Crazy braids.

Indy's hair is getting really long!  We have yet to convince her to cut it....but I hear there is a barber shop on the Main Street at Disney that has cheap cuts for kids, so that just might be where we go!

Indy has started allowing me to put her hair up though, but only if it is in what we call "crazy braids".  So, Mommy has been spending some time on Pintrest getting some inspiration for these things.

She is always so proud of them and the best part is her hair doesn't get quite as tangled :)

Thank you downtown London!

 This year downtown London planned a couple of great familiy Christmas nights!  This first one included FREE horse and carriage rides up and down Richmond Street.  Those of you who know Indy know that she is obsessed with horses, so this was a no brainer, big points event for us as parents :)

 We weere able to ride in the carriage while the driver told us all about his horses.  We also got to spend some time petting them when we got off and other families got on.  The horses were beautiful and gentle.  Indy had a GREAT TIME!

 From there we decided to round out our downtown experience with a trip to the infamous Prince Al's diner (you may have seen in on the Food Network's "You gotta eat here").

We let Indy have her very first hot dog :)  She ate the whole thing, and even stole a couple sips of Daddy's milkshake.

A man and his horse

 For Hallowe'en this year....we were hoping for one more year of just dressing Indy in whatever we had.....apparently this was wishful thinking.  At daycare, they started talking about Hallowe'en early in the month.  I had been trying to tell Indy that she could be a princess (she got a dress-up outfit for her bday that I thought would be perfect).

However, when *Sally asked her what she wanted to be....obviously Indy said "a horse".  A horse is involved in pretty much any question Indy is ever asked.

1.  What do you want to do today Indy? "play horsies"
2.  What do you want to do today Indy? "go see some horsies"
3.  What do you want for your birthday Indy? "a black horse"
4.  What toy do you want to bring with you? "my purple horse Mommy"
5.  How do you want to get your face painted Indy?  "like a horse"

etc, etc, etc.....

So, I called in the big guns...Gramma :)  to help me figure out how to possibly make a horse costume.  Luckily, Grammma had seen some one piece horse costumes at Loblaws!  Amazing!  Great find!  So easy :)

Daddy was a good sport--despite the freezing rain--and got dressed up as well.  It was a very successful night overall.

The Baker's.

Mommy was working late one night so Indy and Daddy decided to bake some pies.  Daddy finally got to use his rolling pin and teach Indy some pie making skills.

The two of them had a great time, and best of all the pies were delicious!

From Sea Otter to Salamandar.

I know many of you have been wondering how Indy did in her very first big girl swimming lessons.  Well, let me tell you, she was a total rockstar.  She jumped right in, and listened very well to her teachers.  There were no tears, and no protests.

 The best news is that she has passed her level (Sea Otter) and will now be a Salamandar.  This has left me moderatly confused as I didn't know that salamandars were better swimmers than Sea Otters, and also wondering what happened to the old, SIMPLE, numbered levels.

But....that is a rant for another day.  Indy had a great time, and can't wait to go again in January :)

On October 20th, Indy got a new cousin :)  We will call her Gee.....unless her parents want to make a name request.

Welcome to the fam baby.

Indy is looking forward to sharing her toys, and maybe her Gramma and Grampa with you :)

She sure is funny!

Indy is 3 years old now, and for that reason I have enrolled her in swimming lessons with out me.  I both excited and sad about this....but...I thought she would be excited.

Here is the transcript of our conversation:

Me: Indy, guess what? You get to start swimming lessons again on Friday night!

Indy: with you?

Me: nope.  You are 3 now and get to be in swimming with a teacher and some new friends.  Doesn't that sound fun?!

Indy: Nope, that sounds HORRIBLE!

Me: (while starting to laugh) oh, since you are a big girl now I thought you would love to be in swimming and have Mommy watch.

Indy: No! I am not a big girl, SEE (dramtically drops to her knees).

Me: (talking to self....DO NOT LAUGH!) oh, ok, we can talk more about this tomorrow.

Where does she get this stuff!

Mommy's cupcake challenge.

We had a rainy day on our vacation, so we went and did some exploring nearby.  We came across this really AMAZING bakery. 

It was really hard to choose just one treat, but Indy chose this lovely cupcake for us all to share.

Later in the day, as we were chatting, Mommy and Daddy asked Indy what she would like for her birthday.

A BUTTERFLY CUPCAKE was the response....uh oh.

However, I did what any Mom would do....I googled.  "how do you make butterflies out of chocolate".

Here is the end result.

I'm not going to win "Cupcake Wars" or anything....but I am pretty impressed.

Swim practice.

kind of a big deal...

We took a family vacation to Lagoon City to round out our summer.  It was amazing to spend quantity time together as a family.  Mommy and Daddy certainly loved their time withe Indy and seeing all the things she learns everyday.

