End of the week...

So much accomplished this week. Dentist appointments? Check. Chiro appointment? Check. Haircut? Check. Powerskating done? Check. Swimming lessons done? Check. School supplies bought (including running shoes)? Check.

 

Check. Check. Check!

(Big relief to finally find a pair of size 2 running shoes that the Maxter liked and fit well. I left it a bit too late. Sportchek was sold out of size two in anything remotely acceptable. I accidentally happened upon the Shoeper Store and had success. Got the last size two in these Saucony's and Max is thrilled.So is his mama! Whew.)

 

Isaiah was over to play with Max one afternoon this week. Oh a whim, I sent them out on the trampoline with a bowl of water balloons.

 

Total Success.

 

It kept them entertained ALL AFTERNOON!

 

The secret is to use thick/good quality balloons. Do not fill them near capacity with water. This will make them very hard to break. So it turned into a bit of a battle for the two of them to get them to break and provided hours of fun.

 

 

 

(I made a quick escape after this photo to avoid being hit with the balloon from Max!)

 

And a glimpse of daily swimming lessons:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend we had initially planned to go camping. It didn't work out as planned and that's ok so we'll be sticking around home. Tim & Anna and the twins will be coming over tomorrow afternoon/evening and we are looking forward to that.  Tent camping might occur in the backyard with Keith and Max at some point over the weekend. And I've heard rumours that the fire ban is back on?....I need to check that out. If it isn't on yet, I'm sure it's going to be shortly.

 

One more week left before we hit that back-to-school week. Better get making my lists and checking them twice! :)

 

One of those "best days ever"...

I think that this past Sunday was one of those days that will stick out in my mind as one of the best days of the summer. Our camping vacation in PEI will def go down in history as our best summer camping trip of 2012, for sure. In fact, I think it's a safe bet to say that it was the best camping trip we've had, since moving back to Ontario. But when I look back over the days of summer, this day.....it was a good one.

We, very very spur of the moment/last minute decided to take in a Toronto Blue Jays Baseball game. We didn't have much time to spare by the time we decided to go. Max grabbed his baseball glove and we poured our coffee into travel mugs and away we went.  Bought our tickets from a scalper on the street as we were walking from our parking spot to the stadium. Somehow we scored amazing seats. Neither Keith nor I have ever been this close to the field.

The game itself was terrible. I don't even know the final score....something like 10 - 2 for the Texas Rangers. We barely recognized any of the Jays players...most of them seem to be disabled right now. But. The seats we had made it all worth while. Everything is much more interesting when you are sitting so close to the field.

Had I known how good our seats were, I would have lugged my camera with me. Dang! As it was, I left it at home so iphone photos are as good as it gets.  It was a beautiful hot and sunny day. We had very nice people sitting around us this time. Which I was so glad about. Of course, there are always a couple of "interesting" individuals thrown in the mix...but no one rude or obnoxious so that was good. The only downpart to the afternoon was that Max was not himself at all. After it was over he told us he had a really bad headache that was just pounding. He slept on the drive home. When we got home, I checked his temperature and it was 100.4. And he had a sorethroat. The poor guy. No wonder he had just sat there and hadn't acted like himself. I felt terrible that he had been feeling so terrible the whole time. He must have come down with it during the game and it just got progressively worse.

As soon as we arrived home, I gave Max some Advil. It didn't take long for it to kick in and he was feeling just fine. Fine enough that he wanted to roast hotdogs, have a campfire and make some s'mores. So that's exactly what we did!

Mmmmm!

A perfect day. Lovely weather and a fun event to attend (minus the fact that our little boy wasn't feeling the greatest) and then skipping out of Toronto (not a fan of that city whatsoever) and getting back home at a decent time to enjoy a lovely campfire (and dinner!) in the backyard. AWESOME!  A big thankyou to my VERY AWESOME honey for driving in that crazy traffic and then getting us back home so we could have a relaxing evening to just chill together.  AWESOMENESS ALL AROUND!

Catching up

Summer blogging is getting away on me....August in particular. So a quick roundup of random photos to show what we've been up to the past couple of weeks since our return from PEI.

Chocolate chip cookies from Meme's:

Any summer afternoon is the perfect excuse to share a chocolate chip cookie from that little shop. They are def the bomb.com! We have tried their ginger molasses cookie. Truthfully, it's not that great. Really disappointing actually. (We'll stick with the Starbucks ginger cookie.) But the chocolate chip? Mmmmm....it's a winner!

This past week, (and all of next week) our mornings are spent at the Wilmot Rec Complex. 8:00 is Powerskating. 10:00am is swimming (level 5). We go home for the hour in between for some breakfast and a bit of relaxing time.

Lousy (too far away) iphone photos:

For the two weeks of powerskating, our dining room looks like this:

(Much to the horror of Vanessa who can't believe we use our dining room for airing out hockey equipment.) Ahhhh well. We do and that's that!

I think I've successfully managed to kill most of our plants this year. I tried to keep up with watering. But. But.... But.........  I didn't do any liquid fertilizers. And we were gone part of the time. And well. It's life.  Fortunately, my ferns on the front porch have not disappointed me. They are full and green and thriving. And that's what everyone can see when they drive/walk by. So just don't venture into the back yard and it will all be good.

