Happy Anniversary!

Happy 40th anniversary Mum and Dad




If you have a fast internet connection you can see a hi-def version of this video at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1435548/Happy%20Anniversary%21.m4v

The picture speaks for itself!

Luke sent me this comparison... uncanny!

Happy Belated Birthday Claudia!

Would you believe it's still your birthday here!?? It's the time difference, you see...
Hope you had a great day,

love Dylan and Chil

Ottawa Summer

We've moved into our home for the next year or so (seen above). Our friend Yvonne's place was really nice and had home comforts I'd not imagined: the fridge was plumbed in to provide chilled filtered water and ice, the BBQ was plumbed in to the gas, there was forced air conditioning (and forced air heating for the winter) and even centrally piped vacuum, you just push a hose into the wall! But it's great to have our own place again and we are getting more and more settled in. We've got some really great neighbours and the Glebe is a lovely area to live in with a lot of stuff for kids to do. We have a spare room so can start accepting visitors straight away!

The slow, some say catatonic, pace of life is taking a bit of getting used to, but we have not been deterred by Ottawa being called "the town that fun forgot" and have unearthed some fun anyway.

Our big news is that we have some childcare for the girls, a nanny for 4 days a week so Chil can start thinking about her career again. The girls seem to enjoy getting out in the Glebe during the day and about and apparently their antics get all the other kids laughing. We also have a babysitter so we can explore Ottawa in the evenings a little. I'm well settled in at work at CHEO, they are a friendly bunch and it's great to finish in the operating room at 15:30 so I cycle home and can see the girls in the park before 4!

Last weekend we went to visit the cottage of some friends, about a 90 minute drive from home in Quebec. It's amazing to be right out in bear country, off the electricity grid and by a quiet lake after such a short time on the road. It took us about 90 minutes to get from Tooting to Islington on a Saturday afternoon, a considerably less picturesque drive. The girls enjoyed splashing about looking for frogs. Little fearless Wamaka wanted to head for the middle of the lake and as always took some dissuading. We ended up drying off in front of a campfire where the girls managed to get toasted marshmallow hair.



Namwezi and Wamaka are saying more and more words: hi, bye bye, yes, no, more, all gone, dog-dog, woof woof, miaow, up, socks and their favourite - shoes. They are getting less and less shy on Skype which is definitely the best way to get us all. Let us know when you're online.

Dylan