Anyway, here's the run down of last week.
We had our garage sale! It went quite well, with the help of Kijiji and a couple of nice days. Do people usually sell all their stuff? We have quite a bit left over and most of it will be going to Goodwill. Is it mushy to say that I cried when I set out the little baby clothes? It's the end of an era and no matter how sure you are about a decision, it's still hard to have a door like that closed. END OF INTROSPECTION. :)
Here's Ryan hiding amongst the boxes. He was a great salesman.
We had Rob's help with the girls during the garage sale extravaganza and he accompanied Ryan to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Ryan announced, upon returning home, that it is in his Top Five Movies Of All Time. Yes, all that capitalization was necessary.
We were anticipating a black light puppet show at the library, but the lady doing it got appendicitis. I guess I can forgive her for that. Instead we made jungle puppets and had fun with Grandma Patterson who came with us.
Ryan and I went out for a delicious date night at The Keg (thanks Airmiles for having a good restaurant amongst your redemption options). And luckily it was Lobster Summer! Woo. I love lobster.
Ryan's been doing some work out at my parents place and a bit with Trevor. Money has been a little more sporadic than we had anticipated, so if anyone needs a kidney and is prepared to offer top dollar, Ryan and I both have a spare one.
On a less money-grubbing note, we had a lovely time at the CNIB family picnic. They always plan such nice events, but hardly anyone comes! We were the first to arrive and only one of 4 families that came. We stayed the longest as well, which totally goes against my socializing agenda. However, it was fun and we got lots of goodies, including some Braille books and magnets and toys and t-shirts. Bonus.
Because we were one of the only ones there, we got lots of quality time with Dizzy the clown. He made the girls balloon hats, swords and scabbards, flower bracelets, an apple, and flowers. Also, we got a little magic show that had both girls giggling.
Maddie fishing for treasures. She got this gooey gunk that makes farting sounds when you push on it. Thanks CNIB. We might have to "lose" it soon.
The weather was funny. It would rain for 2 minutes, then get super hot. This happened about 3 times. Luckily we had a big tent to hide under during the downpours. Here is Claire enjoying a sunny period.
She's ready for the big leagues now.
Claire getting her balloon flower from Dizzy.
Claire got new leg braces and new weighted lap belt for school. We're getting excited for her to start kindergarten, although it seems strange to have a child that age!
It's cliche to say (and it's cliche to say it's cliche) but I can't believe how fast the summer has flown by. We're getting school supply lists in the mail (why does Claire need 2 boxes of Kleenex and 3 large glue sticks??? It boggles the mind), I'm starting to get emails about Malmo parent meetings (I didn't manage to weasel out of the president role - hopefully some avid parent will volunteer to take over for me at the Annual General Meeting! Fingers crossed!). I have to go out tomorrow and buy backpacks and new shoes and new clothes.
I remember how excited I always was at this time of year when I was a kid. You still had enough time to do fun summer activities, but you had all that lovely new stuff accumulating and it was all tied up with the anxiety and anticipation of a new year, new school, new grade, new friends, new classes, etc. For us, Ryan being a teacher, September seems like our "New Year." We should do a count down to midnight the day before school, but then we'd all be too tired the next day. Let's just have cupcakes instead.
