Our Little Beach Bum

Michaela is to water, as a worm is to dirt. Michaela loves being in and around water. And I guess being out in the middle of nowhere, at Grandma and Grandpa's house, bathing suits are not required, although plenty of sunblock is!

Typhoid Michaela

She's been down with a bad cold (runny nose, sneezing, coughing, watery eyes) this week.

However, she's always quite the trooper. We went to the store for some back-to-school supplies, she was bleary-eyed yet bushy-tailed for most of the way.






























Tonight, she was pampered. Mulan AND the Heffalump movie while lying down with yummy fruits and a drink.

Timeless Photo

A year in Michaela's life - Part 2

Here's the next installment of video clips from Michaela's life. These center around the time after her second birthday going almost up to her third.

Creating this video was a challenge, there were lots of bits that I wanted to include...

A year in Michaela's life

Just reminiscing over old videos of Michaela from after her first birthday to her second.

Here's a year of her life summarized in less than 3 minutes....



I should have the next year up soon.

Pebbles and Bam-Bam

Micah and Michaela got along really well on our last visit. It was so nice to see them playing together and having so much fun. I thought these pictures were particularly cute.

Sandbanks Fun!

On Aug. 2 we took the kids to Sandbanks. We all had a blast. It was so much fun. The kids (of all ages) enjoyed riding the waves.

Jon, Jon the Fishermon

This picture is for the non-vegetarians among us (sorry Mom). Jon was very proud of this catch, and for good reason. It was quite tasty.

Grandpa's Daddy

On our recent visit to Kingston, Michaela met her Great-Grandfather for the first time since she was 1 month old. It was wonderful both to see him, and for Michaela to get to know him better. Thankyou Grandpa for your visit. We miss you and hope to see you again soon. Give Grandma a hug from all of us. We love you both.

Decoding Michaela's Birthmark: Part 4 - Alien Edition

One final interpretation has become apparent. Perhaps Michaela's birthmark is a message from some form of alien civilization.


With this in mind, the message may be that mankind is supposed to use radio satellites and point them to the "Gnome" constellation. Then, we'll be able to detect the comet heading towards Earth and hopefully divert in time to prevent the disaster.

Therefore, Michaela may just save the world...

Underwater Pictures and Video

As promised, here are some of the best pictures that we caught in Gould Lake.


Video Highlight:

Decoding Michaela's Birthmark: Part 3 - Da Vinci Edition

What about this? Maybe the birthmark is a message for a secret society, like the Free Masons, the Illuminati, or the church of Scientology. Perhaps it's best understood by using works of Leonardo Da Vinci...




I'm sorry to report that I have no idea what this might mean. Where's Robert Langdon when you need him?

Michaela: Spider Catcher

A spider was spotted in the kitchen this morning. Faster than a flash, Michaela was on the case.

She caught herself a nice little specimen which she began coddling.

Trophy Video:

Decoding Michaela's Birthmark: Part 2 - Egyptian Edition

An alternate interpretation has arisen concerning Michaela's birthmark.

It turns out that the figures that appear on Michaela's leg correspond to actual Egyptian hieroglyphics.

These symbols can actually be translated into the following message:

"Fare northwards, great view".

These findings are absolutely amazing. It is fascinating to see that even the ancient Egyptians were privy to the knowledge regarding the beauty of the North:

The aurora borealis, the great ice caps, La Ronde, Celine Dion.

Absolutely breath-taking.

Michaela: The Insect Whisperer

Here are some shots of Michaela with various bugs from last week. To give credit where credit is due, she found the caterpillar in the first picture, grampa Ron found the stick-insect from the second and daddy found the millipede from the third. Nevertheless, each time, Michaela was more than happy to have the opportunity to touch and hold them.

Oh, and we were so proud of how gentle she was. (If only she could treat the cats as gently...)

Michaela's Height Over Time

A special part of any person's childhood is a growth chart. When Michaela was born while we lived in a one bedroom apartment, we realized that chances were, we wouldn't be there too long. Sure enough, we've moved twice since. Nevertheless, we got a piece of wood, stained it, varnished it and put it up. We've used it as a measuring post for Michaela with her own inscription on it.


Now that she's had her third birthday, the "notches" are starting to add up...

Decoding Michaela's Birthmark

For quite a while now, I've been trying to understand what the birthmark on Michaela's right leg refers to...

Placed on it's side, the symbols become clear. Obviously, the birthmarks refer to three key symbols. The first is a T-Rex's mouth. The second is a geographical map of Africa during the Cretaceous period while the last symbol is the same during the Pliocene.

Obviously, what Michaela's birthmark is trying to say is that while it was previously thought that Tyrannosaurus Rex went extinct 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, it turns out that they continued to rule most of Africa (and India) until well into the Pliocene (2.4 million years ago).

This finding will revolutionize the field of paleontology. It's not terribly often that one as young as three years old has such a profound impact on any field. With this is mind, I can only wait to see what Michaela does once she's entered academia (if she so chooses, of course...).

Lastly, if anybody has an alternative explanation I look forward to receiving it but I find it hard to believe that anyone will be able to come up with a better explanation.

Michaela's Art: Sounds Reproduced as Drawings

Michaela like most children her age, likes to draw. Today, she prepared three masterpieces. When I asked her what they were pictures of, she explained each one as a sound or song. I thought that it was adorable/unique. Below is each drawing along with the corresponding words that it apparently represents:

This one is from a Robert Munsch book, which Michaela sang to me:
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
as long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."

Here is a link to an MP3 of the story (read by Robert Munsch).


This one is:
"No! Don't touch that!"
(I wonder where she heard that...)

Finally, this last one in the happy birthday song, which Michaela sang softly into my ear.

Michaela's BBQ Birthday Party

On her actual birthday, we held a BBQ at our place for family members to celebrate Michaela turning three years old.

We had a wonderful time, unfortunately we didn't realize that we'd run out of propane. Rick actually went and got our tank filled for us, thus saving the day!

Boy, was Michaela wired! She knew that everyone was there with presents. Even something as simple as catching a picture of her was quite a challenge.
It was quite the party, Michaela's great-grandmother Margaret, grandfather Bruce, uncle John, aunt Shelley as well as uncle Rick, auntie Donna and cousin Matthew were all there.

Video Highlight:

Jon's Birthday Gift

Cara got me a really amazing birthday gift, an underwater case for our new camera.

You can expect an entry very soon with some of the highlights. In the meantime, here's a picture that I took of Cara.

Unfortunately, we decided to return it. After using it a couple of times some sand got into the hinge and it would no longer close as completely as it used to. The last thing we wanted is for it to leak and ruin our brand new camera. Oh well, we did get a bunch of cool pictures though as you'll be able to see for yourself.

And, We're Back!!!

Okay, we've come home after having been in Kingston a week. We came back to two cats (who greeted us with relatively few hairballs) and thankfully, the same number of gerbils that we had before we left.

On another note, Michaela was spoiled rotten and we can look forward to spending the next few months de-programming her (essentially repairing the damage that Gramma and Grampa caused). Which, to be completely honest, we wouldn't have it any other way. Already Michaela has had a rude awakening. Once back home, her demands for juice were met with a stolid look. Even after asking politely, she made do with water. Moreover, she's had to cope with going to the bathroom alone, after having had Gramma as an escort for the past week.

We're working on a myriad of blog entries, including: Michaela's "2nd" birthday party, her "3rd" birthday party, Jon's birthday gift, highlights of our time in Kingston among several others. Please stay tuned.

P.S. This photo came from Gramma and Grampa's camera of our arrival in Kingston, unfortunately nobody was there to photograph our return to Montreal. :(