An Audition

Normally I blog about stuff that happened, or that I observed, in the previous few days. It forces me to pay attention to the little details of life!

However, a couple of weeks ago was very busy for Margot (at least in the eyes of her dada!). In addition to Soirée coup d'oeil, we decided to let Margot audition for the Nutcracker. This wasn't for some sort of amateur-night production. Nope. This was for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, which is probably Canada's most famous and prestigious ballet! 

It was sort of a whim, really. Glosette Girl noticed that auditions were being held on the weekend for the parts of some of the children, mice and other animals in the production (apparently there are polar bears in this years' show!) and we just went. 

Mostly it involved a lot of waiting.

...and more waiting.

While we waited for her turn Margot drew in her notepad. We had so much time that we decided to go wander around the neighbourhood, pick up some leaves and even check out a race that was going on nearby.

Eventually it was Margot's turn.

"Numbers 40 through 80 please follow me" the lady-in-charge called out and off Margot went with a bit of a nervous look.  45-minutes later she burst out of the room with a gaggle of other girls and a big smile. 

Honestly, its a bit of a mystery what she was asked to do. We weren't allowed in the room and prior ballet experience technically wasn't even required. 

A week later we learned that Margot didn't get a part. We'll never know the reason why but age might have been a factor as she was one of the youngest and smallest girls there (the audition was for children 7 to 12). But I'm still really proud of her! She tried something new and didn't even blink. The audition process was pretty daunting but she took in all in stride. 

What a little sprite!

Soirée coup d'oeil

Last week was Soirée coup d'oeil at Margot's school, Saint-François-d'Assise. 

It's an annual event where the principal of the school provides some general school news and, more importantly, parents get a chance to meet the teacher for the first time (officially).

Glosette Girl is gung-ho into education so if I was a lazier sort I probably could kick back at home, catch up on some Game of Thrones*, and she'd enthusiastically report back to me what's going on (probably using colour coded binders).

As much I like my GoT, I am also starving news about what actually happens at Margot's school. I don't know how your kids are but here's a typical conversation with Margot about her school day:

"How was school, honey?"

"Good."

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Nope!"

So yeah, notwithstanding the fact that I knew everything would be presented in French I made sure to attend. Actually, even though I'm not fluently bilingual, I got the gist of what was going on (French teachers enunciate very well!). Here is what I learned:

• Margot's teacher, Madame R, is one tough cookie! She seems to have a good heart but I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her!
• French, French, French! The more we live our lives with French with Margot, the better. 
• It's a Catholic school so a Christian ethos is still important. (Possibly controversial for some parents who might be sending their kids to the school for the French and not the religion. I would be more sympathetic to that argument if we didn't have 2 other schools within 3 blocks of Saint-François-d'Assise - an English public and a French public plus lots more schools a little further afield. We don't lack for choice!)
• According to Madame R, our job as parents is not too bug them about homework. It's to read with them, play with them and ask them questions.
• Oh yeah, and Glosette Girl wants to mention that they are really trying to build little citizens: "pensée critique, citoyen engagé".

Anyways, tres interesting! Now back to House Baratheon.

* Glosette Girl and I have finally jumped on the Game of Thrones bandwagon and we are racing through the back episodes to catch up! We're still on season 1. Good ol' Ned Stark. I can't wait to see what happens to that honourable chap in the later seasons.

Constant Change

They say the only constant in life is change. That's certainly true in my corner of the world.

Neighbours move in and out.

Old businesses close and new ones open. For example, there's a lot of action these days at this derelict building just down the street - maybe something cool is opening up?

A big part of the change around here comes when old houses are torn down and new ones spring up. The new ones are always built in a completely different style. I think that's because many of the older houses are in pretty rough shape and it's cheaper in some cases just to build an entirely new home. That's too bad as some of the old homes have real character. Compare my house with some of these new builds:

That said, I don't really have a strong opinion on the modern style of these new homes as this area is a real mishmash of styles from the last 120 years and the new homes kindof just add to the eclectic mix that is Hintonburg. They don't over power the older, more traditional homes like they do in other areas of Ottawa...yet.

Another big change that urban neighbourhoods in Ottawa are facing these days is increased pressure for densification. A lot of people don't like that and join local community associations in Ottawa to fight big real estate developments. While I'm in favour of using up dead space in urban centres I'm also sympathetic to people who don't want to wake up one day facing a 50-story condo (notice the crane in the background of the first photo - condo!). From where I sit though, my own association seems to be doing a decent job at making sure local concerns are considered when development inevitably occurs.

Anyways, change is all around! It will be interesting to see how things progress around here in the next few years. What things will remain the same and what things will be different?

Apple Orchard Tradition

Some of my favourite childhood memories are from activities I did on a regular basis. Every year, for example, my family would head up north at the crack of dawn to Awenda, a provincial park on the shores of Georgian Bay. We would always have Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. We would always go to the farthest beach to get away from the crowds. We ate. We swam. We drove home. Every year followed the same pattern.

Routine...but something I really looked forward to: a tradition!

I am actively trying to give Margot a similar sense of familiarity, comfort and tradition. There are some things we do as a family every year. Every season has its own events to look forward to but at this time of year (late summer/early fall) the thing to do is...apple picking! The Silkens are ripe, the Lobos are crisp and it's time to get out into the orchards and harvest them.

We've tried a few different orchards over the years and sometimes we go later in the harvest season but no matter what, without fail, Glosette Girl, Margot and I find some time for some pickins, munchins and crunchins.

Oh you sweet sweet pomme

This year we went to Mountain Orchards. It's a pretty slick operation as pick-your-own-apples operations go, with corn mazes, a playground and lots of apples of course. The weather, quite frankly, was tolerable at best (think grey no-sky day) and Margot was in a bit of a grumpy mood at first but all was well once we hopped on the tractor ride out to the field where you pick the apples. It was all jostling and bumping around (seriously, can anyone stay grumpy on a tractor ride?!)

Grumpy: 0 Happy: 1

 
We even found some time for the corn maze and a deep-fried apple donut (kids - they are the best excuse to try stuff that probably isn't good for you but tastes AWESOME!).

To the left: the exit. To the right: certain death!

Glosette Girl taking her frustrations in getting out of the maze out on the corn

Another year, another strengthening of our lil' tradition.