Vancouver 2010

The Olympics have come and gone...the Paralympics are on their way, and we have enjoyed every minute of it thus far! Here are Aidan and the kids in front of the cauldron - downtown Vancouver.

What's that? You can't see the cauldron behind them? Yeah, me neither...seems I missed. So here is a better shot...

There were so many people that it was next to impossible to get close, unless you wanted to wait in line for 3 hours to climb up to the viewing platform, not really my idea of a good time. So you get a shot from a far instead! We wandered around downtown for a while along with the other million people walking around Robson and Granville streets. It was a really exciting place to be and the kids had a great time watching all of the street performers. Although I'm sure the highlight of their day was the trip in the sardine can (sky train) down to waterfront where the cauldron was located. We were packed to hilt on that thing, with more people squeezing in at every stop. But everyone was in good humor so being so squished actually turned out to be pretty fun!

Aidan and I were lucky enough to go to one of the preliminary hockey games - Russia vs. The Czech Republic. It was so fun! Those crazy Russians! Seriously! They know how to party!

And can you believe I ran into Lolly! Lolly hails from Washington DC and I've been reading her blog for a while now, so it was really cool to just happen to run in to her at the hockey game. Crazy!

On our walk to the arena we went through False Creek along the sea wall and came across all these Inukshuks that random people had built along the waters edge. There were hundreds of them, so cool to see!

Here we are at the hockey game. We didn't care who won...we cheered for both teams!

We are going to try and get some tickets to see some sledge hockey, but I've heard that they may be all sold out, which would be disappointing because I think that Owen would love to see it!

The reno's are moving along....slowly. We've been living in the basement for weeks now, but it's actually pretty comfortable, so I can't complain. The guys are just finishing off the stairs now, so just all of the finishing/touch up work remains...and there will be a lot...we painted the walls beforehand, but they got pretty dinged up during the floor install, and all of the trim work needs to be mudded and painted.

We'll get there.

One day.

Ribby Slipper Socks

Ribby Slipper Socks
Originally uploaded by Red Yarn

Another post via Flickr.

I made each of the kids a pair of these great slippers over the Christmas break. My living room floor is so cold (I think it's from the fireplace draft) so they really needed something!

Very quick, easy knit and I really enjoyed it. The photo above is Owen's slippers, Maeghan chose a red yarn for her cuff. It is a very special red yarn because it was handed down to her from her Great-Granny Minny who she never had to opportunity to meet. Now a little piece of Great Granny is with her every time she wears them! I just love that!

Pattern: Ribby Slipper Sock from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2008
Yarn: LionBrand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in the color Charcoal
Patons Classic Wool - green cuffs
Penguin Familia - red cuffs
Needles: Foot - US 11
Cuffs - US 8's

Now I want to make me a pair too!

So what have I learned from blogging from Flickr? Well, when I'm stuck on the night shift at work, and it's really slow, I can make a post! Although I'm not sure if Bloglines picks up the feed through flickr or not, but maybe Bloglines is just having issues.

I have finally finished my Gathered Scarf, and I will post pictures soon when I get a chance to block it. See you soon!

Trekking Socks for Aidan

Trekking Socks for Aidan
Originally uploaded by Red Yarn

Can you believe it! I have totally neglected to post about my greatest knitting accomplishment last year!

Let me introduce you to Aidan's Christmas socks! These suckers took me most of the year to knit (started last January! and finished at the beginning of November).....a little monotonous, and I could only knit them when Aidan wasn't around.

Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL (crispy as you knit it up, but oh so soft after a wash!)
Needles: 2.5mm/US 1.5

These are some durable socks - hubby has been wearing them and they still look great. Even after an accidental cycle through the washer and dryer. Apparently they can be machine washed, but I prefer to hand wash all my hand knit socks to try and preserve them as long as possible...considering how long they take me!

I used stealth tactics to measure Aidan's feet...gave him some bull line about wondering whether it is true that your foot is as long as your arm from wrist to elbow. So I measured, made secret notes, and they fit him like a glove. A job well done.

Olympic Fever!

Thursday morning the torch arrived!


Aidan took the kids to see it come through Port Moody at 7am. The excitement was insane, and the kids loved every moment of it! He forgot the camera at home, but managed to capture the above shot on his Blackberry just after the torch went by (you can see it in the background). I was already at work by then, so I had to miss it, but our hospital had the pleasure of hosting Jann Arden as she carried the torch through our parking lot. That woman is hilarious, and has a great voice. It was fun to be a part of that.

The accident Friday morning involving Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was so tragic. I can't stop thinking about that poor man and what his family must be going through. I am a little disturbed that the local news chose to show the accident on their newscast. It is a visual that I'm finding hard to erase out of my memory, and is just heartbreaking.

We loved the opening ceremonies, weren't the Killer Whales AWESOME!!!! Wow, what hard work and dedication went into that production! Even the wee glitch at the end when only 3 of the 4 arms of the torch rose before lighting the cauldron couldn't put a damper on the the goosebumps that most of the show gave me. And Wayne Gretzky on the back of the pick-up truck on his way to beach was priceless! It had me giggling the whole time.

We have tickets to a hockey game next weekend, which I'm totally stoked about, and we also hope to take advantage of some of the free venues that are happening all over the lower mainland. Heineken House and Ireland House are calling our names...we'll see how long the lines are! My commute to work should prove to be interesting, but on a couple of days next week my boss has agreed to let me work flexible hours, so I can try to not travel during peak times.

I actually wasn't that interested in the idea of Vancouver hosting the Olympic Games. I was dreading it's arrival and the impact it would have on my day to day life. I'm not exactly a hermit, but I do what I can to avoid busyness and crowds, they make me a bit uptight. But Olympic fever has set in, and we are excitedly cheering on our Canadian athletes, and wishing a fun, fabulous games to all of the visiting athletes.

I BELIEVE!

GO CANADA GO!

Oh Christmas Tree....

I'm sure I must have used that post title last year, oh well, today is the first day of my Christmas vacation and at the moment I have zero creativity! I will be off work for 3 weeks (yay me!) and hopefully I'll get my creativity on at one point, just not today.

Menu Plan Monday still continues for us, but apparently I don't have time to post it to the old blog once a week. I can tell you this much....the CrockPot Cheesy Ravioli was not much of a hit, apparently Owen doesn't like Ravioli noodles. Why, you ask? Because they are shaped funny. Who knew? I also found the sauce way too tangy - probably because of the can of tomato sauce and no added tomato paste to take the 'zing' out. Anyway, I have small lunch size containers of ravioli filling my freezer, and I will be taking it for lunch for the next month I'm sure!

So we made our way out to the tree farm on Sunday to get our Christmas tree.

It was a perfect day - the first snowfall of the season, but still not too cold so we could spend some time finding the perfect tree. Yes, I let my 6 year old hold the hacksaw. No fingers were lost and he played a big part in cutting down the tree, which he had wanted to do so badly!

And no trip to the tree farm would be complete without a visit to the donkey, who apparently, year after year, has been holding a torch for Aidan. On the drive out to the farm the kids asked if the donkey who is in love with Daddy would be there again this year, and sure enough she was. I am going to assume the donkey is indeed a "she", I did not actually look, but for Aidan's sake she is female. Still a donkey, but at least female. Last year, this very same donkey could not get enough of Aidan - she was rubbing her head on him, following him around, and trying to get him to put his arm around her neck. It was hilarious! And this year was no exception.


The Christmas concert for the kids school is tonight, Maeghan has to wear a sombrero. Not sure about the connection between a sombrero and Christmas, but I will soon find out!