steveprattfamily.com The adventures of the Pratt family in Vancouver - Steve, Lisa, Cedar, Dawson, and Sandy (the dog).

An odd headline for someone living in Vancouver, where ‘fall’ generally means torrential rain and bone-chilling temperatures.

Yesterday, however, was spectacular.  I took full advantage and went to the beach with Cedar, Dawson, and Sandy and took some great photos…

Posted under Children, Vancouver

Spiderman and Little Red Riding Hood went out with their friends (Ben - Spiderman #2, and Bella - Fairy Princess) and canvassed the Main St. neighbourhood for sugar, salt, and fat last night.  The horrid forecast was totally wrong - it was actually pretty great - warm temperatures, no rain, and LOTS of candy.

Today, however, is another story.  The Day After has so far been a wee bit of a disaster. Sugar-addled maniacs with short attention spans, wound up like a top, fighting with each other, and all with the volume turned up to 11.

So to burn some of the crazy energy, I took the kids out to the beach for a bike ride / dog walk this morning and it was LITERALLY over two hours of non-stop, stream-of-consciousness babbling and an endless loop of annoying children’s songs blended together into the most annoying audio experience I’ve ever had…

B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name-o…
A doe, a deer, a female dear…
Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.  If you don’t, I don’t care, I’ll pull down your underwear…
Little boxes, on the hillside, and they’re all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same (we’ve been watching Weeds!)
Hush little lovebug, don’t say a word - the moon’s in the sky and the nighthawk is heard…
B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O…
A doe, a deer, a female deer…
There’s pink one, and a yellow one, and…
I’ll pull down your underwear.

AND ON AND ON AND ON…

AAAAAAH! It’s like having an insane person standing on your shoulder talking into your ear ALL THE TIME.

You know how sometimes evil things are described as “The Perfect Killing Machine?” (Terminator, Dick Cheney, etc)

On days like this, I think of small children as the universe’s “Perfect Annoying Machine“- efficient, effective, and completely focused on their mission to drive their elders bonkers.

I just wish that for special occassions like The Day After Halloween that the wee ones came with a mute button.  (Yes, I know I’m a heartless, horrible father…)

Posted under Children

Should be an AWESOME Hallowe’en with the kids…

Posted under Vancouver

It is Cedar’s 6th birthday today and I have not yet put up pictures from Dawson’s 3rd birthday, which took place over  a MONTH ago.  Feeling veeeeery guilty.  In fact, now that I think about it, I’ve also forgotten to put up pics from his first day of preschool…

…and his recent SURGERY!  (What’s wrong with me???)

Since his birthday, he’s had surgery to repair a ‘hydrocele’, which, like a hernia, is basically a hole somewhere in his guts that was leaking into his body.

Fun.

I had a hernia when I was in my late teens and I was hunched over for a week, wincing in pain every time I coughed, sneezed, or laughed.  Dawson has a nice scar on his abdomen now, too, but on the afternoon he got home, he was dancing around acting like nothing had happened and within a day, was back to full activities.  He didn’t even need any pain medication!

Anyway, back to birthday time…

Last year, when Dawson turned 2, he still wasn’t eating solid food.  He stared at his cake, everyone around him ate like fiends, and never touched it.  Only weeks later, everything changed and he began eating - the reason for the change still bewilders us, but we’re certainly not complaining.

This year, he’s grown a ton, turned into sporting superstar (soccer, hockey, golf, frisbee, bike riding - you name it), started pre-school, and is kicking everyone’s butt at Memory Game.

The best part of the birthday (and the development of his personality over the last year) was his sense of humour.  He decided that for every present he opened, he’d make this ridiculous face and dance around the room in celebration.  Here’s the evidence…

Posted under Dawson News

I know this is getting ridiculous, but more great pics of airborne dog from the beach…

Posted under Sandy The Dog

Went a bit crazy with the camera at the beach this morning, but got some VERY cute pics of the kids…

Posted under Children, Vancouver

Went to the beach, Granville Island, and then a walk along the Seawall with the kids - all before 10am.

Posted under Vancouver