Ponies and Pigtails

We went to Pickering to celebrate Liz's 30th birthday this past weekend. Most of their friends have children so the party was geared towards both the kids and the adults. Her awesome husband threw a great party - compete with pony rides, a clown, a keg and tonne of food!
I had great aspirations to take photos but that didn't really happen :(

Alex and Miss Dani on one of the ponies. This was a very quick moment, she started to scream a minute later :)

I wish my eyelashes were as long!
Miss Jenna was sporting pigtails, I thought they were cute :)

Happy cactus :)

I always have trouble photographing solid red things but anyway....
My mom's (adopted) cactus is in bloom and it has magnificent flowers (for such an ugly plant!).

I like how green the stamens look in the centre :)

In other news, I recently noticed that my orchid (the one shown in my header) appeared to be sprouting some new roots. I had hoped that maybe it was a sign that she was happy and maybe thinking about blooming again. Well, over the last couple of days that so-called 'root' has started to grow straight up in the air. Methinks it might actually be a new stalk which will, in all likeliness, produce new blooms. I'm really excited because I've never been able to get an orchid to bloom again once it's done. Wish me luck!

It's Trillium Time!

Could Ontario be represented by a more beautiful flower?!?!?! I took these photos while I was visiting my parents yesterday. I didn't want to miss my chance since the next time I'm there they'll likely be done for the season. For some reason, the red ones never look as healthy as the white ones. Apparently, it's not because they're 'unhealthy' but because they tend to turn pink as they age. Who knew?!?!

In case you're interested, there are ~43 known trillium species - I'm pretty sure the ones shown above are of the T. graniflorum spp, meaning they have large flowers. Everyone thinks it's illegal to pick them but according to wikipedia (great source, I know - haha) that's not actually the case, except for one species.

Home Sweet Home

I went home to spend the day with my mom, and she showed me this little treasure. Sadly, she had to remove this nest from inside of their boat lift. Not necessarily because they didn't want it there but it's a dangerous spot for the nest, with the boat being lifted up and down so often. I never thought to ask what kind of bird is responsible for this incredible craftiness but it's pretty impressive! It's full of grass, moss, feathers, twigs, and even has the odd thin little piece of plastic. I love how the outside is completely covered in moss, although you might think it would be more appropriate inside for 'softness'.

Here, you can see the feather incorporated into the nest.
I like how you can see how absolutely perfect the circular opening is, and how the materials are distributed!

In my back yard

I swear none of these buds were in bloom yesterday but when I looked outside this morning this is what I saw. When the rain ceased for a bit I ran out with my camera and took a few shots of the pretty trees/bushes. I love raindrops on leaves!

This is the serviceberry/juneberry bush we got from the city of Ottawa last spring. We weren't sure it would survive the winter but it has! It turns out we have another one too, but it was done blooming by the time we moved in so we didn't realize it.
I really like how different parts of the plant are in and out of focus...

We have a lilac bush!

I'm not actually sure what this shrub is but it's part of our 'living fence'.

More of Baby Devon

I've been struggling with editing these photos (shot in RAW and now my computer isn't cooperating) but here are a few more edited with picnik. Isn't he just adorable???

There is a baby under that blanket :)

Lens Flare

This week's Photo Challenge theme is "Lens Flare". While most people do their best to prevent it from occurring, I actually really love how it looks in just about any photo. Having said that, I didn't really know how to do it. So today I took my camera out, put it in manual mode and played around with the aperture until I found something I liked. I'm happy - for a first attempt anyway. Now I have to figure out how to get those gorgeous 'rings' that I see so often!
We're having perfect weather today for photographing the sun - it's 28 degrees in Ottawa! I hear it's snowing in Calgary....suckers! *wink wink*

Now if I could just find something to photograph for the challenge, that would be great!

Baby Boy

I spent the morning yesterday with Morgan, Rob and their handsome little man, Devon (along with Angela and Jean). Despite easy-going parents and baby who was really content, getting the perfect shots was still a bit of a challenge. Regardless, I had a lot of fun and it was a pleasure to meet Morgan and Rob!
I've been really busy this weekend and haven't had much time to even look them over but wanted to quickly post one. Here's Devon, straight out of the camera (with the addition of a frame because I just can't help myself - haha).

Today, I (along with Brannon, Mom, Stacie and Ann) participated in the Walk for Multiple Sclerosis. Our team raised $3800! Thanks to everyone who supported us!!
The weather started out rather cold, windy, and wet but once we got walking it was fine. *I* was the only one who didn't have a camera (go figure!) so I'm relying on others to pass some along so that I can update my blog!

Minty!

If you're on my facebook then you've already seen this but there's just something about it that I like...fresh mint!

Lovely Lily

These were taken literally as we were checking out of our rental on Sunday at the end of our amazing birthday weekend. Sass had asked me earlier if I'd take some pics of Lily's little feet and I was happy to oblige - the only trouble was that we kept forgetting to actually do it!
They're not as good as I was hoping for but I still think they're totally cute. Lily was all-over-the-place and kicking her legs around...I see why it's important to photograph them when they're really teeny and not moving around so much. It must have been quite a sight to watch me "following" her around with my camera!

Mommy and baby feet...

Lily was so hungry and got a bit fussy...notice there are 3 sets of feet in this one! Daddy Dan was in the background :)

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!!