Kute Kiddies

This past weekend's get-together was organized so the girls of "Cline Ave" could celebrate our 30th birthdays together. We met in 1998-1999 at McMaster and were 19 then. While it doesn't feel like it's been as long as it has, a lot has happened since we graduated and moved on.
One of the biggest changes is that there are little ones now.....

Strangely, the kids in these photos don't actually belong to the adults they're shown with :)

Reunion Weekend

I'm pretty exhausted after spending a really great weekend with my girlfriends from Mac (our guys and children too) - we're all turning 30 this year so we decided to celebrate together. Living from Ottawa to Waterloo, we all converged on Kingston for a weekend of fun, reminiscing, birthday cake and even some new introductions (babies!). I'll post some more tomorrow but wanted to get one up tonight :)
It was a little difficult to get 14 adults, 2 toddlers and 2 newborns (and one unborn!) all together at one time for a photo but we did it. There's talk of making this trip once a year from here on in, rather than once a decade :) Here's hoping....
Happy 30th Cline Ave Ladies!!

Sign of Spring

This is the first tree I've seen so far this spring with buds - I just had to take a picture!

Tamil Tigers Protest

My friend Alex was visiting Ottawa today from Montreal and she brought her mom, Sonja, and Otti who were visiting her from Berlin/Vienna. It was Sonja's second trip here but Otti's first. We went on a walking tour of the market, Major's Hill Park, Parliament Hill and the surrounding area.
You probably know that a group of Tamil protesters have gathered at Parliament Hill, asking the federal government to intervene in the war in Sri Lanka. I've been concerned that the protest would prevent our visit to the Hill but, while chaotic and loud, the demonstration remains peaceful. Playing 'tourist' or not, you all know I would have had my camera with me so I couldn't resist taking a few shots - for you of course :)
It was a great day in terms of weather, sights, food and, of course, the company!

Even this kids are involved to some degree.

We all had a bit of a laugh here...only because it seemed that everywhere we went today we were reminded of Germans and their involvement in WWI/II - Alex and her mom are German :)

Easter-sicle

The sun was shining but it was COLD yesterday! Brannon and I went to visit our parents for Easter and here is what we found in Rideau Ferry - icicles and ice caps (and not the ones from Timmy Ho's)!

Fondue meat!

So again, I've slipped and have neglected my blog. Feeling a little bad about that I thought I'd post pics of some of the food I prepared for tonight. We're having fondue with Kevin and Tracy who are both fondue virgins!! Can you imagine...never having had fondue!?!?!
Anyway, they're taking care of the veggies and I did the meat. I have plain chicken and sirloin strips, and I also made some meatballs that I dipped in freshly grated parm (should come out of the oil nice and crispy!) and a Korean marinade for some of the beef. In addition, I made 5 dipping sauces so hopefully everyone will be pleased. Mostly I think I'm excited for dessert - we're making banana splits!!

Temple's Sugar Camp

So, as I said yesterday, we went to Temple's Sugar Camp with Brannon's family. His cousin Todd, his wife Allison and their son, Charlie, were visiting from the GTA so it was a nice excuse for a trip! I would highly recommend this establishment; the food was nothing short of amazing. They have a lot of variety and have pancakes/waffles/breads made with everything from buttermilk and buckwheat to cornmeal and pumpkin (with lots of choices for sides)! It's also fully licensed for those of you who like a beer with your brunch!! lol
Anyway, I didn't have a lot of time for taking photos as we preferred to visit but here are few nonetheless :)


Lines that the sap runs through.
Charlie *trying* to enjoy his taffy. Unfortunately, it kept dripping on him and eventually led to a bit of a freak-out :)
Sap dripping into a pail :)
I'm not sure what it stored in these, I'd like to think it's syrup :)
The sap POURS into gigantic vats!
Steamy :)

Sugar Shack!

