I think Puddicombe Farms was supposed to be our second or third trip, but due to inclement weather, we put it off, figuring that another Friday in the summer would be nicer. Well, that Friday came, and we made a day in Winona of it, since the Peach Festival started Friday night.
The morning however was full of finishing off a VBS that the oldest three attended at Mountain Church of the Nazarene. SUCH as nice little church with VERY nice people there. I had had the thought weeks ago that it would be fun for the kids to go to a VBS [that wasn't at our church]. It wasn't until I was going to bed on Monday night that I remembered and figured that this would likely be the last week any church would be running a VBS. So I fired up my computer and took a look around Hamilton....kijiji did not reveal any...not many at all actually--only 2 or 3 from July. But then I went to the Hamilton Mountain News site and looked through there. Lo and behold, there was the Church of the Nazarene holding one this week. I was hoping to find a small one...with older ladies running it...you know, the kind you went to as a kid in someones backyard. I had a feeling it might be like that....
And it was. The kids had a great time, and more reassuringly, all those older ladies helping were not concerned in the least to have Jairus. You would have thought they'd known him his whole life the way they took to him, and rejoiced over every little thing he did independently. They seemed to know almost instinctively what was an accomplishment for him, whether going the whole morning without a toileting accident, or joining into the games and crafts.
So on Friday we had a little informal final program where the kids said their verses: The Ten Commandments, and sang their songs. It was a small group, about 25 kids, which was just how big I'd hoped it would be.
We came home and grabbed some lunch, and then left for Winona. The weather was overcast, cool and threatening, so I wasn't sure this was going to work, but the sun made just enough appearances to last us through until we were heading back home that night.
Puddicombe Farms was....nice....but not quite what we were thinking it would be. Well, not what James was expecting anyways. The whole time we were there, we saw only 2 other moms with a small handful of kids between them, and then one mom later on with her 2. When we arrived, we went into their gift/cafe shop and bought tickets for the train ride. Once we went through the gate into the main area, we discovered that the train ran at specific times and we were about 45 minutes away from the next one. So we kept ourselves and the kids amused with the little play section (which I'm afraid to say, could use a huge facelift) and the petting farm (which...didn't actually seem to have anything we could pet). They had an emu that kept snapping at us through the fence, a very friendly cow that licked Afton's face, some bunnies in cages that we weren't sure if we could take out to pet--so we didn't, a peacock that was molting, and a bunch of pygmy goats that were very cute, but again, we were unsure if petting was a good idea.
Despite its' state of dilapidation, the kids enjoyed the play area however, so we spent most of the time there until the train was ready to pull out.
The train ride was the most enjoyable part, in my opinion. They've got lots of acreage there with some ponds and huge weeping willows--my favourite kind of tree. The ride took about 20 minutes and then we took a closer look around the cafe/gift shop. We resisted the impulse to pick up some sparkling cider or square butter tarts, but couldn't resist the kids' pleas for lollipops...which I don't think any of them finished.
It was a nice trip, although the kids seemed a little disappointed that we didn't spend as long there as we had at our other destinations....but like I explained to them, we did everything there that there was to do. We made up for it however by promising to hit the Peach festival after supper....pics and story to come next!
Kent Family Summer of Fun: Earl Haig Family Fun Park
24 August 2009
We used to live in Brantford, and a short drive down the road from us was the Earl Haig Family Fun Park. It's a nice little water park, not too flashy, not too expensive soooo, when I wanted to include one fun water park activity, I thought of Earl Haig. We were supposed to do Earl Haig on the last Friday of July, as you can see from our calendar, but we were up at Fair Havens instead. So when this past Friday looked like nice weather, and we had freed up a Friday from doubling up the week before, off we went to Brantford.
After spending a frustrating morning trying to apply for our passports however. A quick side story here. We're thinking about taking a cross-border trip on the Labour Day weekend, but suddenly realized that would require passports. So last week I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off to get my photos taken, find a guarantor, get all the paperwork filled out and find a place to drop it all off. Thought I could do it at a Canada Post outlet. Turns out that would take 4 weeks. Eeek...not enough time. So on Friday morning we went downtown to the actual government passport office.
