Tadhg's play tent

On Sunday morning Tadhg and dad built a play tent in Tadhg's room. They had many adventures as the tent became a pirate ship, a space ship and a secret cave. When mom came in to check out the tent, Tadhg put up his 'boy's only!' sign.

Tadhg visits a maple syrup farm

Tadhg's school organised a trip to a local maple syrup farm (White Meadows farms) on Wednesday. Dad wasn't working that day so decided to go along on the trip as he had never been to a maple syrup farm before. The adventure started with a trip on a school bus which was fun for Tadhg and dad as neither had been on a Canadian school bus before.

When they arrived at the farm all the kids (and parents) piled off the bus and messed about in the snow before starting the tour. The first stop was the old farmhouse...

....before seeing a traditional teepee and learning about how maple syrup was discovered and originally extracted.
Tadhg was enthralled by the story of the native Canadians and the first pioneers boiling the wood sap to get to the maple syrup.
After sampling the old pioneer lifestyle everyone piled onto the hay wagon (a cold, windy trailer full of hay bales pulled by a tractor) for a whirlwind trip up and down hills and around the farm.
When they arrived back at the farm, they saw the final steps in the maple syrup extraction process and even got to sample the end product with some pancakes in the big cafeteria.
The farm visit ended with a trip to the stables where the kids were able to pet and feed the goars, donkeys and llamas. Then it was back on the bus with a small goody bag for the return trip to the school. Tadhg and dad had a great time and felt a bit more Canadian after their educational adventure.

Tadhg the Jedi

Ever since watching the Volkswagen Superbowl commercial, Tadhg has been fascinated with Darth Vader. Mom and dad introduced Tadhg to the wider Star Wars universe and he is now familiar with the force, light sabres, the evil empire and the other inhabitants of the Galactic Empire. Tadhg's cousin Riley gave him a light sabre last year and now Tadhg fully appreciates it and is able to become a Jedi (albeit with a little help from dad's shin guards and a Maple Leafs dressing gown!).

Tadhg's cupcakes and bellyaches

Tadhg and dad went on a grocery shopping expedition on Tuesday. Tadhg enjoys sitting in the shopping trolley and looking at the lobsters, fish and other cool things in the shop. When they passed by the cake aisle, Tadhg decided he had to have a chocolate cup cake with a white icing topping. Dad was worried about all the sugar but Tadhg rarely has these treats so they decided to get one. On the way home in the car, Tadhg started eating his cupcake. He continued to eat it when they arrived home and put all the groceries away. He was still eating it when he sat down to watch his favourite TV show, Max and Ruby. Mom and dad were surprised that Tadhg ate the whole cupcake.

Later that night when Tadhg was sleeping, he cried out for mom and dad. When mom and dad went to see what was wrong, Tadhg was throwing up and feeling very sick. Tadhg stayed with dad for the rest of the night while mom cleaned all the sheets and pyjamas. Nobody slept much that night. Mom and dad were worried Tadhg's bellyache was from the cupcake but then they learned that lots of kids were getting sick. There was a bug going around the schools and Tadhg had picked it up.

Tadhg was better by dinnertime on Wednesday. Everyone was relieved. Dad looked back at Tadhg's old blog entries and noticed that Tadhg had a bellyache every February since his blog started. Hmmmmm....

Tadhg's Valentine celebrations

After spending the night at Baba's house on Saturday, Tadhg woke up to a Valentine's day celebration on Sunday. Tadhg's cousins came over to play and mom and dad returned refreshed after their night off. The grand kids brought special surprise Valentines day presents for Baba and Papa and everyone had a mini-celebration. Then it was off to the Fireside restaurant for a big family brunch.

On Monday, Tadhg gave mom and dad Valentine's day cards over breakfast. Mom and dad were delighted with their cards and amazed at how well Tadhg had planned his gifts. Later, Tadhg had a Valentine's day party in school and came home with a bag full of Valentine's day cards from his classmates as well as a special heart Tadhg made in school and some presents from his teacher. Later Tadhg opened more Valentine's day presents from his grandparents and his cousins. Tadhg had a bit too much chocolate but that's allowed on such a special day.

