And now let's do it as an opera!

The other night we were playing "Three Little Pigs" with Liam. He was the big bad wolf and we were the three little pigs huddled under a blanket. The blanket got blown away in a "huff and a puff" every time until we were in the brick house and "...not in by the hair of my chinny chin chin" was true and the big bad wolf could not blow the house away. The of course he tries to get in through the chimney, but clever pigs that we are, we have a pot of boiling water on the hearth and capture the wolf and he rolls down the hill. All of this of course on our bed and rolling down the hill means rolling off the bed with a burst of giggles. After playing that a couple of times, Liam looks at us and says: "Now, let's do it as an opera!". And so we did, in our best operatic voices, at times in a duet, very modern with dissonances. Then Liam suggested a comic opera: "Little Red Running Shorts". The evening concluded with many giggles, bows and then bathtime for the opera stars.

Winterruption or Vancouver Alaaf!

It's Carneval, Mardi Gras or, in Vancouver, Winterruption! 

I don't exactly know why, but Karneval, those days of craziness before lent are always a bit emotional for me. I'm OK as long as I don't think about it, but invariably it will come up in one way or another. And every time it is like a postcard from a distant world, a distant time, but at the same time it activates the "Homesickness Centre" in my brain. This centre is activated in people born in Cologne when reminded of clowns and beer and fun during carneval. Now, truth be told, I never really celebrated carneval in its entirety regularly when living in Cologne. I could not connect to the crazy and mostly very drunk people most of the time. I never understood the ritual of young men peeing against the Cologne cathedral (a ritual that has actually threatened the limestone foundations of the church!). 

But, I did grow up with carneval, I grew up listening to the classic songs, I still tear up when hearing the old song about a guy who when thinking of his hometown Cologne would like to just walk back home. Now I live in a town that does not know anything about this peculiar ritual of partying and getting drunk for five days before embarking on the sober and somber days of lent. No costumes, no candies thrown for children, no drinking in public... And that's fine, as long as nobody reminds me of what is happening a world away. Then I sneak onto the internet and look at the photo galleries of the parades, the happy people, and, yes, I tear up. It must be a genetic thing or a sort of vaccination you get right after you are born in a Cologne hospital. 

But apparently this need to kick the winter out and welcome spring is not just restricted to those places with carneval, apparently everybody can feel the need to interrupt the winter and celebrate spring and life. And this takes the form of a "Winterruption" here in Vancouver. Not knowing what to expect, we went to Granville Island for this festival and needless to say, my Cologne carneval heart started beating a bit faster when I heard a carneval band and then saw the Rainforest Parade. And my mommy heart started to overflow when my little Liam was fascinated by this, could not take his eyes (well, eye...) off the dragonflies on stilts. Liam was dressed up as a pirate, not because of carneval , but because that's what he wanted, but it fit well with the day. So there we were, dressed up, watching a small and beautiful parade, listening to carneval music, on a beautiful warm and sunny early spring day - and yes, I teared up, because this was perfect. Who needs millions of people to celebrate the end of winter? I still celebrate the sentiment with my family here, just without the crowds and with a different flavour. 

And for dessert tonight, we'll have donuts - the traditional carneval treat, and I'll explain how this is special to my little pirate and while he may never feel the same way about this weird tradition, he will hopefully know that it is very important to celebrate the end of winter! And how important it is to just have fun for the sake of having fun and how deliciously beautiful it is to break rules every once in a while... and all the other things that carneval can mean to people. 

In Cologne people yell ALAAF, the traditional salute of the carneval season -so join me in a Koelle Alaaf, Vancouver Alaaf!

Booklover

I took this shot last night when I went to check on Liam before going to bed....

This is Liam's story

The following story is entirely Liam's story. He told us what to write down.

Enjoy!

"One day Liam went out. For a long time he walked until he saw a big cave. Two eyes were staring out of the darkness. Then the eyes were disappearing and, as he watched in horror, a big red creature came walking out of the cave. He saw it was a big, enormous fox. He was afraid. Then after a while he climbed into a tree. Then the big red creature jumped into the tree and Liam swung a branch down, which hit the fox on the tongue and the fox said: 'Ahhhbwhaaaawbahh' and fell out of the tree. Then Liam climbed down and he ran and ran until came to an enormous building. He looked around and he saw a little light. He went towards the light and he saw two squirrels huddling together, they said: 'Mama, Mama, Mama!' over and over. Then Liam picked up the squirrels. Then they saw the fox coming. They ran and ran and ran. Then they came to a very big church where they found the Mama squirrel. The two little squirrels said, 'Mama!'. Liam gave the squirrels to the mom, they were so happy they hugged her. They saw the fox jumping towards them. They went outside and Liam pushed a log towards the fox. They all ran round and round the church. The fox fell on the ground when he tripped on the log. He was hurt so he went home. Liam went home and he went to bed.

And that's the end of the story, OK?"