeaks and Bald Eagles near the Mabou River.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Some trips, some photos
Sheena, Rebecca and Abigail are visiting Grammy and Grampy in Cape Breton this week. It was only a few weeks since our last trip...but now that we're in the east coast, its just one of the joys of living closer to family.
I'm a little behind on posting this summer. Here's a few photos to get us caught up. We visited quite a few family on our last Cape Breton trip mid-June. It had been the first since January if you can believe it, mostly due to the busyness with our new house. So, it was a chance for everyone to catch up with Abby, who's been growing like a weed since they saw her last.
We also had a little walk to the neighbors, the Vandenheuval's and saw their farm. Rebecca went nutty with all the baby animals, particularly cats who let her pick them up! The following day, we also stopped at the Red Shoe with the girls after the beach.
From there, it was a bonus little trip for Sheena and I. Mom and Dad took care of the girls for a couple of days and Sheena and I traveled to Margaree to visit Second Fork Falls. After getting all scratched up and tired, we relaxed at a Bed and Breakfast in Baddeck (the Belleview B&B). It was a cool time to be in Baddeck, as the Silver Dart Festivities were being held there. We stayed for the airshow the following day, which had a coast guard demonstration and a CF18 doing some tricks. Afterward, we traveled to Sydney for a much enjoyed dinner at Governors and a movie. (yahoo, Star Trek!) Our stay included another B&B, the Colby House. Probably one of the nicer places we've ever stayed and a wonderful gourmet breakfast too. I'll never go back to a hotel room ever again!
The next day, we spent some time at Fortress Louisbourg. I had only been there as a kid, but thoroughly enjoyed this trip. We spent about 3 hours exploring around in the fort and the best part, listening to the actors describe life in the blustery and cold French outpost. I could not imagine spending the required six to twelve years of service there. One of the cooler parts were the military demonstrators, including a musket demonstration . After Louisbourg, we traveled back towards Sydney and checked out the popular Gillis Falls while on the way home to Brook Village.
