Pre-EPDL Events with my kids

Hello all who take the time to read my blog entries.

It's been a while since I've done one.

Well, now it's back to it.

I'm currently attempting to do an Extended Professional Development Leave (EPDL) here at Calvin CRC. Indeed a privilege, but at times proving to be a challenge if you don't get out of town : ). I've attended a conference recently, which you'll read about in another entry soon. I also decided to do something a bit special for each of my kids before I started my EPDL. They don't always see me much due to the nature of my work being evenings and weekends, so, I decided to surprise them with a weekend away with just their dad.

Back in April I took Christopher to Toronto for a weekend. Didn't tell him about it at all. That threw him. We drove to my parent's home in Whitby and used that as our home base. On the way there I shared with him what we would be doing.

After some catching up with his Oma and Opa we took the GO-Train into Toronto and spent the day there.

We went to see the Hockey Hall of Fame. Christopher really liked that. A great place, actually, even for a non passionate hockey fan like me. : )

We tried to get into a Maple Leafs Hockey game, but the Hab's were playing that night, so no chance of that happening.

After the HHF it was off to the Eaton's centre to do some shopping. Christopher loves the brand name stores. Thankfully things were on sale!

In the early evening we headed back on the GO-Train, with some drunk soccer fans in the same car as us. An interesting experience to say the least.

Once back in Whitby, we decided we'd see a movie in place of the hockey game, and had just enough time to share some nachos at Denny's before the movie.

By midnight we were back at my parents again. A long day. We drove back home on Sunday after attending my home church in Whitby.

All in all a good weekend with Christopher. I even think he was thankful. : )

Unfortunately I forgot my camera that weekend (Christopher was NOT a happy person), so here's just a nice pensive picture of him taken by Katrina. Notice the NHL website he's on with his computer. It's PLAYOFF season you know : )

A couple of weeks later I took Sarah and Katrina with me to Montreal. We left Friday night and drove to a hotel near the Downtown.

Here are the girls moving in. It's amazing how quickly such a small space can become soooo messy in such a short time. It wasn't ME that made the mess either...hmmmm : )

After we unpacked and made the room more homey (? Spelling on that word), we took a walk to find a Dairy Queen. Here Sarah (left) and Katrina (Right) enjoy some ice cream. It made their day.

In the morning we had breakfast at Cora's. We like going there once in a while. A bit pricey, but great food. Here Katrina gives her dad one of her hugs. She just loves to hug (I like it too) :)

She owed me that hug due to the fact that I had to share a double bed with her that night. Seems my girls don't sleep very well together at times and I had to give up my bed. The bags under my eyes tell the story. : )

Sarah ordered the waffle for breakfast. She ordered the custard on the side, but a bit of a mix up happened and she got A LOT on her waffle. We had to send it back....

Seems Katrina likes waffles too. Here she meticulously puts syrup into each square.

Once breakfast was completed we headed to the METRO for a subway ride to the Bio dome. Katrina wasn't too happy with the underground train at first, as you can see from her expression here.

Sarah, on the other hand, was having a great time.

After about a 20 minute ride, we arrived at the Bio dome. All were happy once again.

Sarah took this picture. She got the flags in as a reflection. Not bad.

We saw many things at the Bio dome. Lots of wildlife from different parts of the world. Here a parrot shows off for us by hanging upside down.

This bird got out of the enclosure and needed to be put back in by Bio dome employees.

Sarah and Katrina loved watching the otter, the big fish, bats, frogs, snakes (well, Katrina didn't like the snakes), and the birds that liked to go deep sea fishing (don't ask me what they are called, please!!!).

But, most of all they liked the penguins. They seem to be a hit with most people. One little girl had a stuffed penguin with her and she held it up to the window. A penguin noticed this and came up to the window and seemed to be talking to the stuffed animal. Very comical to watch.

After the Bio dome we returned to our hotel to pick up the car and drive back to Ottawa. We stayed for one night at the Travelodge hotel that has the wave pool and water slide in it. I know my girls like water, so I thought this would be a nice thing to do. I wasn't disappointed.

Katrina liked the wave pool part (she's still learning to swim), and the kiddie pool, but seemed to be afraid of the water slide. I wanted to get her to go because I knew, once she did it, she'd love it. After much coaching, and a kind lifeguard letting me take her down with me, Katrina went down the water slide. As I thought, she loved it, and was hooked.

Eventually she went down backwards, on her back, etc. I couldn't get her off the slide when we had to leave. Go figure. : )

Our hotel room looked right over the slide, so I was able to watch them from the room and take some pictures as well.

All in all I think they had a great time with their Dad.

So, why do I share this with you all? Well, I think that it's important for my children to have positive memories of their parents interacting with them in ways that are outside of the normal routine of life. In my job, I often didn't put Sarah and Christopher to bed when they were young, and I feel I missed out on something important. I'm doing better with Katrina, I think.

These times away with their Dad give them positive anchors in their memory banks about their Dad. It's important for children to have them. I could certainly do better at being a Dad, but hopefully these times away help. How are you doing with your children? Do you have any positive anchor points? They don't have to be grand events, just time spent.

Well, now it's on to other events in my EPDL. Take a look at the other entries to come. Blessings to you.