Oliver with Light Stick

Oliver Puzzle

Amy Reading

Oliver Enjoying Hot Coco

Oliver Soccer Team Pictures

Oliver had his last soccer game tonight. He had a great game, he scored three goals, and made a great save as goal keeper using his face. Ouch!

Happy Fathers Day!

Mom relaxing

Minaki Sunset

Run Oliver Run!

Oliver has worked hard to get the ball out of the pack and was rewarded for his efforts with a beautiful goal this afternoon.

The Orchids are in bloom!

Oliver getting his first Swiss Army Knife Lesson

Hanging out and eating the freezies

Amy handing out freezies to Oliver and friends

Abuela Arrives!

Picking up Abula at Winnipeg International

Chapter Books

When my niece, Taylor, was about 7 or 8, she told me that she was intimidated by chapter books. My response was that if she was able to use the word "intimidated" correctly, chapter books shouldn't pose a problem.



Last night, Oliver and I started reading his first "chapter book" ever - one without pictures. We read the first chapter of the 3rd Harry Potter book and, except for a few sidebars regarding the definition of such terms as "luminous" and "untrustworthy," he really enjoyed it and seemed to understand it!



One day, he won't need me to read to him, and that will be so sad.

NOW we are Canadian.

It finally happened. Marcelo watched a hockey game. Never mind that it was the final game of the Stanley Cup, and that he was held captive on a treadmill at the gym, but he watched it and enjoyed it! Came home talking about it! I guess that makes us Canadian, eh?

Oliver after soccer at the playground

Paddling in the new canoe

Why didn't we buy one of these earlier? This is so great.

Oliver - photography

Chilly morning in Minaki

Something's pulling on my line!!

We had a fabulous day fishing yesterday! After working for 2 days cleaning around and under the cottage, we set out on a fishing trip - 2 dozen minnows and our new fishing equipment (new because the old stuff was stolen). Within 45 minutes, we had 8 fish in the live well and had thrown many back. Oliver was busy with his snack and just being a 4-year old in general, and wasn't really paying that much attention to fishing. He started saying "Something's pulling on my line!" so we just told him to reel it in, thinking it probably wasn't a fish. And he was right! His Doe Doe will be proud!

Treehouse Update

For the 10% of you who have not yet heard, Oliver is getting a treehouse this year. It will be built in Minaki by Rob Bennett, and will be NEXT to a tree (not in a tree). It will be 8' X 12' in total, including the deck and will be 7-8' off the ground. It will have a ladder onto the deck, and eventually all kinds of neat kid/spy/wizard gadgets and features like peep holes and trap doors and secret compartments. We were hoping it would be complete by this weekend, June 4, but with all the rain, it may be delayed.



Oliver is completely obsessed with this - he is constantly organizing things for the treehouse, making treehouse art, inviting kids to his treehouse and making requests for special features like an elevator and a microwave. What fun to be a kid!

White Collar Crime

Last night, we were at Home Depot, with most of the rest of Winnipeg. There were very few cashiers and the lines were long. I had been chatting with the man in front of me, an early-fifties type, dressed as though his wife selected his casual clothes. Definitely white collar. He had a 6-7' tall trellis and a watering can. We were commiserating about how slow the lines were moving, how they needed to have more registers open, etc. In fact, our cashier had completely disappeared.



After about 10 minutes, he asked me if I thought anyone would notice if he just walked out. I ASSUMED he was kidding. Then he left! With his (non)purchases! I really thought that maybe he was joking, or was just putting things in his car, but he never returned!



I keep thinking about the guy. He is probably a financial planner someone is trusting with their money, or a school administrator Winnipeg is trusting with its children, or an attorney being trusted to keep someone's best interests in mind. I wonder what he is doing today.

Treehouse drawing

Oliver has been producing a ton of tree house drawings. This one has the cottage in the background.