Max's tomato plants are doing pretty well. We can't keep up eating what they are producing. Our little chipmunk friend is helping us out on that end. We have seen him nibble and scurry off with some of the little cherry tomatoes.

Up until a few days ago, our front porch held the reminders of an ocean beach vacation. Beachcombed treasures...shells, rocks, beachglass...

We have a collection on our coffee table. Each year over the course of the summer, we add and subtract and keep the best of the best.

I spy.....beachglass from PEI, a unique stick in the shape of an "X" found in our woods, a gold rock from Northern Ontario, shells from Tofino, slate rocks from Nova Scotia, painted sparkly shells from the west coast, dried seaweed stuff from the Bay of Fundy...etc.

We missed most of the Summer Olympics because we were gone on vacation camping. No TV in sight. We did catch the tail end and I hung up a few decorations in the basement as we cheered on and supported the Canadian athletes:

I think one of my favourite things about the Olympics is the possibilties and inspiration it provides to kids. I notice it with Max. He is so excited and inspired and his goals and dreams right now are to participate in the summer and winter olympics....he would like to do running events and hockey and fencing and beach volleyball and....ohhhhh, the possibilities are seemingly endless. Dream big young man, dream big! :)

Very seriously, he asked me the other day if I would come to the Olympics to watch him? I assured him up and down that I would be in the front row and wouldn't miss it. Then he wondered if dad would be able to get off work and come too? Yes...without a doubt...he'd get off work and be there too.   :)

Lego has been scattered across the main floor of the house all summer long...

We found a quick and simple craft to do in one of his magazines. Making a Neck Relaxer.

Get a sock. Fill it half way with rice. Tie a knot in the end. Heat in the microwave for a minute.

Place around your neck. Ahhhhhhhh!

Keith was a bit taken back when he saw we had used one of his nice black dress socks to make this. We quickly assured him that the only reason we used it was because the mate was missing and had been missing for a long time so it was getting ready to be tossed.

Playing lots and lots of UNO in the evenings....somehow it always seems to turn into the boys vs. the girl in this family. Why is that?!

UNO has been recently replaced with Pass The Pigs.

Someone planted an apple tree (using apple seeds). There is a sign to remind everyone where it is and that the lawn mower doesn't mow over it. And plans have been made to put a little plastic container over top of it in the winter to protect it from the snow. I love little boys and how they think! :)

This past Friday Max got this notion in his head about baking a chocolate cake. He pulled out a cookbook (My Sisters Recipes) and went to the cake section and started reading and searching for the perfect cake to bake. Of course, he chose the hardest one. Mom's Chocolate Cake. And it did not turn out at all. I think we might need to hop on a plane and visit Juli's mama for some cake baking lessons. It did taste very very good mind you. The icing just did not turn out... it never hardened. So it turned into more of a chocolate sauce perfect for pouring over icecream. In the end it was the most delicious tasting flop we've ever enjoyed at this house!

Caught in the act....

modelling our girl and boy aprons...

The finished product. Complete with "Welcome Home" flags for Keith who was arriving later that night from a week of westward business travel.

Keith arrived home Friday evening just in time to have a little campfire in the back yard. Our first of the season here at home. Seriously. We've had a fire ban for almost the entire summer it seems.

Other happenings included an afternoon of playing time with Galen and a surprise 40th birthday party for Danny Jantzi. (Who was all too suspicious and not overly surprised!) Sadly, there were two Mapleview funerals within days of each other - Eva Gerber and Raymond Wagler. I went to my very first Epicure Party ever at Emmalene's. I've been invited to lots and have placed many orders. I just have never actually been to a tasting party. So fun! So delicious! I just might have my own in September! :) There were trips to the library. A trip to Walmart on a rainy afternoon to get everything on the "back to school" supply list. We just need another pair of running shoes yet and Max will be set.  There was a fun afternoon on the farm with Grandpa and Uncle Chad. Apparently it was all quite exciting because of a farm cat who made the unfortunate decision to visit the new chicks in the upstairs of the barn and turned it into a bit of a buffet. 20 chicks later. Not a happy grandpa! Vanessa snapped this photo with her phone of Max and Wyatt playing with a cat (not the bad cat) and sent it to me for an update during the afternoon so I could see how farming was progressing!

Aunt Vanessa came over for a sleepover one night and Max got to see how the trundle bed works in real life for having sleepovers. He thought it was pretty cool. I didn't get any pics of them but I do have some from a couple of weeks ago when he was trying out the trundle and fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon!

Oh wait. I do have a photo of Vanessa. At 10:30pm she was raiding my closet and finding treasures to take home with her....this mauve skirt and pair of cream shoes ended up going home with her....on the condition that if/when I want to borrow them back, I may. I suppose it's only fair, as I was raiding her closet earlier this summer and found a lovely little skirt that went home with me. That's what sisters are for!  :)

And finally, I'll end this post with photos of the Gardeners Extraordinaire. My parents.

Their gardening boggles the mind. Not just my mind. But lots of minds! :)  They love it and the size of their vegetable gardens prove that. Such hard workers they are. Max and I stopped by one afternoon last week and I snapped a few photos. Which do no justice whatsoever. I plan to go back some evening and take some more when the lighting isn't so direct and harsh. I'm sure they will love that I'm back with my camera! :)

 (Max was in slingshot heaven. He brought it along and set up a target to practice with.)

  

And that's it. Two weeks wrapped up just like that.