Birthday parties & Toronto visits...

On June 13th, our little friend Claire from church celebrated her 3rd birthday. Her parents planned a picnic at Waterloo Park, and although the sun was reluctant to shine, there were lots of cute kids, balloon animals (two of them), & pink & purple cupcakes fit for the little birthday princess. ;)

Mateo at his first birthday party ever.

Picnic time!

Claire, the birthday girl with Brenton, her dad (& Corrie her mum to the right)

Bryan & Oliver entertaining David & Mateo

Stacey blows some bubbles for Colin & Owen

On Sunday, David, Mateo & I headed to the airport to pick up Andrea & then headed into Toronto to spend some time in the big city. The visit was capped with a visit to our good friends Will & Vinna's for delicious bbqed chicken & other Will-made goodies. Oh, and Hustler photos. ;)

Mateo & "Uncle" Will

Mateo is not quite a fan of the Hustler hat...

... So, we tried the King $ one instead.

All tuckered out after an exciting day in Toronto.

Shameless cuteness...

Mateo in Winnipeg: People Who Love Me

Mateo & I got home from our busy time in Winnipeg on Tuesday evening. It was wonderful to see everyone and show off our beautiful boy. It would have been a perfect visit except we were missing Dave the Bachelor. (*smirk*) Mateo & I went for walks, drank milk and coffee respectively, and spent lots of time with Omi & Opa. Here are some of the highlights:

Mateo & (Tante) Andrea (don't tell her I called her that ;)

(Great!) Tante Renate with Mateo, who was the star of the show at Kingsford Haus

Uroma Kampen

Mateo and "Tante" Dorothy, who was my church mentor throughout high school

A new generation of Omi, Mateo & Großtante Lily

Mateo telling stories  to Auntie Anna

Mateo reading books with ciotka Dorota and kuzyn Isaiah

Everyone's favourite Chinese relative: Ayi Jie!

Sleeping peacefully with Tante Mika (Uroma's sister)

Smiles for Tante Kaethe (Uroma's other sister)

Photoshoot with Omi & Opa right before bed (hence the apprehensive expression)

Mateo in Winnipeg: Meet, Greet & Hold

Mateo & I arrived in Winnipeg on Sunday night, and on Monday evening, the Rempels and Kampens swooped in to meet, greet & hold. It was wonderful to see everyone again, and to watch Mateo interact with everyone.

Keith, feeling awkward but managing to do just fine...

Having a very serious chat with (Great) Uncle Paul

Some of the (Great!) Aunts: Charlotte, Gina & Nadine

Smiles for Tante Helene

The best place to be--at the centre of attention

(Great) Uncle Art

Sleeping peacefully in Zachary's arms

Wow... what a party.

Bachelor pad...or...empty house in need of a cleanin'

So this week Christine and Mateo are visiting friendly, spirited energy, (insert new slogan here) Manitoba.  This means that I am livin' the life of the bachelor.  What's funny is it is nothing like the T.V. show at all.  I mean, where are all the hot tubs and deep, life altering conversations with model -ish, simply misunderstood by the average CEO, women?  Nope, nothing like that at all.  I must have missed the part in the show where the dishes were dirty and sat on the counter for 2 days and the cat stepped in his own poo and left the equivalent of a bread crumb trail of feces just in case he got lost later on.  Yup, pretty sweet it is.  Kinda like the show but not.  

Possible examples of the crazy antics for the week include: sitting on the couch, thinking about what to do after sitting on the couch, sleeping, and cleaning.  

I lead a pretty awesome life. 

Auntie Anna's Visit

On Friday, May 15, David, Mateo & I picked up Anna from the airport.  She spent a wonderful weekend with us, getting to know Mateo & catching up with me. 

On Friday we did some shopping on our way home from Pearson... making a stop at one of my favourite stores, Bath & Bodyworks at the Guelph mall. 

Insta-sleep: if only it was this easy for all of us to fall asleep.

On Saturday, we went to a very popular Menno restaurant in Elmira called At the Crossraods, which has an unbelievable breakfast buffet. Seriously, I have never seen a buffet like it (pancakes, waffles, French toast, a zillion different pastries, eggs, bacon, sausage, peameal, baked beans, fresh fruit, pudding, cottage cheese, whipped cream, toast, oatmeal, cold cereal, you get the idea...). Unfortunately, I have to make due with a menu item, but I nibble off of other people's plates ;) After breakfast, we went to the St. Jacob's Farmers' Market. It was incredibly busy (!!) & kind of drizzly, but the cherries were cheap and the Noah Martin summer sausage was tasty. 

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning, & in the afternoon, Anna, Mateo & I went to the H&M in Cambridge. The whole trip took a little bit longer than planned, because I am unable to navigate my way out of a paper bag, much less find the correct exit off the 401. Sigh. In the evening, Susie & Ryan came over from Hamilton for a BBQ. (You have to love the close viscinity of everything in southern Ontario.)

Susie & Mateo

On Monday, we went to Rockwood Conservation Area for a picnic & canoe trip with Kristen, Bryan & Oliver Berg. The day was gorgeous, with lots of sun & a cool breeze, the lake still and great for canoeing. Oliver got his first canoe ride, eventhough he was not so very excited about wearing his life jacket.

Oliver, totally impressed about lifejackets...

Oliver's first canoe ride

Anna trying out the super baby carrier. Mateo likes it.

Family shot at the Old Mill

OnTuesday, Anna, Mateo & I went to the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery followed by a lovely picnic in Waterloo Park.

Hanging out at the park

Really, I love it when people kiss me.

We hadn't seen Anna since Christmas, and it was so wonderful to spend time together and for her to get to spend time with Mateo. It gave me a foretaste of what it will be like to spend time in Winnipeg with him. I'm coming soon, everyone!

Guten Morgen Omi!

For some reason, this photo won't turn... don't think it's my incompetence with technology. Really.

Mein kleiner Mann

Life with Mateo

Mateo & Oliver Berg all tuckered out after an afternoon at the park

My sweet little boy

The beautiful smile we've come to love

Mother's Day Weekend

This was my first Mother's Day. And David, Mateo & I spent it with David's step-mother, Fay, and his real mother, Ellen. Mateo met his little cousin Chloe, and his uncle Gordon. Mateo got a lot of kisses & hugs, and we had some nice time of visiting. (And a delicious Mother's Day brunch, made by David).

Chloe, Mateo, Mateo's step-grandma, Fay

Baby Chloe Tara

Mateo & Oma Ellen

Uncle Gordon & Mateo

Best. Invention. Ever

Thanks to Jim & Fay, Mateo has recently received a lovely Graco swing, in which he spends a great portion of his day, swinging, cooing, looking around, and of course sleeping, allowing me to do stuff for more than 5 minutes at a time. Seriously, it's the best thing ever. Mateo thinks so too. ;)