Sweet Cheat Treats

Sometimes I am in awe of how creative children can be. Take Margot for instance. Lately she's been doing a lot of assignments that require her to film a video about a particular topic. I'm pretty sure that the teacher would be satisfied with a basic presentation that explains the subject matter in a clear and concise way. In some cases, the subject matter is actually even irrelevant as what is being graded is the grammar and ability to explain complex ideas clearly. Again, you don't need to come up with anything too fancy to do that.

But little Margot - wow she always wants to go the extra mile for Madame (her teacher). Check out what she did for her latest English project entitled "Sweet Cheat Treats":

Pretty good! Amazingly she put this all together in one evening (Glosette Girl and yours truly helped with the filming).

There is something poetic (beyond the obvious poetry!) about how she did that assignment. I can't quite put my finger on it but I think it's a result of her being completely bilingual. She just explains things in a way that isn't quite how someone who is purely anglophone would do it. 

But I like it! Get me some of those Sweet Cheat Treats!

A Day (Weekend) in the Life of a Daddy of a Horseback Rider

This is the first year that Margot is part of the competition team at her stables, Maplewood Equestrian, which means she commits to competing in a number of competitions with the same horse throughout 2022. 

Some of these shows are "in-house", meaning only girls and boys from her stables compete. They are less formal, meaning kids don''t have to dress up in her formal showing clothes, but they are still judged, so Margot still takes them seriously.

Other shows are part of the Challenge series against a rival school, Riverview Stables, which is a few minutes down the road. For the Challenge series, Margot has to dress up in all her regalia and points are kept to see how well you did throughout the year. Having a rival is also kindof fun as it gives Margot extra joy when she or another member of her team beats her "nemesis". 

In total, Margot will probably do about 7 shows this year, whether "in-house" or part of the Challenge series. It may not sound like much but here is a sample schedule from what we did this past weekend to allow Margot to compete.

Saturday:

• Drop off Margot at Maplewood at 5 pm so she can prep her horse for Sunday's show. Glosette Girl and I went for a pub dinner in the area and then a walk until we could pick her up at 8:30 pm (it's too far to drive home).

Sunday:

• Wake up at 5 am so we can get Margot to Maplewood for 6:30 am for more horse prep. Glosette Girl and I went for a run...

Stretch those calves!

• and then breakfast, until we could pick her up at 9:45 am.

I'm HUNGRY. Lil' Eggs Benni will quench that fire.

• 9:45 am - drive Margot over to Riverview Stables after her horse, Elliot, is loaded unto the Horse truck.
  
• Hang out Riverview until 11:30 am, and then watch Margot compete in several rounds of dressage and hunter, which wrapped up around 1:30 pm.

You can tell who is the parent of which competitor depending on when they whip out the cameras

• Chill out at the show as the rest of the competition wraps up. Read, grab a hotdog at the cheap on-site canteen, occasionally watch some horses do some awesome horse things, and give Margot an occasional high-five as she basks in having received another "Reserve champion" (2nd place) designation in dressage.

Horseback riding and sci-fi reading: such a civilized atmosphere!

• 3:00 pm - after Elliott loaded back onto the truck, drive Margot back to Maplewood.
• 3:30-4:00 pm - hang out in the parking lot while Margot helps bring in supplies, makes sure Elliott is back in his stables, safe, clean and sound.
• At 4:00 pm, drive Margot home while she chatterboxes away about the day. Home by 4:30 pm and time to start cooking a celebratory dinner!

I think we all passed out in exhaustion when we went to bed. But that's OK! Now that Margot is fully committed to one one activity, I feel like I'm entering a different phase of parenthood, one where my primary role is just help stoke that passion for as long as possible. So even though there are some long days, I feel really privileged to be a part of this.

And if you are curious about seeing how she did, check it out:

Maplewood In-House Horse Show

Margot's love of horses shows no signs of abating. It's hard to believe that she only started horseback riding a couple of years ago after we cast around for a new extra-curricular activity after trying a few others. And now look at her!

Recently, she competed in her first ever equestrian competition at her new stables, Maplewood Equestrian Centre*. She was nervous, but determined, to do well.

I wasn't quite sure how she would fare, but ever since the spring, when she rocket-powered her abilities with a month of intense lessons, I've been reasonably confident that she can hold her own.

And boy did she ever! She was in two different horseback events at the intermediate-one level: dressage (an event where you have to demonstrate the control of the horse in a stylish way) and "Hunter" (a form of jumping) and won the "Reserve Champion" award, which is 2nd place! In getting 2nd place she actually won two individual events, which made her day. 