I don't have a lot of time today for posting but I wanted to get at least one photo up. Brannon and I joined his family for brunch at a local sugar shack today. Not only was it nice to see everyone (it's been a while for me) but we had the BEST food! I took a few photos but I won't be able to get to them until tomorrow so for now I thought I'd post a photo of the taffy they make. I'm not really sure where they found the snow though :)

We're off to Brigitte and Craig's house for a BBQ to celebrate the end of winter - can't wait!

Last Day of Winter

I'm pretty obsessed with the fact that spring arrives tomorrow! Even my house plants are aware of it.
My african violet is blooming in full force :)
Until now, I hadn't really noticed their petal arrangement - I think it's really nice!

Sunsets are back :)

Ok, so this isn't much of a photo but it was so nice to see the pink sky as I came home from work tonight that I had to take a picture of it. I wish the scenery were a little more picturesque though...

Growing Garlic

So, our neighbour grows his own garlic and keeps us well-stocked (yay!). He just brought this over on the weekend and today I noticed it's growing (but I guess that's because it's spring)....I guess we better eat it soon!
You know it's a slow photo day when you post pics of old garlic....

P.S. I can't seem to access picnik tonight so no frame :(

They're Baaack!

Ladybugs, that is :)
I used a 70 mm macro for this but with the short focal length and the fact that the d@mn bug wouldn't stop moving, it's slightly out-of-focus. I still like it though :)

Dirty Thirty

Brigitte's 30th birthday came and went this week and we celebrated last night with a surprise dinner at the Absinthe Cafe, followed by a party afterwards at Tracy and Chris's place.
We decided on a 'polka dot' theme.
We had flowers (as 'round' as possible, athough I'm not sure that party really worked out)...

...balloons....
...favours that included smarties (keeping with the theme of course)...
...oysters to keep it 'dirty'...lol....
...surprise dessert at the restaurant....
...and some absinthe of course (my photos of the drink on fire didn't work out)!!We arranged to have polka dots on the cupcakes (with matching polka dot napkins) and mini eggs too!

Since our dearest birthday girl LOVES games, we played a game of Twister! It all goes downhill from here so this is where the photos end! :)
We finished off the night with a dip in the hot tub!
We hope you had a great night (and end to a great birthday week!)!
Love you lots!

Angel Baby

Like so many others, I've lit a candle for Baby Ali, in hopes that by way of a miracle this little girl will pull through. I've had this candle for at least a decade (a gift from my mom, of course, and I just realized that it's moved with me to at least 6 different homes) but never found a good enough reason to actually light it.
I found one today.

In case you can't make out the passage on the candle, here's what it says:

A gentle hand,
a guiding touch
barely felt,
the sign of an
angel's
presence.

Baby Jacob

Meet the newest addition to Liz and Alex's family :)
He's 7 weeks old, so he slept a lot during our visit but I still managed to snuggle him away from his mom as often as I could :)

I love baby yawns :)The men of the family :)

When his big sister Danielle was born, I took almost this exact same photo of her with her mommy - I thought it was appropriate to take one of Jacob this way too. Liz is the BEST mom!

Sleeping with his tongue out - kinda reminds me of Barnie (family dog) who, in his old age, always has his tongue out a little bit :)I'll be seeing Liz, Alex and family again in April and we'll do a real family shoot then; I can't wait!

Miss Dani

Brannon and I went to visit Liz and Alex this weekend and got to spend time with their kiddies! This is Danielle who will be 2 years old in a couple of weeks. She's grown up so much since I last saw her (over a year ago!) and has become the funniest, most independent little girl! We had a ball playing with her (while Liz and Alex put together a fantastic meal for us)!!
Thanks so much for having us guys!

Brannon and Danielle giving 'props' :)

Happy Dani
Enjoying her daily 30 minutes of tv...

Sitting in her princess chair!

Trying to play with her new little brother who isn't quite 2 months old yet.Tomorrow I'll post my photos of little Jacob :)