Snuggly/sleepy day

It was a cool-ish fall day so we stayed inside for the most part.  W was feeling especially snuggly and we had a long cuddle while watching his favourite movie:

Osiris was also feeling in a sleepy mood - and curled up in the collapsed tunnel which was on a blanket for some reason.  Kathryn gave him toys to sleep with to keep him company:



Apple Orchard

It was a gorgeous sunny day and we took a trip to Smiths' Apple Farm with our friends.  They went to pick apples, we went to play as we still had a criper full of apples that Leah brought to us.

They have a really neat kids' play area.  W loved the spinner & board for the 'twister' game:

 And all the kids' enjoyed the hay-bale kids maze:

 and the pumpkin patch:

Patrick is getting TALL:

 And there are lots of great cut-outs to stick your head thru.  Say cheese!

 Three kiddos in a wagon:

 Who knew rocking chairs were such serious business?

We had a nice time, despite the little annoying bugs, and hope to go back a couple more times to play (ok and maybe for apples too).

Snow?

Well, hail at least.   Enough to collect and stay.  K enjoyed playing with some on our front lawn.

Dessert first?

Kathryn and I had made cupcakes to celebrate her first day of school, and after she got home we iced them.  Patrick then suggested as part of the fun we eat dessert before supper!  So we did.

MmMmMmm cupcakes :)

Kathryn's first day of JK

Today was finally the day!  Kathryn finally got to start JK.  Its been a long week for her - having to go twice daily with me to school but not being able to stay.  Today, all that changed!

Last night there were some last minute jitters.  She was nervous about going - about being away from us all day.

But this morning she was fine, excited, ready to take that big step!

I will admit packing 2 completely different lunches this morning was awful.... but I know I will find a groove.

P's lunch: Mac&cheese, yogert, crackers, granola bar, fruit bites and honeycomb.  K's lunch: Mac&Cheese, cheese stick, veggie sticks, lunch meat, granola bar, fruit bites.  Both had apple juice to drink.

Barely awake

 After breakfast (waffles and yogert!) everyone got dressed.  K wanted to look extra special today but the weather was calling for it to be chilly.  This is what she finally decided on:

 We arrived a bit earlier than normal, so we were able to get swings!  That made for a happy start.

 William took off for his usual rock-pile and his usual activity....

 ...trying to get away from me!

Kathryn met up with her best bud and some other little friends before the bell rang, and then she eagerly lined up to go into her class!

As she disappeared thru the doors, walking confidently, not looking back, backpack on her back, coat in her hand, I will admit I felt a twinge of sadness.   I hope she had a fantastic first day.  3:10 won't come soon enough today.

Is it wrong to be jealous of a cat?

He looks soooooo comfortable and happy.

Kittens!

A friend of ours has a litter of kittens in her house!!  I was able to take K to see them and she had a great time with the baby kitties.  They are just 4 weeks old.

I'm actually quite surprised there wasn't any begging to keep them! 

First Day of Grade One Happiness

Fireworks

Sunday was the Labour Day celebrations here in Sunny Saugeen Shores.  As a special treat, we took the kids to the beach to view fireworks for the first time ever!  Yes, Patrick and Kathryn had never been to see fireworks.  Not for lack of trying!  Canada Day fireworks are just too late for our littliest one and last year's Labour Day fireworks were 'winded' out and not rescheduled.

So there was much excitement from P & K.  W was indifferent.  He does love the beach though because there are lots of people to watch and LOTS of dogs.  He loves dogs, especially big ones which given the opportunity he will use like a matress....

Anyway.. back to the fireworks!

Nice shot of the kids with the boats in the background:

 A pirate ship!!!  Kids looking on with a bit of fright... we really pumped up the whole "pirates" thing and told them to watch for men with peg legs and hook hands... didn't see any though.

Playing in the sand:

 William just loved running around on the beach... negotiating piles and divots of sand... laughing and falling down... teasing us by pretending to run towards the water and then laughing....

Mommy and her babies:

The whole handfull!  W was done with 'posed' photos by this point:

We picked a secluded spot on the beach.  It was rocky but quieter.  The rocks meant W couldn't walk around which was actually a good thing though he was intially pretty ticked off with us.  We settled down and had a snack and watched the sun go down.  At this point it dawned on me that my kids had never seen a sunset either!  A night of firsts.

After the sun was basically set, and the snack was basically eaten, we broke out the glow necklaces and bracelets and cracked them and put them on:

Waiting was the hardest part.  W was totally confused why we were still here when it was bedtime and dark!

Soon we were joined by our friends and their 2 kiddos which gave the big kids somthing to 'do' while they waited. 

And as soon as the fireworks started everyone was happy!  All of them enjoyed the sights and sounds.

It was a late night, but worth it!  Looking forward to next year.

Just hanging out

This past weekend we enjoyed a visit with my parents who drove up to spend a couple of days with us.  The weather wasn't so nice, so we spent our time indoors.

Unlike usual, I actually took some pictures to 'document the moment'. 

Grandpa multi-tasking a cat rub, a Kathryn snuggle and being a car track for Willy:

Extra snuggles:

I just like this picture of Osiris' backside.  He has the most adorable racoon tail:

Kathryn also had lots of snuggles with Grandma.  Lots of stories were read.

Grandma and Grampy came over in the evening for a visit and Grandma played Battleship with Patrick:

Another round of Battleship!  This time the willing adult participant was Grandpa.  Willy enjoyed watching:

More snuggles with sucky Osiris who really enjoyed the plethora of laps available:

Barbie time with Kathryn and Grandma:



MmMmm.... tortolini!

