Saturday afternoon, organized courtesy of Jako's parents, Dave and Julie, we went to a picnic at Vincent Massey Park, to celebrate with Maya and her classmates "surviving JK!!!" Not sure if the surviving was geared towards the parents or the students, but in any case we survived!! I personally found the beginning of the school year quite challenging, trying to keep up with what was going on and what I was supposed to be doing. (I vaguely remember Cristal mentioning something to this effect when Iona started school) Thanks to Mrs Wong, Maya's wonderful teacher, for being a great teacher and making this year so much fun for the kids, and really, how do you control ALL those kids??? fyi...Maya used to refer to me this way, but very quickly once school started, it was "Mrs Wong is the smartest person I know!!"
The picnic itself was great. It was so nice to chat with the other parents, while the kids ran around, and of course stuffed themselves with sugar...Maya commented later that evening that she "ate too much junk at the picnic". (Our deal was if she had a good lunch at home (barley vegetable salad) she could make her own choices and I wouldn't try and control her eating at the picnic)
This picnic gave us the perfect opportunity to get out for our first family bike ride this week-end. We pulled out our tandem, had Maya on the rear seat, and Jaida and Tasha in the Chariot, and headed out. It was a short trip (17Km round trip, I think) but a good start for the year. I had forgotten how much fun it was to ride together.
We arrived back home at 5:15pm, with 3 sleepy girls, got Maya to sleep for an hour, got Jaida and Natasha to my mom's and got ourselves cleaned up for Matt and Alix's wedding.
This was a fabulous wedding. I personally loved the music and the live band!!! We brought Maya with us, where she had a chance to see what the 'big kids" do. She had a great time hanging out with 'adults'. I am not sure what she enjoyed best, but she was certainly mesmerized watching the people dance and paid particular attention to the Macarena...especially the moves courtesy of Dana, Jody, and Tanya!!! If she tries any of these moves, Grant will be knocking on your door!!
Thanks to Matt and Alix for including us and the kids in your celebration and for providing great loot, to keep them entertained, the jewelery was especially sweet! ;)
Here is a picture of me and Maya...courtesy of Darcy (if anyone else has any good pictures, send them our way, since we forgot our camera and have no pics)
Sunday morning was EXHAUSTING!!!! I made a BIG parental mistake, and ended up waking up hours too early, but the day was saved by having breakfast at my mom's and going to a nice bike ride along the river. This time Grant towed Natasha and Jaida, and Maya rode with me on her Trail-a-bike. Again, not a long ride, 14Km return, but it was really nice, and a good distance for Maya's first 'long' ride.
Following an afternoon nap, Jaida and I headed out to dinner for some planning for Jenny's wedding.
All in all, and exhausting, but absolutely enjoyable week-end... 2 family bike rides, a class picnic, and a fabulous wedding!!!
