Off to the Ballet... Again!

After dropping the kids off, Amanda headed off to yoga and I wandered home to... well... hang out... post photos, watch a DVD from the library and paint a bit.... At 1:30 we headed back to T-cup.

The benefit of being the only nutters that ride bikes to events like this in the winter is we always get what my sister would call "Rock Star Parking" (right by the front door). I felt sorry for anyone in a car that had to pay $10 or whatever to try and find a parking spot in the over full parking lot across the street. 

I only took two pics - right at the end, no flash... Finnegan is second from the left coming out to bow - one of the Chinese dancers. 

Keira is the littlest of the snowflakes coming out here...

Our dancers after the show - and a long tiring day! 

If anyone wants to see ME making a fool of myself, I'm dancing with Queen Maeve School of Irish Dance at Festival of the trees next Thursday. Yes, me. I don't know what I was thinking...

Off to the Ballet

The kids are dancing the Moscow Ballet's Saskatoon performance of the Great Russian Nutcracker. There was an audition in the summer and throughout the fall the kids have had weekly rehearsals. Today is the big day and we had to drop them off at TCU Place (or T-cup, as I like to call it...) at 9am!?  (That's a bit early for us on most days...)

Off we went at 8:30... just as the sun was threatening to claw it's way into the sky... 

Loading up the gear... 

Can you tell SOMEONE was VERY EXCITED!?

Off we roll. 

There was a lot of waiting time in the lobby. Apparently the Moscow Ballet people hadn't expected us until 10am!? 

Starting on hari while we waited... 

Eventually everyone was let into the Green Room, and that's when we had to say good-bye - won't see them again until they're on the stage this afternoon!

Hope it all goes well! 

It Snowed

Some were apparently caught a little more off guard than others...

Keira Rides!

Keira has been riding a fair bit on her own lately. By the time Finnegan was her age he was riding to the zoo and back. But somehow we have neglected getting Keira riding on her own bike. Part of the impetus to get Finnegan on his own bike was it was just getting to darn heavy to haul the two of them together. part of the reason for NOT getting Keira on my bike is my own reluctance to have to keep an eye on TWO squirrely kids veering all around the road (one is enough right now!). I can't delay the inevitable forever and it seems likely by next summer we'll all be on our own bikes...

Here's a few pics of our recent ride over to my folks for dinner...

Who can say "no" to someone who loaves riding as much a Keira...?

Keira is a bit anxious going down this hill on the pavement. Her legs just can't push back on the coaster brakes hard enough to keep her at a reasonable speed, so she rides down the hill on the grass... 

My two favourite girlies. 

Loves riding. Loves. Not "like" - LOVES!  

Amanda "Crash" Plante sporting some fresh stitches from a fight she lost with the garbage can the previous day.

Heading up to the bridge. 

Across the bridge. 

Down the hill on the other side...

Looking good so far... 

WHAM! Took that second corner a little too fast and lost control in the loose gravel... 

I swear finnegan crash in the exact same spot a year or two ago... When are they ever going to finish this end of the bridge and pave this section of the path!? 

There were many (MANY!) tears. 

To her credit, however, Keira did get back up and finished riding to my folks place. 

Thanksgiving turkey decoration that. I swear, my folks have had since I was the kids age. 

Out and about again a couple days later - the kids were showing me the chalk drawings they'd done with Amanda on Monday. More about those over at the Art Blog!

Bike Yoga

Amanda got me up early to take some pictures of her doing yoga over at the Skate Park... something about a contest at Ground Yoga...? ‘The Most Creative Place You’ve Done Yoga’...? You can go there and vote for her (when she gets around to submitting a picture... which, I think, has to be today...).

Here's a few of the many, many pics I took of our early morning hijinks... 

6am... pretty early... I had originally planned on going for a road ride and Amanda had figured it would be too busy by the time I got back. There's some sort of festival going on in the park this weekend and they were partying late last night and I didn't get so much sleep, so I abandoned the idea of a road ride... I should have gone... I was up anyway... 

So... how to do yoga... on a BMX...?

If only she did a bit more flatland, she could have done this while the bike was rolling... 

Hmmmm... maybe ON the bike really isn't working out...

BESIDE the bike? 

Pre-ride stretches...? 

I'm not sure what this was supposed to be... 

Ummmm... 

Ride around and think about it... 

I'm not sure what this look was all about... 

The key to not being eaten alive by mosquitos at 6am (after a few rainy weeks) is to keep moving... 

moving... 

and just to show off (and prove she can still ride)... 

Into the bowl... 

and back out again...! I don't know if it was the early morning light... or if she was just going too damn fast... but I just could not get a decent photo like this (despite her doing it three or four times...) 

Kidical Mass ride next weekend... 

Rainy Daze

It's been raining a lot through this late spring/early summer... well... a LOT for Saskatoon...

We've tried to not let it dampen our spirits.

I'd be lying if I said we didn't, from time to time, say: "Screw it, I've had enough of this riding in the rain rubbish. Let's not go anywhere today..."

What a Weekend!?

We started off the weekend with a ride over to campus for Keira's ballet lesson. Then we had to haul our butts over to massey Park for the first Saskatoon Kidical Mass ride of the year...


Pretty good turn out for the first ride of the year - with minimal promotion...


Finnegan chatting with Ian


I was going to make a comment about out new rider... but technically she was riding last year - she was just still inside her mom's tummy! What is brand new is that long haul cargo bike - which Duane just finished assembling before the ride (his hands were still dirty when he arrived!)


Duane was also riding his fancy new polo bike.


Beautiful day for a kidical mass!

24 hours later however...


... we were heading out to the kids Irish Dance class in the snow!?


Considering how mild this past winter was.... it's odd that there's been so many last season snow storms...!?