On this morning, Indy decided that she is now a "big girl" and can use grown up utensils.  Not only the fork, but she is also capable of cutting her own pancakes.

She is growing up so fast!

Our princess riding Princess

Indy knows that riding a pony is serious business.  You can't tell, but she was very excited to ride, but she takes it all very seriously.

 

This year we have been able to get away with rides at the fair.....

 

But I feel fairly confident that riding lessons are in our future.

 

Final ond First campfire of the season

 

 

Somehow, we had let the summer of 2012 go by without having a family campfire.  So, on labour day, Daddy decided that would not be acceptable.

Indy, Daddy and Clara had a great time....until the mosquitos came out.

Mommy stuck around long enough to take some pictures and then went inside where it was warm.

Goal for summer 2013: 2 bonfires! at least 1 with s'mores.

The Plowing Match

 Indy has fallen in love with horses.  For this reason, we take every opportunity possible to do things that involve horses (this includes taking the long way pretty much everywhere :)).

Over the summer we were able to attend a plowing match where we saw some really BIG, beautiful horses.

 Clara got to come too.  As you can see she is also having a great time out in the sunshine.

Indy gets sick....

After a crazy weekend, Indy started to feel a little under the weather.....we had been to African Lion Safari, the Farm, and everywhere in between.

The poor thing got a sty...and it got infected. 

A good round of anti-biotics, and a trip to Storeybook Gardens and it was cured!

Indy Goes Wild!

 This summer Indy and Mommy were lucky enough to spend a day at African Lion Safari with two of our friends!  We decided we would take the bus around the park.  The bus is more fun because you can run from seat to seat and see all the animals....most importantly J and Indy pointed out all of the "mommys", "daddys" and "babies".....I am still trying to figure out how they knew which was which :)

It was a great day!  We even went to the splash pad (but we were too wet for pictures!) and rounded out the day with ice cream. 

Can't wait to do it again next year!

Indy Does a Few Chores Around Grandma's Farm

 Indy made a trip to Grandma's house to help her out with a few chores.  Aunt D was there with her puppy as well.  Indy was busy, but she made time to pose for a picture.

While Indy was helping Grandma and Aunt D were doing their choses.  Daddy was helping out to take the wheat off. 

Indy found out that the neighbour had a new combine and she wanted a ride to check it out.

 

I guess Daddy wated wanted to check it out too...   

Off we go with Indy at the controls with a help from the GPS and the neighbour!

 Mommy had to go to Halifax for a day for work so we decided to turn it into a mini family vacation.  We were fortunate to spend quite a lot of time on the boardwalk watching the boats, and loons and buskers.   

 Indy was working on her own breakdancing skills here.  It was pretty phenominal.

 She also was working on her camera skills....above is one she took of Mommy and Daddy.....

We took a tour of Halifax and the harbour on the "Harbour Hopper".  This is a LARK V, which turns from a road vehicle into a boat....kind of awesome.  We had a great time and learned some of the history of Halifax.  We also learned later that it is Harbour Hopper custom to tell tourists fake Halifax facts....so now we are not 100% sure how much we learned, but we still had fun!

On Sunday we decided to take a drive a long the coast and then upto the Pictou Lobster Carnival.  It was about a four hour drive so we stopped at whatever sounded fun along the way.  Here we are at Calm Harbour Beach trying to outrun the waves :)

And playing in the sand :)

Our next stop was lunch, we pulled over in Sheet Harbour because they had a "waterfall"...for those of you who have seen Niagara Falls, you will most likely find this as lackluster as we did...but it was pretty.

 Then off to Pictou, for a merry-go-round ride and some ice cream before hitting the lobster supper.

We had amazing day, and an amazing mini vacation, but we are happy to be home.

Life is full of surprises!

In Indy's household if she is being potty trained all of her toys are being potty trained....


so it shouldn't surprise Daddy that when you go into the bathroom you never know who you'll find int there....

Does Thumper get a gummie or carrot for going potty?

If you could have anything you wanted...

Indy has a habit of sucking here two fingers. 

We have been trying everything to make her stop.  The other day, after gymnastics and on our way to the market, we challenged her to no suck her fingers the whole drive.....

Mommy and Daddy offered her a treat of her choice at the market if she made it the whole way with out sucking her fingers once........

.....and Indy did it!

So what was the one thing that she chose out out all of the things at the market:

a cookie?

a flower?

a new hat?

nope.  She chose....

 .... a cupcake sheep!

Indy couldn't eat it until she got home....

....and it appears to be worth the wait!

Frosty the Snow Man.....

....was a happy, jolly, soul.

Indy and daddy took advantage of one of the rare snow falls this to make a snow man. 

The snow wasn't really cooperating so Indy had to cast the snow man in blocks and carve him out...

....well at least the bottom half of him!