Raisin' the Roof!

While Greg was away in early April, we were trying to celebrate the arrival of spring.  But...Calgary weather has other ideas of what "spring" looks like.  We had more snow, at least a couple of inches.  Even the kids are getting a little bummed out by the snow, which is saying a lot.  We decided to lift our spirits by enjoying an indoors picnic.  When life hands you lemons...right?  :)

Some of you know that Nathalie "borrowed" this doggie from Ben's room a long time ago and hasn't let go of him since.  She loves Doggie so much and they've been through a lot together.  However, I had noticed that Doggie was placed outside of her room, on purpose.  I grabbed him for bedtime, and Nathalie emphatically put him back in the hallway.  I was so confused, and a bit sad, thinking that maybe she had just outgrown needing a snuggle friend for bed.  Doggie was in the "doghouse" for a couple of weeks, until one day, Nathalie picks him up, gives him a hug, and then tells me to "clean him...he's dirty".  Mind you, I had given him a sniff days ago to see if that was the issue, but he smelled just fine.  I must have looked confused, so she lifted his ear and showed me a dirt spot on his cheek.  Ha!  Doggie was immediately washed, dried, and returned to his post as snuggle friend.  Whew!

Ben has been learning hip hop dance during gym class for the past few months.  He loves it!  I wish you could see him "raise the roof" in person, it's fantastic!  On April 15th, families were invited to come watch the last hip hop class and see all that the kids have learned.  It was priceless!  First, let me say that I give the instructor, whose name was Ben, a ton of credit for being able to keep it together while watching these cute kiddos give him their hip hop "attitude".  Really, I was so impressed at how focused all the kids were and you could tell they were having a blast!  Poor Nathalie ran onto the floor at least twice wanting to show her moves too...

Greg returned from Moscow on April 11th, but was on a plane again the following week to speak at an Evraz conference in Chicago.  He was there during the 'great flood', but made it home safely again on the 18th.  On Friday, the 19th, we went to Family Circus Night at our church.  There were bouncy castles, coloring, a wheel of prizes, face painting, and a showing of Madagascar 3, complete with popcorn!  It was a great night to be together and connect as a family after Daddy's time away.  Nathalie wasn't too sure about the face paint, but Ben adored his new Batman look!

We've enjoyed playdates and dinner parties this month with friends as well, and now we're just anxiously awaiting Mom and Dad Zabikow's arrival next week!  Can't wait to see family and share our new city with them!

Moscow, Part 3

Greg was in Moscow for Round 3 of his New Leader's training from March 29th through April 11th.  Here are some highlights from this trip...

Major shopping center at night.

Class is done, celebrating with dinner at Cafe Pushkin...a famous Moscow restaurant.  The story goes that 40 years ago, a famous French singer gave a concert in Moscow.  He returned to France and wrote a song titled "Natalie", dedicated to his Russian interpreter, in which he mentions "Cafe Pushkin".  The song became famous across Europe, and naturally people wanted to dine at Cafe Pushkin when they visited Moscow.  The problem was that it didn't exist...it was simply made up for the song.  In 1999, Cafe Pushkin finally came to be a reality, and Greg and his team enjoyed their evening.

Greg enjoyed a day of sightseeing before heading home...

Lenin's tomb is being repaired (under the white bubble)...

Then it was back to the school to finish packing before the early morning flight.

Greg arrived safely home on the 11th, and we were SO glad to see him!  It had been a long trip, and April wasn't going to slow down for him...with a trip to Chicago the following week and then being the host site for the quarterly meeting in late April.  Busy, busy!

Bunnies & Break

Oh my, it's starting to feel like spring!  40 and 50 degree temps are here for a week, amazing!!  A perfect time to celebrate Easter...

We celebrated Easter on Palm Sunday this year, since Greg was leaving on Good Friday for Moscow.  We decorated eggs the night before, so they'd be all ready to enjoy on "Easter".  After church, Greg took Ben to his final ski lesson, and Nathalie and I got the table all set.  Seriously...see her helping??  :)

Ben got home and the "Easter bunny" had already visited!  The kids hunted for eggs in the backyard, and Ben was so good about leaving the eggs marked with "N" for Nathalie.  I'm not sure Nathalie cared so much about the hunting.  As soon as she realized there were chocolates inside, she stopped to hang out with Dad and her loot.

We had a yummy dinner of Alberta beef, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and more.  (Why have ham when you can grill some steaks??)  After dinner, we ventured downstairs for basket time.  New clothes, swimsuits, balls, books, and more.  The Wii that we intended to give Ben at Christmas made it's debut, and we can't wait to set it up and start some bowling and dance parties!!

Last week was Spring Break for Ben.  It was so nice to be able to sleep in and just lay low for a week.  We enjoyed lots of playtime and some ice cream treats...
 

I also found the kids enjoying a new "spin around on the chairs" game that I'm not sure I approve of...

We also enjoyed a trip to the Calgary zoo!  It was busy, busy, busy!  But, we made it through half the zoo (Prehistoric Park and Canadian Wilds) before calling it a day.  We bought passes for the zoo, so I assured Ben and Nathalie that we could come back anytime!

Since some of Ben's ski lessons were cancelled due to weather, we signed him up for a private lesson.  His instructor said he was "a natural" and more importantly, he loves it!  Vilem took him up the chair lift and down the green hill two times, and then Ben made Daddy take him another time before they left.  No fear, gotta love it!

Greg left on Good Friday for Moscow.  He landed safely on Saturday, with no suitcase.  Bummer.  He was able to pick it up on Sunday evening, so at least he's got clean clothes and all his things for class on Monday.  We celebrated Easter on Sunday...went to church and had a relaxing day at home.  A little "getting to know Calgary"...Canadians eat turkey for Easter.  I know some eat ham too, but I saw lots of turkeys in the grocery stores, and I overheard folks at church talking about enjoying turkey for their Easter dinner.  :) 

Wishing you all a blessed Easter!