HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!
I bought Canada shirts for the kiddos and wore red myself so we were very festive.
I also got to try out one of the bows that Anna sent to Kathryn! She looked VERY cute and she was very good about keeping the bow in her hair!
The next day, I dressed her so I could use a second bow...
And on Friday we tried out the 3rd. SO CUTE!! Thank you so much, Anna!!

Shaun hooked the stroller up to the bike for me, and I took the kids on a big adventure!!

I decided to bike, on the rail trail, to hi-berry farms. I didn't know what I was going to get, but I'm the type of person who needs a destination! So we went. I was actually surprised how easy it was to pull the trailer with the kiddos in it.

After we picked up some romaine lettuce, I decided I would bike over to southampton to a park for the kids. The ride over was really easy! I was quite proud of my endurance, despite not having been on a bike since the fall of 2004.

We played briefly at the park, got a snack at Tim Hortons and then made the treck home.

Coming back was a lot more difficult! I didn't realize how strong the wind really was - and on the way back it was a headwind. I was definetly feeling the burn in my quads, hamstrings and toosh, and there were a couple of times I wanted to give up but I knew I didn't have a choice so I pressed on. It took me 30 minutes of constant peddling to get back to the house and I thought for sure the next day I would be a quivering pile of goo! Fortunately - and surprisingly - I wasn't! The only part of me that hurt the next day was my toosh. I guess I really don't have enough padding there (insert hillarious laughter here).

Shaun took this picture of me peddling away when we left. Its a nice view of the neighbour's driveway and front yard.

K got her final 2 eyeteeth - the uppers on May 30th (the Left) and today (the right). Yippie! Hopefully we'll be done with teething for a while now... that would be nice!!

Patrick is on his 2nd day of potty training boot camp and we are so proud of him. He is really doing very well and staying dry most of the time. He happily pees in the potty without fuss everytime we take him! We even ventured out to the store and the park today and he stayed dry the entire time. Way to go Patrick!!

Swimming Pictures!!

P&K both had swimming lessons every week for the past 9 weeks. K was in an infant class with me, and P was in a preschool class that I had to be in the water for the first 3 classes only. I'm pleased as punch to announce that they BOTH passed and will be moving on to their respective higher levels in the fall where I will once again be in the water for every class with K, but P will be with the instructor from the beginning.

Gramma came one night during class and took photos of the kiddos!

Patrick was in a class with 4 other kids, all about the same age. I do believe he was the only one that had never been in lessons before.

Mr. Unimpressed:
Hangin' with my classmates on the tot-dock:

Front float with the instructor:
Back float with the instructor:
Bucket boy:

Kathryn's lesson was Friday night and although there were supposed to be 2 other kiddos in her class (between 4-18 months old) 1 never showed up and the other transferred to a morning class. So, we ended up with a private lesson! Lucky Kathryn!!

Splash, Splash, Splash!
Front float:
Back float:
Kathryn and her instructor, Alyce (who was awesome!):

Something was funny!

This is fun!
Kick those feet!!
Right after being sumburged:
Post-swim and ready for a shower:
Gotta love my farmer tan already! And if you think thats bad, you should see the sandle tan on my feet!

HAIRCUTS!

I love haircut day. I love watching Lori transform the mess of hair into something manageable and cute!

Patrick didn't really want his picture taken, as you can see. I really wanted to get a shot of the back of it, but he wouldn't co-operate. At anyrate, he's still cute - despite the fact that his ears have ceased to work....but thats another story...

The biggest change was for Kathryn. Lori was able to trim up the back of her hair so it looks like a little bob and its all about the same length!! She had some very long pieces behind her ears - but now, it looks great!!
Cheese!! The front didn't change too much, just a bit off the bang area to make it the same length as the sides.
And yes, that is a bug bite on her little forehead... her first ever... poor thing ... I smacked the bug away but it was too late.

Better late than never! Here are some of the pictures we took last weekend in Perth visiting Shaun's Nana.



We basically took over a common room so we could all sit and socialize together.