We parked at a lot kiddy-corner from the building we needed to get into. James went to get a parking reciept to leave in the dash, but found that both the machines had OUT OF ORDER signs on them. So we shrugged and left. Mistake #1.
Up we went and got a number with an advised wait of about 1/2 an hour. We of course had all four kids and it took Afton about 7.5 seconds to insist on getting out of her stroller. It was a large room with many chairs, lots of people--maybe 30-40 waiting. All the Passport personel were behind partitions that went around two walls of the room. I followed Afton around as she toddled about. Soon my other three were hot on our trail.
They found a short ramped hallway in the back corner that led to some windows, a fire exit door and, with a quick turn to the left, ended with a steel door leading to the office area. I warned them all profusely about not touching the door and they were all very good about staying away and keeping Afton away too. I stood at the bottom of the gentle ramp and kept an eye on them all. Amazing what can keep kids occupied when there's absolutely nothing else to do.
Well after about 15-20 minutes, the security guard who had been so nice when we walked in and didn't know where to go first, comes over and asks me to keep the kids out of this hallway because "people were trying to work back there and the noise would bother them". Hhyeah.
Those steel doors are so darn flimsy, eh?
I rounded them all up and out, but Afton's attention was caught by a couple chrome posts standing in a nearby corner. You know, those kind that they string chains or belts inbetween to create a line, like at the bank? So she stops to investigate. Now, these things are heavy, weighted at the bottom and Afton was merely touching them.
The security guard was apparently not satisfied that he had rid the room of excess noise, so he heads toward her, speaking to her like you might a 10 year old, about how she shouldn't touch those and they might fall on her, etcetera.
I was so annoyed at that point that I scooped her up and said in a rather testy tone, "She's one. She doesn't understand you".
Shortly after our number came up and we had our paperwork processed.
Back down we went, having spent about 45 minutes at this task. And what should be awaiting us at our van? Of course...a ticket. A $19 parking ticket.
We were pretty much beyond frustrated at this point and I examined the ticket thoroughly as we got in the van. James tried to go back to the machines and get a picture, but of course, the signs were gone now. I noticed that the office for disputing tickets was not far, so even though it was lunchtime, we headed over to the address.
I went in, since the van is registered to me, and after filling out a form and waiting about 20-25 minutes, a woman called me into her office. I had stated on the form what the problem had been and so after clarifying it verbally, she called the manager for that lot. He told her in no uncertain terms that the machines were working fine. She gets off the phone and tells me this like she expected me to break down and admit we were totally trying to scam her. I just sat there and shook my head, suggesting that perhaps someone was playing some grand trick? I went over the story again, filling in as many details as I could. She called the manager back and tried again. Nope. Still nothing wrong. I could tell she was feeling the squeeze of the rock and the hard place. I wasn't giving anything though. Finally she scrawls a line across the ticket and says, "Ok, well, he's sending someone over to look (pointless, as I had told her the signs were gone), but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt".
I had thought I would feel triumphant and relieved, but instead I just felt....like a delinquent. I live in a world where people don't question my honesty and integrity. It's a real slap in the face when I encounter someone who is accustomed to assuming the worst about people.
All that washed away however, in the gentle current of the lazy river....here's the pics of our enjoyable afternoon at Earl Haig.
For a mere 7 dollars more, we got the Splash and Putt pass, so the kids all had their first experience with mini-golf. (I had to convince Honour that the mini-putt at Fair Havens DOESN'T COUNT).
After spending a frustrating morning trying to apply for our passports however. A quick side story here. We're thinking about taking a cross-border trip on the Labour Day weekend, but suddenly realized that would require passports. So last week I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off to get my photos taken, find a guarantor, get all the paperwork filled out and find a place to drop it all off. Thought I could do it at a Canada Post outlet. Turns out that would take 4 weeks. Eeek...not enough time. So on Friday morning we went downtown to the actual government passport office.
