Park Hopping (Pavey Style) and Strawberry Picking

Park Hopping: Pavey Style


Today Chrissy was at work for the morning, and it occurred to me that I had no plan for the day, and hence no material with which to blog! Not wanting to disappoint the masses, I quickly constructed a plan to go park hopping, following in the tradition of a park master, my friend Matt Pavey.

The idea is simple: you load your kids into a wagon, and visit all the parks in a specific area, spending a short time at each one, in a calculated attempt to wear out your kids for the day. The following is a visual account of our journey.

We started off our journey with a hefty snack. I call this a “Grape Soufflé^©.”

Here are the main players. Clearly, both are in need of some tiring out!

I loaded them into the wagon... it was pretty cute. After a few minutes, I heard Jesse shout in an irritated voice, “Janna! No hitting!” I turned around and studied Janna. She was the picture of perfect calm, with an angelic smile on my face. Thinking Jesse must be having one of his “sensitive days,” I continued to pull them. 


Again, I heard an outraged squawk from Jesse. Intrigued, I continued to pull them, carefully studying Janna. She sat their quietly for a while, then all of a sudden, with an enormous smile on her face, leaned forward and jabbed Jesse in the leg with her sippy cup. When Jesse wailed again, she broke into giggles. 


What a troublemaker!! After I explained to him that she was just playing with him, he was much more relaxed about it. Chrissy has this theory, and I think she’s right – Janna is going to be good for Jesse as he grows up. She’ll keep him from taking himself too seriously.

Park #1 – Craig Henry Park, or as the kids call it, the “Yellow Park”: This is our classic park experience, and it has everything a kid could want – a good twisty slide, some things to climb and fall off of, and swings. But, since we’re now park connoisseurs, I’ll give it a 6 out of 10. It would score higher without those gigantic 7 and 8 year olds that think they own the place!

On the way to Park #2, we encountered these shoes hanging from the power lines. This excited Jesse greatly, and he exclaimed, “They’re twisting, Dad! Just like I’m twisting!” He likes to relate things to himself these days, but strangely, he sat completely still while he said this.

 Park #2 – Centrepoint Park: This park has something for everyone! For example, Janna immediately rushed to the play structure....

 ...while Jesse took off for the splash pad. I stayed with Janna, but I was a bit worried when I saw all the water jets shoot off and Jesse running as fast as he could back toward me. He can be a little timid, so I was afraid he might be a wreck when I reached him.

I shouldn’t have worried! He told me the story of how the jets went off in front of him for the next several minutes. We’ll give Centrepoint an 8 out of 10 for its excellent, unpredictable splash pad!

 Park #3 – the “Surprise” Park on the corner of Tallwood and Woodroffe: We didn’t even know this park existed, but Jesse saw it across the road, so we checked it out. Cute park, nice slides for toddlers, but not too exciting for bigger kids (3 year olds). We’ll give it a 4 out of 10.

On the way to our grand finale, we passed by the new archives building for the Ottawa Library. Jesse loved the artwork and kept calling it a spider web. I guess it can be whatever he wants it to be, right? :)

THE GRAND FINALE: TIM HORTON’S!!!!!!!! Jesse received two premiere timbits, and Janna had a chocolate chip cookie. Everyone drank lots of water. I couldn’t believe it, but we had been gone for nearly 2 hours!

 Dad couldn’t resist taking some artsy shots....

 ...and Janna taught him a lesson by smearing a large, chocolatey thumb across my lens. Point taken.

 On the way home, Jesse was moved at the sight of a large tractor RIGHT BESIDE US! (Excuse the blurry shot.... chocolate on lens...)

Finally, we arrived home to Mommy. We missed her!!


PART II: Strawberry Picking

After nap time, we decided that we needed to brave the warm weather once more for some strawberries. Turns out, strawberry picking with young children is challenging, but fun.

Jesse was perplexed at our instructions to place the strawberries in the box, but not to eat them. In each of the pictures we took, he looks like he’s in physical pain, presumably from the effort of not eating strawberries.

Daddy, in the classic “it’s manly to have a toddler on my back” pose. I’m becoming pretty comfortable with this look!!

 What can I say? Beautiful.

 

Janna actually cried whenever she didn’t have a strawberry in her mouth. Poor Jesse... the injustice must have been killing him.

And here they are. Chrissy promises me she’s going to make some kind of gluten-free Strawberry Shortcakes.... awesome!!!!!

Tired, but an awesome day. ‘Til next time!

Jesse and Daddy Go To Swimming Lessons

Jesse has been talking about it all week: Wednesday, the day when he and Daddy would go to swimming lessons together.

