day 319 - the bowels of the community centre $

Every night when the three kids go to bed the routine is the same. We read books, the hall light is put on for Ava and the big chandelier-ish entry light that throws so much light it looks like a summer day at three in the morning is put on for Owen. Then I convince all three of them that there are no such things as monsters (and now dragons - thanks a lot Dreamworks) and they call it a night. Well, not really. Then there is the hiding under beds, chasing back to rooms and the talking and the playing that often goes on for two full hours after bedtime so they almost go to bed the same time as we do, but I won't get into that.

Anyway, Owen has taken a liking to flashlights. He is fascinated by them. Unfortunately his most favourite thing to do with them is unscrew them and take them apart to see how they work, but the flashlight below is everybody's favourite. Not only is this one see-through so he can see everything without having to take it apart, it also doesn't run on traditional batteries. All you have to do is shake it, saving us a small fortune in batteries (thanks Grandma).



Today was a good day. Ava did really well at skating lessons and is now able to shuffle right across the big circle at centre ice. As well as the night went, I could have done without the chase through the bowels of the community centre.

There's a reason why most people don't have more kids than they have hands, and this is it:



That's Owen running in the dressing room hallway and Ethan who was a good ten seconds ahead and had already managed to climb three quarters of the way up in the stands.