We parked at a lot kiddy-corner from the building we needed to get into. James went to get a parking reciept to leave in the dash, but found that both the machines had OUT OF ORDER signs on them. So we shrugged and left. Mistake #1.
Up we went and got a number with an advised wait of about 1/2 an hour. We of course had all four kids and it took Afton about 7.5 seconds to insist on getting out of her stroller. It was a large room with many chairs, lots of people--maybe 30-40 waiting. All the Passport personel were behind partitions that went around two walls of the room. I followed Afton around as she toddled about. Soon my other three were hot on our trail.
They found a short ramped hallway in the back corner that led to some windows, a fire exit door and, with a quick turn to the left, ended with a steel door leading to the office area. I warned them all profusely about not touching the door and they were all very good about staying away and keeping Afton away too. I stood at the bottom of the gentle ramp and kept an eye on them all. Amazing what can keep kids occupied when there's absolutely nothing else to do.
Well after about 15-20 minutes, the security guard who had been so nice when we walked in and didn't know where to go first, comes over and asks me to keep the kids out of this hallway because "people were trying to work back there and the noise would bother them". Hhyeah.
Those steel doors are so darn flimsy, eh?
I rounded them all up and out, but Afton's attention was caught by a couple chrome posts standing in a nearby corner. You know, those kind that they string chains or belts inbetween to create a line, like at the bank? So she stops to investigate. Now, these things are heavy, weighted at the bottom and Afton was merely touching them.
The security guard was apparently not satisfied that he had rid the room of excess noise, so he heads toward her, speaking to her like you might a 10 year old, about how she shouldn't touch those and they might fall on her, etcetera.
I was so annoyed at that point that I scooped her up and said in a rather testy tone, "She's one. She doesn't understand you".
Shortly after our number came up and we had our paperwork processed.
Back down we went, having spent about 45 minutes at this task. And what should be awaiting us at our van? Of course...a ticket. A $19 parking ticket.
We were pretty much beyond frustrated at this point and I examined the ticket thoroughly as we got in the van. James tried to go back to the machines and get a picture, but of course, the signs were gone now. I noticed that the office for disputing tickets was not far, so even though it was lunchtime, we headed over to the address.
I went in, since the van is registered to me, and after filling out a form and waiting about 20-25 minutes, a woman called me into her office. I had stated on the form what the problem had been and so after clarifying it verbally, she called the manager for that lot. He told her in no uncertain terms that the machines were working fine. She gets off the phone and tells me this like she expected me to break down and admit we were totally trying to scam her. I just sat there and shook my head, suggesting that perhaps someone was playing some grand trick? I went over the story again, filling in as many details as I could. She called the manager back and tried again. Nope. Still nothing wrong. I could tell she was feeling the squeeze of the rock and the hard place. I wasn't giving anything though. Finally she scrawls a line across the ticket and says, "Ok, well, he's sending someone over to look (pointless, as I had told her the signs were gone), but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt".
I had thought I would feel triumphant and relieved, but instead I just felt....like a delinquent. I live in a world where people don't question my honesty and integrity. It's a real slap in the face when I encounter someone who is accustomed to assuming the worst about people.
All that washed away however, in the gentle current of the lazy river....here's the pics of our enjoyable afternoon at Earl Haig.
For a mere 7 dollars more, we got the Splash and Putt pass, so the kids all had their first experience with mini-golf. (I had to convince Honour that the mini-putt at Fair Havens DOESN'T COUNT).
Extra Kent Fun
There's this little park I've spotted many a time on my way down the Wellington Street mountain access. I've always wanted to stop and explore it but never could of course. I told myself at the beginning of the summer that one warm evening after supper we'd get in the car and go see it.
So we did just that last week, on Saturday night. We stopped at a variety store and got giant freezies for the kids...truthfully I wasn't sure they'd find this all that interesting so I was trying to add some perk to the evening. I needn't have worried.
So this is Sam Lawrence park. About three times at least, Honour exclaimed "This park is SOO beautiful mummy, thank you SOO much for bringing us here". Look at that. I get good ideas once in a while.
