School starts in 5 business days (one week). Wow, summer went by fast!
Today was the last warm summer day in the forecast before school so we went to the beach. We tried to go to that private beach that we all love but they were closed for an event (probably some dumb Big Software Company department event - the nerve!) so we headed up to another city beach that is nice but the parking sucks! And of course it was packed today but the kids still had a great time. Cars was supposed to pass a swim test before he was allowed to jump off the dock but he was so worried about the swim test that he gave up before he started (plus, he explained, he forgot his goggles). Anyway, about 30 minutes later he just started jumping off the dock and none of the lifeguards were concerned about his swimming because they let him keep jumping.
I ended up with an extra kid for part of the time we were there which was fine because he is a great kid and my kids get along really well with him. I drove him home and then we went home to shower. Afterwards, I took my kids to the skate park while I perused the Farmers' Market. I bought a dozen organic eggs because it seems that none of the Safeway ones are safe at the moment (included in the billion eggs recall). It was hot so after the kids skated for a while we all bought shaved ice and found some shade to sit in to eat it. It was close to 8pm and closing time so we left and went to Safeway to pick up something for dinner.
It was such a fun day. I hope the kids thought so too.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Summer o'Fun 2010 End of days
I have lost track of where we are. That happens when one does not blahg everyday.
Anyway, we went away on vacation last week and had a blast! We stayed in the beach house which was very much a beach house (read nothing fancy about it). It was very clean though and we could not beat the location.
We spent much of our time in the water. Southern California has experienced the coldest summer in like 100 years so the water was pretty chilly so we rented wetsuits so we could stay in the water for more than a few minutes at a time. The kids boogie boarded much of the time and played in the sand. We also hired two surfers and had two surfing lessons. What a load of fun that was! Hard for the adults but super easy for the kids. They put us to shame! I was able to get up twice - and once for more than a fraction of a second.
We also hit Legoland for 1 1/2 days. I am so glad we went this year and did not wait another year because Jax would have just been a little too old to go. It is definitely geared towards younger children but that's ok because they all cleared out around dinner time and so the lines were super short from then until closing.
We went with another family which, for the most part, worked out. The only things I think was a bit of a problem were meal times. We tend to eat more on a schedule and sit down as a family and they don't, or at least did not seem to do so while on vacation. We often would be eating dinner at 7:30 or 8pm (or later) which was a little bothersome to me. But overall it was a great experience and I would not hesitate to go away with them again (and hopefully they feel the same about us).
Now we are gearing up for school. Jax has his school "business day" tomorrow which includes many things (like school photos already!!). Then on Thursday there is a meet'n'greet for Dex and Cars' teachers. School starts on Wednesday of next week and I hate that it is before Labour Day. Also, even though it is a Wednesday, it is not an early dismissal day which I think will just screw everyone up! Oh well...
I took the kids shopping for shoes today and they are all 1-2 sizes larger than what they are currently wearing! Famous Footwear had a great sale on and I was able to get six pairs of name-brand shoes for them for under $200. Wow!
Now I need to run and fill in a billion forms for Jax for tomorrow. And write cheque after cheque. And so it starts...
Anyway, we went away on vacation last week and had a blast! We stayed in the beach house which was very much a beach house (read nothing fancy about it). It was very clean though and we could not beat the location.
We spent much of our time in the water. Southern California has experienced the coldest summer in like 100 years so the water was pretty chilly so we rented wetsuits so we could stay in the water for more than a few minutes at a time. The kids boogie boarded much of the time and played in the sand. We also hired two surfers and had two surfing lessons. What a load of fun that was! Hard for the adults but super easy for the kids. They put us to shame! I was able to get up twice - and once for more than a fraction of a second.
We also hit Legoland for 1 1/2 days. I am so glad we went this year and did not wait another year because Jax would have just been a little too old to go. It is definitely geared towards younger children but that's ok because they all cleared out around dinner time and so the lines were super short from then until closing.
We went with another family which, for the most part, worked out. The only things I think was a bit of a problem were meal times. We tend to eat more on a schedule and sit down as a family and they don't, or at least did not seem to do so while on vacation. We often would be eating dinner at 7:30 or 8pm (or later) which was a little bothersome to me. But overall it was a great experience and I would not hesitate to go away with them again (and hopefully they feel the same about us).
