The kids have been really wanting a bike since we moved here. We have not been able to get them one for many reasons...the major reason being that I refuse to pay tons of money for something we are only going to have for 4 months. I don't know why we didn't think of it before, but it dawned on us, lets try craigslist. After changing the Canadian default of French to English, we were really surprised that we were able to find 2 bikes that were just the right size and for really cheap. The kids were so surprised and excited.
After just one day, they were both riding their new bikes (and with no training wheels). I am really amazed that they learned so quickly. They became confident quickly. The next lesson: learning to stop. Neither one of them could stop which made for some interesting times, but they mastered that on day two. Benjamin now thinks he's a little trickster on his bike.
We also had a second surprise. We were given the day off to be with family. Last week was a very long week with classes all seven days. It is a rare thing for it to be that way, but we REALLY loved having an extra day off. We decided to try out the pool near our house. We saw it the first week we were here. It is an indoor pool with a water slide, sprinklers, and lots of shallow water places for the kids. We had a great time and slept great at the end of the day. :)
This was another first for me. I have never hung my laundry out on a line before. I have to admit that I felt a bit strange putting all of our things out for the world to see, but then again it made me feel like part of the neighborhood. I know, a bit strange. Every house is equipped with a line that goes from the top of their house to a big pole by the road. You can learn a lot by looking at someone's laundry :) I now know where a lot of the kids live (even if they don't come outside to play)
We also decided to go to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. We gave the kids each a toonie (that's $2.00 for our non-Canadian friends) and a quarter to spend as a special treat. Well, we got there and we were a little dissappointed, but the kids still had fun. It wasn't at all what we were expecting and it ws quite small considering the size city we are living in. The kids managed to find a person selling coloring books for $2.00 though, so they were some happy kiddos.
Lauren didn't get to spend her money on a coloring book (she doesn't know the difference yet) Instead, she bought some homemade walnut bread for a Romanian guy there. She loved it.He actually threw in a loaf for free because he said one loaf was not enough for four kids. How nice.
We went over a bridge while riding the skytrain and I thought that it was an interesting view. No real story behind the pic.
Katherine has really become a great big sister. I found her the other day reading to Lauren in the tent. They were both just hanging out having a good ole time.
This is how the girls look just about every morning. They rarely sleep in their own beds. They just have to be with each other. It's just too cute.
Lauren has learned a new trick as well. She is an Olympic Climber. She loves to climb up and down and all around. She climbed in with Regan for this picture (she also likes the camera) My favorite spot to find her is in her stroller. No, we don't put her in it. She will climb in and get situated and start waving. I guess she wants to go somewhere :)