Another first for the Kents this summer was a wee cruise around Hamilton Harbour. Well, this time it was just for the grown-up Kents. I spotted the information for this cruise when I was planning the summer trips and thought it sounded like a nice date night. It turned out to be slightly more expensive than I first thought, but in the end, I think it was worth it. The weather was not so helpful, so my pics are a little dim, and....I gotta be honest, Hamilton Harbour is not so much a good looking waterfront what with the steel factories belching away, but I don't get much of a chance to get on a boat of any kind, not to mention much of a chance to do something just with James, so I can overlook belching smokestacks. It was good food too!
So we did just that last week, on Saturday night. We stopped at a variety store and got giant freezies for the kids...truthfully I wasn't sure they'd find this all that interesting so I was trying to add some perk to the evening. I needn't have worried.
So this is Sam Lawrence park. About three times at least, Honour exclaimed "This park is SOO beautiful mummy, thank you SOO much for bringing us here". Look at that. I get good ideas once in a while.
Another first for the Kents this summer was a wee cruise around Hamilton Harbour. Well, this time it was just for the grown-up Kents. I spotted the information for this cruise when I was planning the summer trips and thought it sounded like a nice date night. It turned out to be slightly more expensive than I first thought, but in the end, I think it was worth it. The weather was not so helpful, so my pics are a little dim, and....I gotta be honest, Hamilton Harbour is not so much a good looking waterfront what with the steel factories belching away, but I don't get much of a chance to get on a boat of any kind, not to mention much of a chance to do something just with James, so I can overlook belching smokestacks. It was good food too!
Hamilton Waterfront Trolley
23 August 2009
For last Friday's trip we went down to the waterfront here in Hamilton and took the trolley. It was nice, if a bit long for the kids, but overall they enjoyed it.
We decided to combine two trips on one day, because we realized that on their own, they wouldn't take very long or make for a satisfying day. So after the trolley ride, we headed a short ways down the waterfront to Bayfront Park where there's a Tugboat embedded in the ground and turned into a play structure for kids. Next to it is a nice splashpad and the usual climbing apparatuses (apparati?). There are picnic tables in the tugboat so we ate our lunches there and then found a wee bit of grass to lay out on while the kids frolicked nearby.
As you can see, Leslife is under construction. Alas, Isnaini, the designer of my old blog did not respond to my calls for help to restore my graphics, so I have moved on to grander templates. I'm still tweaking this one and possibly might replace it all together if I can't get it quite the way I want so hang on with me.
We decided to combine two trips on one day, because we realized that on their own, they wouldn't take very long or make for a satisfying day. So after the trolley ride, we headed a short ways down the waterfront to Bayfront Park where there's a Tugboat embedded in the ground and turned into a play structure for kids. Next to it is a nice splashpad and the usual climbing apparatuses (apparati?). There are picnic tables in the tugboat so we ate our lunches there and then found a wee bit of grass to lay out on while the kids frolicked nearby.
As you can see, Leslife is under construction. Alas, Isnaini, the designer of my old blog did not respond to my calls for help to restore my graphics, so I have moved on to grander templates. I'm still tweaking this one and possibly might replace it all together if I can't get it quite the way I want so hang on with me.
Another Kent Fun Week
05 August 2009
As our tradition for about the last 30 years, we spent some time up at Fair Havens Bible Conference. Well, they've been calling it Fair Havens Ministries for a while now, but what can I say: I'm an old timer. They tried to change the Tuck shop to "Connexion Cafe" but you still hear many people calling it the Tuck. Including my 5 year old. Who's been listening to me. (rock on, girl).
I do love Fair Havens. My parents and Ryan and I started camping there when I was about 4. I have grand memories too numerous to go into here. We would borrow my Grandparent Wettlaufers trailer (a Prowler, I believe) and what a thrill it was to sleep on the fold out bunk. Somewhere along the line my other grandparents secured a permanent site and made a summer home there with their trailer. There was a certain security in knowing that Grandma and Papa were always there, at #511.
