Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Monday, April 09, 2012
Easter Weekend
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Thanksgiving
As per usual, Ontario shed it's grumpy October pants for a few moments this weekend, and we celebrated Thanksgiving in summery style. There were picnics, and tire swings, and rolling around on the grass. There was summer drives, and wanders down streets. There were evenings on the deck.
And there was turkey. And fresh veggies from the garden. Oh, were there veggies.
And there was my family - my beautiful children, my amazing husband, and my rockin' Ma. We had a delight of a weekend.
And there was turkey. And fresh veggies from the garden. Oh, were there veggies.
And there was my family - my beautiful children, my amazing husband, and my rockin' Ma. We had a delight of a weekend.
Monday, June 27, 2011
ECCJ - the tester
With Steve working away from home for parts of the summer, the boys and I embarked on a small road trip this weekend to go spend some time with him, in a cozy (yet rustic) cabin in the woods.
The destination was 5 hours away. Plus we went on three "side road trips" while we were there. All told, we did 16 hours of driving in the past 4 days, a most excellent primer for the ECCJ*.
(*Epic Cross Country Journey.)
It was also my first foray into "traveling light," which I needed some serious advice for. Thanks for it all, I took it all, and y'all would have been proud of the car when I pulled out of the driveway! If it wasn't for all the stuff I had to drop off in Kingston and Ottawa, along with the 40 lb dog taking up most of the back, the CRV would have been positively SPACIOUS!
It was an excellent trip, as well as a most excellent learning adventure. Here's what I now know:
- 4 year olds will not pee when you are at a service centre for a pee break. They prefer to pee when you are stuck in traffic on the 401, and despite warnings of "you'll have to give me some advance notice if you need to go to the bathroom," will wake from a dead sleep screaming "STOP THE CAR, I NEED TO PEE. STOP NOW...THE PEE IS COMING OUT!"
- Happy Meal toys make excellent car toys, since they are NEW! They are even better if they are the one given to your BROTHER!
- Happy Meal toys also make excellent projectiles.
- No matter which toys and snacks you put within reach of the driver, the children will always want the ones packed deep in the back.
- Sleeping babies wake up VERY badly when their neck does that floppy headed sleeping thing. (We need to get some sort of head support for Corben...any suggestions?)
- On the "do I really need this?" list, the playpen is a resounding YES! I thought we'd be fine, but after four months of Corben going to sleep by himself in his crib, he is no longer very good at falling asleep with space to roam. Last night, at 10pm, after bouncing off the walls for hours, I finally barricaded him into a corner storage area. A pillow, blanket, and the kitchen table on it's side to keep him there. He was asleep within 5 minutes.
- We can do 5 hours of driving at a time, and play I spy, and listen to music, and sleep, and talk, and sing, and we can do it all without any sort of media device or hand held game device that makes annoying noises. And we are going to stick to our guns on that one as we cross the country...as far as I see it, there's really no point in driving across the country if everyone has their heads buried in their laps and they don't see a damn thing. My kids have never ever watched a dvd in the car, in their minds it's not even an option. And that's how it will stay. So there.
I'm looking forward to this trip even more now after attempting a mini warm-up. It's going to be amazing. And of COURSE I'm going to blog my way across the country...seriously, you'd miss me like CRAZY if I disappeared for 3 weeks, right!?? Couldn't have that!
(I have some fantastic pictures...that I can't upload for some dumb reason...will try again tomorrow!)
The destination was 5 hours away. Plus we went on three "side road trips" while we were there. All told, we did 16 hours of driving in the past 4 days, a most excellent primer for the ECCJ*.
(*Epic Cross Country Journey.)
It was also my first foray into "traveling light," which I needed some serious advice for. Thanks for it all, I took it all, and y'all would have been proud of the car when I pulled out of the driveway! If it wasn't for all the stuff I had to drop off in Kingston and Ottawa, along with the 40 lb dog taking up most of the back, the CRV would have been positively SPACIOUS!
It was an excellent trip, as well as a most excellent learning adventure. Here's what I now know:
- 4 year olds will not pee when you are at a service centre for a pee break. They prefer to pee when you are stuck in traffic on the 401, and despite warnings of "you'll have to give me some advance notice if you need to go to the bathroom," will wake from a dead sleep screaming "STOP THE CAR, I NEED TO PEE. STOP NOW...THE PEE IS COMING OUT!"
