So long, Blogger

We're done! No more. Left Coast Floyds will no longer update at this address.

Instead, we've moved to a new site, with a new address. Change your bookmarks and blog-readers to www.leftcoastfloyds.net.

Check it out, it's almost complete -- but have some patience while we sand off the rough edges.

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Love Thursday from Nova Scotia

Every Thursday, Karen hosts a Love Thursday post. It's sappy, but after seeing this photo, I knew it was destined for Love Thursday.



Here's a shot of Aidan and Grampa John, mutually enjoying their vacation in the way that all vacations should be enjoyed.

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On vacation, flood of posts to come

Sorry for the paucity of posting. We're on vacation. Blogger has swallowed two whole posts so far, and I'm more than a little annoyed about it. We're switching over to a hosted WordPress blog in the near future (watch this space) so that we can get away from these Blogger irritations.

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Pink Socks, They always Look Girly, Unless They Just Look Cute

Ok, I know you now have "Black Socks" going around in your head. So do I, but in my head I am rewriting the lyrics to describe something Aidan did this morning.

Ok, here goes:

Pink Socks,
They always look Girly
The longer you wear they the warmer you get.
Sometimes they look kinda cozy,
but, Aidan keeps saying "I won't steal them yet."

Pink Socks,
They always look girly,
The longer you wear them the warmer you get.
Sometimes they look kinda cozy,
Now, Aidan's decided "I'll take what I can get."


Pink Socks,
They always look girly,
The longer you wear them the warmer you get.
Sometimes they look kinda cozy,
Now Aidan's stole them, I'll be cold in a bit.


Pink Socks,
They used to look girly,
The longer he'll wear them the warmer he'll get.
Sometimes they look kinda cozy,
I know he is practicing, he'll pull them on yet.

Pink Socks,
They used to look girly,
The longer he wears them the warmer he gets.
Sometimes they look kinda cozy,
I know he is thinking, "Yes, I did it."

ALL BY MYSELF!!

Tags: Pink Socks, All by Myself, Cute

New Shoes and Socks

New shoes and socks and he is a walking fiend.

On Saturday we tried again to find glasses and a few items (like a dress for the wedding) for all of us. We struck out for me but managed to get Anthony a nice fall jacket and a new pair of sneakers/hikers for Aidan. He seems to really like them and has been walking much more since he has been wearing them. We still haven't been able to get anymore than a couple of steps on video but we figure by the time we are in Nova Scotia Aidan will be running.

Aidan still is climbing more and more and really wants the telephone. We also have to be really careful to push in all the chairs or in two seconds he will be on top of the table.

Tags: Walking, Climbing, Toddler

What's up with dog owners?

First, let me preface with the established fact that I am not a dog person. People who know me nod and smile when I make this proclaimation, but it's true. I'm not a dog person. I tolerate friends' and family's dogs but never, ever will I be a person who owns one. Although, I'm not a dog hater, either.

However, at the risk of alienating ... well, what seems to be our total readership (what's up with you people!?!? :>) ) I need to vent.

This evening, Aidan was pretty antsy, and indicated he wanted to go out. Kinda like a dog I guess. He took my hand, walked to the upstairs gate, and clearly wanted it opened. We went downstairs where he took my hand again and went to the front door. He hadn't been for a walk today, and Gwen declared that she could use a walk, so we fixed everybody up and headed outside. Aidan walked holding our hands out to the curb and halfway down the street. This took almost 10 minutes mind you, but I figure that encouraging him to walk in any manner is a Good Thing.

So, we swung by that paragon of Fine Dining (Wendy's) and took our meal down to Charleson Park on the seawall. Charleson park is a large park, divided into *two* areas that allow dogs to run off-leash, and the rest of the park, including the children's playground area is just like the rest of Vancouver (excepting some specified off-leash areas) ... your dog is required to be leashed at all times.

