A couple of pictures...

Wally will be proud of Teresa's love of periodicals...


A picture from today. So far, 3 wet panties, 2 successful pees. Teresa is sitting on the potty as I type.

We're back from the lake...

And it is supposed to be +31 tomorrow and I won't be back... Silliness on my part, as I have come home for a pair of ball games. Classes begin for me on Wednesday. Not too much to report, but we had some nice waves on Saturday and nice weather on Sunday. I got a nice back burn on Sunday, and Teresa initially had severe trepidation due to the waves, but by the end of Sunday she was having a good time, although she tripped and went under once or twice which caused some serious whigging out.

Today is toilet training day. Pray for Mojo... Teresa is officially more stubborn than Cara was. We got her up, put her on the potty fed her litres of liquid and an hour and a half later after some crying she finally peed. The good news is that she can clearly hold it in...

Pictures may be posted soon with more updates on today's progress.

We discovered another food on a stick!

Due to the fact I was away Father's Day weekend, I promised Ken a family outing of his choice. He chose to take Teresa to her first Ex experience. We did not go on any rides, but Teresa did get to see pig races, a horse that went to college (it's better not to ask), various farm animals and hundreds of butterflies. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the Superdogs, who Ken and I saw for the first time on our honeymoon and Ken has become a scary stalker of theirs. So now, for your enjoyment, the Ex, in a series of photographs.


An artistic shot of Teresa and I at the petting zoo


Everyone all together "Awwww, baby sheep."


Teresa petting her first goat


Teresa and her second goat experience, it still took a lot of coaxing to get her to actually touch them.


All together again, "Awwww, baby chicks."


Teresa was surprisingly gentle when petting her first chick, thank God.


For the last time "Awwwww, baby pigs." Teresa enjoyed the pigs the most. After seeing them, she ran around saying "Pigs! Yay! Oink oink!"


Ken in heaven with two foods on a stick, pizza and a corndog.


We are now in the butterfly experience series of pictures. This was a huge netted area with literally hundreds of butterflies flying freely, and landings willy nilly are their heart desired, such as on our information sheet.


Or....as evidence of their poor decision making, on Ken's tushie.


You can see the great number of them in the background.


Say hello to my little friend, flappy.


Even Teresa made a new friend, and didn't freak out, much to Ken and I's relief.


I realize by now you have seen enough pictures of butterflies, but I like this one and it's my blog, so neener neener.


And this is the photo that ended the day, Teresa eating her first mini doughnut.

So all and all, it was a great evening. Teresa had some great experiences and a lot of fun. Ken and I have decided that this will not be a yearly event, as it cost almost as much as Valley Fair without any rides. Ken gives this belated father's day two thumbs up. (I actually don't know that to be true, but hey, I'm the author of this post, and I say he had a great time!)

Act 3 - Sunday

Well, Teresa needed to be reminded to sleep in at 5:45 today, but when we got up at 7:45 it was an overcast 10 degrees with a stiff North wind causing huge waves. Thankfully I had come prepared and had packed only Tshirts for myself and Teresa had 1 long sleeved shirt and a thin rain jacket. As such, we will be driving to church because while we could bond in the hospital together recovering from hypothermia, I’d rather it not be from walking to church, rather playing in the lake.

After another Health Check approved breakfast of cinnamon buns, Teresa & I got to washing the dishes that were around, so we could let them drip dry. Teresa helped by re-rinsing all sorts of things that had already been in the drying rack. My favorite though was when she used the 1/4 cup measure to fill the coffee basket which of course dripped all over the floor. Yes, yet another good reason not to finish the flooring.

A little later (but before we headed off to church) we read a few books. I got irritated though as we had read the same books too often already this week so I searched the cottage, and finally found the mother load under the bunk beds! I found all our childhood books including THE The Cat in The Hat, and I pulled out a few... Teresa got to read the original Going to Bed Book, But Not The Hippo, Good Time to Eat (Cookie Monster pre-sissification), In The Night Kitchen, Where The Wild Things Are. I also found all the old Titous and a bunch of other books. Yay! As I type this Teresa is playing her new game. Grab me from behind on the chair and pull & push me and have my whole body move forward and backward. Time to get up, play a bit and then pack for church!

