Aurora looooooves swimming. She recently discovered swimming in the bathtub and ever since then she always wants to go swimming. Luckily my sister's townhouse complex has a wading pool and so we've gone over there quite a bit. Both girls enjoy being in the water, and it's a great way to cool off as I'm always in there too (either sitting on the edge with my feet in with Sophie, or walking around within arm's reach of Aurora). Our apartment building has a pool, but it's an actual pool so I dunno how I would tackle it with both kids. I always say I'll take Aurora down on the weekend and Sophie can stay upstairs with Chris, but I never do. Honestly, I'm not sure how she'd feel about a pool in which she can't touch the bottom.
Another water-related activity was our day trip to MarineLand. The girls and I went with Danna and Zachary on August 10. We went last year but Aurora was too small to go on the majority of the rides, and I was pregnant and so couldn't go on the majority of the rides. Guess that worked out well :) This year Aurora was able to go on quite a few rides, and I was more than happy to accompany her and Zachary on them while Danna hung out with Sophie and took photos. For the most part Aurora really enjoyed the rides, and there was even one in particular she wanted to go on over and over and over. However, she is not a fan of rides that spin, and clung to me and kept saying, "no, no, no". Poor thing :( But rides aren't the only thing at MarineLand. Aurora loved seeing the belugas and orca, watching the sea lion and dolphin show, feeding the fish, and petting the deer (which I was thoroughly impressed by seeing as she only likes animals from afar but is scared of them up close). She kept asking for "more aminals" to which we had to keep reminding her that it's not a zoo and that's all they have. When asked what her favourite part of the day was, she answered, "feeding the fishies".
The weekend of July 27-29 we went to my brother-in-law, Rod's, cottage. Aurora had never seen a cottage before, let alone been to one, so we tried explaining to her that it's like the beach with the sand and the water and boats, but also has a house and some animals, but not like at the zoo. I'm sure she was pretty confused but was excited to go as it meant she got to see Zachary and Aunt Danna. She had a blast! And Sophie seemed to really enjoy herself too! And the rest and relaxation and escape from everyday life is always nice for Chris and me. We swam in the lake multiple times a day (even Sophie 'swam' in an inflatable tube/seat thing), played in the sand (Sophie ate it), made s'mores, went for boat rides which Aurora thought were so cool, ate bbq which I love, read trashy magazines (well, I did), napped (3 of the 4 of us napped, the 2 year old excluded), Chris went fishing but didn't catch anything, and we just all round enjoyed the great outdoors.
We enjoyed 2 visits in July, Ashley, a friend from Newfoundland, came to Toronto to see the JLo and Enrique concert and so we spent a morning and early afternoon with her. Ashley was the very first visitor Aurora had after she was born; she visited us in the hospital the day Aurora was born! I couldn't believe it had been 2 years since we had seen eachother, but when we got together you wouldn't have known it. In true Aurora fashion it took her a while to warm up to Ashley, but soon she was sitting on Ashley's lap, holding her hand, and smiling and talking with her. Sophie was completely happy being held by Ashley, and didn't fuss at all. Ashley is just one of those people you love. I was so sad to see her leave, but hopefully it's not another 2 years before we see eachother again.
Our other visit was from the Masuzumis (Chris' younger sister, Amy, her husband, Todd, and their children, Lucy and Cole). They were in Toronto for a wedding, and we made a point of getting together with them. We hadn't seen them in nearly 2 years! We met them for sushi one night and it was just so weird to see our niece and nephew grown up (we've seen photos and videos but it's different in person). Lucy is outgoing, funny, sweet, and smart. Cole is shy with the cutest little voice. I just wanted to squeeze him! It was also the first time they've met Sophie. Actually, it was the first time any of Chris' family has met Sophie. Sophie was very content being held by her Auntie Amy and cousins and only started to fuss when she was hungry which of course coincided with my dinner arriving. The next day we met them at the beach (Kew Beach) and had a really fun day. Aurora,Cole, and Lucy enjoyed both the sand and water while Sophie enjoyed eating the sand (I swear I feed her!). Afterwards we went to Licks for some ice cream, and then had to say goodbye. Aurora seemed to really bond with Lucy, and Sophie adored her Auntie Amy, so hopefully it's not too long before we see them again.
In kidlets news, July saw Sophie say "Dada" and a few weeks later "Mama" for the first time and Aurora got her top right eye tooth, bringing the count to 13.
