John & Anne Wiley

So many entertaining activities we’re having! Time with family tops the list, and there are so many fun things we do together. Baby is of course infinitely entertaining for all of us. Today they also introduced us to an entertainment that, though we’ve read about it, is new to our experience.

1575 Team Sports

Maybe everyone but us would instantly know what they’re doing, but we would have studied the photo for a while before guessing they’re playing Wii. Though we’d intended to go to the massive Edmonton indoor mall today, we ended up playing the various Wii games together for hours.

We did finally go out for a wonderful dinner at a popular place where we waited so long we began to wonder if they serve breakfast.

1577 Food Line

As you can see, it took a while to even get in the door. Luckily I wore my fanciest insulated rubber boots so as to stand out from the Edmontonians.

To complete our elegant evening we went for a fun few minutes looking at imported designer goods at a retailer you might have heard of. Anne and I found a few things we’d been looking for, as did our loved ones.

1578 Well Dressed Shoppers

Some of you may recognize this as a WalMart entrance. It was actually a fun part of our entertainment, as every young family well knows. If all goes well, we’re in for another fun day together tomorrow. I’m so glad the weather hasn’t been good enough for flying, because we’ve been having such a wonderful time here!

I’m smiling, typing this. Another wonderful family day, this time starting with an incomplete medical appointment. Turns out we needn’t have worried about arriving a few minutes late due to an especially frustrating car seat (I’m becoming an unwilling expert). After waiting over an hour watching each woman in the full waiting room called by name to go in ahead of us, the nurse’s assistant came out and called, “April.” My muttered reply, “Oh no, they’re only up to April!” We had a jolly stifled laugh and carried on with small talk and memories of my daughter’s infancy.

After the only other woman waiting was called in, I went to get my famished daughter a snack and returned to find that we’d been told the doctor was called away to the hospital and we’re rescheduled for next week. I only relate this as context to share how kindly my remarkable daughter received this very unwelcome news. We had a good time joking about it afterward, and after some fun stops returned to her place to complete our shared enjoyment of Pride and Prejudice (the unsurpassed Colin Firth version). This then to introduce one of my fav pix from those thus far not shared here.

5728 Family Time

I hope you can get some impression from this snap how joyfully pleased I am to see them so happy together, cuddled up to watch one of our fav movies with us. Were it not for alert Anne I might have missed this photo that will forever hold a special place in my heart.

The other new fav I’m sharing tonight is this shot of a man who loves hockey, and though not having skated for several years was ripping up the ice when we found the inexpensive rentals next to the pond downtown. His delightful freedom and exuberance on the ice matches his tenderness in the cozy shot above. It brought my daughter and me much joy to see such happiness in the hard-working man who daily brings such happiness to her, building a strong new family for my grand daughter.

5586 Free Skate

I’m very happy to report that grand-daughter is completely healthy, doing extremely well, and seems to have grown measurably every day. I know you’ll understand when I soberly assure you that this is the second most beautiful infant I’ve ever seen, and the little nuclear family is exceptionally delightful to be with. Since you already know I’m not boasting, hopefully it’s ok to share a new photo.

She’s been vocalizing a lot more and developing elementary hand-eye coordination so quickly now that we can see the progress every day. Even during the day when she wakes from a nap, often there’s some new behavior or skill. This dream learning is presumably why babies sleep so much, as their brains re-wire from the previous waking period’s stimuli. Well, yesterday and today she’s discovered she has feet.

5669 Foot Fixation

She will stare at them, as in this photo. She’ll move them and try to grab them. She’ll kick the dangling toys in her playpen with them. GrandDad loves to watch and facilitate this process. 🙂

People here celebrate a holiday named Family Day, and ours included a visit to the riverfront park downtown for skating on a frozen pond. Anne hasn’t done that since childhood so she was really excited about it, and our family now includes a hockey player who also enjoyed it greatly (and kindly offered pointers to the wobbly-legged Californians).

5618 Young Skater

After dark we strolled a large sculpture garden of colorfully lit works in ice. Here’s a collage of just a few that I liked.

5630 Ice Collage

We rode the ice slide, which pleased the other kids because we only had jeans on so we melted the ice. That made their rides much faster in their insulated snow suits. Another branch of the family kindly posed on the ice throne.

5647 Adoring Husband

Then we stopped for warm treats in the Good Earth cafe that Anne found.

1555 Warmth

It was an especially warm Family Day.