Tadhg's sleepover at Baba's

On Saturday Tadhg called over to his Baba's house to visit. Tadhg loves visiting with his Baba and Papa and even has his own little bucket of toys that he can play with there. Tadhg loves sitting on Baba's window seat looking out at all the birds and animals that visit the garden.

Baba joined Tadhg on the window seat to read the story of Frosty the snowman. Tadhg had such a fun time that he decided to stay the night. Mom and dad put Tadhg to bed and then went home to enjoy a full night's sleep for a change. Tadhg slept the whole night through and didn't wake up until after 6am on Sunday. It's nice to live so close to family that you can have sleepovers.

Tadhg cruises to a haircut

Tadhg hadn't had a haircut in quite some time as mom and dad wanted to let his hair grow long and curly for his trip to Canada for Christmas and the New Year. Tadhg's hair had obliged and he looked very cute and curly. Unfortunately long hair is not conducive to regular swimming and gave Tadhg bed head for most of the day. It was time to trim those ginger locks.

Mom came across a cool kid's hairdresser in St Catharines, Young Headz, which looked perfect for Tadhg with cars for seats and TV screens to entertain the kids during their cuts. On Tuesday, mom, dad and Tadhg made the trip to the salon.

Tadhg loved it as soon as he walked through the doors. He checked out the two 'seats' a Hummer and a pink Mustang and decided he preferred the Mustang. He hopped up in the seat, was given a chocolate lollipop and requested Toy Story 3 as his haircut movie. The haircut went relatively smoothly after that. Mom and dad wished their salons/barbers had the same facilities. When it was all over Tadhg didn't want to leave, especially when he discovered the toy corner.

When Tadhg was finally coaxed out the door he was given two Spiderman stickers and looked very smart with his new short style. Mom and dad were delighted with the whole experience and will definitely return for Tadhg's next trimming.

Tadhg dances with wolves

After school on Friday, mom, dad and Tadhg drove to the Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls for an overnight stay. Tadhg and dad stayed in the hotel while mom went off to pick up two of Tadhg's cousins, Mikaela and Ehrin. The Great Wolf Lodge is ready made for families with a super water park, a games arcade, a play room for the 'cubs', story time with the animals and family friendly restaurants. Tadhg and dad explored the water park while waiting for mom to return and it wasn't long before Tadhg's cousins arrived and joined them in the pool. Tadhg tried out the paddling pool and some of the smaller slides before everyone decided it was time for food.

Tadhg's cousins showed him how to use the buffet dinner. Tadhg especially loved the soft serve ice cream which he covered in chocolate sprinkles. Tadhg went back for seconds (and thirds!). After dinner, it was story time in the hotel lobby where the moose and grizzly bear told some stories along with their various forest friends. The lobby was full of kids and Tadhg found it hard to find a spot. After a busy day, Tadhg was happy to snuggle up in bed.

Tadhg was up early on Saturday morning and rearing to get back into the water park. After a quick breakfast, everyone got suited up and went back to the water park. Tadhg decided to explore a little more this time and tried out the wave pool, the crystal river and the big woolly mammoth boat ride. The woolly mammoth was very fast and a bit scary so Tadhg decided he had enough of the water slides after that.
Tadhg loved being in the water park, especially with his cousins. Unfortunately, the weather outside was deteriorating rapidly so mom and dad decided it was time to pack up. Baba and Papa joined the little party for lunch in Niagara Falls. The snow continued to fall so everyone decided they should drive home before the roads were too bad. Tadhg had a super stay at the lodge and a return trip is planned.

Tadhg's digital art

Tadhg loves playing with dad's iPod and iPhone and often discovers features and applications that dad never knew existed. Somehow Tadhg was able to create this piece of digital art and save it to dad's pictures as a surprise present. Dad still hasn't worked out how Tadhg managed this!