Update!

I know, I know, I haven't posted in a while. Not a whole lot new has happened, so we've mostly just been chugging along.

Odin's hockey lessons are going well, though he always feigns being tired and doesn't get really in to it. Part of that is because Freya does have a habit of waking him up earlier in the morning than he wants to be up, but I think some of it is also that he's timid. We're probably going to take him to a free-skate time at the rink this weekend to get some extra practice in. One night I was wandering around with the kids and we walked in to the rink (they keep it open to everyone unless there's a for-paying-ticketholders-only game going on) and there happened to be some kind of free or exhibition game so we got to watch that. It was fun, and I think it'll make Odin want to practice a little more.

It snowed here a couple days ago! It stuck around for a day or so and then started to melt. Pretty cool. It's actually been really cold here. And the days are almost nights. I mean, the Sun does come up, but it's always behind a gray wall of clouds and it sets again around 4 or 5pm. It's a little depressing, actually, but there is a blue-sky day here and there.

(I'm pretty sure this is the first time Freya has seen snow....)

We're really excited for vacation. Alyssa's last week starts on Monday, and after that we're in the clear (except for a few projects she'll have to finish). We're going to spend a couple weeks hanging out and exploring the city we live in (now that we'll have the time) and traveling around to see what there is here. We're thinking about joining a car co-op so we can have some wheels.

In the middle of December and through the end of the year, we'll be heading down to Oregon! This trip will be fun because of the length. Normally, we're only visiting for a few days so it's hard to do all the things we want to do and see all the people. This time, we'll have as much leisure as we want, and even a little kid-free time thanks to Grandma and Zaideh! We miss all our old stomping grounds a lot, and we're excited to do some tax-free shopping and bring back some favourite products to the land of the CND (ie: there is a serious lack of Trader Joe's here).

Skating!!

Odin on ice!!!

Ice skating today!

Odin's first ice skating lesson is today. It's a class that builds kids up to the hockey lessons if they haven't ever been on the ice before. I'm really excited. Alyssa will be going out on the ice with him, and Freya and I will watch and take pictures.

We had a pretty fun Halloween. Odin ran in to some of his friends from school so we got to walk around with them. Trick-or-treating in a family housing neighbourhood is really fun because there's just so many kids out, and all the townhouses and apartments around here are designed like little villages with brick/cobble roads, so it's all nice and enclosed and you can just let the kids run around and look at all the decorations.

We've all been passing an illness around. Odin and Alyssa had it, with a fever and sore throat, and now Freya's got it. She can barely swallow and there are little white sores in her mouth. She's really suffering. So far I've just gotten a light cough, lucky there. Freya keeps crying and saying "I want my owie to go away!" She says she has marbles in her mouth, which is cute, but it means she's in pain....