Tuesday 31 July 2012

Huge Thanks

We were in Newfoundland last week on vacation and the boy had a great time. We went up Signal Hill, saw the lighthouse at Cape Spear, toured around the Avalon Peninsula, and went whale watching. The boy loved going on the boat, and not only did we get to see whales, but we also saw puffins.

Puffins guarding their burrows


I don't know why the boy was so entranced with the puffins, but that was all he could talk about, and still talks about. As a souvenir we decided to buy him a book about puffins, which we had to read every night (and morning) at the hotel. Unfortunately, in the hustle of trying to get packed up to come home the book got left behind.

His new favourite animal!


I tweeted that I had left the book behind and got an reply with an offer to help from @MarriottIntl within a few hours. The staff at the Marriott in Newfoundland were so friendly and helpful, but I just figured it was all part of the legendary Newfoundland attitude. But it seems that helpfulness goes across the Marriott chain.

They helped me track down the book, got in touch with the manager of the Courtyard Marriott in St. John's, and then low and behold in the mail today we got a package.  In it was the boy's book, and as an extra special treat, they had included a puffin bookmark & a puffin key chain!

I can't say enough nice things about the Marriott hotel. Not only did they pick up on a chance tweet, and followed through, but then they went above and beyond by taking note of the boy's interest in puffins. So thank you Marriott for being so awesome and making my boy's week. (And a half hearted thanks from me, since I've now had to read the puffin book a lot again!) You've got a customer for life in my family.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

A boy & some ducks

We just got back from a family trip to Newfoundland, and one of the the things the boy really enjoyed was watching the ducks at Bowring Park. He stood still and watched them for ages, it was amazing.

Of course, he then managed to blow off all the stillness by tearing through the park and playground, but he was still for a bit!

Calm & quiet, will wonders never cease!

Saturday 14 July 2012

Apples & Dust

Some days I find it harder to come up with healthy snack ideas than dinner ideas. Looking for something that's filling (but not enough to spoil a meal), tasty, easy, quick to make, and preferably without a lot of clean up after! Well thank goodness for mum friends when you need to shake up your snack routine.

The other day, my friend Stephanie told me about this fantastic snack that her kids love, call 'Apples & Dust'. With a name like that, how could we not try it out?  We love apples, and this, according to Stephanie, makes them taste even better. So in need of a snack this afternoon, we thought we'd give it a shot. It's really simple, all you need is an apple and dust (aka cinnamon).

We chopped up the apple into finger food sized chunks and popped them in a bowl. Next the boy liberally sprinkled cinnamon over top, then we put another bowl over top and shook it all up.

The result was delicious. Who would have thought something simple like covering apples in cinnamon would be fantastic?

Apples & Dust (a perfect snack with a preschooler approved name)

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Summer bliss



A perfect summer afternoon, relaxing on the deck at our local outdoor pool.

Thursday 5 July 2012

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

The boy started playing in a soccer league this year, and is really enjoying it. It took him a few weeks to figure it all out, but now he's actually gotten pretty good.

Today after scoring a goal and then having the other team score he had a bit of a melt down. Once he'd settled down he told us he was upset because he wasn't able to stop the other team from scoring and he didn't think he'd be able to score again.

We had a quick chat about being a good winner & loser and the power of thinking that you can do something. We reminded him of the little engine and that seemed to help. He went back out and scored two more goals in the game, and was much happier when the other team scored.

Being a gracious winner and loser is something I think is a really important skill to learn and I'm glad he's enjoying playing soccer as I think team sports help to teach this lesson. Now we just have to see if this carries over to next week's game (and the rest of his life!)

Training ground for life?