July 19, 2009

Summer Vacation

So far we have had some good times this summer. Despite the extremely non-summer like weather, we have managed to have some fun.

We started our summer off by taking a trip to Chatham. I wanted to do this for a couple of reasons. One, Leah is at the age where she is starting to appreciate the "little things". This visit gave me the chance to show her where I went to high school, the house that I lived in and even the fun places I used to go when I was younger. Two, we were able to meet up with some good family friends of mine which meant a lot to me for them to meet my children (they already met Chris before we were married). And three, we also stayed at the Wheels Inn. I used to work there when I was in high school so that was fun too. When I decided to organize this getaway, it came to my attention that the Wheels Inn was closing at the end of June, so this made it a definite booking.

We did a little bit of touring around the city after we got settled into our room. At first I wasn't sure if I would remember how to get from point A to point B because I hadn't been back in about 8 or 9 years. It all came back to me as soon as I started driving around. I showed them my high school, our old house and of course the Cone and Shake Shop (a favourite ice cream place of mine and my great friend Jen). The remainder of the weekend was spent at the hotel. The hotel has (or had now I guess) a mini indoor amusement park, waterslides and mini golf so the kids were sure to enjoy themselves.
When school finished up at the end of June, Leah went and spent a couple of weeks with my parents in Sault Ste. Marie. They camped in Thessalon, did some swimming both in Lake Huron and at the Queen Elizabeth pool. The visited with friends and family and made strawberry jam too. Is is the fourth summer now that Leah has gone away with my parents and she has a great time each time she goes. Her visit was extended last summer from one week to two and it always goes over the Canada Day long weekend. So where ever they are they always take in some Canada Day festivities.

So while Leah was away for two weeks, Caleb received some undivided attention from Mommy and Daddy. He really likes being outdoors. He loves to kick the soccer ball around, play on the swings, go to the park, and play road hockey so we decided to buy him a basketball net. He loves it. Every morning when he wakes up he want to go out and shoot some hoops. He is going to turn into a star athlete in something I am sure.
Next weekend I am headed out of town for a well-deserved, mommy-is-going-away-without-children holiday. I am headed down to Toronto to see and spend some time with my friend Jen. We have pedicures already booked for Saturday morning and we will see where the weekend takes us from there.
We are going to Thessalon for the long weekend in August where Caleb is going to get his chance to "go campin" with Gramma and Papa. It will only be for one night, but atleast he get his turn. Leah will stay with my parents again for another week as well.
Chris has a golf weekend lined up with some buddies of his. They are going to Lake Placid to watch some junior hockey and take in as much golf as they can in three days.
And we definitely can't forget the 3rd Annual Luau on Aberdeen. Our good friends and neighbours, Shawn and Patti put on a good party each summer. This is always a great time.
So then summer is pretty much over. Unbelievable! Back to school gets into full swing. I hope to do one more activity with the kids before August ends. Maybe the Toronto Zoo or perhaps Santa's Village.
Hope you are all enjoying your summer as well. I am having a difficult time uploading pictures to this post so visit my facebook page where I have posted them there.
Take care and I hope to blog again soon.


July 6, 2009

Rant of the Day

As you are aware, Tim Horton's offers breakfast sandwiches on their menu in which you have the choice of either bacon or sausage. My personal favourite is the Bagel B.E.L.T. less the E. I am not a big fan of eggs ever since I was about 10 years old or so. So when I place my order I always ask for it without the egg. Below is a usual conversation I would have at the drive thru when ordering the B.E.L.T.

Me: "I'd like a large two milk, one sugar and a Bagel B.E.L.T. with no egg."

Drive thru Attendent: "Would that be with bacon or sausage?"

Me: "Ahhhh bacon? (I thought the B in BELT stood for bacon? No? This comment is usually under my breath)"

Drive thru Attendent: "So that is a bacon breakfast sandwich?"

Me: "No, a bagel BELT with no egg."

Drive thru Attendent: "So, you would like a BLT Sandwich? White or Whole Wheat?"

Me: "No, a bagel BELT with no egg."

Please tell me, am I doing something wrong here? I don't understand what is so out of this world that the Drive Thru Attendent doesn't get what I mean or what I am ordering. It is simple....A Bagel BELT with no egg.........

Should I be saying something different?

June 1, 2009

June B-days/Anniversaries

Mel Herrington - 1st
Lee Anne (me) - 5th
Rayna Bethune - 17th
Ken and Nancy McClelland - Anniversary - 28th
Sandra Northrup - 29th
Josh King - 30th

Happy Birthday/Anniversary everyone!

May 31, 2009

Missing in Action

Ya, so I haven't blogged in forever and with the month of June beginning tomorrow, I thought I should get back at 'er. May has been hectic to say the least. Leah and Chris returned home safely from their trip to Alberta. Leah had a great time and very much enjoyed the airplane ride. As you may recall this was Leah's first time on a plane. I think I was more nervous about it than she was. Chris really enjoyed showing her around his home town and their visit with Gramma Ingrid and Bob went well too.

Mother's Day came and went. Let's just say that Chris is going to be one busy dude on Father's Day. Enough said.

The following weekend was Mama's turn to get away. Jen, my really good friend from high school, and I went to New York City for the weekend. This event had been scheduled since October in anticipation of our 35th birthdays. Jen's in April and mine coming up this month. We had a great time! Beautiful hotel, lots of walking, show on Broadway and plenty of great shopping. After we checked into our hotel room on Friday night, we walked to Times Square and found an outstanding Italian Restaurant. Way too much food, but it was really great. At first, I was quite overwhelmed with the large abundance of people EVERYWHERE, but that soon wore off. Saturday was basically reserved for shopping. We walked to the Empire State Building and then went shopping from there. We hit some really great stores, had a nice lunch and walked and walked and walked some more. Later in the evening we got tickets to Avenue Q which was a very funny show on Broadway. Sunday we shopped some more on our way to Central Park. We strolled through park, had a coffee and then stopped in at Serendipity for a light lunch and of course dessert. The best strawberry cheesecake sundae I have ever had! For dinner we decided to venture away from the hustle and bustle and went to a Spanish Cafe in Greewich Village. Stuffed lobster tails, wine, and all was fine! We returned to the hotel early so we could pack up our stuff, as we had to leave to the airport early the next morning. My legs were sooooo sore from all the walking (you can tell who wasn't in shape). What a weekend! Thanks Jen for an outstanding girls weekend. Can't wait to do it again.

So now that I am back to reality...we have been busy around the house and the yard trying to get things cleaned up and brought out of the garage for summer. We cleaned up all the brush from behind the garage in anticipation of putting a small shed back there. This shed will hold all our yard tools, such as lawn mower, snow blower, rakes, shovels etc. This should give us much more room in the garage for our bikes, wagon and of course Chris' stinky hockey gear.

This weekend was supposed to be a continuation of the last couple, but when we woke up to snow covered grass, things didn't get done as I would have liked. Yes, you heard me right, SNOW! I just finished cleaning and tidying the trunk of my car which consisted of throwing the snow brush to the very back. I didn't think that I would have to use it on May 31st, but there I was digging it out so I could clear the mounds of accumulated snow off my car. Will Summer ever arrive? This is getting a bit ridiculous.

Work is still crazy busy. Sometimes I wonder if we will ever get things caught up. I still have stuff to file away from our year end which was October 31st. Yikes! It is stuff like this that there never seems to be enough time for. Filing? What is that?

So amungst the crazy busy work weeks and the busy running around weekends, there really hasn't been much time to sit down and blog. I hope to get back in a rountine of at least a few good posts each month.