memories

When Maja and I were at the pool on Saturday I was all of a sudden reminded of a book that I loved as a child: The Five Chinese Brothers. This memory was brought on by Maja taking repeated gulps of the pool water (I know, yuck! But she thought it was so funny, especially when I tried to stop her!) and I told her she couldn’t drink the whole pool. The memory of the first Chinese brother, and his ability to drink the sea came to mind.

From what I hear, this book isn’t very pc these days. Nonetheless, I remember it as being a wonderful children’s book and will take a look for it in the bookstore.

visitors!

My sister, Annette, came to visit us this weekend. It was a good visit, and Maja was only shy with her for a little bit before “Auntie Nanny” became her new best friend. Or, as Maja said: “AnnieNanny come to Maja house [for a] playdate!”
Saturday we put Annette to work helping Richard fix our light switch issues while Maja and I went to our swimming lesson. By the time we came home all the switches were working like they are supposed to! Woohoo!!

We then toodled off to Ikea, where we got a few odds and ends (some bday presents for Miss M and some throw pillows for our sofa).

Pretzel break in the car:

 

After a Maja nap, Auntie Nan gave Maja her birthday present: craft supplies! Maja made out like a bandit with an easel, markers, chalk, finger paint, and playdoh — which turned out to be a huge hit.

   

The adults then had a lovely dinner at Marigold Kitchen. What a treat to have such a fantastic restaurant in the neighbourhood. Richard and I both had the lamb, while Annette enjoyed some succulent duck.

On Sunday, Richard, Maja, and Annette went to the zoo. Despite the cool weather, they had a good time. Maja took a nice long nap that afternoon, so Annette and I spent some time tidying up the backyard — raking up the old leaves, pulling a few weeds, discovering the daffodils that were growing back there. I’m inspired to do something  to our backyard this summer… but I suppose that depends on my energy level. As a special treat for cleaning up the yard, that evening when I was doing dishes I spotted a cardinal hopping around in the dirt!