Who let the dogs out?

Last weekend we went to Woofstock in downtown Toronto which is North America's largest dog show. I've never seen so many dogs in my life! There were big dogs, little dogs, fluffy dogs,hairless dogs...and even a purple and green dog!

 There were dogs taller than Anna...

 And dogs swimming in fountains! Anna loved going here...she was constantly saying,"Pat the dog PLEASE!??"" And she was very good at greeting the dogs -always letting them sniff her hand first!

 Coversations with Anna have become more and more amusing. Some of my favorites have been:

1. While eating lunch one day Anna looked at me while eating a strawberry and said, "Strawberry in mouth, then to tummy, and then to bum!" I burst out laughing and said,"Anna, what has Daddy been teaching you?" Well when I told Alastair the story he said,"She learned that from the book you read her!" Indeed Alastair was right....Anna and I do enjoy reading the potty training classic Everyone Poops!

2. Anna loves dressing up like a princess. Not a day goes by when she doesn't want to wear a princess dress, crown and carry her wand. She'll take her wand and bobbity boo everything! And when she's in her dress she prefers to be called Anna princess. One day I asked her if Anna was a princess then what was Mommy? She waved her wand said Bobbity Boo, and said, "Mommy Queen!" Then I asked if Anna is the princess and Mommy is the Queen then what is Daddy? Anna replied," King!" Now whenever she plays dress up I am referred to as Mommy Queen and Alastair is Daddy King.....I admit I quite enjoy it when Anna comes up to me and says, "Come on Mommy Queen".

3. Last week Anna and I were sitting having a cuddle when she looked up at me and said, "Mommy I hear the baby". I asked her what the baby was saying. And in the softest whisper Anna said, "I Love You". Ahhhhh...I think my heart melted into a million pieces that day.

All Hail the Queen

All Hail the Queen for the Diamond Jubliee! We had a very royal weekend here in Toronto. On Sunday we went to a friend's house for a Diamond Jubliee tea. While there it was a celebration of all things British...the invitation requested everyone come with their finest diamonds and tiaras. We took it a step further and brought our royal masks!

Introducing Alastair as Prince Phillip

 I thought Anna would like the Queen Elizabeth mask the best (it was the only one with a crown) but she only wanted Kate...she kept calling it her princess mask!

We also made some Diamond Jubilee cookies (any excuse to make something sweet!). It also gave us a reason to try out our new cookie press!

 Anna loves to decorate/paint the cookies!

  The finished product! 

School is Cool

Only 2 more weeks of nursery school and then school will be out for summer - the year has flown by! A few weeks ago Anna took her first school photo. We couldn't have been happier with how the pictures turned out but it's also amazing to see how much Anna has grown!

Here is a picture of Anna taken the first week of school...

And here is Anna's school photo taken at the end of the year....wow! Our little girl is growing up fast!

Fireworks!

This past weekend was a 3 day holiday weekend for Victoria Day. It's to honor Queen Victoria - even Prince Charles and Camilla were here to celebrate! And while it would have been great to celebrate with the royal couple we chose to celebrate with friends at a block party where there was BBQ and fireworks!

Anna got her first sparkler - she kept pointing and asking for one when she saw the other kids with them but when she got one she wasn't too excited about it!

Anna liked the fireworks that lit up the sky...she just found them a bit loud!

The weather was amazing all weekend and the only meal we didn't BBQ was breakfast! Anna's favorite was the corn on the cob!

WWW (warm weather weekends)

Spring has finally sprung here in Toronto! We've been lucky to have sunny days and warm weather the past few weeks. The weather is so nice it makes it easy to forget how cold the winter is! We've been taking advantage of the weather by checking out more of our local parks and waterfront.

One weekend we went for a walk by the lake..

 where we found some friendly ducks to talk to.

Then we were off exploring the Toronto Botanical Garden.

 There were mazes to explore....

And mazes to run and race through!

Bridges to cross...

and paths to follow.

 And the grass was perfect for dancing and twirling on!

On Mother's Day we had a very special lunch where there was a dessert bar with more goodies than we could count.....cupcakes, cookies, a chocolate fountain. Of course Anna was very excited about the sweet treats but we told her she had to wait patiently. When she has to wait patiently she'll usually just just sit quietly with her arms crossed. On this day she added her "patient" face!

 And in other news......we are excited to welcome a new baby Dundas this fall! Baby #2 is due October 2 but will be arriving via scheduled c-section September 24th!