Lovasaurus

Max, proudly showing off his Valentine shirt, a gift from "Auntie" Anita. In his first year of life his nic-name was Maxasaurus. Soon everyone and everything became "...asaurus". We grew weary of it when every kid in the youth group started to call him that, so it's a name of the past now, but Anita just couldn't resist. He's worn the shirt every day since Sunday - the cuteness is unbelievable! It's even a little big so it will probably fit next year too.


We don't do much to celebrate Valentine's Day. After the festivities of our birthdays, Christmas, Anniversary and New Year's ... we're not quite ready for another celebration. (This is why we have summer babies, so there's something to celebrate the rest of the year!) But we did acknowledge the day early, last week when Hubby & I went on a date to the Chocolate Festival. What a treat! We were greeted in the lobby the ladies of our local
Red Hat Society.

These are two of my favourite Red Hats, although neither were at the Chocolate Festival. This was taken during Seafest weekend. (Yes, those are turnips and sourkraut in the background.) My parents got a reminder of small town life that weekend, when it seemed the whole town was out and about. We couldn't get far walking down the street or even through the produce section at Safeway without finding someone to greet and, of course, chit chat with. After a while we just said "hello" and kept on walking!

The highlight of the chocolate festival was the chocolate fountain in the centre of the room. I stood there so long with my friend that Paul decided to go into the theatre to sit for a while. Strawberries, bananas, rice krispie squares (much too sweet) and PRETZELS. Oh, and mini cream puffs too, but they were still too cold. The strawberries were the best. (There was a white chocolate fountain too that was kind of disappointing.)



The desserts were set up in a buffet style with samples of EVERYTHING. The strangest things were deep fried wontons with chocolate ganache inside (blech!) and the chocolate chili. Yuck - it tasted like chili but was just a little different colour. Very unappetizing. A white chocolate lemony thing was a standout but it wasn't long until all the little samplings started to be a bit much. To top the evening off ... free ice cold milk!

PZ has a busy week with meetings and events, and youth group doesn't stop for Valentine's Day, so I'm home alone with the boys tonight. Don't feel sorry for me, they give me plenty of love! We're also in the middle of painting and purging the kitchen so we'll celebrate "Renovations Are Over Day" when the house is put back together. :)