We just got back from church and I saw a few people from SPHS I hadn’t seen in a while, so that was nice. Teresa was pretty well behaved through the mass, and some of the people were amused by her energetic (and late) Amens. Also, after communion she wanted to run away but I wouldn’t let her so she stood at the aisle and shook everyone’s hand coming back. So super cute. Teresa is eating chips right now and when she is done, we’ll be calling my dad to say hi. Here she is talking to grandpa Yost (on speakerphone so we could all hear everything).

After the call, we went out for a walk and we did the tour de roche, seeing all the rocks, starting with the small one that she can climb (with help) in our yard, then we stopped at face rock. We walked to near the front beach, but since we had Rowdy we didn’t go all the way, instead stopping at the world’s safest play structure. Please note the safe stairs with prudent railings...
Teresa went down the slide and played a bit with a two year old. Once we were done that we finished the tour with a stop at 3rd & 3rd, Big Rock, where I plunked her down on the ledge and took a picture (or four). For the walk, I had hope once again as we got scorched by the sun! Sadly a look across the lake later indicted this could be our only cloud break for the day

After we got back, it was lunch time. Teresa apparently does not like KD so it was Rowdy’s lucky day. Naptime followed and I decided after she had been out for an hour that I could try to mow, while running in every 5 minutes to check on her. No problem, I got the back yard done with the mower (which I might add is so loud I am surprised dad didn’t call me to thank me for doing it - from Ottawa!). I went in to check on her and then started the side yard, which was about two foot tall quack, and then started the front, when I looked over and there was Teresa waving at me! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as I had encouraged her to get out of bed and walk through the curtain. A short hour and quarter nap for her so she will be bagged later tonight!

Prior to going out to mow, I had pre packed a pile of things for the beach so we quickly got changed and headed down to the lake. Thankfully I thought ahead and brought a complete change of clothes for her. Teresa got to play in the sand, and enjoys saying ’stomp’ as she stomps sand castles or ‘crush’ as she smacks them.
Now you see it... <STOMP>Now you don't</STOMP>

I then pulled out Sarah’s old butterfly kite and amazed her with it. She did drop it once or twice, but no big deal as it is a kite that is an easy fly. Only near the end did I allow her to go to the water (please note there were the red flags up - Teresa learned another important lesson, that we shouldn’t listen to the BSOs), where she played in the small crests at the edge. She hopped over them, and almost got knocked down a few times, and stomped into the water. She had great fun and I even convinced her to leave the water (while shivering) without picking her up or getting any tears. We changed her lakeside, and then got her fully dressed and went back to the cottage. Once back at the cottage Teresa & Rowdy got one last rip on the hill and the stupid dog went for a dip so he could be damp for the ride home! Grrrrr.... Then the sad part. I packed the van, did the last few dishes, turned off the power, the hot water and the pump. Off we went to Lanky’s for dinner & dessert. I had packed Teresa a sandwich as I didn’t want to spend silly amounts of money on a dinner she wouldn’t fully eat.

At Lanky’s I got a foot long dog & onion rings, which was tasty and I learned the Teresa doesn’t eat onion rings - more for me! She ate up her sandwich and had some corn. Of course we are at Lanky’s so that means ice cream. I got her a kid’s Cookies & Cream while I ordered a medium Crunchie (OK, won’t reorder it) & Crispy Crunch (surprisingly good - tasted of peanut butter, yum!). Teresa hung onto the cone for dear life and never dropped it. Near the end she poked it as it dripped everywhere, and I had to finish it, as she decided she was done. Yet another sacrifice I make for my family! Lastly a nice lady took a picture of the messy one and I.

First bite

The ice cream goatee

Note the ice cream sprayed everywhere...

The Kid & I...

One last note - yes, pelicans are still around although I did not get any pictures. BTW Teresa calls them ducks.

Act 2 - Saturday

I heard Teresa making noise, and it is only 6:45. Considering the time she fell asleep at, I went and told her she had to sleep some more which she did until around 7:45. We both had some cinnamon buns that Cara had bought for us and Teresa LOVES cinnamon buns, eating almost the whole thing. We relaxed for a while and I read her a few stories, including Sandra Boynton books that are beach only. Before 10, we headed out for a walk around the park while she nibbled on a granola bar. The weather was nice, about 16 degrees and sunny. We enjoyed the walk (Teresa was in the new wagon) as did Rowdy. We went to the front beach again and saw some new cottages being built. There are some serious behemoths that are being thrown up, including two on 6th Avenue. Knowing that Rowdy would enjoy the beach (but the rangers are already out in full force) and that I needed margarine as we had none and were having some KD for lunch we jumped in the van and boogied down to Doris’, where we picked up Jiffy Pop for good measure, and then did a quick tour of Grand Marais. Nothing to report here save the giant cottage that is being built on the walk to church. It it a two story avant-garde looking boxy thing that easily has more footage than my house, and likely double or triple it. We then went down to the old fisherman shack to let Rowdy play on the beach. I explained to Teresa that she couldn’t swim, and had brought sand play stuff and she was OK with that. Rowdy got a good swim in and we left when it began to spit on us.