The next Charlotte Dujardin

I must admit, seeing her happy surprised smile when she won those two individual events put me in a great mood. There's few things better than seeing your child succeed in something they enjoy. What I loved most was that she was gracious and kind to the other competitors. There was one girl who wasn't having the best day and Margot was grateful that in one event that girl beat her as it would cheer the other girl up. 

Take a bow, my girl!

Horseback riding is definitely bringing out some nice qualities in Margot: 

• patience, to work with animals, 
• discipline, to keep working to improve herself; and 
• confidence, to deal with adversity (her horse in the dressage event bucked twice - it was quite scary!)

No matter how far she goes with all this, I know she is making wonderful memories. I'm so happy to be able just to be along for the ride.

* she also goes to Wesley Clover Stables.

10,000 hours of Expertise...give or take

Some have claimed that if you spend 10,000 hours doing anything you'll become an expert in that activity. Although that claim has been questioned by some experts recently, I can definitely see the benefits of hard work and practice in Margot's horseback riding recently.

For most of the third-way lockdown, horseback riding and walking have been the only activities that Margot can do. And as much as I like taking Margot on a good hike, Glosette Girl and I decided to double down on horseback riding for the month of May and increase the amount of times she goes to the tables from once a week to three times a week to make the month much more manageable for Margot's mental health. 

And it's been a great success! 

 

Not only is Margot having the time of her life but her skills have really improved. She's even jumping over some low barriers now, which is something that that I was surprised to see her doing already.

It's actually a miracle that of all the activities we could have put Margot in (at her insistence!), the one she is doing, and the one she loves above all, is the one that's never been completely shut down.

Gimpse into the 19th Century

This past weekend Glosette Girl and I took Margot and her friend A to see the RCMP Musical Ride. The event was held at Wesley Clover stables, where Margot does her horseback riding. I think this was one of the last touristy things in Ottawa that I had yet to do.

Other big Ottawa touristy items I have visited before:

• Parliament Hill - the seat of power in Canada
• The Governor General's residence
• Gatineau Park (not the best park in Canada by any means, but pretty decent by local standards)
• A visit to one of what I consider to be the big museums around here: Nature, History, War, or the National Art Gallery (we also have "National" Science and Tech and Agriculture and Food museums but I find them more geared towards locals). There's also the Aviation and Currency museums for those with more specialized tastes.
• Walk next to, or skate, Ontario's only UNESCO world heritage site, the Rideau Canal
• Visit the Byward Market, one of Canada's oldest and largest farmers’ markets.

One thing that struck me as I watched the RCMP Musical "ride" (it's not a ride you sit on by the way, it's a ride that you watch. Kids call these types of "rides" lies :))  was that it really felt like I was getting a glimpse of how life used to be in Canada and around the world about 120 years ago.

Margot and A pointing out the action

Just think about it, at the turn of the 19th century, the horse was still more important than the car for moving people around and doing all sorts of work and was still heavily used in World War 1 combat. That's only just outside living memory!

It's a strange but wonderful idea to imagine horses as being that central to daily life. What a world it must have been. Perhaps a bit stinkier! But also a world where people were closer to the animals and plants of the earth. Ironically a world with more horses was probably more... human.

Those days are long gone now and I appreciate all the technological advances that have been made over the last 100 years. But getting this glimpse of the past certainty made me pause and remember where we have come from as a civilization.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Lately Margot's after-school Brownies activity has been a little "meh". There are a couple reasons for this: first, Margot is one of the older kids in her troupe and she's finding a lot of the other kids aren't very mature (and trust me, when an 8-year old who believes in Santa Claus notices that, there's a problem!); second, the troupe seems a bit more disorganized this year in comparison to previous ones.

So recently, after she asked us if she could try something else, I found it hard to say no. While I'm not normally a fan of quitting something half way through (the Brownie "term" ends in June) since she's been in Brownies/Sparks* for a couple years now and had a few good adventures along the way I didn't mind so much in this case.

We've actually tried a variety of after-school activities over the years with mixed results:

• Dance -  Margot's first activity and still going strong!
• Swimming lessons - an essential life skill in my books. Our go-to activity when we can't think of something else.
• Drama - pretty fun but the time slot conflicted with dance.
• Pottery - really nice/zen atmosphere at a local studio. Artsy but a bit off-beat.
• After-school-art. OK. Margot liked it. I'm not so sure she learned much.
• Singing - also fun but Margot got bored.
• Gymnastics - I was not impressed. If you're not in the competitive stream the instructors don't put too much effort into it.
• Brownies. Pretty sweet because it's hosted down the street at a nearby school but again I'm not sure if Margot actually learned anything. At the end of the day it's all about the troupe leaders

As you can see that list is pretty arts-and-crafts-heavy. So in an effort to try and balance out Margot's life skills, Glosette Girl and I asked her to select a sport for a change of pace. Ah Margot - she's a sly cookie let me tell you! Guess what she selected?

