The Insectarium

Jumping Back a Little......

Finally getting around to post some great pictures of our Father's Day. Here we are enjoying a delicious breakfast at Barbie's.

Once the water became (barely) warm enough so as to not cause hypothermia when immersed, we strapped some arm floaties on Michaela and let her loose in the pool.
It's interesting, at the start of last summer, Michaela was nervous about being in the water. She had lost the confidence that had developed while in the water the previous summer. The same thing happened this year, even though now she's tall enough to touch the bottom of the shallow end of the pool.
However, she's since (again) got over her fears and is swimming strongly (with wings on).

Gracefully Searching for Bugs.

Fun in St. Anne's

Here we are enjoying the same park Mom and Dad used to take us to when we were little...Ah, the memories....

What Fun!

On the Saturday we took Michaela to the local store where they were having a fun day with inflatable playthings, balloons and free pony rides. It was great. Michaela got to ride on her very first pony, she loved it and wasn't even a little scared. We were so proud of her.
There was also a mascot. For some reason, Michaela loves mascots. As soon as she saw him she squeeled with delight and ran to him for a hug. It was really cute.
And here's the family, sans Cara of course who, as usual, was behind the camera. It's funny, I, Cara, used to take all the pictures because if I didn't, no pictures would get taken. Now I take the pictures because if I let Jon have the camera, he'll take 100 pictures of Michaela in the course of a few minutes. It's cute really. I'm a firm believer in taking no more then 80 pictures a day....tops!

Funniest Picture Ever!

My parents came for a short visit last weekend. Because they were getting so restless we decided to take "the boys" to the park. They had a lot of fun, and cried when it was time to go home. Michaela took this picture...

...just kidding.

Beer! Wonderful Beer!

Jonathan here: I know what you're thinking, I've started my own Meth lab. Well, no; I keep the Meth lab at work.

Actually, I recently bottled some beer to enjoy over the course of the summer. This time I went with an Irish Stout. I made some last year (Canadian Lager) and it didn't turn out too badly. Even some of the other people who tried it, liked it.

Of course, brewing alcohol is somewhat of a family affair. While Cara disinfected the bottles, Michaela would dry them and line them up to be filled. Thanks to their help, we have 23 litres of beer (at a cost of 20$ CAN, taxes included).

Note: The downside, it's a lot of work and it takes quite a while to do. I had to miss an A.A. meeting just to bottle everything.

Update: Rick (Vann) and I tried the beer and we were really happy with it.

Best Father's Day Ever!!

Jonathan here, okay, here's how it went down:

At around 8:00am, Cara suggested that we go out for a Father's Day breakfast. We all walked towards Chez Cora and came upon Avis Car Rental on the way. Cara had a car reserved waiting for us.

She then gave us directions to a secret location somewhere north of Montreal. It turned out to be the St. Eustache flea market. It was an interesting experience and we found a couple things that we could use.

After that we whisked off to another secret locale. We ended up at the Montreal Insectarium to indulge Micheala in her recent fascination with anything that crawls.

After which, we were quite tired and in need of a break so we headed back home for a dip in the pool. Then, we picked up a babysitter and Cara and I went out for the evening. We went out for supper at an Indian restaurant called "Sahib's" on Hymus. The food, decor and service was fantastic. Afterwards we went to see "X-Men III: The Last Stand", very entertaining.

All that having been said, I also got some gifts as well. Cara got us a couple of wireless controllers for our X-Box and coolest of all...

... a epoxy-plaster cast of the Archaeopteryx lithographica believed to be from the late Jurassic period (150 million years ago).


"Fewer than ten fossils of Archaeopteryx have ever been found. Of these, the most famous is on exhibit at the Humboldt University Museum of Natural History in Berlin. Found in 1877 in German's Solnhofen Limestone, the Berlin specimen remains the best preserved Archaeopteryx of those so far discovered. From the claws and feathers on the wings to the teeth in the tiny skull, the Berlin skeleton is a window on bird evolution."

Nameless No More!!!

Yes, we have finally settled on names for our little friends. We received a lot of GREAT suggestions and in the end Mom and I put our heads together and came up with the perfect names for them. When I got my first gerbil as a child I named her Ginger, because her fur looked like the spice. Reminiscing with Mom gave us the idea of naming our new gerbils after spices as well.
I have the distinct pleasure of introducing you to Peppercorn and Poppyseed!
This first picture is of the larger of the two gerbils, Pepper. She's more shy and skittish than her sister. Hopefully with patience and training, she will grow to enjoy playing with us outside of the cage.

