FLOCKED!

We came home from school to find a flock of colourful birds on our lawn - we'd been "flocked"!  

It was super fun and the kids really liked it!    We paid the fine (its for fundraising - click the link above) and sent the flock on to 2 more houses!  

Pumpkins!

We went to Hi-Berry today to pick out our pumpkins!  It was very blustery, but the kids enjoyed running through the rows of pumpkins to find the perfect ones.

They're super exited that its almost Pumpkinfest!

Sports Boy

Willy loves sports.  He can kick and throw like no-ones business, his skills exceed his chronological age.

He loves baseball, basketball, soccer, and hockey.  He loves to kick, throw, hit, and he's trying to catch.

He plays baseball inside with a plastic bowling pin and a soft ball.  We made up the game "bowling soccer" with another larger soft ball in the living room.  He tosses balls into an empty container in a sort of basketball slam-dunk style.  His favourite toys are balls - all shapes and sizes

This morning, we spent a good chunk of time outside playing baseball, basketball, soccer & hockey, as well as catch, swing & jumping on the trampoline.  The weather was fantastic! Willy is happiest when he's active and hes got lots of energy.

I did manage to get our sports star to pose for a picture!

Broken

I had read this article earlier in the day.... http://thehonesttoddler.com/broken/... so when Shaun suggested I break Willy's cookie in half to make it easier for him to eat I should have already known what was going to happen....

He sobbed and sobbed about his broken cookie and then refused to eat it.

It was both very very sad and somewhat hysterical.  Poor baby.

Biking

Both Patrick and Kathryn have been working very hard on learning to ride their bikes without training wheels.  Daddy set them up on the front lawn - we have a small hill right infront of the garden - for them to practice their balance while he cleaned out the garage.

By the end of the afternoon, Kathryn was able to ride down the street by herself!  

The kids have become motivated to ride their bikes without training wheels because their friends can :)  and when they get very good at it, we will take them to the skate park and they can have fun on the hills.

Sick Day

 Patrick had his first sick day today.  He had a sore throat, and barky cough, and a bit of a fever too.  We had a quiet morning after K went to school, and then the boys had a bath before lunch.  I can't remember the last time they were in the tub together!  Patrick is getting so long - its hard for him to share the tub.  But they had a great time playing and getting clean together.

After school, I took I very eager W and K out to play in the backyard.  Willy is not used to being inside all day, and with Patrick being sick I didn't want to have him outside in the damp weather.

First Days of School

One tired grade 2 boy after his first day.

Kathryn's first day of SK

Kathryn was very excited to start her 2nd year of school!  She was up earlier than normal and had some snuggle time with Willy on the couch before breakfast.

 She eagerly found her best bud on the playground and happily joined her line and went into school!

She was exhausted when I picked her up, but is happily anticipating another day tomorrow!  This is her first year of full-day, every day!

Labour Day Fire Works!

We waited to head down to the beach until about 7 pm.  Parking was still fairly easy to find, and we settled in our usually secluded location.  

 We took walks, and threw stones in the water.  Shaun played an episode of something on his iPad to keep the kids entertained until we watched the sun go down.

 LOTS of people lit and set up lanterns like this one.  It was fun finding them in the sky and watching them fly out over the lake.

 I gave everyone glow glow necklaces and bracelets - always a hit.

The fireworks were spectacular as usual and we were home and in bed by 10!

Random Pictures

My parents came to visit for a couple of days and I snapped these random pictures.  We had a lot of fun together, even going to the beach one morning.  It was nice and quiet, the water was so sparkly in the morning sun!

I tried to catch my dad eating the crumbs of the chips by dumping the bag into his mouth, but he was faster than I was LOL

See the balled up chip bag in his hands?  

 Dad reads to the kids before they go to bed when he's visiting.  A special treat!

Yes, there are 3 children in there!

Early morning snuggles in PJs:

Last trip to story book park 2012

We visited Story Book Park 5 times this season!  The kids love it - they're the perfect age.  Today was our last trip of the season, and also Shaun's first trip this year.  They're really good to me though, they allow any other adult to use my season's pass when they come with me and my kiddos so  I was able to bring my friend Adrienne twice and my mother once too.  I was brave and took them once allll by myself!  Eek!  Only once :)

Riding the little train

All three together on Wind Jammer

Silly expressions!  P makes me laugh :)

Silly kiddo

 It ended up being a very very hot day, and when we got home W was sweaty despite the AC so I stripped him down and he ended up passing out on the floor infront of the T|V

sleepy baby

 After dinner & baths, Kathryn and I picked the red peppers she'd been growing all summer!  They're tiny but super flavourful!

