all hallows eve

So this is Halloween # 2 for the Cyr household. I was pretty excited about having my kids do all the work for the candy that I would get to eat. Started out kind of rough. Had to bribe Tristan with candy to put on costume. Ava too. I told her if she puts her costume on she gets candy. "No candy, no candy," she cried. Um, I don't think you understand what candy is. 1 mini chocolate bar later and it was "trick or treat! trick or treat! go van! trick or treat!" She catches on quick that one.

Ava the unicorn, Tristan the tiger, Kai the frog prince.

Tristan: "Whoa, I think I'm cut off. If I have one more sucker I'm gonna need a DD"

Close up

Extreme close up

The smarties box that Ava gnawed open to get to the candy.

Gnawed.

With her teeth.

I may have created a monster...

Identical or Fraternal, that is the question

Hugh and I took the kids to a trade show yesterday. It was disappointingly boring for the most part and would have been a complete waste of time if not for the mini donuts.

I love mini donuts. Their buttery, sugary, melt-in-your-mouth goodness makes any fair or trade show worthwhile. To be perfectly honest most of the fairs I've gone to in the last few years have not been for the rides or the chance to win the teddy bear. Nope. I go for the mini donuts. I will willingly, even gladly, pay $15 dollars to get in the gate just to spend $3 on a little bag of sunshine. My internal compass does not point North, or any direction really, it points to mini donuts. You get me in that gate, I'll find you mini donuts.

Anyway we're wandering through the booths and filling out all the draw box forms we can find. Who cares if we don't have room for a pool table, and who cares if the last thing I want is a neon Budweiser sign, if it's free we're dropping our name in the box.

We got stopped at the RESP table lured by the draw of free money for our kids education. This is really just a ploy to get into your homes so you can be sold whatever the proverbial "they" think you should buy; education insurance, mutual funds, cars, the ultimate chopper.

The man running the booth was doing his best to engage us in conversation and set up an "at-home consultation" but I could see a booth giving away free fudge samples just 20 steps beyond us and I was itching to get moving. Unfortunately the guy was not picking up on my lack of enthusiasm and I didn't want to be rude so...

"So I see you have young kids."

"Yep."

"Are they twins?"

"Yep."

"Boys? Girls?"

"One of each actually."

"Oh wow that's great hey?"

"Yep."

At this point he walked to the front of the stroller to take a better look at them and he actually asked "So are they identical?"

Slightly surprised I replied, "Well, it's a boy and girl so...." I left it hanging so he could draw the obvious conclusion.

He looked at them again comparing their appearances and pronounced "Nope, definitely not identical."

Really? The fact that they don't look alike is what makes you think they're not identical? How about the fact that one has a penis and the other a vagina. I'd say that's sort of un-identical.

Sadly this is a common question we get. When the kids were first born and I was still in the hospital about 80% of people who visited us asked if they were identical. Finally after politely answering most people a simple "no, they're fraternal" we had some good friends ask us the question. We laughed at him.

Then we told him it's impossible to have boy/girl twins that are identical simply because one is a boy and the other is a girl. Our friend tried to contradict us saying he had "read about it somewhere on the internet". We laughed at him again.

So to set the record straight in case any of you out there are wondering. It is absolutely 100% impossible for boy/girl twins to be identical. As an old math teacher of mine used to say "Come on people, it's not rocket science."

In which Ava learns a valuable life lesson

Today Ava brought me her pair of pink sparkly ballet flats.

"Shoes on mama?"

"Sure I can put those on for you."

I tried putting them on. Remember when the ugly stepsisters tried jamming their gargantuan feet into the itsy bitsy oh so dainty glass slipper?

"Uh-Oh honey, I think your feet grew. They don't fit anymore."

I passed the shoe back to Ava and she promptly passed it back to me.

"Yes fit mama."

"No Ava they don't fit."

"YES FIT MAMA."

So I shoved. And I shoved and I shoved and I shoved. I do not now how my normally pain intolerant daughter managed to stand it. I was actually wincing as I was shoving but finally the effort paid off and we sat for a moment to bask in the glory of a really great pair of shoes.

Smiling like the cat who got the cream Ava hopped off my lap and limped away.

That's right. I said limped.

"Ava, do those shoes hurt? Should we take them off?"

"No mama. Shoes fit mama."

I could see her point. The shoes really did make the outfit.

Welcome to womanhood Ava Joy.

saying goodbye Davis style

This weekend we said good-bye to our dad.

Hugh, Jane and I met Erin, our Uncle Greg & Aunt Rosemary and our Uncle Dale in Field, BC. My dad spent the happiest part of his childhood in Field and there is a natural land bridge there that my dad requested we spread his ashes at.

You've probably never heard of Field. It is a tiny little town nestled into the slope of the mountains 15 minutes left of Lake Louise. North, South, East, West...whatever. All I know is when you leave Field you turn right onto the highway to go to Lake Louise and left to go to Golden.

Now when I say tiny I mean itsy bitsy, teeny tiny. The population is less than 200 and kids have to be bused to school in Golden 40 minutes away. Field has one coffee shop called The Truffle Pig. It is a coffee shop, restaurant, grocery store, gift shop, and liquor store all contained in about 1000 square feet. I can't report on the quality of the coffee because sadly their espresso machine was broken. The food was good even if there were only 3 items on the breakfast menu.

We stayed at The Kicking Horse Lodge, address 100 Centre. That's it. Not Centre St or Centre Ave, just Centre. Hugh and I shared a hotel room with Erin and Jane. I'm not sure if Hugh is brave, crazy or just plain cheap.

On Sunday morning we headed to the little known land bridge and discovered that it is now a major tourist attraction. At least we assumed so when we saw the 4 tour buses of Koreans parked there. Ummm, this might be a little awkward.

We waited and eventually they moved on. We stood by the glacier fed river and said our good-byes and took turns sending my dad down the wild, churning free-wheeling river. I have never seen water such a beautiful icy, aqua blue.

We came out of our hug, wiped our tears and looked around to see several cameras pointed in our direction. They're ba-ack. Awesome. At least we had the important parts alone.

Dad thank you for giving us your sense of adventure and gypsy spirit. Thank you for sharing with us your love of reading. For all your faults we always knew that you believed in us and loved us. We miss you.

because my brain has been turned to mush thanks to childbirth

Okay everyone I need your help.

I finished my decorating course (yay, yay, happy dance) and I need suggestions for a business name.

Ideas?