Today's Children Story Non-Sequitor

Birthday Blues Begone

For my birthday this hear, my lovely wife got some of the gang together got us tickets to an artist we've loved seeing for well on ten years now - Michael Franti. So we headed out to Echo Beach, a nice outdoor venue on the water in Toronto for the #SoulShineTour.

Getting pulled on stage was just a bonus :)

1 + 1 = exhausted

This week, Cris had the good fortune of the week off work. I was not so lucky. So rather than come back to the city with me or chase after the toddler (#MaxLoco) on the uneven ground surrounded by water at the cottage, she stayed up north with only the big guy. So for the week we each had one kid.

It was actually pretty sweet. Loco managed to keep things in check, with only one (justified) biting incident at daycare. And the big guy had a blast swimming, canoeing, and all around enjoying the great outdoors. I managed to get a ton done around the house, stay up a bit past my bedtime watching movies and still waking refreshed. Cris got to sleep in, take it easy and generally enjoy cottage life.

Everyone is back under one roof tonight, and three hours in I've already had to have a nap. Somehow the combo of the two of them is just exhausting. I'm pretty sure they play us off against each other (see: Louis C.K., Hide and Seek), but they both demand different things (O-man is mentally draining, while Loco is physically punishing) which in combination give us no respite.

So who's up for a playdate?

Soccer!

The World Cup is behind us. Germany, rightfully won it all. There was drama, there were goals, there was biting. And of course there was marketing.

Our two favourite commercials from this summer of soccer (football) were from juggernauts Nike and McDonalds.

The boys happened to catch them. The big one thought cool, but no big deal. #MaxLoco, however, has gone soccer mad. Bye bye Elmo. See ya Pocoyo. SOCCER! While there is the odd two-year old tantrum for a cookie or the need for a purple fork (we don't have any, by the way), the central pre-occupation, focus, obsession is soccer. 

Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000 hours required to become an expert. We are well on our way. 

He's already mastered the drop-kick. But that maybe self-defence.

Cottage life

Max, aggressively enjoying ice cream.

Pool Fun

The boys love the water. They's making huge progress, the big guy is even venturing into the deep end on his own. By the end of this week, they'll be little fish. MaxLoco is practicing his fish "blub, blub blub . . ."

And I'm getting better at handling the early morning swims.

Happy Canada Day

From Edmonton. Big Sky.