Scale Replica Weekly: 08/01/2008

I know, I know, it's been months (well, month) since I posted. So sorry. Busy busy. Still had time to take a lot of photos though. Enjoy.

Oscar's a little carnivore!

Oscar has officially moved on to solid food. Actually, while Emma is still giving us plenty of headaches at meal times (refusing to eat, needing to be spoonfed), Oscar has a decidedly independent streak. He recently graduated from spoon to fork (skipping the grade of spork completely). He still likes finger food, though. Bring on the ribs!

Have you seen the spaces between my teeth? No flossing required!

This blueberry scrub has taken weeks off my age.

Who said yoghurt was for goody-goodies?

Lounging by the pool.

I don't know if it's the sun or the natural evolution of things, but Oscar's hair colour has gone from near black to almost the same colour as Emmanuelle's. So he seems to have at least a few of my genes swimming his pool.

"And this is me being serious."

Here's Emma being serious.

Cousin Kaya brought a certain European flair to Emma's wading pool.

The judges don't seem impressed by the girls' synchro routine.

Well, at least all this rain is good for the garden.

This is by far the rainiest summer I've experienced in the 10 years since I moved to Montreal. It's also the first time I've had serious gardening to do. There are some upsides. I'm not getting excessive amounts of sun, which is a big plus for me. The spaghetti squash seem to be liking it just fine too.

It's been a fine season for rainbows.

This crop circle eventually becomes the front flower garden. A tree goes in the middle. Hopefully a Sumac.

I know you didn't tune in to watch a program about squash. I just wanted to mention that these two are siblings. We ate a spaghetti squash this spring and kept 3 seeds, of which two sprouted. I planted them in the garden just before we moved in at the end of June. Before long, each plant was producing. Funny thing is, the two plants give different looking squash. I'm saving seed for next year. Stay tuned for updates on the grandchildren.

Emmanuelle prefers to play in the sand dune rather than the sand box.

From the "unrequested parenting advice" column:

We discovered that those tiny little grapes, (here they call them "Champagne grapes") are great for keeping the kids occupied for 20 minutes or so after supper. They pick them off one by one, and they are small enough not to be dangerous even for Oscar. Ah, a moment of calm. Worth the $4/lb price tag.

Emmanuelle is systematic.

And protective.

Oscar is willing to share with mom.

Preparing for the Olympics.

I'm sure I'll get sued for writing the word "Olympics" in my blog, but what the hell, you only live once. Besides, I let them use my birthday for the opening ceremonies, so fair is fair.