“I always feel like I'm on a roller-coaster, but I never want to get off! There's a certain high you're always on.” ~Leonardo DiCaprio

We spent Thanksgiving , 2012 in Moncton at a friend's apartment.  That weekend, we visited Hopewell Rocks twice, watched a lot of cable and spent 6 hours at Crystal Palace.  It is safe to say that most of that time you, Mackenzie, spent on the only roller coaster there.  The first ride made you a little nervous  but you insisted on going on again.  And after that, we couldn't pry you off!  "Let's do it again!" you would shout after ever ride.  You rode that coaster at least 50 times, most of which were in a row.  I think it may have been just the high you've been looking for.  I can hardly wait to take you back for more :-)

"One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" ~ Dr Seuss

...And we called you "The Fish Whisperer".  That was your name for an entire day!

On our weekend away in Moncton, we spent some time at Hopewell Rocks.  It may have been one of the most glorious sites I had ever seen.  You and Mac got all muddy, you climbed rocks, and as you should have it, you saved the life of an ocean deprived fish!  It was laying there on the ocean floor, far from the water line.  When we spotted it, we thought it was dead until  you, Robert, noticed its body expand and contract.  "Save it!" I said.  "Put it back int he water!"  I'm pretty sure your swift movement was accompanied with an eye roll  but you know I wasn't going to let this fish die so, you scooped it up and off you went; releasing it back into the Atlantic Ocean.  You really saved the day; or at least, a fish :-)

“I really want to play Princess Leia. Stick some big pastries on my head. Now that would be interesting.” ~Ewan McGregor

After a lengthy discussion, we decided that it would be perfectly appropriate to play "Princess'".  We made a list of things we would need to prepare for this afternoon:

1) A shower (Clean is good.)
2) Lotion (Why not?)
3) Deodorant (Thank GAWD you thought of that one!)
4) Make-Up (Including blush.)
5) Gowns (Can't go without those!)

Your Aunt Heather brought you many princess dress' this summer, so you were well equipped.  I, on the other hand, had only one.  And since I had only worn it for one day, it seemed quite reasonable to bring it out again and give it a good spin!  It took us about 1 hour to prepare and we played outside for a similar amount of time while our 'garcon', Robert (say it with a French accent) took photos.  It was incredibly hot in our Princess gowns, but we put up with it given that we hadn't done this before.  We had a blast, but your favorite part may have been when I spun you around upside-down!  After all, what else is a princess suppose to do in the middle of the summer?

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

I never thought that the two of you would be graduating at the same time.  Both of you so proud and one of you a little relieved.  Mackenzie, you were ecstatic to know that both you and Robert were graduating together.  The both of you were always inseparable, and now you've made milestones together.  Each of you were so thrilled to be attending one another's graduation ceremony.  And despite the length of Robert's, the two of you held yourselves together remarkably well.  Congratulations to Robert and Mackenzie-Joe.  We knew you could do it!

"Basketball doesn't build character it reveals it." ~ Author Unknown

Your father registered you for "Little Dribblers".  It was supposed to be ten weeks of basket ball fun!  But with your slow-to-warm-up personality, the first class turned out to be a little more challenging than what we had anticipated.  You were so shy that you clung to dad and didn't speak a word to anyone.  After much discussion about how this might turn out, and fearing it could become another swimming lesson nightmare, I suggested that we pull you out.  But your father insisted that we keep you in.  He never gave up on you, not ever.  So, we put awesome reinforcers in place (Popsicles are always a hit), gave you limits, your father stood by your side for the next two lessons and before we knew it, you were practically whistling Sweet Georgia Brown as you walked on to the court ;-)

"So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land." ~ Peter Pan

We celebrated aunt Emily's birthday with Laura and Peter.  Peter is aunty's brother, but you Mac, were convinced his name was Uncle Peter Pan!  Every time one of us called him Peter, you would remind us, with sustained volume, that his name was "Uncle Peter Pan".  When they arrived, we played, ate curry maple chicken pasta followed by princess cup cakes, opened presents and then went skating.  It was an especially fun time skating that day, since we wheeled Laura around the ice.  She had such a great time.  I think everyone mostly enjoyed watching Uncle Peter Pan push both Jilly and Laura around together.  I'd say he got a work out, but then again, he is Peter Pan, he can do anything!  By the end of the day, we were all believers ;-)

"The only gift is a portion of thyself." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was your father's 50th birthday.  Robert, you had given your father the crowning gift.  It was a framed list of "50 things you learned/got from your dad".  When he read the title of the list, he immediately began to weep. By number 5, he was blubbering mess!  I don't think there was a dry eye at the table, that day.  Things on the list varied from humorous lines like "You taught me that I could be anything in the world other than be as good looking as you." to sensitive lines like"When I was little you were my playground as you are now for Mac".   I suppose it would be safe to add that the 51st thing you learned from your dad was how to give a  stellar gift!

“Peanut butter [is] the pâté of childhood.” ~ Florence Fabricant

You ate peanut butter nearly every morning you were with us.  You were 15 years old - that's A LOT of peanut butter!  Over the weekend you declared, after much consideration, that you were going to be eating toast with peanut butter for breakfast.  At this stage, you were very good at getting the toaster down from the high shelf, you could get the bread, put it in the toaster and get the peanut butter from its pantry shelf, open it up and spread the peanut butter on your toast.  You were VERY good at this morning routine.  But this past weekend, you noticed that the peanut butter jar looked different and asked me if it was the only one we had in the house. I told you that it was and that I shopped at Sobey's this week instead of Superstore so the brand name was 'Compliments' and not 'PC'.  I don't think you were to bothered by it but it likely would not have been your first choice.  You were about to open the jar, when suddenly, a look of confusion came across your face.  You must have seen the pictures of peanut shells on the label - which is not on every label, and with a look of complete disgust you asked: "ARE THERE NUTS IN HERE?"  And your tone was more like: "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHO DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA?!?!?!"  I chuckled a little and explained to you that you were eating 'peanut' butter so, it's made of peanuts and there are likely A LOT of peanuts in there.  You seemed rather enlightened when you expressed that "[You] had no idea".  You were just so FRICKIN CUTE!

"And then, when I thought about joining the Air Force, flying seemed like a natural extension of the motorcycling experience. You're going faster, higher. You're operating a machine that's a lot more powerful than you are." ~ Duane G. Carey

"Try again, Daddy!"  Apparently, it was only a 'try' and never quite enough.  We laughed every time you said it: "Try again, Daddy!  Try again!".  He would throw you in the air as high and as fast as he could.  You were never afraid.  The higher, the faster, the BETTER!  Then, when Rob and Jill where there, we had even more fun.  We would howl as they would join in and pile up or help throw you back and forth.  We could never get enough of this contagious happiness - until Daddy got tired of course ;-)

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

You spent last weekend with us.  As soon as you came in, you told us that you had something to show us.  This was not uncommon as both you and your brother were coming with new things every weekend to show us.  You would come with art work, crafts, a treat, something you had baked or a project from school.  You took out a book from your back pack and told us that you were going to read it.  We knew that you were able to sight read a few small words, but we never could have guessed what was going to come out of your mouth.  Sure enough, you read the entire story!  Your father and I were so impressed!  Your diction and especially your S's were SO CLEAR!  We could hardly believe what we were hearing!  We were and still are very proud of you, Jilly-bean!