Caribana!

Summer in Toronto is 3-4 months of festivals and celebration.  And none is bigger or more anticipated than the annual Caribana festival. The largest Caribbean carnival in North America, it is a two week long celebration of all things Caribbean.  It culminates on the first Saturday in August with a day-long parade.

This year was HOT as usual, and we walked along the lake to the thick of the parade, where we then ate jerk chicken, curry goat and rice and peas - staples!  After that we climbed over the fence separating the parade and Mas bands from the crowds, and danced to the sound systems.  When we were ready to make our way home, we simply followed a sound system, dancing along behind it as it made it's way west along the Lake shore - our direction home.  We made it home just as the skies opened and let out a torrent of rain.

The kids LOVED all the costumes and dancing and managed to accumulate quite a large collection of costume pieces that had been discarded or had fallen off along the route - ironic really as when I had asked either of them if they wanted to join a Mas band for the carnival parade, neither was interested!

Proudly displaying my Kittitian heritage! Gwarrrn St Kitts!

Nick tries his luck :-)

Stunning costumes......

scaling the fence to get closer to the parade

check out the size of that soundsystem! Sofia enjoyed it more than this picture implies :-D

tired after a long day

My Boy Ben

Who is growing up faster than I can keep track of.  He is a proper boy - wakes up before anyone else to play on the XBox 360, spends most of his other waking hours deciding what super power he would have or what magical world he'd create - or making up (unfortunately not very funny!) jokes.  He never walks if he can run or climb and he is an avid reader.  He loves (very plain) hot dogs, chips, cookies, fried chicken and chinese buffets (?!), but hates fish, tomatoes and cheese (and therefore pizza).  Pleasingly he does like healthy dishes too like chickpea curries with roti, vegetable stews and homemade tostadas.

His school reports are never less than glowing and he loves reading about amazing facts.  When he grows up he wants to be a traveller and a footballer (though I think he'd have way more success with the former as he is often 'distracted' during a game by thoughts of super powers, magic kingdoms and the like).

He is a very caring big brother - mostly to Sofia though as he finds Jasmine a bit annoying.  He is very helpful around the house and quite neat and tidy for a boy.  Though if you let him off bathing for the week he wouldn't protest.... And if there is something to fall over - even fresh air, rest assured Ben will fall over it :-)

I love my daydreaming, tumbling, caring, computer mad son!

Biscuits and babies

Me: Sofia, say 'cookie'

Sofia: 'We wee'

Me: Say 'coo-kie'

Sofia: 'We wee'

Me: Ok, say 'biscuit'

Me: 'Bis-cuit'

Sofia: 'Bee bee'

Me: 'Biccie?'

Sofia 'Bee bee'

Me: here, have the bee bee

With her dolls, also known as 'Bee Bee' (baby!)

Happy 9th Birthday Ben!

lunch at his favourite restaurant on Saturday, followed by an afternoon at the pool with his friends and a BBQ afterwards.  Oh, and many hours of playing on his new computer game, and current obsession; Skylanders.  Our little boy is growing up so fast!

SKYLANDERS!!!

a little help from Sofia

BIONICLE!

CAKE!!!  Though, the candles wouldn't light, so none to blow out :-(  But the sparkler worked at least!

Flashback: First visit from England

It's an absolute travesty that I am only now just blogging about this, considering how big a deal it was and is for us.  Waaay back in March, we welcomed our first visitor from England - unsurprisingly it was our lovely Jossy :-)  We packed a lot into her short visit - Wednesday: breakfast in High Park and a walk around the neighbourhood, Thursday: a workshop at the National Film Board, Friday: lunch in Chinatown with Nick, followed by dessert in Kensington market, then a long play and walk through High Park, Saturday: a visit to the Distillery District for a girly afternoon sans enfants, Sunday: a day trip to Niagara Falls with Lunch at the Red Lobster, and finally on Monday: a visit to the CN Tower before heading back to the airport.  Phew!

Here are the lovely pictures:

I had tricked Joss into thinking we were unable to meet her at the airport, so this picture perfectly captures her moment of surprise :-)

An Allen style welcome!

Irie Man!

mmmm, cake!

Sofia was not co-operating

The Horseshoe Falls at Niagara

The American Falls in the background

simply stunning

how close?!

BFF's

SEAFOOD! My favourite :-)

even Sofia tucked right in

on the viewing deck of the CN Tower

lying on the glass floor - quite an unnerving experience the first few times!

someone was very tired

and I had to add this picture of Joss' favourite Subway stop - and not for reasons you might imagine ;-)

Flashback to July 2010: Meet Robbie

I found this post still in my drafts folder, so, considering Robbie has made it to Canada and is still in one piece, I thought I should give him his spot on the blog :-)

I finally got around to knitting the little toy Ben had been begging me for (but I was too busy knitting Tara's birthday bag) just after his birthday. Now that he's back at school, he wanted to take it in to show him off. When i went to pick them both up from school, I found Ben sitting alone, looking quite sad, on the Friendship Bench. I sat down next to him and asked him what was wrong - I was fearing the worst, that some ruffian had been picking on him or something. It turned out he had misplaced Robbie. His little face was crestfellen! Anyway, we told his teacher Mrs Day, and she promised to keep an eye out for him when she tidied the classroom. And lo and behold, Robbie was waiting in Ben's drawer for him when he got to school this morning.

My first 10k

So, I've dusted off the old running shoes and the old body, and have started running again.
It's been almost 3 years since I last ran - and I had a baby in that time.  So to say I was out of practice would be an understatement.  BIG understatement.

But I really wanted to get fit again, and I did used to love running.  The fact that it costs nothing (as opposed to the extortionate gym fees here) and that I live opposite the largest park in Toronto with miles and miles of trails (and bordering the lake too) meant I had no excuse. It was time.  And now, after about 6 weeks of getting up and out for 6:30am, I can run those hilly, forest trails for over 30 minutes without stopping.  I can even manage a big hill or too.    

CN tower as seen from the Islands

But it doesn't stop there. I've signed up for the Toronto Island 10k in September.  so I have to keep going and stay committed. There are no refunds or transfers on my entry fee, and I don't think I could bear the shame of giving up. 

Despite this rediscovered love of running, I still find it tough to get up and out most mornings.  It takes sheer bloody-mindedness and lots of pep talks (beginning the night before). I love the early mornings, but I am not naturally a morning person. What has really helped is that I now have a running partner, Hazel, who is better than I am, and every bit as determined to run more often and further.  So together we have been pounding the trails.  My other strategy has been reading everything on running that I can get my hands on - specifically stories of Ultra Marathoners.  My favourite so far have been "Running for my life" by Ray Zahab, a Canadian who has run the length of the Sahara, 160k through the Amazon, 160k dragging a sled through the Yukon (Arctic territory!) and many other such endurance races, as well.  And "Born to run" about the Legendary Tarahumara tribe in Mexico's Barranca del Cobre who can run for 2 days straight!  Now, I'm under no illusion that this is something I want to do, but the stories of people accomplishing such amazing feats and pushing beyond their comfort zones is what I find motivating.  Even if it is only motivating me to run an extra mile or an extra ten minutes rather than 100k!  


Wish me luck!