Then in 1990 I worked my first summer there, in the children's ministry. It was called Children's Chapel, as it had been for decades and we serviced about 80-100 kids aged 2-10 each week for a 3 hour morning and another hour and a half at night. We did songs, crafts, games: all the usual kid VBS/Sunday School type stuff. I did this for 6 summers. The last 3 I was the coordinator of the program. The last summer or two we started to see changes. Some parents were not happy that their 2 year olds were in the same group as the 10 year olds (we'd start the morning together before splitting into age appropriate classes and some evening activities (movie night) had all the kids together). So the segregation began. This splintering has continued so that now, there is a 'class' for babies, another for 2 and 3 year olds, another for 4 and 5 year olds, another group for grades 1-3 and then I'm not sure what happens after that. My kids aren't old enough yet.
To my knowledge and observation, it doesn't appear the children do anything terribly different than we did 15 years ago. They still sing. (the same songs. I know, because I hear them and I was the one who led the singing those 6 summers). They still do crafts. (The girls brought a couple things home from their week. Jairus didn't bring anything home I don't think). They still have 'pool' morning, although now for the girls' class, it was 'water' morning which didn't happen due to inclement weather. Jairus' class went to the splash pad and may have gone in the pool.
They still sing in big chapel on Friday night and say their memory verse. Jairus declined to participate. :-( They still have some form of dress-up night (still expecting parents to pull costumes out of their meager camping supplies) and pajama night. They still traipse all over the camp finding interesting spots to play their games and explore. They still call all the leaders Miss or Mr. [first name].
This generation of Children's Chapel workers don't even have to go an hour and a half or more at night. Adult chapel has been truncated recently and if it runs for an hour, that's generous. Another difference is the need to tag each kid and outfit each parent with a corresponding bracelet. Other than that....it would seem that no one's done any huge reinventing of the wheel.
I'm not complaining about this. I enjoyed attending Children's Chapel. I enjoyed teaching Children's Chapel. If someone along the line decided that what we were all doing was vastly inferior and instituted an overhaul, I'm not sure how I'd feel about that. The point of my jaunt down memory lane has to do with...well, the memories.
James was of course a big part of all this. I met him my first summer there. We started dating and did the long distance thing for the following year. We broke up the next summer upon returning to FH and spent the next two years apart. The summer of 1994 saw us get back together again, summer of 1995 we were engaged---at Fair Havens, and summer of 1996 we were married---at Fair Havens. Yup, that's right, out on the path in front of ol' Irwin Chapel.
Once James and I got married, that spelled the end of my working summers at FH. Naturally. We've made a point however, of getting up there at least once a summer, if even just for a long weekend. I recall we tried actual tent camping (I believe we gave up midweek and moved into my grandparents trailer that my aunt and uncle had just finished with).
Not long after we got married, my parents were able to buy their first trailer. For a few years they hauled it back and forth, or might have left it in storage there over the winter. Then my grandparents decided to pass their permanent site on, so my parents were the excited recipients. Now my kids can always remember their Nana and Papa at #511. Our habit the last 2-3 years is for me to bring up the kids for a week and James to join us on the weekend. To take a whole week of vacation and join my parents (and up to 4 siblings) in their trailer is...a bit crowded.
So with this short history of my affiliation with Fair Havens in mind, perhaps now I can explain why I find myself becoming increasingly annoyed with the place.
I was talking about it some with another staff alumnus whom I usually run into every year. Her parents also have a permanent site not far from my parents. She's a great friend whom I cherish and I feel I can talk to concerning just about anything. Her and I both gave many summers of our teenage lives to Fair Havens for a fairly pathetic financial remuneration. I don't think that was a huge deal to me at the time, although I do remember waiting and hoping to be old enough to join their college student program, so that I could work there during the summers in between years at university. I was pretty disappointed when they terminated that program before I could get to it.
Now as an adult with a better handle on the cost of wages, living and quality employees, it's pretty astounding to me how much they got away with paying us. I've worked it out, remembering how much I brought home at the end of the summer and how many hours I worked during the weeks there....yep, it was pretty 'poverty' as my sister would say.