Now we are gearing up for school. Jax has his school "business day" tomorrow which includes many things (like school photos already!!). Then on Thursday there is a meet'n'greet for Dex and Cars' teachers. School starts on Wednesday of next week and I hate that it is before Labour Day. Also, even though it is a Wednesday, it is not an early dismissal day which I think will just screw everyone up! Oh well...
I took the kids shopping for shoes today and they are all 1-2 sizes larger than what they are currently wearing! Famous Footwear had a great sale on and I was able to get six pairs of name-brand shoes for them for under $200. Wow!
Now I need to run and fill in a billion forms for Jax for tomorrow. And write cheque after cheque. And so it starts...
Friday, August 13, 2010
Summer o'Fun 2010 Day 42
Today we have spent the day getting ready for our trip to California. I am very excited about it for a number of reasons.
First of all, I have never been to California before, so this will be exciting! We have rented a beach house with another family.
My kids are really excited to go. We are going to do some touristy things but hopefully we'll just hang out around the ocean, maybe do some boogie boarding and perhaps some surfing lessons.
I am also excited because we are flying and it is not a 5+ hour flight! Mostly we only ever fly to Toronto to visit family (so a long INTERNATIONAL flight). And then last year we took that wonderful vacation to Hawaii but it was a very long flight too. This one is about 2.5 hours so no packing extra meals in case the airplane food is not safe. This may seem like not a big deal but it is when I have to worry about 4 people (Stephen is on his own). And, we can pack FRUIT - which is a huge no-no when you travel internationally.
And two days ago was Summer o'Fun Day 40
We celebrated Cars' 7th birthday with a party at a trampoline place (Dex had his birthday there in June). Cars had so much fun running and bouncing and jumping and playing dodgeball. It was great! What wasn't so great was that it was warm (imagine, warm in August) so the icing melted (just like last year. The difference was this year I made a layer cake so when the icing melted in the car on the drive to the trampoline place, the top layer of the cake slid off the bottom and we had a cake disaster!
But the kids said it still tasted good and they had so much fun so I guess the Martha Stewart in me can let it go. Next year, no layer cakes! And definitely I will make room in the freezer to keep the cakes frozen until a couple of hours before we are ready to serve it.
And I will add that earlier in the day on Wednesday, I had the babysitter come and I went canoeing with a friend on the lake so I could gawk at all of the big homes. Ok, she owns a big home on the lake and had just moved there in May. It was a lot of fun (and a good workout!).
First of all, I have never been to California before, so this will be exciting! We have rented a beach house with another family.
My kids are really excited to go. We are going to do some touristy things but hopefully we'll just hang out around the ocean, maybe do some boogie boarding and perhaps some surfing lessons.
I am also excited because we are flying and it is not a 5+ hour flight! Mostly we only ever fly to Toronto to visit family (so a long INTERNATIONAL flight). And then last year we took that wonderful vacation to Hawaii but it was a very long flight too. This one is about 2.5 hours so no packing extra meals in case the airplane food is not safe. This may seem like not a big deal but it is when I have to worry about 4 people (Stephen is on his own). And, we can pack FRUIT - which is a huge no-no when you travel internationally.
And two days ago was Summer o'Fun Day 40
We celebrated Cars' 7th birthday with a party at a trampoline place (Dex had his birthday there in June). Cars had so much fun running and bouncing and jumping and playing dodgeball. It was great! What wasn't so great was that it was warm (imagine, warm in August) so the icing melted (just like last year. The difference was this year I made a layer cake so when the icing melted in the car on the drive to the trampoline place, the top layer of the cake slid off the bottom and we had a cake disaster!
But the kids said it still tasted good and they had so much fun so I guess the Martha Stewart in me can let it go. Next year, no layer cakes! And definitely I will make room in the freezer to keep the cakes frozen until a couple of hours before we are ready to serve it.
And I will add that earlier in the day on Wednesday, I had the babysitter come and I went canoeing with a friend on the lake so I could gawk at all of the big homes. Ok, she owns a big home on the lake and had just moved there in May. It was a lot of fun (and a good workout!).
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Summer o'Fun 2010 Day 36
Happy 7th Birthday to my baby! Yes, Cars is 7 today and I cannot believe it. The past 7 years really have flown by. And his birth, or rather, my postpartum depression that resulted from his his birth that gave birth to this blahg.
We went to the beach today with some friends and then out to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant (thankfully I was able to talk him out of pizza for dinner). Then we came back home for cake (lazy daisy cake) and presents. He had a fabulous day and went to be a very happy boy.