The cowgirl gettin' ready at Wesley Clover Stables

Equestrian!

Geez. What a lucky girl. Who would have thought that even living in downtown Ottawa we'd be only 20 minutes away from a riding school and stable?! Next stop, the Olympics! (Well, once she gets on a horse - that happens in week 4).

Parents have to sit in the waiting room and watch the action from a TV monitor

* Brownies = junior Girl Guides. Sparks = junior Brownies

Clover imagination

Having a 8-year old daughter forces me to use my imagination a lot. I am always on the look out for new ways to have fun with her. My reasons aren’t purely altruistic: as every parent knows, there is nothing more grating than a loud and long "I'm boooooreeeeed”.

Fortunately, Ottawa is a very friendly kid city. I've mentioned a few of my fave ideas on this blog:

1. Visiting the animals at the experimental farm.
2. Going for a hike in Gatineau Park or the green belt
.
3. Going on a daddy-daughter date when Glosette Girl is out for the evening.

But sometimes (perhaps, subconsciously, to make up for the times when I’ve been a boring-responsible-adult-busybody), I like to surprise Margot and work a little harder for something extra fun.


This past weekend I noticed a horse show was being held at Wesley Clover Parks in the west end. So Glosette Girl and I bundled Margot into the car and spent an hour watching horses jump over various obstacles.

It sounds…very aristocratic and almost silly but if you’ve ever tried horseback riding you’ll seriously appreciate the skill and guts of the riders (all of whom were women under the age of 20). Because it was pouring rain, there weren’t too many spectators but the crowd that did show up (all 10 of us) cheered and clapped the competitors on. Margot certainly loved it.

Life is so busy for us parents. It is very tempting to let Señor Netflix take over when it comes to entertaining our children. We may even fool ourselves into believing that’s all they want.

But we’re wrong.

Pura Vida! Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017!

We're back! Just in time for one last blog post of 2016.

In my last post I mentioned we'd be travelling. Glosette Girl, Margot and I were, in fact, enjoying an eco-adventure in beautiful Costa Rica.

This was our first trip to Central America so we originally thought about going on an organized tour to simplify things. However, after doing some research we realized that most North American and European tour companies don't actually run the "experience" portions of their trip (e.g. like zip-lining or horseback riding). Instead, they hire local companies to do it for them. Once we figured this out we decided to book all the hotels ourselves and contact a Costa-Rican company, Anywhere Costa Rica, to book the adventures. They are also a middle-man but because they're a local company  the prices are much better.

We focused on two areas: Monteverde and Manual Antonio. Both are hot-spots for eco-tourism but they couldn't be more different.

Monteverde

Monteverde is in the cloud forest. It's at a higher elevation and so is quite cool. I'd guess it was maybe 17-18 degrees while we were there, although it felt cooler because of the constant rain. And when I say "constant rain" I mean "constant rain". It was actually sunny when we first got to our hotel in Monteverde. However, that turned out to be a clever ruse as it started to rain only a few hours after we arrived. I asked one of the attendants how long it would last. He said "between 10 minutes and 2 days".

He wasn't joking.

The rain is why this part of Costa Rica is so lush so I can't complain too much. We also didn't feel it too much while traipsing through the cloud forest on our guided walks. 

We did, on the other hand, feel it while taking an open-air gondola up a mountain in gale force winds.

I am very curious to find out at what point this ride is considered too dangerous?!

...and when zip-lining through the forest at break neck speeds!

One of us got stuck on the zip-lines. Hint: not Margot.

It's hard to believe but Margot did all of these adventures and with a smile! My tough little cookie.

Manuel Antonio

After 3-nights in the forest we booked a shuttle and headed to the Pacific Coast village of Manuel Antonio. The temperature there was probably 25 Celsius or so. In a word: perfect!

Our hotel: the Falls Resort

We swam. We read. We visited the nearby rainforest national park of Manual Antonio, which is what the area is famous for. We swam some more.

Actually, we had just as many adventures in this area as Monteverde. Margot didn't skimp out on these adventures either, no sir!

Margot the Cowgirl had her own horse

I'm still absorbing the experience. It wasn't all roses of course. We saw a lot of garbage on the side of the road. That surprised me given the importance of tourism to the Costa Rican economy. Also, the "typical" Costa Rican towns and villages we passed through were poorer than I was expecting. But overall I found the trip interesting, fun and enlightening.  It reminded us that Canada is just one small part of the world and how lucky were are to live here (even with the snow).

Sigh... 2017, we're ready for you!

Sunset over Monteverde