Aurora Wells

Today was a great day. The sun was shining, we all felt mostly human again after our prolonged “colds”, and it was time to awaken Aurora to one of the great joys of life: going to the movies. After a lazy pancake and pretend play morning, we headed downtown, still dressed in our Wild Kratts creature power suits. Mommy, Daddy and Aurora spent a quality hour in the children’s section of Central Library (which is as big as our entire local library) in search of more advanced literary fare (Roald Dahl’s The Twits was a big hit this past week). Then we headed over to International Village, or as we like to call it, Tinseltown.

The movie we were all so excited about seeing? The Lorax; one of our favourite books, and now a terrific movie. We were not disappointed at all – the extra parts that were added to “flesh out” the rather short book were quite entertaining, and the few liberties taken with the original (the Once-ler is a more sympathetic character than in the book) didn’t detract from our enjoyment, either. We laughed, we cried (or at least Daddy & I did), and we ate candy & popcorn. Yes, indeed, it was a great day.

Between sickness and rain or snow, it’s been a very indoor month for us, but I do have a few more photos to share of our rainy-day (or quarantine) activities.

Knitting (for me) and celebrating Halloween in the mouse house (an all-year-round activity for Aurora);

Painting;

Dancing (with or without unicorn);

Graduating to “tiny” Legos;

And in between colds and flus, we even got a small chance to embrace the winter weather, and go snowshoeing at Mt. Seymour. Well, two-thirds of us were on snowshoes, anyways:

Sounds like a joke, right? But no joke, Grandma Gail and Grandpa Larry came to visit us the week of Valentine’s Day, and we saw all of the above. First, the chicks in the preschool’s incubator started hatching, and Aurora got to (very gently) hold one of them.

That evening was Special Persons’ Day at our preschool, so Aurora got to show Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy some of her favourite stuff,

like the costume corner and housekeeping area,

making humongous valentine hearts in the art room,

and fun things to do with coloured masking tape.

Aurora came down with a cold that week, but that didn’t stop us from going on the SeaBus ferry, to Lonsdale Quay, in North Vancouver.

We enjoyed our lunch at Lonsdale Quay market because we each got to choose exactly what we wanted. I hadn’t been there since 1992 or so, and I was relieved that it was as easy to get to from the ferry terminal as I remembered.

Grandma Gail brought a plethora of dress-up clothes for Aurora, so now she can be a “princess fairy” any time she likes. Nice dancing, kiddo.

We also drove out to visit Grandma Shaun and Grandpa Bill, and celebrate the two Granddads’ birthdays at the same time, which was a very nice opportunity.

After we dropped off G&G at the airport, we were too bummed to go straight home, so we drove around Sea Island to Iona Beach Park. The sun had dipped below the edge of the dark clouds that we’d had most of the week, and warmed us up a little as we walked in the fresh air.

Bye-bye Grandma & Grandpa! Thanks for the visit!

Our local science museum, Science World, has been wholly or partially closed for the Olympics and/or renovations since the end of 2009. Most galleries were partly opened, but Aurora’s favourite, the Search gallery, where all the nature stuff is displayed, has been closed for two entire years. Happily, Science World extended our two-year membership for a few more months, and we went as a family a few weeks ago to check out the shiny new improvements.

This T-Rex has been given a much better view of the city, with tons of natural light.

Aurora likes the new info stations (she’s wearing cat ear barrettes, in case you were wondering).

They’ve kept intact the gorgeous butterfly and egg display that my friend Angela designed a few years ago.

The crucial Science World visiting experience? Getting inside the beaver lodge.

Ironically, just as she was given the ability to visit the beaver lodge any time she wants to, Aurora found a new favourite part of the museum: the hollow tree. She’s been in there for a minimum of half an hour on each of our two visits this month.

Reality check for parents; the other side of this column states, “Before the age of 12, the average child in our society receives about 600 toys. Most toys are made with a variety of unidentified plastics of unknown quality.”

