Tag Archives: DearMonkey

Happy 4th Birthday, Monkey!

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My big girl just got a little bigger. You turned 4 today, Monkey. You’re now so old that I’m having trouble remembering when you weren’t in my life. I’m also having trouble remembering when you were a wee babe, which kind of breaks my heart a little.

Unlike your other birthdays, I didn’t get to spend all of today with you. I had to go to work, so you spent most of the day with Mommy, and then with Grandma just before I got home. But in case you don’t remember today, Monkey, I hope you remembered yesterday.

That’s when we partied.

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Monkey’s First Stampede

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Perhaps the title’s a bit misleading, Monkey, but I suspect this will be the first Stampede you actually remember. And you have reason to remember it, too. You’ve listened to marching bands, eaten pancakes, ridden rollercoasters, and even seen a future King.

Not bad for only a little over 48 hours, eh?

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The Super Secret Monkey Surprise

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For at least the last couple of years, Heritage Park finds a way to bring in Thomas the Tank Engine for the kids. (It’s a fake engine, but the kids don’t care.) The big thing is to ride the train behind Thomas, and tickets for the chance on the Day Out With Thomas sell out well before the day even arrives.

This year, we’d resolved to get you on that train, Monkey. And … well, we did try. But apparently we’d waited too long (trying to coordinate with other parents) and … well, we blew it. This year, like last, probably all you’d have done is stood and watched as other kids got to ride the train.

But, thanks to a fluke chance, you got to ride something those other kids didn’t even know about…

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2010, A Year in Review

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Man, it feels like a year ago since I last wrote one of these … oh, wait. (Yes, it’s a stupid joke. You should know me by now…)

2010 was the year we made contact … wait, sorry, wrong catchline. 2010 was the year my family welcomed new members, notably my youngest, a daughter (code)named Choo Choo. It was a year I changed my career outlook (yes, again), and found that I’m not (completely) useless. This was a year of family, for me, and that’s perhaps the most important aspect.

But despite all that, I hesitate to call it “a year of change”.

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New Year’s Tea, 2011

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I gotta tell ya, kids, 2010 was a pretty wild year. I know a lot of people who keep telling me that the years “just fly by” and before you know it, another year’s gone. The year past was definitely a change for our family, in many, many ways. (And I’d like to think that most of them were for the better, so I’m not going to try and figure out the split — I prefer to remain blissfully naive on this one.)

This is our “new” tradition. Mommy and I decided it would be tradition after having such a wonderful time with my old friend Sonny, having afternoon tea. Suddenly, it seemed just perfect to have tea every New Year’s Day. The question now, of course, is where to have tea. Last year, it was at the Banff Springs Hotel. This year, mostly for simplicity, we did the same.

Next year? Well, that’s a whole 364 days of Anything-Can-Happen!

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The end of summer vacation

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Well, kids, I’m not sure if you’re going to remember this August a few years from now (well, Choo Choo, I’ll be impressed if you remember today, tomorrow), but this has been a fantastic month. It’s been a long month, filled with lots of laughs, almost every single meal spent together, four provinces, several hotel rooms, and more than a few pools.

But tomorrow is the first weekday after Labour Day (which is today), and it means that we must part again. In a few years, it will mean you have to go to school. For me, it means going back to work.

In a way, they’re pretty similar…

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Happy 3rd birthday, Monkey

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Well, Monkey, despite all your best attempts to drive Mommy and I to the brink of toddlericide, you made it to be three. It was your first birthday in Canada — your previous birthdays were both in Costa Rica. It wasn’t as warm as it was there, and there was no pool for you to splash in. But that didn’t seem to bother you any.

It’s hard for some of us to truly believe that you’re three. You’re still a baby to us, in many ways. And yet even someone who’s never met you before can carry out a (reasonably coherent) conversation with them. You know what you like and what you don’t like (even if you actually do like it and you’re just being difficult), and you no longer parrot what we’ve said — you have your own thoughts.

And I gotta tell ya, kid … today, you made me a very proud daddy.

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The Great Family Roadtrip 2010, Day 8

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We were up perhaps a bit earlier than I’d thought we’d be up, but I’d also forgotten we were stopping in Redcliff to visit Marnie and her kids. Thankfully, Grandpa had enough sense to jumpstart us for the day. That didn’t necessarily mean we were moving particularly quickly, but at least early enough to make a difference.

That, and two cups of coffee, of course…

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The Great Family Roadtrip 2010, Day 7

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Despite the nice appearance and newness of the hotel, the Canalta has stiff beds that are really meant for only one person — any movement is felt by the other person on the bed. The pillows are massive and overstuffed (please, hotels, understand that not everyone wants these — please provide a few thin pillows), and the air-conditioning in our massive room simply made things awkward. It would appear that neither Mommy or I slept well.

Monkey, you slept like a log. We had trouble waking you up.

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The Great Family Roadtrip 2010, Day 6

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We were all slow to rise today, but we made quick work of breakfast. You said goodbye to your Great Uncle Ken and Great Aunt Marilyn before we headed to the car. Our first stop was to drop off Granny at the airport. She wasn’t driving back with us, which I take to be a very wise decision on her part.

Then we headed back down to Portage, which is one of the main roads in Winnipeg. After a stop at Timmy’s for a coffee recharge, we set our sights for Saskatchewan and our overnight stop at Moosomin.

The question was what were we going to do in between…

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