This little sweetie is Poppy. You can tell her apart from her sister because she has little white patches on her paws, which make her look like she's wearing gloves. Poppy is small, but spunky and adventurous. She's not fully trained, but loves to come and eat sunflower seeds out of my hand.

Well, that's that. Thank you to everyone who helped us with names. I loved all your suggestions.

I love "potato" soup!

Today we decided to prepare an easy supper for Michaela. Her suggestion: tomato soup which she calls "potato soup".



Between spoonfuls of soup, Micheala would burp with gusto saying "I burp like Grandpa!!!".

When I asked her who it was that taught how to burp (which she learned during a weekend spent at Grandma and Grandpa's), she did mention Grandma but honestly...

... I think that she's covering for the real culprit. Although, I'm not sure what this person might have offered Michaela for her silence, he should know that there is no statute of limitations for such an offense.

One day, he'll slip up and we'll get him.

With that thought in mind, I've just thought of the most appropriate punishment. Simply unleash a "gaggle" of toddlers to go crazy on one of his screened doors and make him watch the damage, as it happens. The advantage: it's cruel AND unusual...

Wine! Glorious Wine!

Jonathan bottled 4 batches of wine this morning (that's 128 bottles). We've gone in with a bunch of people to defray the cost.

So, we've gotten some Cabernet Shiraz, Verdicchio, Valpolicella and Ruisseau Blanc. We're only getting 6 bottles of each though.

Settled a debate for us? Does it look more like the "Tower of Babel" or the alien monolith from "2001: A Space Odyssey"?

Thesis Update

Cara has mentioned that A LOT of people are asking her on a very regular basis about what's going on with my thesis.

Here's the deal: I have a draft version of the thesis ready. My supervisor and I have finalized the analysis of the data. The next step for me is to rework the draft in light of the new results and fill in some of the missing blanks.

And so, now is the time where I'll begin recruiting "guest editors" to read over the sections for clarity, flow, logic, basic grammar, repeated words, spelling and repeated words. Anybody interested? Oh, and another thing, I'll be submitting my thesis as a manuscript (which means that it has to be short and sweet), therefore don't worry about being sent a 200 page Word file.

What a difference a year makes

Comparing some pictures from June of last year, you can really see the degrees to which Michaela's changed and grown.

Ugh... What time is it?

Michaela woke up especially early (5:45am) on Saturday, which if you think about it, is 2:45am in Vancouver. We explained to her that it's still night time and that she should go back to bed, which to her credit, she did. However, the damage was done, Jonathan couldn't fall back asleep. Michaela ended up staying in bed until 6:15am.

Anyway, concerning the post, Cara bought Michaela a "revolving plug in fish light thingy" which Michaela appropriately calls the "fish movie". She's enthralled. She likes to point to individual fish and call out a combination of the following:

"Oh, it's Nemo!!!"
"He's swimming just like Michaela."
"There's an angry fish!"
"Uh oh. He wants to bite me."

"There's Nemo's daddy!"

P.S. She's pictured here wearing her princess costume. We're trying to get a picture of her curtsy-ing. With any luck, it will be up shortly.

Quality time with the Gerbils

As a new bedtime routine, Michaela gets a few moments of (supervised) time with the gerbils. Here she is being tickled by one of them (we're not sure which one yet).

Michaela's Friday Night!

We've tried to keep Friday nights special by making them especially for Michaela. This means that she gets to spend the evening watching whatever she wants and gets to have as much popcorn as will fit within her small frame. Previous nights have included watching "Gummy Bears" episodes and even old episodes of "The Muppet Show" (we have them all). Tonight's selection was a collection of Donald Duck cartoons. Michaela thought he was really funny.

Ah! Nature

Michaela has this delightfully annoying ability of turning a 5 minute walk home from the bus stop, into a 30 minute stroll, in which she picks and blows every dandelion, finds every single bug, examines every ant hill, picks up every stick, and yet somehow can't seem to notice any one of the many piles of dog poo before stepping in them. Thankfully, that is the ONLY thing I am looking for, so I've gotten pretty good at warning her in time! Michaela has redefined the term "doddling". Ah, but I love to see her enjoying nature, and the wonders that it holds.