At this point, you’re probably wondering, “Was Lisa’s computer stolen again? Why no posts in December?” Well, we’ve just been having too much fun, I guess. Here are some of the highlights:

Aurora admires the lawn display of our neighbours Jesse and Maya (and new baby Nolan – congrats!). Her favourites are the lollipops that flash and change colours.

Aurora’s drama class, taught by her teachers Laura, and Marcy, above, ended with a cute little production of The Wizard of Oz. Betcha didn’t know that there were a polar bear and a Princess Aurora in Oz, eh? After Christmas we got to go see the Carousel Theatre’s production of The Wizard of Oz, which was a little more, um, polished, and which we all enjoyed immensely.

Our little dramatist received a pretty awesome (if I do say so myself) present from Mommy & Daddy this year – a puppet theatre!

We took a trip down to SoCal as soon as school ended. We had a great time visiting family, and…

Snoopy! He’s a little bigger in person than he seems in the cartoons, but you should see the Peanuts Gang! Our day at Knott’s Berry Farm included a great ice skating show, just like I remember from when I was a kid. I did miss the Birdcage Theatre, though. Knott’s no longer features the audience-participatory melodramas anymore.

Uncle Steve, Grandma Gail, and Grandpa Larry went with us in the morning, and Uncle David joined us in the afternoon.

Grandma Gail enjoyed a little train ride with her favourite little girl.

We didn’t go on any rollercoasters (what!?!) but Aurora loved the “letter drop” so much she went on it twice. Once it started raining, a lot of the rides shut down, so we went out for a long lunch at T.G.I.Friday’s across the street.

Brian and Grandpa Harold do a bit of catching up. Zayde’s pin says, “I’ve survived damn near EVERYTHING!”

The second biennial cookie-decorating fest with Jenny and Stephanie and Steph’s family was held at the Nestors’ house this year. Yum!

Jenny helps Aurora decorate her sugary creations.

Speaking of sugar, Aurora stole an excellent box of treats at the Nestors’ Hanukkah gift exchange game. Who did she steal them from? Me!

Grandpa Larry frightens Grandma Gail, Uncle David, and David’s girlfriend Emily with the hefty knife he drew for opening his gift.

Luckily, he only lost one finger!

Finally, we rung the new year in at Ram’s annual New Year’s Eve Fondue & Movie night. For the first time in four years, we managed to all stay until midnight, and all watch the same movie. Thanks to everyone there for agreeing to watch another kid-friendly film, “How to Train Your Dragon”. Aurora really loved it, and wanted to watch it again the next day.

Happy New Year!

Halloween, for those of you who aren’t in the know, is absolutely Aurora’s favourite holiday. Don’t be surprised if she’s wearing a pumpkin, bat, witch, or skeleton shirt when you see her next March or April. It’s better than Christmas, and somewhat mixed up with her birthday, which falls earlier in October. A holiday that combines dress-up and seemingly limitless supplies of candy is a true winner in her book. Daddy and I get into it pretty good, too. Here’s a highlights reel of photos.

For the past three years, I’ve really enjoyed going to the Pumpkin Patch in Richmond, partly because the photos usually turn out gorgeous, even at mid-day. We go with our good friends, the MossLams, so even if the lines are long, we still have fun.

Fraser’s a good sport, especially because he gets the comfort of mom & the Ergo the whole time.

Barrett shows me which pumpkin he picked out from this gigantic field.

I love this picture. It almost makes up for the loss of last year’s shots.

Ready to head home, eh?

Halloween fell on a school day this year, so the 4’s voted to wear their costumes to school.

The Princess and the Pirate Wait for the Bus. Sounds like a hit song or something.

This year we hosted another Halloween potluck, and somehow managed to make cake pops in five hours.

Ghosts, skulls, and a lone Jason mask. Daddy dressed as Chris Kratt in his Creature Power Suit.

Aurora the Ghost Pirate attempts to tuck her sword into her red sash.

Barrett preferred his elephant mask (made by his very clever Daddy out of some leftover roofing material) to hang down his back, where it was less in the way.

Aurora in full costume and makeup, ready to go out trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

Happy Halloween, from two pirates and a witch!