This began the weather pattern of 30 on, 30 off. Rain, sun, rinse, lather, repeat... Bleah... As such we never made it back down to the front beach. I ended up making KD and Teresa ate none of it, but did eat most of an apple. And suddenly it was nap time. During her nap I relaxed, read the FreeP (including the Physics Exam controversy in Quebec), finished The Onion Movie & 3:10 to Yuma. Both of which I enjoyed, although 3:10 to Yuma would have been way better in a theater & with surround sound as on a 13.3” monitor the gunfights aren’t the same!

After she woke up, we went running around the yard & hill, ending up on the rocks having Rowdy chase a ball in the water. I carried Teresa down to where she could have decent footing and then held on to her, as she was ready to run on those things... Then we got back in just before more rain, where she proceeded to jump on the couch, beds, floor and anywhere else she stand. She also really enjoyed taking out the bin of toys, removing all the toys then sitting in the bin (until she made it rock and scared herself). I have a great picture of her using a sand castle form to sit IN.
She also really liked putting the goggles around her neck.

I learned one important thing today - the more room she has when being changed, the more likely she is to roll & think it is a game. Now I change her on top of mom’s old sewing machine and she’s great. Before that I was ready to shoot her as she would squirm, kick, get up, run away... Generally that makes it tough to put on a leak free diaper. The only time I really missed Cara today was when Teresa had messy diapers and I thought to myself, man I wish Cara could do this :)

Other things she did today. I had pulled out the big old box fan and turned it on during her nap and turned it off before she awoke. She then turned it on, announcing in proudly to me and then tried to stick her fingers in. Thank God I was paying attention to her. I yelped out a loud NO, she jumped away and began the slo-moest crying I have ever seen, with the lower lip slowly coming out, and the frown coming in over 30 seconds during which I explained to her why and that I was happy she didn’t etc... and actually quelled her cry before it really started. Also while I was preparing dinner I look over and she is trying to lick a socket! Same thing again. It turns out she was doing something to a night-light that had been plugged in there, but that doesn’t make it any better.

Before dinner we went out to the General Store to pick up a bottle of wine for my ribeye steak & potato dinner. Teresa picked out some peanuts too... Maybe I am too permissive, but hey I am trying to survive the weekend here! I got a Naked Grape Merlot from BC. It is unoaked and ‘reveals themselves as they really are, without being hidden by the flavor of oak’ It turns out that really means ‘tastes more like a mediocre wine kit’ as it seemed thinner and less like a Merlot to me. Ah well, it is still better than no red wine and was the right price...

I precooked Teresa’s tortellini and then we went out to cook my steak (I turned the grill on during a deluge, which meant it was beautiful when I needed to cook my steak). You can see how tall the grass is around the cottage right now, as she came out while I was cooking and I took the camera.

We’ll see if I can do that tomorrow as I am really only kinda comfortable doing it when she is napping, as I don’t want her near the mower. Right now I am doubting I will get it done. She ate a ton of pasta and finished a whack of corn too, so her appetite was back since lunch.

We ended the evening by going for another walk around the campsite, never actually venturing to Lanky’s as I had hoped as the rain spat on us a bit. We got home, made the Jiffy Pop (which Teresa ate 1/3 of) and then she went to bed after I bathed her in the baby tub which worked out surprisingly well.

I do not expect to actually get under the water tomorrow (I can’t figure out the logistics), but hopefully we can walk to church... My night will involve reading a PDF I got of Math Puzzles & watching UFC 85 or maybe some UK Office. We’ll see... I look out the picture window and see decent waves rolling in and it is still light out. SIGH if only I had 1 responsible person here to take care of Teresa & 1 more irresponsible person to join me in the waves. Oh yeah, and hopefully that responsible person would take care of the dishes for me :)

Father's Day Weekend in 3 Acts

Essentially I live blogged Saturday & Sunday into a Pages document, and will be unrolling three posts over an equal number of days. No pictures in the Friday post, some in Saturday and whole poop-load in Sunday's! For those that aren't aware I was at the lake all weekend with Teresa while Cara galavanted to Grand Forks with her mom & sister.