We set ourselves up on a nice grassed hill overlooking False Creek, well away from the dog parks. In fact, on the far west side of the area noted as "Playground ... no dogs". We sat on the ground, let Aidan walk around (Yes, walk. Unaided. No, we didn't have the camera. No, he wouldn't do it again at home. Yes, bummer.) We were eating our supper, and I had commented to Gwen about the several dogs that were running around *amid* the playground equipment. Irritating, but since they weren't bothering me, a minor annoyance.

What I really objected to, however, was when a loose dog came up to us and started scarfing down my french fries. I grabbed the dog by the collar, walked to the edge of the hill and used my outside voice. In another life, I'm sure I was a drill sergeant. I sure grabbed the attention of the two or three dozen people in the vicinity. And maybe some of those across False Creek too. Eventually the owner of the dog came wandering over to retrieve her beast. She was an older woman (50-ish?) and had two more off-leash dogs trailing her. I don't know what kind of dogs they were ... I'm not a dog person, remember? Anyhow, I was a little worked up, and pointed out to her that her dog was off-leash in an on-leash area, and that I was having dinner with my wife and child, and expected to be able to do that without sharing it with her mangy mutt eating my supper. I also pointed out that even were we in an off-leash area, her dog certainly wasn't under control as required, was it? The fact that I was having this discussion with her at thirty paces in my outside voice added some emphasis to my points. As she came closer, she did agree that her dog was in fact off-leash in an on-leash area, and no, it wasn't under control, and she was very sorry that it had eaten my dinner. She walked up and clipped a leash on the dog and beat a retreat back to the seawall, trailing one of the other off-leash dogs behind her. Yes, one. The other one stayed with us, eyeing the rest of my fries hungrily. And, so, I had to use my outside voice again.

For what it's worth, every single dog within sight -- except this woman's third (and best behaved) dog -- was leashed by the time I sat back down.

Seriously people! Show some common courtesy would you? It's not my fault you've chosen to live in a shoe box in a densely populated area with an animal that requires more space than you have to offer. The fact that over 2/3 of this park is designated as "off-leash" should be a boon for you! But in the rest of the g-d city, especially in those areas specifically designated as "no dogs" keep your g-d dogs on their g-d leashes. Don't let them run around. People in these areas do not want to be bothered by your quivering mass of furry mindlessness. I wish I could threaten something suitably nasty, but it's not the dogs' fault and it makes no sense to do anything to them. And it's pretty much illegal to do anything to the owners. And just like traffic enforcement, there's no by-law enforcement in Vancouver (other than the meter maids). I can't count the number of times that a loose dog has either darted out in front of me on my bike, or decided that it's going to "play" with a child who is not so interested (yet to happen to my child, but that owner will rue the day).

I can only come to the conclusion that some small yet terribly visible minority of dog owners suffers from a peculiar form of mental illness.

All was not lost though. We finished the rest of our meal in peace, and both Aidan and Gwen were much better off for the time outside. A woman, who obviously had not been in the area 15 minutes earlier, even came over with her leashed little dog. She claimed her dog liked small children and Aidan was thrilled to be able to pet and scratch this little dog. He's so good with animals now. He literally quivers with excitement and restraint. Off-leash proponents, note the big difference between this encounter and the previous. First, the little dog was on a leash. Second, the little dog was under control. Third, the little dog's owner came and essentially asked permission to bother us. And it was fine. Keep your frackin' dogs on their leashes!

Tags: Vancouver, dog parks, off-leash

Warning: Contents may explode

Sooooooo......

File this in the "Doh! Should have thought about that!" folder.

You know how those disposable diapers get pretty bulky as whatever chemical inside of them swells as it absorbs moisture? Guess what happens when a toddler (who will not be named) sits his butt down in a pool of water with a fresh diaper?

It explodes!

Well, pretty much. It swells so quickly that water-absorbed crystals erupt from the lining of the diaper. Man, the stuff was everywhere. Hopefully we got it all cleaned up ... I can't imagine that it's particularly healthy to eat.

Here's some pictures of the boy recreating the incident, but with a swim diaper on.


No, I don't know why he was trying to lie in the water.

