Overheard....

Yesterday evening, Sprocket and the babies were playing happily in the living room.  Edward asked Evelyn: "What do we say to the puppy?".  Evelyn replied with a wagging finger: "Stop it, puppy!"

This morning, when Edward brought Keith down to join Colin in the kitchen for breakfast, Keith greeted him with "Hello, buddy".

Each of them can say "Keith" perfectly, although Colin tends to come out as "Kahleen" and Evelyn was "Ai-ee" for quite a while.  But today Keith managed "Evahleen".

They are talking up a storm!  Evelyn is our little echo, repeating the last word or two she hears.  All of them love to pick an animal for "Old MacDonald" (our tooth brushing song), although on occasion they come up with "cookie" or "chair".  They continually amaze me with their vocabulary and comprehension.

Of course, in public, they tend to clam up.  Their linguistic capabilities are my own personal Polka-roo - you'll just have to take my word for it!

Evelyn and her dolly

Evelyn got a new dolly from Dammie and here she is putting her to bed... at the end, she whistles her a little lullaby... We leave Shediac for Ottawa tomorrow via Quebec City. Here's hoping for a smooth and uneventful trip!

More From Shediac

After complaining about the weather in my last post, we've since enjoyed back-to-back dazzling, sunny and hot days, which of course, means we've spent our afternoons playing in the sand at the beach!



 Keith, Evelyn and Colin ready for some waves, "bumpin' up and down in their little red wagon".  We loved "Ratti" (Evelyn-speak for Raffi).

 Evelyn doesn't want Sprocket to miss out on the fun!

As promised, babies in bathing suits.  They love digging in the sand and finding treasures like hermit crabs, shells, periwinkles and...

....seaweed, although Keith looks a little skeptical.  Thankfully, cousin Sarah was there to hold his hand.  And yes, his shirt does say "Danger! Giant Squid". 

Today, the weather started off a little rainy, but that didn't deter us from heading out to the Magnetic Hill Zoo.  Edward remembered it as a rather depressing place, replete with a "bear pit", but it has since become one of the most decorated zoos in Canada.  We were extremely impressed with the beautiful, well-kept grounds and animal enclosures.  Keith roared at the lion, and they were most excited about the bears, ducks (and ducklings), and of course, the river otters and their antics:

 What a great place to spend the morning!  It's hard to believe we're leaving in less than a week.  Here's hoping the better weather holds, and we have a  few more lazy days at the beach before we head home to stifling hot Ontario!

Back In Shediac!

Last week, we packed what seemed like everything we owned into our van for the two day trip to Shediac, New Brunswick as we did last year, to spend three glorious weeks at the "Family Compound".  It actually is the closest luxery to a vacation for Edward and I  - and the kids, no doubt- for we have a ton of help when we are here.  Once Damee (Keith-speak for Grammy), Gampy, Pinie, Aunt Jane (as of tomorrow) and the neighbours arrive on the scene, I have very few distractions to compete with a good book.  Which is why I'll keep my update short and sweet!

So far, our sunny beach vacation has looked quite a bit like this:

A lot of wind, rain, cold and overall sogginess.  Which means we've done quite a bit of this:

The amount of destruction three toddlers can inflict in a confined area is impressive.

But, on the day (yes.. day), the sun shone, it meant we got to do this:

And even better, this:

There have also been some moments of serious excitement, like when everyone watched in fascination as Bub (Colin-speak for Bob) got his boat ready to be put in the water up at the warf:

Such is life at the Shore!  Hopefully, my next batch of photos will include babies in bathing suits...