Its so nice to have a child that just loves food and will try new foods without much hesitation

Super yummy!

Vacation IV: Butterfly Conservatory

Wednesday morning we were again up early and took advantage of the opportunity to tidy up and pack before heading down to breakfast at Perkin's.  After returning to the hotel room, we finished packing, loaded up a trolly and headed to the lobby.  Shaun took P&K to get the truck and I hung out with W.  Several taxi's came to block the way.... they were waiting for a party of 16 people that had called for a pick-up... eventually they moved because there was a long line forming behind them and unfortunately there was no other way to load the truck.

After loading up, we headed to the Butterfly Conservatory.  Shaun and I had visited there shortly after we started dating so it was a bit of a walk down memory lane... surrounded by flittering butterflies!



At the Entrance to the Conservatory



The plants and trees are amazing and the butterflies are literally everywhere.

William picked up a passenger.  He also had one land on his nose but I didn't grab the camera quick enough.

Waiting patiently for a butterfly to land on them

Success!  K had one land on her back and P had one land on his foot.

Neato sculpture outside the conservatory which you can see in the back at the right.

It was really windy and K was enjoying twirling in her new skirt

 After the conservatory, we decided to start the 3.5 hour treck back home.

Goodbye St. Catharines!!!  Hope to see you again soon.

Pirate ship on the outskirts of St. Catharines

The kids were excellent on the trip home.  W mostly napped, and the kids played games and watched DVDs.  We stopped in Guelph at Harvey's for lunch before pushing for home.

We had a great first family vacation! 

Vacation III: The Falls and Clifton Hill

Does anything say GOOD MORNING quite like a happy baby?! 

We we all up bright (ok it was still dark at that point) and early on Tuesday.  Willy had started fussing around 5:20 and by 5:45 the entire room was awake.  We didn't mind too much since they had slept well during the night and W was only up 1x briefly for some water.

Willy with our room view.  That big building in the background is across the river in the USA.

 We took our time getting ready, having showers, and eating some pre-breakfast snacks from the food box before heading downstairs to Perkin's for breakfast.

P&K posing infront of our hotel

 After a massive amount of breakfast food (lesson learned for next morning) we took our very full bellies down to Clifton Hill.  The kids were very eager to ride the Sky Wheel so that was our plan.  Unfortunately it did not open until 9:30 so we had some time before it opened. 

Shaun and the kids at the base of the Sky Wheel

 After a walk around and down and back up Clifton Hill we were first in line for the Sky Wheel. Willy had just fallen asleep in the stroller so we had to wake him... but he wasn't too upset about it.

Here we go!

Up, up and away!

 I love this next picture of Shaun and William with the American Falls in the background:

 Reluctant pose from Kathryn who later admitted she was nervous of being up so high!!

 After the sky wheel, we walked right down to the Falls.  They kids were still tired from all the walking we did at Marineland the day before so every opportunity to have a sit-down was taken.  KJ thought sitting on this wall was fun!

 But honestly I think Patrick and Kathryn were more into this fountain that was up-close and touchable.  William really enjoyed looking thru the fence at the Falls.

 After we'd endured enough walking (and whining!) we made our way back up Clifton Hill and decided to do a few fun things with the kids.  First I took them into a fun house while Shaun took William for a walk in hopes of getting him to nap. 

The kids really enjoyed it and we went back thru it a second time before exiting.

Spinning tunnel

Down, Down, Down....

playing fruit slice together

The wacky mirrors hall was lots of fun!

Black lights made our clothing look interesting... but the flash made the kids look normal.  Oh well.

in the slanted room.  It was painted up as a pirate ship and quite difficult to walk in!

Resting

 After we'd gone back to the beginning and thru again, we exited and Shaun took Patrick to see the spongebob 4-D movie which Patrick LOVED!!  Kathryn and I walked around, checked out gift shops and then rested near the exit of the movie by the Rainforest Cafe:

 After this, we decided to go for a drive and give Willy a nap.  We headed back to the hotel, got the truck out and drove to St. Catharines.  We drove around Brock University and past Shaun's old apartment and then went to the mall foodcourt for lunch.  We also did a bit of shopping and the kids played at the bookstore while Shaun browsed.  They were excellent!!! 

We had made plans to meet up with old friends at their house in St. Catharines.  They have 2 kiddos the same ages and genders as P&K.  I don't think the kids really played together, but our kids enjoyed their toys and Patrick played some X-Box Connex.  Willy really enjoyed their dog.  Shaun and I had a really great visit with Sam and Courtney.  I will admit it was also very nice to sit out a couch!!  Or the floor.  Or sit in general.  Sitting was nice. 

After our visit, we went for a drive and ended up at Toys R Us!  Patrick wasn't interested in going in (!!!) and Willy was asleep so KJ and I headed in to shop.  She picked out a nice purse and I picked up a workbook for Patrick and a pin wheel for William.

After this we had a bit of time to fill before supper so we headed over to Port Dalhousie to ride the carousel a couple of times:

 We hit a DQ on the way back to the hotel for supper. 

Everyone was just beat and we hung out in the hotel until bedtime. 

Eating chips, snuggled in her blanket in a massive bed.  Kathryn: lady of leisure

 We won't mention the Dorito-infested bed that Shaun had to sleep in later that night.

Working hard on a story in his new workbook with souvenir pen from Marineland

William had a much-needed swim in the tub and bedtime followed shortly after.