Kathryn really enjoyed being able to sit with Nana. She also enjoyed sharing her book with her, and later, sharing the matchbox cars and puzzle pieces.


It was at least 100 degrees inside the residence. Here is a half-melted Shaun and Patrick:
Shaun with his Nana:
Gramma Dorothy was smart and brought a puzzle, some toys and snacks!
Which really helped keep the kids entertained!
Auntie boo and Princess buttercup:

We decided to move outside - it was a much more comfortable temperature and there was a nice breeze.
Patrick (reluctantly) had his picture taken with Nana.

Throughout this trip we discovered just how much Kathryn likes soda. Any soda. From anyone.

These next pictures were taken at a park with lots of memories from Shaun's childhood. We actually have a painting of this bridge hanging in the hall. Credit goes to Auntie boo for these ones - and she did an EXCELLENT job!!

Checkin out the fishes:

Checking out the water. And posing as directed!
I love this picture of Kathryn peering over the railing.
Patrick checkin' out the fishies!

After dinner in the hotel room (that was a complete blast.. ugh...) Shaun, Boo and Dad went back to the residence to spend more time with Nana, and Shaun's mom helped me with the kiddos.

They had a great time swimming in the hotel bathtub!!

We did have a nice trip, and the hotel night stay with two toddlers really wasn't so bad. It was nice to see Nana, and for her to meet our kiddos, and now we have lots of photos to bring back all the memories of the trip!

Today is a special day in our household. A monumental occasion that requires a special picture-full blog entry. Offocially today, we're Crib-less.

Kathryn has been BEGGING us for months to be able to sleep in Patrick's toddler bed. You're probably saying "a-not-quite-17-month-old-cannot'beg'". Well, you're quite wrong!

Everyday, several times a day, infact, Kathryn would run to, and crawl into, Patrick's bed. She'd pull his covers up to her nose and say "ni-ni" over and over and over. She'd get upset when she was removed, and although she loved her crib too, she had a special attraction to Patrick's wee bed.

So... I started looking at beds for Patrick. I checked Sears, and Leons online, and while Sears had some great deals and nice beds, Leons had none which was surprising!

Shaun's mom called this afternoon and offered to watch the kiddos for a bit so we could get out and run some errands and we decided to check the 2 funature stores in town to see what their pricing/availability was like. We ended up buying the first one we saw at the first shop we visited, despite visiting the other one too and being completely unimpressed.

We had to make 2 trips with the bed, headboard and matress because they only had the floor model to sell us. We brought all the pieces home and stashed them upstairs in Patrick's room before rushing to pick up the kids before dinner.

After dinner and clean up, Shaun assembled the pieces and put the bed where we had decided. Then I went up and re-arranged the rest of the room and made up the bed with sheets and blankets and stuffed animals.

In Kathryn's room, I disassebled the crib (using 4 different screwdrives AND 1 wrench) and put it in the spare room closet. Then I put the toddler bed back together with her sheets and blankets, and rearranged her furnature a bit to make her room safer.

When this was all finished, and I had cleaned up, Shaun brought the kids up to see their new rooms and beds.

They were so excited!!!

Here are the pics!!

K's room -
A second view of K's room. All the cords for the electrical things are hidden behind the laundry basket which cannot be removed because the change table blocks it being pulled out.
Kathryn immediately ran to her bed and crawled into it, pulling the blanket up. You can see how pleased she is!!!
Here she is actually sleeping in her bed. After I took the picture, I removed the pillow and helped her re-position.
Patrick's new bed!!
Another view - I still LOVE that closet!!

Another view of P's room showing his 'reading cornor'.
Patrick was so excited when he saw his new bed. He ran over and jumped on it! He kept repeating 'new bed! new bed!' while jumping and laughing.
A happy boy in his new bed!
Pretending to sleep, snuggled in his favourite blanket.
Now the trick will be to see how much sleeping goes on tonight. We've put the pressure gate accross K's doorway, and we're keeping the gate at the top of the stairs latched so P can't roam downstairs. We've already put him back to bed several times each, but I do believe he's sleeping now!