On a completely different topic......where are those gerbil name suggestions!? So far only Josh and Mom have come up with any. Josh came up with the names "Peek" and "Boo", which we thought were very cute. And Mom's very witty suggestions were, well, to quote her, "You could call them Geraldine and Wilhelmina. Well, that's a mouthful for a 2-year-old, so you could shorten it to Gerry and Billy, or how about Ger and Bill." Very cute as well. So, if you don't feel creative enough to compete against these suggestions, then at least put your vote in for which you like better. Thanks. Let's not keep those poor gerbils in nameless limbo much longer!

Rewards!!!!

And what dentist's visit is complete without the promise of rewards for good behavior. Michaela was treated to a delicious lunch of pea soup and an extra large milk, and then a ride on the mechanical cow. Quite a full day for my little one. She had a very long nap when we got home. I was so proud of her behavior all day, well except when I caught her coloring with crayons in a reading book in the dentist's waiting room......oh well, no one's perfect.

What Beautiful Teeth!

Here's Michaela at the dentist's. The dentist we found for her is absolutely wonderful. He was funny and exciting, and made the whole process fun and adventurous. Michaela still hasn't stopped talking about him. She has no cavities, but her thumb sucking is starting to distort her palate, so we're supposed to start gently encouraging her to suck her thumb less. She goes back in a few weeks to have sealants put on a few of her molars because, like her Mommy, she has very deep grooves on her teeth, and that will help cavities form in the future. Her dentist is so great, I'm sure it will go smoothly.

The Wheels on the Bus

Michaela loves riding the bus, it's hard to get her to sit still. Her favorite part is ringing the bell to get off.

The Ant Hunter

Michaela will use ANY opportunity to hunt for bugs, whether we're walking to the park, waiting for a bus or whatever. This picture was taken at a bus stop on our way to Michaela's very first dentist appointment. She's using the stick to dig through the dirt, hoping to stir up some bugs. She may love bugs, but she's fastidiously clean, (probably gets that from her Dad!).

For a Rainy Day

Auntie Isabel sent us this rain coat for Michaela. It's so perfect for her, and she loves it. Here she is admiring herself in the mirror.

Home Sweet Home

So this is how our Gerbils live. Not quite the lap of luxury, but pretty darn close. The cages are connected by a tube and there are openings which can be used for add-ons in the future. It's pretty cool.

Gerbil Pictures

Cara put together the Gerbil habitat and Michaela helped introduce them to their new home. Here are some pictures of the housewarming party.

P.S. The blog for the gerbils will be up shortly. Be sure to check in often.
http://funwithplaguecarriers.blogspot.com/

New Family Members

Well, we're the proud owners of new pets. We now have (no less than) two Gerbils, sisters in fact . For those of you who don't know what a Gerbil is, I found the image of one below.


I won't scare you with the exact cost of it all. Suffice to say that after getting the habitats, wood chips, food, snacks, the running wheel and traps (in case they escape), you still have to shell out more money for the actual rodents.

Anyway, we were trying to think of appropriate names for them and we were wondering if you had any input. So far, some suggestions have included the names of famous sisters (throughout history) or perhaps Disney princesses.

Please note: If we decide to go with your suggestion, we'll share with you any disease that the Gerbils pass on to us. Tempting, isn't it?

Concordia class of 2026?

We had some t-shirts made for the lab. Michaela is shown here modelling the shirt I designed.

For Franceen

This reminded me of "Dandelion Bouquets".

More fun at the park

Forget Paleontologist...

A while ago we posted on our feisty fledgling fossil finder. However, upon further consideration and examination, it's seems that Michaela's more of an entomologist (…an indomitable immature insect identifier, if you will).

She's constantly crouching down on the ground looking for bugs and trying to coax them onto her hand. That is when she’s not apologizing for stepping on them (“Sorry I step on you!”), only to go ahead and do it anyway.

Here she is pictured attempting to hone her ant searching skills and bug calling techniques:

"A study of motion"

Trying different settings on the camera. This one didn't turn out too badly.

Self Portrait

Whenever we pass by this sign, Michaela points out that the man is daddy. I don't know, I just can't see the resemblance...

...besides, it lacks definition.