Beach Day

I too went back to work tonight after being off a couple of weeks...but besides the weddings, I only work one evening a week for a few hours and this is how I got to spend my daytime so I'm not complaining!

Ughhhhh

Dana and the kids went to the beach today with friends and I went back to work.....but on the way home from work, listening to the radio, they were talking about the upcoming long weekend.....yahoo!!!! I completely forgot.

Kristy's Cottage!

Well, we finally made it to my friend Kristy's parents' cottage after years of invites, a last minute date change and a broken down van. No one could believe we were going just past Ottawa for only one night, but it's amazing how a short time can feel like a long time when you fit a lot in and you're far from home.

We were only there for 2 days (one night) which will explain why we didn't stop in and visit anyone (Jen Buter) but as you can see in the photos, we certainly fit a lot in!

There was swimming and boating, lots of great food, a bon fire, a scavenger hunt, very friendly ducks at the dock, a special toad friend, and a regatta.

Now I always thought a regatta meant a boat race, but this particular regatta is an annual event at this lake and Kristy and her sister took part in it when they were kids. It's a day of swimming races, potato sack races, tug-of-war, bubble gum blowing contests (which the kids entered despite being unable to blow a bubble), three-legged races, balloon tosses and of course, what contest would be complete without some sort of controversy.

Unfortunately, it was Henry who caused the controversy, fortunately, it was only Jack who seemed to care. One of the races was to balance a potato on the back of your hand and run...the age category was 4,5 & 6 year olds. This was the youngest age category for all the races so Henry would always play at this level (even though he is only 3). However, for this race, his little hand just couldn't seem to balance a potato so he chose to hold it in his grubby paw. Well, wouldn't you know, he won first place. They were so quick to register the names of the winners that I didn't have a chance to correct this, but Jack was quite upset. I wasn't sure what to do. I have taught him that cheaters don't win. Luckily, by the time the ribbons and medals were awarded at the end, Jack had pretty much forgotten about it and was easily distracted by his own medal for first prize in the three-legged race. What kind of a message does this send?

Anyway, thank you for a wonderful time, Kristy! These are what summer memories should be!

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

Sorry, I know I'm a day late but we were away at a cottage and had no computer access.

Miss you though and hope you had a great day!

Small Wonder

For those of you who went to Maine - the show was Small Wonder....the little girl was a robot - get with it people!

Sesame Street

No one EVER remembers S.A.M. the robot and I was starting to doubt my memory...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEpvUNWN3k0

Setting a Record

I don't know if anyone in the history of blogging has ever posted this many pictures on one blog entry, but here goes...

It was a great trip we had to Maine, thank you Mom & Dad and Happy 40th Anniversary! Congratulations!




We had some beautiful weather and spent as much time on the beach as possible.

After a few days, it rained for a couple of days in a row. We took the kids to a Children's Museum that we had been to 2 years ago and it was every bit as amazing as we remembered. Henry was old enough to appreciate it this time and Bennett had a great time too.

We spent a couple of cozy days in the cottage playing games, watching tv, reading and hanging out. It was great spending so much time with my family. I really feel like I got to know Bennett better and I got to spend time with Andrew and Ali that I just don't get to spend during the busy Christmas holiday!






Our last night, we took one last beach walk and said good-bye to the ocean...we're hoping to make it an annual trip!

What a tough day, it was Shania's funeral.
Hannah and Jack really wanted to come so Jason and I took them and a friend watched Henry. There were lots of kids there all wearing their "Shania's Sunflower of Hope" t-shirts and special considerations had been made with a beading station and a craft room.
There was a wonderful sense of community, but I couldn't help imagining their family going home alone once the day was over.
It was a pretty awful experience, one I hope never to have to repeat.

We are home...

Arrived back home this evening....a very very long car ride, straight through. We all had a fantastic vacation, many more posts and pics later.

We came home a day early so we could attend Shania's funeral, she died Thursday. A friend called to tell us the news, we told the kids while we were in Maine, they had a lot of questions.

Shania's blog pretty much says it all.

Happy Birthday Connor & Michael

A day early.......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Beached Whales were beached!

Our first season is over. Today we were in the playoffs - well actually every team made it...we were to play 3 games and if we were in the top 16 teams we would move on. Our first team was a no-show - automatic 25 pts, game 2 - lost....badly......game 3 - another no-show team - another 25 pts.....Not a bad start I must say.

We made it to the next round - then in sudden death knockout - we lost - not by much but we just couldn't put it together. Dana and the kids came to cheer us on. It was a really great time and I forgot how fun volleyball is - especially in the sand.

On to next season......which starts Tuesday!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

The big 10!

Beached Whales

Our beach volleyball team, the Beached Whales finished the regular season with a record of 15-33. Not great - but on Tuesday we played great and this weekend we are in the playoffs - it's a day-long event - we play 3 games in the morning and have to make it in the top 16 of teams to continue to a sudden death knockout. Go Whales!

Save me from Myself

I'm feeling a little narcissistic...I got an ipod and joined facebook both in the last week and have spent hours on end reminiscing. It went a little too far tonight, I felt, when I found a girl I knew in grade 7 on facebook, Tracy Arsenault. I haven't talked to Tracy SINCE grade 7. I don't really understand what to do with facebook yet, but I used it to tell Tracy that I didn't in fact say mean things about her at a sleep over as Darlene King had suggested...maybe some things are better left as history wrote them!