- Happy Meal toys make excellent car toys, since they are NEW! They are even better if they are the one given to your BROTHER!
- Happy Meal toys also make excellent projectiles.
- No matter which toys and snacks you put within reach of the driver, the children will always want the ones packed deep in the back.
- Sleeping babies wake up VERY badly when their neck does that floppy headed sleeping thing. (We need to get some sort of head support for Corben...any suggestions?)
- On the "do I really need this?" list, the playpen is a resounding YES! I thought we'd be fine, but after four months of Corben going to sleep by himself in his crib, he is no longer very good at falling asleep with space to roam. Last night, at 10pm, after bouncing off the walls for hours, I finally barricaded him into a corner storage area. A pillow, blanket, and the kitchen table on it's side to keep him there. He was asleep within 5 minutes.
- We can do 5 hours of driving at a time, and play I spy, and listen to music, and sleep, and talk, and sing, and we can do it all without any sort of media device or hand held game device that makes annoying noises. And we are going to stick to our guns on that one as we cross the country...as far as I see it, there's really no point in driving across the country if everyone has their heads buried in their laps and they don't see a damn thing. My kids have never ever watched a dvd in the car, in their minds it's not even an option. And that's how it will stay. So there.
I'm looking forward to this trip even more now after attempting a mini warm-up. It's going to be amazing. And of COURSE I'm going to blog my way across the country...seriously, you'd miss me like CRAZY if I disappeared for 3 weeks, right!?? Couldn't have that!
(I have some fantastic pictures...that I can't upload for some dumb reason...will try again tomorrow!)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Travelling light
Griffin said to Steve and I the other day, after I fixed his plastic slinky for the eight hundredth time (after Steve had declared it unfix-able,) "Mommy's amazing. Mommy can do ANYTHING."
Wow. I'm glad you think that, buddy.
Most things I can do, if not well, then at least I can give it a shot. And I'm glad that's enough in the eyes of my 4 year old.
But I'm not a very good cook, I suck at keeping the laundry folded, and I can NOT. PACK. LIGHT.
But I HAVE to pack light. This year I HAVE to.
In 5 weeks we leave on an Epic Cross Country Journey. (So epic that it needs to be capitalized, but from here on in needs to be shortened to ECCJ. Or just Epic Journey.)
(5 weeks? ACK!)
We are traveling across Canada, camping our way from Toronto to Vancouver. We are taking a truck (not ours) with a trailer (also not ours,) loaded with gear for a 3 month cross country journey from Vancouver to Toronto, that journey that we won't be on. Some of our stuff can be on it, but we will be on a plane back to Toronto, with one bag each, and car seats, and a stroller. And maybe some of our camping gear...because we need it when we get back.
Oh, and there's the nearly 5 year old. And a year and a half year old too. (No dog. Phewf.)
I think this year, I best LEARN how to pack light. We're off in the next few days for a jaunt to Ottawa. Next weekend we're going camping...Steve will miss the packing and the setting up part of that...that'll just be me and the kids. After that then there is the family reunion/camping trip. And then the Epic Journey. And then another camping trip when we get back from the Epic Journey.
Holy eff.
So instead of packing light, which I should be doing right now, I'm blogging about packing light, because I'm really not sure how to get started with it. I LOVE being that girl, who when someone laments "oh, we should have brought the 'X'," leans over and pulls an 'X' out of the nearest Rubbermaid.
I suppose I best get over that.
Can you help? Are you a packer of light things? Do you have RULES? If so, I need to know what they ARE! And just how exactly you manage it with children in tow?
Wow. I'm glad you think that, buddy.
Most things I can do, if not well, then at least I can give it a shot. And I'm glad that's enough in the eyes of my 4 year old.
But I'm not a very good cook, I suck at keeping the laundry folded, and I can NOT. PACK. LIGHT.
But I HAVE to pack light. This year I HAVE to.
In 5 weeks we leave on an Epic Cross Country Journey. (So epic that it needs to be capitalized, but from here on in needs to be shortened to ECCJ. Or just Epic Journey.)
(5 weeks? ACK!)