What was he looking forward to the most? You might think it would be the fun games we would play, or meeting other new friends, or actually splashing around in the water. But Jesse is no ordinary kid; he was there for the LESSONS.

"There's going to be a teacher, right?" he asked us over and over. Apparently, a strenuous swimming curriculum was at the top of his list of priorities.

So how did it go? It kind of depends on who you ask.

What does Daddy remember? Well, as we waded into the water, Jesse deployed his best stranglehold on my neck and weeped hysterically, saying, “I don’t want to do this, I want to get out, I want Mommy.” (Did I mention he’s never been big on swimming pools?)

He repeated this for about ten minutes, during which I received several concerned looks from my fellow parents, who doubtless expected me to remove my sobbing child from the pool. Instead of this, I laughed awkwardly and said, “He doesn’t like water much, I guess,” and continued to bob my child around the pool as he continued to grip my neck and face. (This didn’t really seem to allay their feelings of concern, but what can you do???)

However, when we asked Jesse how it went, he quickly said that it was fun and fired off the following list of five things that he liked:

1. He liked the toy boat
2. He liked jumping on Daddy (he even smiled briefly when he got to do this)
3. He liked getting out of the pool
4. He liked having a shower (this was a really funny process)
5. He liked getting his diaper changed

So, despite having no positive recollections of the swimming itself, he’s eager to come back next week for round two. Here are some pics of the experience (unfortunately, no good pool shots as we were too far away):

Poor Janna desperately wanted to join in. Unlike Jesse, she has a natural love for water and swimming pools and was quite incensed that she couldn't be a part of this.

Thankfully, Momma was able to pacify Janna with the camera.

 Here's a shot of me and Jesse from a distance. If you look carefully, you'll see the stranglehold.

All done! Relieved, but somehow excited to go back



















The adventures continue!

Until next time....

Dave Vance: Romantic

For the past week, I've been creating this great master plan to impress my wife by secretly organizing a night out for the two of us. 

This romantic evening would include dinner on the patio at Malone's (overlooking Dow's Lake), followed by a scenic walk along the Rideau Canal, and finishing with a stroll through the Ottawa Arboretum (huge, beautiful garden).

I enlisted the help of one of my friends (thanks Matt Pavey!) to watch the kids for the evening, made the reservations, and cleaned the house so that Chrissy wouldn't be thinking about the mess at home.

Unfortunately, I didn't plan for the weather. No sooner did I finish cleaning the house than the sky turned dark and the clouds poured out their destruction on my plans. 

However, my beautiful wife was the best of sports. She had the best attitude, and said she didn't mind the rain at all; it was kind of relaxing. Instead of taking a walk down the Canal to the Arboretum, we went on a mission to find Chrissy's childhood home, which she has not seen for twenty years (she had lived in Ottawa as a child until she was seven years old).

It was very cool! As we approached her old house, she began to remember more and more of the area around her: houses of her friends, old forts, places where her brothers were hit by cars, etc. In the end, her strongest impression was that everything seemed way smaller than it had when she was a kid. 

Altogether, a successful evening, despite the rain. Next time, though, I'll watch the weather a little more closely.

The Johnsons, a Beach Visit, and Television Obsessions

Dear blog,

Another day gone by, and I must admit that I am deeply appreciating the summer. Spare time (read: time not lesson planning/marking) is a beautiful thing, and there are so many great ways to fill it.

BEACH DAY at THE BAY

We had some great moments at Mooney's Bay today, which has quickly become our adopted beach. Here are some shots of the kiddies getting ready to take the beach by storm.

Jesse is single-handedly bringing back the muscle shirt. Clearly, he has his dad's pipes. Janna "The Diva" Vance is sporting some shades to capture all the little toddler hearts our there.


Janna went right to work creating some Kodak moments. Every ten seconds she would do something cute, look at us, and smile.

(On the other hand, her parents were much less photogenic, and even the incredibly beautiful Chrissy Vance provided no appropriate pics.)

My main goal for the visit was just to teach Jesse how to dig a respectable hole. Unfortunately, he had other goals in mind, namely filling his buck with sand.

In a great "daddy moment," I thought I'd show him how to properly pack sand into his bucket, but I must have packed it too hard because when I flipped it upside down, it cracked in half. Jesse was not impressed.

Ah, snack time. If I didn't teach him how to make a good sand castle, at least I taught him how to relax after a snack.


Although it might seem like Chrissy and I are pretty family-oriented people, we do make an effort to take some downtime away from the kids. Here are some things we've been experiencing lately....

