a peek inside the fishbowl

– The girls start school on Tuesday. I can’t believe it, but it’s undeniably here.

– Everyone is thrilled, especially me. I like my routines, and I’ve missed them. I have some work coming to me this week and the next, both writing work and web-related work. Yay! I love to work, I really do.

– All of Emma’s school supplies have been bought, minus one particular French-English dictionary. We were told to buy a Larousse, but all of the Chapters/Coles in Ottawa are sold out. This is the first year we’ve had to buy school supplies, and I tell ya, it’s been an eye-opener. I used to loooove buying school supplies, so what happened? I think topics deserves to be a whole separate blog posting. Gah.

– Shoes! Have I mentioned that Emma has officially entered the world of Adult Footwear? This means we pay at least $20 more for the identical pair of Sketchers we see over in the children’s department. I am definitely not ready for this.

– Clothes! My MIL came shopping with us at Bayshore. My patience runs thin in small enclosed areas like overheated fitting rooms (or maybe I’m the only one who’s overheated?) so it’s VERY helpful to have a second pair of hands/eyes/feet with us. We hit Winners, Old Navy, and the Gap. We bought some amazing clothes. The girls both have a great sense of style. And now we’re done.

– I love fall!

– I discovered the DVD cart at our local library. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE DVD cart? We borrowed Quill, a Japanese film that follows the life of a seeing eye dog. It was our first family film with English subtitles. I love foreign films, many of them provide a window into another world that is largely unnoticed by Western media, and I’ve been eager to introduce more of these non-Hollywood productions to Emma and Sarah. But I wasn’t sure if the girls were ready for subtitles. Sarah said she didn’t want to read and watch at the same time, and even Emma, who loves to read, said she was just going to follow the imagery and ignore the words. After a few minutes we realized that they WERE reading along, and following the story just fine. Quill was an excellent first subtitled film, however …. (spoiler alert!)

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We went bowling… glow-in-the-dark rock’n bowl at Merivale Bowling Centre to be exact. :)

It was a bit of a challenge to find ourselves some shoes that fit, but we all had a great time.

Not only was the music pumpin’, but to our relief we discovered it physically impossible to throw a gutter ball, which can be the frustrating for us non-bowlers. (The lanes had little rails on them. So each ball made it to the end.) Emma enjoyed it so much she’s decided she wants to have a bowling party.

Did you know one of Mark’s first jobs was as a “pin boy?” I should let him tell that story someday.

We first ventured into the dank darkness that is known as the Lusk Caves around this time last year. The water level was pretty high, we were all rather freaked out (okay, maybe that was just me), and we didn’t make it all the way through.

This year, we decided we wanted to do it again. And guess what? We did it.

This kind of cave “exploring”  (I am using the term rather loosely here, because there’s only one path through the cave system and there isn’t that much to explore) is an amazing way to give yourself your kids a boost of self-confidence. Sarah and Emma were both as jumpy as a couple of mice at a cat party, but they did it … one small step at a time.

Why was I worried? Well, for starters:

– it was DARK in there
– there was flowing water
– we had headlights that weren’t quite bright enough.

Better yet, here’s a pictoral chronology.

Lac Phillipe at noon today. NOT A SOUL to be seen. I never seen it so entirely people-free. In fact, I wondered if we had accidentally stumbled upon some alternate universe in which there were no crowds:

It’s an easy 5km hike to the cave:

And there it is (yes, that black hole carved in the rocks):

Guess who’s excited?

Watch your step!

Um, did I mention it was pitch dark?

Now just LOOK at this photo, and tell me, would or would you not feel a slight pang of discomfort at this point in the journey? Note that Sarah is shorter than I am. She’s deep in the water and she had actual headroom. I was crouched over, holding my camera up next to my ear, and beginning to hyperventilate:

 Holy Mary was I happy to see the light of day.

The girls wanted to go again, but as my chest loosened I realized how much I didn’t really want to do it again. But I’m rather pleased I did. You know what I mean?

They are immensely proud of their accomplishment today, as am I. That’s one more off the list too!

p.s. If you’re keen to check out the caves for yourselves GO NOW while the water level is low and is still warm(ish)!

Tommorow I will tell you about a very different kind of field trip we had recently. Some of you might like this one too. :)