We are traveling across Canada, camping our way from Toronto to Vancouver. We are taking a truck (not ours) with a trailer (also not ours,) loaded with gear for a 3 month cross country journey from Vancouver to Toronto, that journey that we won't be on. Some of our stuff can be on it, but we will be on a plane back to Toronto, with one bag each, and car seats, and a stroller. And maybe some of our camping gear...because we need it when we get back.
Oh, and there's the nearly 5 year old. And a year and a half year old too. (No dog. Phewf.)
I think this year, I best LEARN how to pack light. We're off in the next few days for a jaunt to Ottawa. Next weekend we're going camping...Steve will miss the packing and the setting up part of that...that'll just be me and the kids. After that then there is the family reunion/camping trip. And then the Epic Journey. And then another camping trip when we get back from the Epic Journey.
Holy eff.
So instead of packing light, which I should be doing right now, I'm blogging about packing light, because I'm really not sure how to get started with it. I LOVE being that girl, who when someone laments "oh, we should have brought the 'X'," leans over and pulls an 'X' out of the nearest Rubbermaid.
I suppose I best get over that.
Can you help? Are you a packer of light things? Do you have RULES? If so, I need to know what they ARE! And just how exactly you manage it with children in tow?
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Next Summer's Adventures
Now that the summer is over (it is, it really is) I'm starting to think about next summer.
Next summer, we are planning an EPIC adventure.
EPIC I tell you.
We are driving from here:
To here:
That's right, peeps, across the frigging COUNTRY, from The Roof to Vancouver Island. We have a final destination, a sweet lodge where we will spend a week with Steve's family, celebrating his parents 50th wedding anniversary.
But this trip is going to be just as much about the journey, as it is the destination.
We're doing it slow, we have more than 2 weeks to get there, which leaves plenty of time for...well...just about anything!
So, here's my question to you, oh smarter-than-me ones:
Where should we go? Where should we stop on the way? Do you know any amazingly scenic stuffs that we MUST see on the way there? And hey, do YOU live somewhere on the way? Do you have a nice place for us to stop, potentially drop off a 4 year old, or a 18 month old for a week or three, just incase the car ride drives them (or more likely, us) INSANE??
Please, do tell!
(My one inexplicable but very real dream is to stop somewhere in Montana for a day or two and spend a day on a ranch. Like a REAL ranch. Ride a horse, rope a cowboy, whatever it is they do in Montana these days. Anyone got a ranch I can come hang on?)
It's the Life On The Roof Cross Country Odyssey...help me make it awesome!
Next summer, we are planning an EPIC adventure.
EPIC I tell you.
We are driving from here:
To here:
That's right, peeps, across the frigging COUNTRY, from The Roof to Vancouver Island. We have a final destination, a sweet lodge where we will spend a week with Steve's family, celebrating his parents 50th wedding anniversary. But this trip is going to be just as much about the journey, as it is the destination.
We're doing it slow, we have more than 2 weeks to get there, which leaves plenty of time for...well...just about anything!
So, here's my question to you, oh smarter-than-me ones:
Where should we go? Where should we stop on the way? Do you know any amazingly scenic stuffs that we MUST see on the way there? And hey, do YOU live somewhere on the way? Do you have a nice place for us to stop, potentially drop off a 4 year old, or a 18 month old for a week or three, just incase the car ride drives them (or more likely, us) INSANE??
Please, do tell!
(My one inexplicable but very real dream is to stop somewhere in Montana for a day or two and spend a day on a ranch. Like a REAL ranch. Ride a horse, rope a cowboy, whatever it is they do in Montana these days. Anyone got a ranch I can come hang on?)
It's the Life On The Roof Cross Country Odyssey...help me make it awesome!
Monday, September 06, 2010
One last Kamp-out
Remember this past week, when it was so hot we were doing this:
And hanging out after dinner with no clothes on:
Well sometime between then and this weekend, someone turned the summer switch to "off" and the fall switch to "on." (Could have been that damned Earl.)
A month or so back, I had decided that I wanted on last kick at the camping can before summer was out. Being the intelligent woman that I am, however, I booked us a Cabin (Oh, sorry, a KABIN) at a KOA not too far from here instead of being all intrepid and heading into the bush. Lucky for us, too. Because it was EFFING cold this weekend, not to mention the rain, and the thunderstorms, and the wind.
