Winnipeg enroute

A special feature of our trip to Ontario was the stopover in Winnipeg on our way there. We stayed with the John and Celoris Miller, who were my next-door neighbours when I was little. They still live next door, and even arranged for a tour of my old house.

The big change in the house, besides a slightly different trim colour, is the lack of the big tree that was in the front yard, which I remember climbing. But I seem to remember the house being bigger than it is (funny how that works). Still, a lovely house, and it was quite surreal to walk through it. I remembered bits and pieces, but I was only not-quite-six when we left, so there's a lot I wouldn't remember. One of my last memories, however, is the temper tantrum I had on the living room floor the night before we left, in the summer of 1973. I really didn't want to leave!

It was so lovely to spend some time with the Millers, who remain probably my parents' favorite neighbours, even though it's been over 30 years since our family lived next door to them. Celoris says she always wished there was a direct tunnel between our houses. I wouldn't have minded that: their two oldest were on either side of me age-wise, and we always played together.

Sarah, their third, is shown here with her son Zachary, who spent a bit of time with Aleta (a few months older than him) on our trip out as well as the brief stop we took in on our way back.

I've often felt that if I moved to Winnipeg again, that I'd want to live right back on the street of my first home.

Ottawa: The wedding of Nousha and Vargha / Touring the Parliament Buildings

Right after Naw-Ruz / Easter weekend, we flew to Ottawa to attend the wedding of my dear friend Nousha Etemad to Vargha Ram. We arrived the day before so we had a chance to rest a bit and be tourists.

We visited the Parliament Buildings, specifically the main building that contains the House of Commons and the Senate, as well as the Peace Tower shown here.

This is beside the Memorial Chamber, a tribute to Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in various wars.

Aleta found the coast was clear so she made a break for points otherwise forbidden to enter...

We had a tour of various parts of the building. Here we lingered in the press gallery area outside the House of Commons, yes in the very spot where many TV interviews take place.

Did I mention that Ottawa had a lot of snow?

After a very interesting tour of the Parliament buildings and a bit of a tour around the city, we came to the Museum of Civilization, in Gatineau (across the river from Ottawa, and officially part of the Capital region), to the site of the wedding. They had the wedding and reception right in the Grand Hall, a stunning location for a wedding.

Enter the bride and groom!

Oh yeah, those escalators behind? Aleta discovered them, and did she ever take to them. Up and down, up and down, all through the wedding and reception. If we weren't going up and down them, we were supervising a treadmill-like move at the bottom of the down escalator, with Aleta walking up the escalator at the same pace that it was coming down.

In between escalator rides, I had a chance to chat with several friends, some of whom are shown here: Layla, Hoda, Rose and Neda.

We had never met Vargha before, so we finally had a chance to meet him a bit and have a few moments with Nousha too. They really seem to like each other, a lot, and we wish them our best for a long and happy marriage.

A maturing 20-month old

The little munchkin acts more and more like a little girl all the time. So often we catch her imitating things we do. I recently had a cough that took weeks to go away. In the midst of a coughing fit, I noticed Aleta grabbing a kleenex, putting it in front of her mouth, and coughing in time with me.

This farmer in training likes to peruse the canola reports and promotional literature that her father gets in the mail.

Below, Aleta takes in a photography exhibit recently sponsored by the Esterhazy and District Arts Council. Thelma Pepper's show Untie the Spirit shows the little village that is the Sherbrooke Community Centre, a long-term care facility in Saskatoon. http://www.sherbrookecommunitycentre.ca/docs/Untie_the_Spirit.pdf

Aleta and her dad discover exciting things on the Internet, such as Norah Jones singing to Elmo, the Travelling Wilburys and other musical selections of great interest to both.

Now, I don't know how Aleta convinced Lulu that this would be a good idea, but this dear dog, cousin Lee and Linda's lovable mutt, let Aleta ride her like a horse for a few moments. Aleta has tried to convince our cat that she should submit to such ideas, but Zeddie will have no part of it.

Finally, Aleta prepares for her trip to Ottawa for Nousha and Vargha's wedding: which dress shall I wear? How, at 20 months old, did she already become so captivated by pretty dresses and admiring herself wearing them?