We went to the beach today with some friends and then out to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant (thankfully I was able to talk him out of pizza for dinner). Then we came back home for cake (lazy daisy cake) and presents. He had a fabulous day and went to be a very happy boy.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Summer o'Fun 2010 Day 34
Not much going on. We've just been hanging out and the kids have had some friends over. Dex really, really, really wants to have his friend A over but he never returns Dex's call. I don't know if it the kid is avoiding him or if he is just not getting the message from his parents or what! Spy once told me that his mom is the worst communicator. In fact, for Dex's b-day, A's mom asked Spy to drive A there. Then I offered to drive Spy's son and said I would take A as well. A's older brother dropped him off at my house and I drove them all to the party place. After the party, no one came to pick up A. A had no idea if his mom or brother was coming and he called his mom's cell phone and home and no one answered so I just drove him home. I don't even know if anyone was home when I dropped him off.
Anyway, so Dex had another friend over. Yesterday, Jax had a friend over too. Cars' turn I guess but his b-day is on Thursday and we are going to the beach so he will see Spy's youngest and that will have to be his playdate for the week. I have so much to do tomorrow. I moved Dex's psych appt to tomorrow so we can go to the beach Thursday. Then that interfered with his guitar lesson so that had to move. I need to get some food in the house! And Stephen crammed my car full of stuff for Goodwill that I will have to go there first thing in the morning.
We went through a few things in the garage (to go to Goodwill). One was a rubbermaid tote of my old sweaters. And I mean OLD. One was knit for my by my boyfriend's mother in 1984. It was an icelandic knit so really a "classic" style and I could probably wear it now (if I lost some weight! heh). Another was the sweater that Stephen bought me for our first Christmas together...in 1986!! It was a "shaker knit" in a marled black and turquoise. I loved that sweater! The others were 2 green angora sweaters, a fushia angora sweater, a black angora sweater with satin bows and beads appliqued on it. And one white and black wool knit wiht a houndstooth pattern. Every single one of those sweaters were at least 20 years old (most older!). They all also had shoulder pads in them!
Anyway, I had fun reminising about them as I pulled them out and put them in the Goodwill pile. I heard Dex sniffling and then I asked him what was wrong and he said he would tell me later. We went inside and he started to cry. He told me that he would never, ever, ever be able to do what I just did - get rid of the sweaters! My poor little hoarder! I asked him if he wanted the one with the bows (jokingly) and he did stop crying enough to give a little laugh and tell me is was ugly. But he was so upset thinking that he could never give something away. I am glad that his appointment is tomorrow so we can talk about it while it is still fresh.
Anyway, so Dex had another friend over. Yesterday, Jax had a friend over too. Cars' turn I guess but his b-day is on Thursday and we are going to the beach so he will see Spy's youngest and that will have to be his playdate for the week. I have so much to do tomorrow. I moved Dex's psych appt to tomorrow so we can go to the beach Thursday. Then that interfered with his guitar lesson so that had to move. I need to get some food in the house! And Stephen crammed my car full of stuff for Goodwill that I will have to go there first thing in the morning.
We went through a few things in the garage (to go to Goodwill). One was a rubbermaid tote of my old sweaters. And I mean OLD. One was knit for my by my boyfriend's mother in 1984. It was an icelandic knit so really a "classic" style and I could probably wear it now (if I lost some weight! heh). Another was the sweater that Stephen bought me for our first Christmas together...in 1986!! It was a "shaker knit" in a marled black and turquoise. I loved that sweater! The others were 2 green angora sweaters, a fushia angora sweater, a black angora sweater with satin bows and beads appliqued on it. And one white and black wool knit wiht a houndstooth pattern. Every single one of those sweaters were at least 20 years old (most older!). They all also had shoulder pads in them!
Anyway, I had fun reminising about them as I pulled them out and put them in the Goodwill pile. I heard Dex sniffling and then I asked him what was wrong and he said he would tell me later. We went inside and he started to cry. He told me that he would never, ever, ever be able to do what I just did - get rid of the sweaters! My poor little hoarder! I asked him if he wanted the one with the bows (jokingly) and he did stop crying enough to give a little laugh and tell me is was ugly. But he was so upset thinking that he could never give something away. I am glad that his appointment is tomorrow so we can talk about it while it is still fresh.
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