However, didn't bother us none, we were all kozy and kuddled up in our kabin:
We emerged on occasion for walks, wagon rides, and the occasional porch snooze.
AND, lets not forget, to celebrate a very important someone's FOURTH birthday!
I scoffed at the pizza place just outside the campground gates, that DELIVERED to your site when we arrived, but it came in handy when it was time to cook birthday dinner in the pouring rain. The birthday boy was thrilled with pizza for dinner, not to mention CUPCAKES! With DINOSAURS!!
It was a sweater on, sweater off, umbrella up, umbrella down, everybody inside, everybody get out kind of weekend, with the weather changing as fast as you could keep up. But it was pretty great none the less, especially with this little beauty arriving shortly after the big 0-4 birthday dinner:
We were smart and jumped in the pool as soon as we got there on Friday afternoon, which would prove to be our last chance at a swim, so I'm glad we did it. Corben also took the chance to projectile vomit all over himself and me, but as I found out, there's really no better place to be vomited on than in a pool. A little splishy splashy and everyone is clean again, or at least clean enough for camping! The chlorine kills anything that may be lingering, and we carry on with our day (feeling glad that we were the only ones in the pool at the time!)
The rain stopped long enough for us to finally manage a campfire on Sunday night, likely the last of the season for the kiddos.
While I'm not really big on the whole "feel" of the KOA parks (it feels like a bit of a competition to see who has the biggest trailer and the most obnoxious patio lanterns,) it's really great for the kids, and the cabin kabin really was the perfect solution for us this weekend.
And hanging out after dinner with no clothes on:
Well sometime between then and this weekend, someone turned the summer switch to "off" and the fall switch to "on." (Could have been that damned Earl.)A month or so back, I had decided that I wanted on last kick at the camping can before summer was out. Being the intelligent woman that I am, however, I booked us a Cabin (Oh, sorry, a KABIN) at a KOA not too far from here instead of being all intrepid and heading into the bush. Lucky for us, too. Because it was EFFING cold this weekend, not to mention the rain, and the thunderstorms, and the wind.
However, didn't bother us none, we were all kozy and kuddled up in our kabin:
We emerged on occasion for walks, wagon rides, and the occasional porch snooze.
AND, lets not forget, to celebrate a very important someone's FOURTH birthday!
I scoffed at the pizza place just outside the campground gates, that DELIVERED to your site when we arrived, but it came in handy when it was time to cook birthday dinner in the pouring rain. The birthday boy was thrilled with pizza for dinner, not to mention CUPCAKES! With DINOSAURS!!
It was a sweater on, sweater off, umbrella up, umbrella down, everybody inside, everybody get out kind of weekend, with the weather changing as fast as you could keep up. But it was pretty great none the less, especially with this little beauty arriving shortly after the big 0-4 birthday dinner:
We were smart and jumped in the pool as soon as we got there on Friday afternoon, which would prove to be our last chance at a swim, so I'm glad we did it. Corben also took the chance to projectile vomit all over himself and me, but as I found out, there's really no better place to be vomited on than in a pool. A little splishy splashy and everyone is clean again, or at least clean enough for camping! The chlorine kills anything that may be lingering, and we carry on with our day (feeling glad that we were the only ones in the pool at the time!)The rain stopped long enough for us to finally manage a campfire on Sunday night, likely the last of the season for the kiddos.
While I'm not really big on the whole "feel" of the KOA parks (it feels like a bit of a competition to see who has the biggest trailer and the most obnoxious patio lanterns,) it's really great for the kids, and the 
Friday, August 27, 2010
Cottage Success
After reading about a bajillion listings, (and knowing how easy it is to make something sound better than it is after our forray into the housing market this past spring) it was a bit of a crapshoot:
"Waterfront Cottage near Trent-Severn Waterway. 1200sq/ft modernized, fresh painted cottage/home, with a great cozy cottage feel. Beautifully maintained 1 acre lawn/mature trees in a very very private setting."
Turns out, we TOTALLY lucked out:
The abode:
From the dock (1 of 2):
Oh yeah, baby! Now that's what I call a sunset!
Our "front lawn":
Wonderful holiday week at the cottage: check.
Laundry: pending.
