Maple Festival

Yesterday we went to a town called Elmira for their annual Maple Festival. The boys were very excited about getting to eat pancakes! They each had a huge pancake covered in 100% pure maple syrup that was harvested right in the town! We had a lot of fun walking around looking at the different booths set up, trying free samples and eating some food that we normally don't! There was almost any thing you can think of with a maple syrup twist. There were maple burgers, maple chips, maple lollipops, maple popcorn balls, maple cotton candy, maple sausage, maple ice cream, maple candy, maple sugar and the list goes on! Here are some pictures from the day.

Self portrait in the car on the way there!

Delicious pancakes

Rylan with our friend Alysse

Eating a maple popcorn ball with our friend Gina

Face painting!

Logan all bundled up for the cold weather

Logan clapping

L- Clapping from Ashley V on Vimeo.

Carsten counting

Untitled from Ashley V on Vimeo.

Rylan's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Rylan's birthday (actual on the 26th) at the bowling alley. 10 of his friends came to celebrate with him. I have to admit it was a bit chaotic, but a lot of fun. Here in Canada they have a unique kind of bowling called five pin bowling. You use a much smaller ball, get three tries per turn and there are only 5 pins to knock down. It was easier for the kids than traditional bowling. Rylan seemed to really enjoy himself which made it all worth while! Here are some photos of the event:

Rylan's special request: a bowling cake!

Logan gave up on the fun!

4 candles for my big four-year-old!

Time to open presents!

All his friends and a few siblings as well!

Proud mom moment

So I am going to have a proud mom moment. I try not to do this too often as I don't want to bore you all with how wonderful my kids are. Today Rylan came home with a picture that he had colored in class. It was so good that I thought for sure someone had helped him. I confirmed with his teacher that he had indeed colored it himself! So here is the picture:

Playing in the kiddie pool

This past week we have had incredible weather for this time of year in Canada. It has been in the 80s! So the kids had fun outside in the kiddie pool with our neighbors yesterday. They all stripped down to their underwear and had a blast. Here are a few pictures of the fun and a few other photos as well. Logan is finally sitting up on his own so he is now able to join the boys for bath time!

This is for Auntie JuJu- thanks for the bibs!

Trip to Wisconsin

After getting over a week of our entire family getting sick, we were able to take a break from classes and head down to Wisconsin for a few days. My parents and two youngest brothers met us there which was such a treat! It had been 15 months since we had seen my parents and over a year and half since we had seen my brothers. None of them had ever met Logan before. Rylan and Carsten had so much fun being loved on 24-7. The day that we had to say goodbye was hard. Rylan was crying and told us, "today was not a good day." When asked why he said, "because Papa and Nana had to leave, so it was not a good day." He was really sad. Carsten was sad as well and continues to ask each day where nana and papa are. We are definitely looking forward to this summer when we will be reunited with both of our families for an extended period of time. Here are some pictures from the trip!

A hearty breakfast at McDonald's!

Bowling for Rylan's birthday

Riding a virtual rollercoaster at Chuck E Cheese

Taking a tour at the Jelly Belly Factory