Modern Mother Earth

Last night, I read an article that my friend Jennifer (with son, Luke, in above photo) gave me from the National Post about "Careers Curtailing Children." It is not necessarily a new topic, but a recent study of Canadian professional women confirmed what we already knew and put it in writing - that women are putting children on hold to focus on careers first. The article cites workplace practices and governmental policies as reasons, although I would add, that particularly in Winnipeg, the inadequacy of daycare solutions for children under two is certainly a deterrent. Anyway, what WAS new and interesting, is that Canada's birth rate is currently 1.5 children per couple, which is well below the population replacement level of 2.1 kids per couple, which is being called a "global employment issue" with implications for the labor force, pension plans, immigration policies and Canada's general global competitiveness.



Then, I read a second (and very disturbing article) from the June 10, 2004 Rolling Stone titled "Diary of a Dying Planet." This is not just another article about global warming, but actually reviews some of the projected and worst case scenarios. Did you know that 19 of the 20 hottest years on record have occurred since 1980? Or, that in 15 years, Kilimanjaro's permanent ice cap will have completely melted? Or that Glacier National Park will no longer have any glaciers by 2030? Or, that the US emits 25% of the world's CO2 and that the Bush administration withdrew from the Kyoto protocol and implemented voluntary standards and has been openly censoring the EPA reports on global warming? (You probably knew that one.) All of this has occurred or will occur within my lifetime, and this is not an act of God, but rather an act of man.



Apparently, one possible scenario is that the extreme heat will result in rapid melting of all the ice, which will in turn impact the Gulf Stream and cause Europe to go into a deep freeze and the rest of the world to sizzle. The earth's "Carrying Capacity" will significantly decrease. Which, may be another reason for the decline in birth rates - mother's intuition, anyone?



Regardless, extensive damage has already been done to the environment, but we can make a difference. We should all do what we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Take the bus, carpool, buy a hybrid car, live off the grid, vote against Bush, whatever it takes.

My superstore

My first visit to the Superstore was on October 24 or 25, 2000. We has just immigrated to Winnipeg (October 22), and upon unpacking, I found myself in need of just about every household and grocery item you can imagine. Not sure what to expect for a "Superstore," but being sold on the idea that it was where we needed to go, Oliver and I set off. Three hours and several hundred dollars later, we emerged, certainly not with everything we needed, but feeling as though we had been on an adventure. What a selection! We had NOTHING like this in the US. Every ethnicity was represented (some better than others - the Winnipeg selection of authentic Mexican grocery products is still severely deficient), we browsed and we sampled and we dug through bins. Some brands were familiar; others were very foreign and required some translation. Grocery items in Canada do not have the same nutritional labeling requirements, so it was hard to compare products. Also, 50% of the label was in French, which also made my first shopping experience more of a challenge. We bought all kinds of things, mostly out of excitement and for the sheer experience. This, in many ways, was the embodiment of our inter-country relocation!



Our grocery shopping habits have settled down; we have a more-or-less established routine and have preferred brands and vendors. We have met local merchants and try to patronize neighborhood stores. But, Superstore will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Are "U" hungry for Thai?

A woman and her son walk into a Thai restaurant. (Ok, it's Oliver and me.)



We had stopped by our favorite Thai place (One Night in Bangkok) on our way home from the pediatrician's office last night (Oliver has mono, but is fine) to pick up dinner. Oliver asks the lovely Asian server her name, and she says "U" (or maybe "You" or "Ewe," but you get the idea).



Oliver IMMEDIATELY goes into a one-man-show with "You? Wow! That's really easy to spell! It's just a "U!"



And was met with a puzzled look.



Then he says "Hey! If you were lost outside, I could just say 'Hey, U! Where are U? Come here, U!' "



And, this time, he got a polite, but confused smile.



"And wouldn't it be CRAZY if my name was 'ME'???? Then we would be 'U' and 'ME'!!!"



To which our lovely Asian server says " You have nice child. No shy." and walks away.



You should know, and with sincerest apologies to all my friends with names that are difficult to spell or pronounce, that I laughed until I cried. And, I will have leftover delicious panang curry for my lunch today.