1) Awesome family concerts:

The Johnsons are, simply put, the most talented group of family musicians I’ve ever heard. No hyperbole here: from the very first, eerily dark and brooding, opening notes to the rap/piano rock hit you might hear on any radio station; to the dramatic re-enactment of a key moment in The Little Mermaid; to the closing, acapella rendition of “Amazing Grace;” this may be the most energizing and eclectic show in Ottawa.

The questions that beg to be asked are:
Why have they not released a family album? 
and 
Why are they not playing in Bluesfest?

2) Obsessive following of hit TV series:


Chrissy and I always like to have a TV show on the go that we can watch together. So far, since we first started dating, we've watched all the seasons of Friends, 24, and we're working on Friday Night Lights. 

We actually missed the last season of 24, so we're catching up on it now... It's epic.

Alright, so maybe I should be embarrassed about this, but in the spare time I've suddenly discovered, I've begun to watch a show that everyone else apparently watched 10 years ago: Smallville!


This has suddenly become affordable due to a killer deal at Jumbo video: $9.99/month for unlimited 7-night rentals. Basically, this is a video store's last stand against Netflix and internet videos, and I think it's worth keeping the video store industry alive.

Is there even any place else in Ottawa that still rents DVDs????

Canada Day in 15 Photographs

 Off we go! Look at us here. Everyone looks optimistic about Canada day before getting on the bus for a 50-minute transit experience at the Canada Day at Juliana Park. Although we had a few brief rough patches, things turned out pretty well. Katie is holding the camera in this pic.

 Here is little Janna showing off the latest in Canada-Day fashion. While we waited for the bus, Janna and Jesse literally “danced” for about five minutes, which in Janna’s case meant spinning in a circle.

 Auntie Katie was a huge help in managing the children, and she did it all with a smile on her face. Notable, this photo was taken at Lincoln Fields, right beside APARTMENT 1004!

 Jesse’s brotherly concern for his sister has really taken off in the last few months. Whenever he feels that she is “taking the wrong path,” he takes her by the hand and leads her back. It’s usually pretty sweet, except for when he’s in a hurry and drags her across the floor. Also cute is the fact that she really likes it when he pulls her along and she puts up with it way better than when WE try to direct her.

 Lately, when we ask Jesse to smile, he’s been giving us this. It’s the effort that counts, right? Note: Momma is very relieved to have found a seat together on the bus, and Janna (possibly the bravest Vance) is petrified at least at first. She warmed up to OC Transpo by the end.

 Happier!

 We finally arrived at the fair, and we balked when we found out that we couldn’t get on the rides with Jesse. I mean, Jesse still won’t let us put a quarter in the moving spaceship ride at the mall, so how would he handle a genuine ride by himself? We stuck him onto the fire truck and this is what we got…

No problem! The ride starts and we have one happy boy. His face lit up like I’ve hardly ever seen it! 

 Meanwhile, Janna discovered one of the most incredible foods known to mankind… and this occupied her for most of the rest of the trip.

 Ride #2 for Jesse. As soon as he sat in this truck, he assumed this aura of seriousness, as though he had discovered his one true calling.

 Janna and I watched the events from the sidelines. Little did I know it, but she was systematically rubbing as much cotton candy into the back of my shirt as she could. Now the back of my shirt has two giant blue splotches on it.

 Chrissy and Katie, the true heroines of this story, kept us all going. Tired, but still smiling.

 On his epic truck ride, Jesse developed this incredible practice of waving LIKE THE QUEEN as he drove by. Without exaggeration, he queen-waved every single time as he went by, so that parents to our sides began to wave back in amusement. Clearly he felt the full dramatic weight of the moment.

 After a brief traffic jam, we were on our way home. Janna had occupied herself by chewing granola bars, spitting them onto my shirt, and then rubbing them in. Katie thought this was pretty endearing….

Almost home. Jesse had a minor meltdown when he got out of his seat and was pitched against a bus pole, but Chrissy sedated him with a granola bar. Super mom! Altogether, I’d say this Canada Day was a huge success. Now we just need to add another little Vance to the mix!!!!

Summer, part 1

Here is a summary of the last hour:

1) Woke the kids up from their nap and dressed them
2) Loaded them into the van and picked up Momma from work
3) Drove to Tim's, sat the kids down at the table
4) Waited for Chrissy to pickup food while kids became increasingly irritated
5) Kids ate timbits, but we forgot drinks! Kids become irrate.
6) Waited in LONG line, bought apple juice
7) Kids are crying, sat down with them and opened apple juice
8) Spilled 3/4 of apple huice on my lap
9) Elderly people around us mock me without mercy
10) Drive home with sopping shorts and crying, thirsty children

Another exciting day in the life of the Vances!