Mitch's Birthday Lunch

Catharine's cousin Diana, her husband Mitch and daughter Lila came today for lunch. We had a delightful time, as always, and celebrated Mitch's birthday with a fine homemade chocolate cake. It's fun to see Lila and hear how much she is talking now. She has grown so independent that she had no problem leaving Diana, who is 8 months and 1 week pregnant and needed a nap, to join us all for a walk in the park. We tossed the frisbee about and Lila led us to the pond where she threw sticks for Max and Toby to retrieve. Catharine enjoyed some hours with Lila remembering the joys of being with a toddler, without any of the anxieties about lost sleep!

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Le Bois en Hiver

I was out last weekend shooting photographs and trying out a new lens. Nothing new in this bunch, just some nice mood shots and a feeling for our winter (which to most Canadians will seem a lot like late fall -- except the Vancouverites). Hope you enjoy them.

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Charles' Birthday Party

I remember my 12th birthday party mostly because we played the Safari's 45 rpm "Surfer Joe" (B side of Wipeout) until about 4:00 am in the morning. My Dad only came in once to ask us if we couldn't vary the music mix a bit. Very restrained of him I now think.

Fortunately, Charles and his friends either had more options for entertainment or were just less obsessive-compulsive. They started the party with a game of soccer, or "foot" as the French call it. This might have tired them out a bit. Then they went back for ping-pong, pizza and (the next morning) pancakes. They claim they got 4-6 hours of sleep and probably an equal number of hours of video games. The good news from our point of view, is that we got almost 8 hours of sleep ourselves -- more than my parents got 36 years ago, I suspect.

Charles' friend Thomas had such a good time that he has asked his parents' if he can do the same next weekend. So Charles gets to do it all over again too -- at someone else's house.

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Watch the slideshow.