Without further ado, here's Friday:

Cara & I both worked Friday and we got home around 4:00. Cara helped (did most of the) pack(ing), and then we gave Teresa a snack and I hit the road amid the beginnings of Red River Ex & Tornado Warnings...

We arrived at the beach on Friday around 6:00 and much to my amazement there was no one at the gate, so I went to Doris’ and bought a park pass. Pulling up to the cottage a few trees had been blow over / broken recently so I cleaned it up a bit. Sadly THE TREE is still alive, though weakened... After getting into the cottage and giving Teresa & Rowdy some time to acclimatize themselves to the cottage (Teresa immediately went for the spinny Fisher Price ball toy thing she loved last year) I got us changed and, sans Rowdy, took the wagon to the front beach. Not surprisingly, Teresa booted it straight into the water and wandered up until near her mid thigh (which was quick where we were, as there was a quick drop off to her knee level). The water was surprisingly nice, as we have had a brutal spring / summer for warmth & a late melt. She only fell once, and I even kept her face from hitting the water. She really enjoyed playing with a cup of water and having me fill it and her dump it ad nauseam and she also stomped in the water to make splashes, but needed to hold my hand to do this. She stayed out there until I decided that her shivering was too much and as expected she cried as I took her back to the beach to wrap her in towels and try to dry her as best we could.

Once on the beach, she had no problem with the sand and I made her some sandcastles which she enjoyed destroying through her new favorite move: the stomp. She then helped me fill the pail with her shovel and patted down the sand (while saying ‘pat, pat’). It was getting late and she hadn’t had any real dinner yet so we headed home, with her once again upset at leaving the beach. Unfortunately as I hid the wagon when we got back, I got her hand caught between the van and the wagon which caused a need for consoling...

I then got her a big snack ready, and we tried to get the water working, which failed miserably... I had to call in the cavalry and Bill Evans came over and was very helpful (which will cost me some future beers), figuring out that there were a couple of drain bolts that had been taken out in the fall which I had not known about. Otherwise I had done everything else correctly. Nevertheless by the end of the evening we had hot water, a flushing toilet and a well fed Teresa. I put her down to bed quite late (almost 9), and she didn’t fall asleep until almost 10, as I forgot to give her her soother... I forgot my new book at home, so I ended up watching an episode of The Office (UK), and began watching 3:10 to Yuma. I hit the sack around 11:00 and slept well.

Breakfast with a diva

So Teresa is amazing, in case some of you were wondering. She now knows most of her alphabet (except E and F confuse her), she can count to 8 and knows the sounds of various barnyard animals. She constantly wants to know whats what, and body parts fascinate her. She informed me in the store today that I had a vagina (this is Cara by the way, so her assessment was spot on, buy very loud). Those old people must really wonder about me sometimes...

So, on to the pictures. These were taken a couple of days ago, when Teresa decided to wear her cereal bowl as a hat.

Winnipeg gal, through and through

I'm officially ancient...

30! That's like a bajillion years old in fishfly years

Ah, the Yost is strong in this one...

So Ken went to a bunch of garage sales with Teresa this weekend, and I was afraid. I was afraid of clothes from the 80's, tacky shoes and toys that were on their last legs and contaminated with some viral concoction that would eventually give Teresa the ability to burn people with her laser beam eyes. However, I had no cause for alarm, Ken came home with a play dough dentist set, a big girls bike, an awesome wagon and a very innocent looking plastic pool.

Ken, as is his nature was very excited about this pool, so he promptly filled it up in the morning. After Teresa's nap he decided that she needed a swim, so we put on her swimsuit and took her outside. She did not want to go in at first, so Ken let her explore it for a while, and before you know it, in she was. Teresa had a great time splashing and playing, but it did not take long for her to get cold. There she was, her little body shivering and lower lip quivering, yet she refused to leave the water. Ken eventually grew so concerned that he plucked her out. What followed were many minutes of screaming (and shivering) as we got her dry and dressed. If I were a true Yost I would have given her some ice cream afterwards, but it has only been 8 years, so I am not fully indoctrinated as yet:) The Auntie Jackie gene seems to be strong in my little girl and that scares the crap out of me, but the bright side is I am no longer afraid of garage sales.