Will be back with more pictures soon, right after I crawl into my very own bed (ain't nothing like it!) and have a good nights sleep. (CAN YOU HEAR ME, CORBEN?????)
It's nice to be home!
"Waterfront Cottage near Trent-Severn Waterway. 1200sq/ft modernized, fresh painted cottage/home, with a great cozy cottage feel. Beautifully maintained 1 acre lawn/mature trees in a very very private setting."
Turns out, we TOTALLY lucked out:
The abode:
From the dock (1 of 2):
Oh yeah, baby! Now that's what I call a sunset!
Our "front lawn":
Wonderful holiday week at the cottage: check.Laundry: pending.
Will be back with more pictures soon, right after I crawl into my very own bed (ain't nothing like it!) and have a good nights sleep. (CAN YOU HEAR ME, CORBEN?????)
It's nice to be home!
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
A Camping We Will Go
Our miniature camping trip this year was a roaring success. There was no barfing in brand new cars, or torrential downpours like last year. The only drag this year was that Steve had to work on Friday and Monday, so I had to set up (and tear down) camp by myself. And when I say by myself, I wasn't actually alone - I had the baby of the house with me, and the three year old that stayed up until 10:30pm the night before to watch fireworks. (Note to self: over-tired three year olds do not make good helpers. They do not make good ANYTHING!)
We spent a good amount of time at the wickedly wonderful 1 acre wading pool at the park. Sadly the lake was closed (as much as you can "close a lake") due to high bacteria levels, so the pool was insanely busy, but we had a blast none the less. 
It's great to watch Griffin get older and be able to hang out with his buddies and be silly and play together independently. Of course, there's always the occasional tussle to referee, but when everyone is well fed (and well napped) they get along famously and can play well together for hours. Which, in turn, increases the parental relaxation scale. Everybody wins.
Corben is a born camper. He sat around, watched. Ate. Slept. Pooped. Got naked. Hardly fussed, despite the fact that he's trying to cut that second tooth (Gawd, his poor gums are SO red!) He was great! Corben jumps it up, camp style:
We decided early on in the season to do just a little camp trip this year, because we've rented a cottage for later on in the summer with some other friends. We thought it would be easier than camping with the lot of us, and for $300 per couple, we've got a cottage on the shore of Rice Lake for an entire week, with room for everyone (including the 5 children we'll have between us.) I'll miss our traditional week in the bush, but this weekend was more than lovely, and I'm very much looking forward to our cottage week on the lake!
(Don't forget comments between now and whenever that post counter hits 1000 will be eligible for a super sweet giveaway...this is number 996!)
We spent a good amount of time at the wickedly wonderful 1 acre wading pool at the park. Sadly the lake was closed (as much as you can "close a lake") due to high bacteria levels, so the pool was insanely busy, but we had a blast none the less. 
It's great to watch Griffin get older and be able to hang out with his buddies and be silly and play together independently. Of course, there's always the occasional tussle to referee, but when everyone is well fed (and well napped) they get along famously and can play well together for hours. Which, in turn, increases the parental relaxation scale. Everybody wins.
Corben is a born camper. He sat around, watched. Ate. Slept. Pooped. Got naked. Hardly fussed, despite the fact that he's trying to cut that second tooth (Gawd, his poor gums are SO red!) He was great! Corben jumps it up, camp style:
We decided early on in the season to do just a little camp trip this year, because we've rented a cottage for later on in the summer with some other friends. We thought it would be easier than camping with the lot of us, and for $300 per couple, we've got a cottage on the shore of Rice Lake for an entire week, with room for everyone (including the 5 children we'll have between us.) I'll miss our traditional week in the bush, but this weekend was more than lovely, and I'm very much looking forward to our cottage week on the lake!(Don't forget comments between now and whenever that post counter hits 1000 will be eligible for a super sweet giveaway...this is number 996!)
Monday, July 05, 2010
Home
Hello in there! We're home. We're sunburned, bug bitten, sweaty, and happy. And once I make a dent in the laundry pile I'll be back to tell you all about it!
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Canada Day in Pictures
Ontario Place. Water fun. Fireworks. Sunburns. Tired children. Tired Mamas. That's all!
Hope you had a lovely Canada Day, we sure did!
Hope you had a lovely Canada Day, we sure did!
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