A Reader is Born

We spent much of the weekend minding the grands whilst Mom and Dad booted for the hills. And we had a great time with them. They were well behaved, and we enjoyed one anothers company. Particularly for me, it seemed appropriate for Fathers Day weekend.

There were trips to parks, a picnic lunch, another lunch at the chip truck, an evening watching The Incredibles DVD and I don't know what all.

One thing that really was wonderful was seeing Danica devour a book. Just finishing grade one now, she has always been a precocious reader but hadn't really gotten into reading fiction. While she might peruse the dictionary or Wikipedia, we were all anxious to see her enjoying fun reading.

Just lately she was introduced to the Nancy Clancy series, and Mom left us with the third book of the series to give to her at the appropriate time. That turned out to be late Saturday afternoon, and she soon headed to the front verandah to enjoy herself.

It was cold day for June, so she bundled herself up and dug right in.

She finished the book in bed later that night, after normal lights-out time I might add. The book was a good length for such a young reader — long enough to be a real book but short enough to keep it from being daunting.

When Mom came home late Sunday afternoon, she presented Danica with book four of the series. Danica found herself a quiet corner on this much warmer day and managed to read a chapter before supper.

I don't know what she'll do when book four is done because that's all there is to the series right now. Hopefully, now that she has discovered how pleasurable reading is, she will be motivated to find other authors.

Needless to say, we are all thrilled with this development

Sleepovers Galore

Every weekend seems to be sleepover weekend lately. Two weeks ago JJ was here overnight when Danica and her parents were bust attending the second night of Dani's dance recital. Rather than stay over there until somewhat late, we had him her and put him (and us) to bed at a decent time. In the end, the time wasn't all that decent, but we tried.

Last weekend, Danica felt like she deserved a sleepover too.

This weekend, or at lease for tonight, we will be sleeping over there. It's Sha and Eric's 10th anniversary, so we are giving them a chance to get away for a night.

Here is a pic of that day 10 years ago.

Anyway, all of this jogged my memory of having YouTubed a little video of the kids from the past two weekends. JJ demanded that his be taken. Danica didn't, but we were really surprised to see her navigating the monkey bars (for want of a better name) on her own. She has tried every year, but I have always had to support her. This year she just did it.

The video takes less than a minute. Who knows what we'll have to share after this weekend?

AC Contemplates his Tiny Almost Trophy-less Life

This is kind of a personal post from the memory banks and for the record. I may not be quite as narcissistic as I might appear to be when discussing my rather meagre (which is Canadian for meager) victories, below.

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Stirred by JJ's interest and desire to port it to his house, I was looking at my one trophy sitting on the shelf behind me and began to contemplate that being awarded a solitary trophy is not much of an accomplishment in this old world. It was granted for my [tied] first place finish in a 1993 chess tournament. It was not a large tournament, perhaps just six contestants if I remember rightly. Having coached my high school chess team for several years and doing pretty well against most of the students most of the time when I played against them, I thought I should give higher level, adult competition a try. After a slow start adjusting to the new-for-me, higher calibre (which is Canadian for caliber) of play, somehow, I won the event by the end of two rounds of play that took up about two and a half months of Tuesday evenings. My record tied with another guy, but after my slow start in a new environment, I think I deserved it more than he. /smile/

Well, the vast empty space on my trophy shelf [kidding] got me to thinking that I didn't exactly have a plethora of accolades to point to with pride ... until I remembered that I had won another tournament, this one for table tennis.

In the mid to late seventies, someone brought a ping pong table into our new large staff room of the school in which I taught. On the staff back then were many young males, and we took to the game with great gusto. We would often play at lunch time, during spares, and after school. There were quite a bunch of us who would jockey for table time.

After several years, someone organized a single knockout tournament, and I was the last man standing when the dust cleared ... or when the paddles stopped blazing. It was partially luck that I knew how to easily defeat the other finalist when there were others that could have given me trouble had they made it through. However, we both got to the end fair and square, but I won 4-0 in a best of 7 match. There was no trophy, sorry to say.

Then came to mind, the tennis (as in real tennis) tournament that I was drawn into somehow. I hadn't even entered the event, but a friend had, and his partner had gone AWOL after a round or two. So, he asked for me to fill in for the final few rounds. He had lost once, so it was the consolation finals that we eventually played. In the final match we played a pair of teenagers whom we beat pretty handily. I have always felt a little badly that I was parachuted into the tournament toward the end. I don't think the organizers thought too highly of my involvement, but I did it for a friend, and they certainly allowed it. All I got for my troubles was a cheap crest and not a brag-worthy trophy. /wink wink/

My memories then took me to the teachers bowling league that I joined for 2 years. Once again I went trophy-less due to dang luck.  If memory serves, my team did win the league in the first year of my participation but not the playoffs: hence, no trophy. In the second year I came in fifth in the individual standings. The previous year, trophies had been awarded to the top five finishers, but with the league in financial straits, only the top three were awarded in that year. More sadness for AC. /insert more winkies/

So, I guess I could have had 4 trophies or some such if the universe had unfolded differently, but that's life.