MmmMm red peppers!

Trip to Barrie

With great anticipation, we took a family trip to the Elmvale Zoo!  

Petting a baby lemur 

Kathryn and her Bambi

Haires 

Hungry Tiger stalking my children for breakfast

Peacocks

Petting a baby goat

Waiting for the animal show

Waiting for the Animal show... it was getting hot & muggy.

 After the Zoo, we took a drive while Willy had his nap.  We drove past when my Grandparents used to live. The gardens at 10 Hawthorne are amazing!  Truly the people who live there how have a love for gardening.  The front porch has been re-done and the place looks wonderful.  Grandma would be happy to see that!

After quickly checking into our amazing hotel room (more pics below), we drove downtown to go to Centennial park. I have wonderful memories of playing at this park when I visited my grandparents. Many memories of going 'too far' on the spinning tire swings and feeling super ill afterwards.  Also, many memories of Grandma offering us gum afterwards - Double Mint.  It will always remind me of Grandma.

My attempt at a group picture.  They were too tired to care.

Watching the fountain and checking out the 'mist' rainbow.

 After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and went for a swim in the indoor pool which was like bath-water.  It was a lot of fun!  I gave the kids pony rides around because it was just the right depth for that.  It helped to finish wearing them out.

Back upstairs we all put our PJs on.  The kids zoned into the TV in their room and shaun and I putzed around on the internet until bedtime.

Kids room

Snuggling and watching their TV

View into Kids room through a tired KJ.

view from the front door.  Kids room to the right, our bed ahead, kitchen & bathroom to the left.

Fully stocked kitchen included 2 fridges & working stovetop.

Our room/office/space.

The next morning we enjoyed their included breakfast, then some shopping and lunch before heading back to Port.  It was a nice little family vacation.

Splash Pad!

Sadly, this was our only trip to the Goderich Splash Pad this summer.  Somehow we just didn't have time!  But at least we got one trip in, and got to see Boo's new place - which is awesome and steps from the Beach. 

Kids played in the water, then we had lunch, fighting off bee's the whole time (they are really bad this year - everywhere!) and then played at the park before coming home.

Camping!

We spent the last 3 days camping with Shaun's parents.  It is our first camping experience with children, so we weren't roughing it by any means.  We had a cabin, complete with a small bathroom & shower, mini-fridge, microwave and heater.

Our cabin

Huge rock out front of our cabin

 Shaun's parents had their trailer, and were right beside us!  It was perfect.

We had campfires:

Campfire the first night

Campfire the last night

 The pics are kind of in random order... but we had a lot of fun, despite the colder-than-expected temperatures.

Camping bouquet for our picnic table.

Snuggles with Grandma

Snuggles with Grampy

Big smiles, bright and early!

 This campground was very family friend and geared almost exclusively to family camping.  There was a pond with paddle boats & canoes to use, a petting farm, splash pad & pool and an amazing wooden park.

Each morning, the kittens would come out to play!  There were at least 5 of them and from two different litters.  The first morning we kind of stumbled upon them by accident trying to fill time with Willy before breakfast.  After that, it became a morning ritual to treck down to the front and watch the kittens play.

Kathryn fell in love with one in particular:

Kathryn and her kitty

Willy loved them all equally.

Mornings were spent snuggled together on the trailer couch watching DVDs and slowly waking up before breakfast:

Sleepyheads

The grounds were gorgeous and well maincured.  This fountain at the front was lovely and the gardens were freshly weeded & turned.

On the last day, Shaun took each kid out for a ride in a paddle boat before it was time to leave:

We played a LOT at the park.  The play structures were very unique and lots of fun:

The petting farm included goats:

And bunnies.  These two were quickly named Isis & Ramses after the kitties:

We played in the splash pad twice despite the cooler weather.  The kids had a blast!

The first night after supper, I read stories to the kids while clean up was taking place:

And of course, there was down-time with calliou on Daddy's iPad.  Nothing like camping and TV!

We trecked into Tobermory and did some random sight-seeing.

Even hiking out onto the rocks

And even got to watch the Chicheemaun pull into harbour.  

Each night there was dessert, which the kids eagerly gathered for:

And there were lots of walks down to the park & pond:

Willy had a bunk bed to sleep in, inside the cabin with us while P&K slept on the bunk beds in the trailer.  The cabin was easily big enough to have all 5 of us though!

Ni-Ni Willy!  Fresh air = good sleep!