Fall, Haircut, and the start of Winter!

Fall

In Saskatoon, it's too cold for the types of trees that turn dark orange and red, so we only enjoy the deep yellow fall color.  

First hair cut

Since the moment Annabel was born, her hair has been a big topic of conversation with anyone we meet.  The first words from the nurses in the operating room were "lots of hair!"  I can't even count the times someone has asked, "where does her curls come from?" or "who has red hair in the family?" 

We have been hesitant to get her hair cut, but she got to sit in one of her favorite things, a car, and she sat there so well for the stylist.

She wasn't so sure at first

It was so long!

It looks so fresh and clean!

On Skype, later that day, we got a lot of compliments from the over 70 crowd on her outfit.

They had this ball pit as an after haircut reward.  Probably not so fresh and clean after spending time in there.

 Winter Fun

Six Years

This weekend Eric and I celebrated our 6th year wedding anniversary.  Friday night we actually watched a movie-- Crazy, Stupid, Love, which we really enjoyed.  Saturday morning we had a great conversation with Grandma June, and Jan and Jean on Skype.  It was gorgeous weather; 70s and sunny with minimal wind.  We took advantage and went for a picnic and a walk in the woods and along the lake at a provincial park outside of the city.  Saturday was a day of firsts for Annabel as she laughed for the first time when I was changing her clothes to go to the park.  There was nothing funny occurring, but she let out a clear laugh....but we haven't heard it since.  I can't wait for her to do it again!  She also rode for the first time in her carrier and feel asleep on Eric's chest.  It worked so well as the stroller would have been tough to push in the woods with the wooden stairs and tiny bridges.  It must be common for people to feed the birds on the trail, as we had four chickadees lead us on the trail.  They jumped from tree limb to tree limb really close to our heads the entire trail.  I felt like I was in a Disney movie....but we couldn't decide if it was like a scene from Cinderella, Bambi, or Alice in Wonderland.  I guess we need to get caught on our Disney stories.  

This adorable hat was made by Annabel's Great Aunt Janice.  On a different day when she was wearing it she started crying in her car seat and then fell asleep.  When I stopped the car and came to get her, this hat had fallen over her eyes.  No wonder she was crying.  And then, maybe in the darkness, she thought her only choice was to fall asleep!

Cool shadow shot.

Thinking back on our wedding day, we remembered how much it poured!!  We also remembered how wonderful it was to spend the weekend with so many friends and family.  It was an excellent day and really fun night.  We loved having a live band.  Eric loved having pie.

We were giggling about how we had to go to Walmart after the dance because Eric forgot contact solution.  I stayed in the car because I really had zero interest wandering around Walmart in a wedding dress in the middle of the night.  (although I would have really thrown that "people from Walmart" thing for a loop)  Eric was walking through in his tux thinking he would be the oddest dressed person there, but then he passed a man in a inflatable sumo wrestling costume with an attached air motor.  The checkout lady said "you must have been at a wedding."  Eric responded. "yep." The lady asked, "who's wedding?"  Eric said "mine."  We then continued on to the Super 8 (yep, you read that correctly).

In the past six years, we have moved from Urbana to Savoy to Saskatoon, been fortunate to travel quite a bit, and as you may or may not have gathered from reading this blog, we now have a little baby girl who we are quite smitten over.   

Playing in the nursery

We were laughing about the way she was lying with her hands and legs straight down, so Eric tried to imitate her but then she moved.

I set her down here and she stayed like this for a long, long, time.

Skyping in the am, but once again I think her eyes are on the t.v.!

Update:  Tonight, despite having a tough day (was more fussy than usual most of the day/too tired), she laughed for Eric a couple of times! 

   

Zumba

Boy, the instructor of a Zumba course can really make or break the workout.  I tried it for the 1st time two weeks ago & I felt like I was in a professional dance class with awesome music, including the traditional salsa songs, the Twist, and even some old Puff Daddy.  I loved it!  Come to find out, the instructor is a professional dancer and has even been trained by MJ's choreographer's for 'Thriller' & 'Beat It' video!!  I love how the instructors don't talk in the head-sets; they just demonstrate & you try to follow along.

But then I went this last week, had a different instructor, & thought the music & choreography were boring.  The lady seemed like a good dancer at times, but then other times it seemed like she was off beat, or at least herky-jerky.  Now I'm no dancer; in fact, I would probably be the first to be voted off Dancing With the Normal People.  But as an ex-marching band member, I can march to the beat!  Well, I guess I can march to a steady beat anyway.

Today, I attended a very large Zumba class (with the awesome professional dancer leader & her side-kick who was just as good or better than she was), with proceeds going toward The Lung Association.  It was so fun to see an entire gym full of women (and one man), dancing & moving.  I Zumba (ed) for my grandma and all of my past patients who had asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and other lung conditions.

Meewasin Trail

We had an awesome bike ride on the trails along the river this past weekend, & it was gorgeous weather!  When we would travel to Chicago, I loved the lake trails & thought I would be in great shape if I lived there!  Well, the trails along the river here really remind me of the lake trails there, so I'm very excited. 

Earlier this summer, we picked up some cheap tennis rackets & took advantage of the new, really nice courts about 300 meters  from our house.  I had to take a time-out about 3 hits in after I hit myself in the back of the head with my racket!  No joke.  How pathetic.  It was even a bit tender for days after that.  I also must have been way over-swinging (much like I used to in golf [right, Chuck?!] and occasionally still do), as I was a little sore the next day.  My sister showed me a few tennis swings back in high school when she played in the summer tennis club, but other than that, I've never played.  Eric has played racquet ball some, so he might have been a little better skilled than I was.  It was fun, none the less, & good exercise.

It's going to creep up to the 90s this weekend!  I'm hoping we brought the warmer temps. with us & it means it will be a calmer winter.  We saw another jackrabbit on the golf course this weekend & it was brown, not white, which I've heard means that winter is further away!  Speaking of the jackrabbit---they are the weirdest animals.   It's about about size of a small dog, but doesn't hop like a rabbit.  Rather it takes off walking like a small deer!!  It looks likes it's legs are fake.  I hope to get a picture of one some day soon.

Road Trip

On Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we decided to get out of the city & make a loop north.  Eric had a park picked out to visit, but he also wanted to stop 1.5 hours in to golf 18 holes.  I told him that his plan sounded a tad ambitious (since it was already 11 am), but we could try.  

 We were told we could see some wildlife on the course, but that the deer are usually there in the early morning & a moose had moved on since earlier in the summer.  All we saw was a garter snake slithering across the fairway.  There was plenty of distance between me & the snake, but it still gave me the heebie-geebies.

I only have the attention span for 9 holes, so the last 9, I watched & enjoyed Cheetos & Pepsi!

We made it to the park right at sunset.  Too late to hike by the lake, but that was okay because at that point, we were tired.

After we left the park, we stopped for ice cream.  As I was looking at the flavor choices, I had this conversation with the girl working the counter:

        Me: "what is Bengal Tiger."  

                     Girl:  "it's the same as Tiger, Tiger."  

                                                Me, now smirking: "I guess I don't know what that is."

                           Girl:  "it's orange sorbet & black licorice."

  Me:  "oh, my....no thanks."

I'm sure this is not as funny now, but Eric & I had a good laugh out of it.