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As a bit of a postscript, the only other event that I can remember placing in during years of field day events in elementary school was for a facsimile of hurdles, where the hurdles were benches brought out from the school. By some fluke I placed third and was awarded a green ribbon for my prowess. Believe me, it had to have been a fluke.

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Oh ... almost forgot ... so I guess this is a post post script. I sort of won my first teaching job which paid me a 'scholarship' of $1800, which was not a paltry amount in 1971. It was called a fellowship and was granted to me and a number of other 'winners' for agreeing to teach in that county for 2 years. That sum was about half of what out first car cost, so it came in very handy. I stayed with that board for my whole career, but somewhat ironically my fellowship cost be dearly in the end. Whether it was the fault of the board or the teachers, I endured 4 strikes before I retired and lost much more income than was I 'won' with that fellowship.

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Such is life, and such is my ability or lack of same in this life. And now, that part of my record is complete ... until I forget and write about it again ... /smile/

It's Soccer Time

Both kids began their soccer careers this weekend. What a schmozzle! There were umpteen teams, fields and cars.

Each and every team was sponsored by Tim Hortons.

Every team got a different colour jersey. Danica's team received nothing as no coach showed up. However, one young father took over on the spot and ran a practice for the kids. How wonderful of him as he was holding his baby most of the time.

I wandered to Danica's field a few times to see what was going on. She had a turn at goalie.

But JJ's group was a little more organized, nearer the car, and closer to shade, so I spent more time watching him.

The first (above) was shot during the melee of gathering crowds. He kicked the balls toward Dad, above.

Below, are a number of shots taken at the long end of my lens as they scrimmaged on the far end of the pitch.

A Few More Dance Photos

A few more photos from the recital, but only one more of Danica although there's two of her in it.

Megan used to babysit Danica. She loves to dance, and this was her last performance before heading off to college in the fall. She's holding up the centre of gravity in the above photo. lol

I know Victoria (above and below), just a little, from being at the same school bus stop as Danica two years ago. She's beautiful, loves to dance, dances beautifully, and always has a great expression as well. She was in at least six numbers, so somebody is forking out for lessons and costumes. But how could you not?

Danica's Fourth Dance Recital

My goodness, at 7 years of age, my girl was in her fourth dance recital last night. The theme was At the Movies, and Dani's movies were Enchanted, as a ballerina, and Skittles (whatever that is) as a highland dancer.

Naturally however, we had to shoot some pre-performance photos.

A pretty pose

With Grandma and Mom, who was just there to get her changed last night

With Whatshisname

She sat with us through all of the first have, always demanding to know what was coming up next and keeping track of all of her friends. Then came Enchanted, which was kind of enchanting.

So soft and pretty

Concentrate and extend

Very shortly after she had changed into a skittle for her second performance.

Kick up those heels

Pointing just so

Gotta get the fingers just right

She joined us in the audience until the finale.

Clapping and walking on

Contemplating her triumph?

She is excitable and exuberant

Naturally, the dancer was presented with a bouquet after her glorious work. This was moments after she thought she had been neglected.

She loved her flowers and hung onto them all of the way home

Tonight she will do it all again. This time mom and dad will be there, and we'll be having JJ for a sleepover.

In the Park

Riverside Park in Carleton Place is a wonderful spot on the banks of the Mississippi River (the little Mississippi in Eastern Ontario).

I did something that I haven't done much for quite awhile now — went out specifically to take photos. It was early evening and in shorts and without repellent I was unprepared for the swarm of mosquitoes. I didn't stay long.  ↓

On another day, we took a picnic lunch and watched part of a science class netting critters by the bank. The high school is on the edge of the park, and we see students out there at various times, sometimes sketching, sometimes capturing, sometimes just reading.

I experimented with a vintage look in both of the following versions. It is the same photo with two different processings applied. I thought the style was appropriate for a lazy summer afternoon.

After lunch, we strolled to the far end of the park and found at least four Canada Goose families. Each family stayed together: mom, dad and goslings. I find that quite remarkable. In the second photo, I picture the adult trying to get the goslings into a line.