He's not drinking the water -- he's blowing bubbles. No, really.

The Amazing Climbing Boy will climb anything!

Catergories: disposable diapers, water table, climbing

Weekend Outings

This weekend past was Labour Day weekend. The weather was gorgeous, so we took advantage of it. Need to get outside before the rainy season starts!

On Sunday we took Aidan to the water park (Yes, I'm aware of the irony of going to the water park during the sunny, dry season before the rain comes). He sure likes holding the hose. And, he sure doesn't like sharing it.






In fact, he gets right pissed when someone else wants to use the hose! You should have heard the growling!




Today (Monday) we picked Lorraine up from the Guide camp in the far reaches of Maple Ridge and brought along a picnic basket (thanks CMT!) to have lunch at Alouette Lake in Golden Ears Provincial Park. After lunch, we went for a bit of a hike, with predictable results.

Catergories: water park, labour day, hiking, golden ears

Nana was in town

Did we mention that Nana Lorraine was in town for a quick visit (and a Girl Guide conference)? That's this week's excuse for a lack of postings (which I'm in the middle of rectifying). She's gone tomorrow, so posting should only be limited by Gwen babysitting T. :)


Nana and Aidan

Nana at the Museum of Anthropology

Catergories: Grandma, nana, visiting

Post-grad dinner

So, last Wednesday (Nana was in town, and that was the night she could babysit) a bunch of us went out to dinner. We played it up classy, with the excuse that it was a "post-graduation" dinner (Tomer and Ali had graduated within the past few months, Carla within the past year-and-a-bit, and I graduated two years ago). We headed up to Horizon's Restaurant on Burnaby Mountain. A little expensive, but a good time was had by all.

Carla and Tomer

Tomer and Ali

Parisa, Anthony, Gwen, Carla, Tomer, and Ali

 

Catergories: graduation, dinner, Horizons restaurant, Burnaby Mountain

Lighthouse Park

Since Saturday was taken up by looking for and failing to find glasses, Sunday morning we went to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. Aidan slept very well the night before so we figured we could get a bit of a hike in before he needed his nap. So 10:30 ish we set out for West Vancouver.

The entrance to the park is off Marine Drive about halfway between Ambelside and Horseshoe Bay. The drive is very scenic and the houses you can see along the road are beautiful. I can only assume that the ones on the water side are gorgeous since you can't see many of them. By the time we got there and parked Aidan was raring to get going.

We walked through the lovely park down the Valley Trail to Starboat Cove, took some pictures, and continued to the Light Station and the Lighthouse viewpoint. Again we played with my camera and took some pretty decent pictures. We had a snack and Aidan had some running time by the Nature house and Sk'iwitsut buildings. We then set out to the West Beach trail to another viewpoint. Just before the viewpoint on a nicely groomed trail but for one rock that caught my left foot and I twisted my ankle and scraped my knee and leg for the first time in years. (I'd say at least 15 :p) After trying to clean it up as best I could with baby wipes we kept walking and about 15 minutes later Aidan was asleep in the backpack. It is amazing how cute he looks when he is asleep. Anyway, I guess the pictures will tell the whole story.

(Which I will add to the post as soon as Aidan naps.)






Aidan and Anthony at Starboat Cove, Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver 27 August 2006



Lookout over looking Starboat Cove (City of Vancouver in the distance)




Light Station over looking the Lighthouse



Aidan and Anthony (Anthony thought this looked like he had a beer belly but it is just his shirt puffing a bit because of the backpack.)






Snack time for Aidan and a chance for him to run around in the dirt a bit. (He was filthy in about a minute.)






Me, looking westish towards Howe Sound on the West Beach lookout.






Shore Pine Point



Look at that Road Rash





Aidan asleep on the Shore Pine Trail



Aidan still asleep at the car. Unfortunatly he woke up when we put him in the carseat and didn't nap anymore that afternoon. He did go to bed early though.

Tags: Lighthouse park, skinned knees, sleeping toddler