$1.51/hr.
And even if my memory is completely wrong, and I brought home twice as much....that's still only $3.00 an hour. Sure, they provided room and board. Still highway robbery I think. And consider the years I was coordinating. I spent untold hours planning and preparing for the summer....and I don't remember getting a significant amount more.
Again, I'm not complaining about that, particularly. When it seems to burn the most however, is when I return there with my family and can barely afford to stay with my parents.
Fair Havens doesn't have any kind of alumni recognition. That's probably not very common among conference/camping grounds anyway, but I just feel like there should be something. Like I've explained, I kept up my connection with FH because I love it. The place. Some of the people.
But when I show up to pay for the programs my children will attend while we're there, I can't help but shake my head to think I'm now paying no small amount for my kids to do exactly what I used to teach....and never charged a penny for. That's right, 15 years ago, there were no "program fees".
It didn't help that the woman registering me at the counter was an old time staffer whom I clearly remember from my time working there, and I'm willing to bet she was working there when I was a lowly camper too. She asks my name, which, ok, I probably couldn't have remembered her name either, but the kicker was when she couldn't find me in the computer and asks "Have you been here before?". Sigh.
When I found out how much it was going to be costing me, I seriously considered saying that, ok, I wouldn't be sending them to their programs. I actually stood there thinking about how I was going to tell the kids they weren't going to 'Kinder Kids' and 'The Rock'. I began a short list in my head of the stuff I could do with them instead, with an underlying current of disappointment running through the whole mess that I wouldn't be able to work on the scrapbooking I brought up.
But that wasn't an option. When she included Afton, I quickly told her that I wouldn't be sending Afton to the nursery, thinking I wouldn't have to pay the program fee for her. After all, she wouldn't be getting any program. But no....the fee is to cover "her use of the grounds". Like the pool and....the ground she walks on. "For a 14 month old?" I said incredulously. They were going to charge me $50 so Afton could get her feet wet in the pool?
Indeed.
So on top of my wounded pride that this lady had to ask if I'd ever BEEN there before, the exorbitant fee for my kids to do precisely what's been happening there for at least 30 years at no cost, now my one year old had to pay for me to push her in a stroller around the campgrounds.
Is it too much to ask for a little recognition? A small token of gratitude for sacrifices made to the growth and prosperity of Fair Havens Ministries? Apparently not.
Now, as I'm a person to tries to look at things from the other side's perspective, I can understand that since the new director came on board a few years ago, he's put in place huge changes in order to improve the place. And improvements have happened. The Tuck shop and offices have been completely redone since I was a staffer. The playground is much larger, with new play apparatuses. The children's program now has two large portable classrooms to extend their classes into, with accompanying playlot. There's a beautiful new splashpad (as you can see). There's a more impressive line-up of special musical guests and events like the showing of the "Fireproof" movie. Every Friday night there's fireworks (as you can see) and every Saturday night they hold a BBQ for all the campers. I've heard that financially, Fair Havens is doing much better, and all due to this new director.
But this year, as I paid my left arm for my kids to attend one week of program and for me and Afton to....be on the grounds, I started considering that sometime soon, arrangements will likely have to change. As my kids get bigger, they won't be able to share the table that turns into a bed, and we will quite simply run out of room. We'll either have to start coming up during a week when my family is not there (no fun), or we're going to have to start making our own arrangements (like....grown-ups would, I guess). We'd have to get our own site...and get our own tent or tent trailer or trailer or something. But quite honestly, since we've always been on the receiving end of the perks of my parents' season site, and not had to pay very much at all for our times at Fair Havens, the costs to do such a thing seem pretty outrageous. And that just burns me. That both James and I once gave so much of our time and energy to a place that now we can't even afford to bring our family to. Yes, I know they are a business. Yes, I know they need to make money to make the place better, to bring up the standard and be able to compete with the likes of MBC.
But really, is that their goal? What is their goal? It would be nice to know. Because I think it should be to provide a beautiful, restful place where families can come and recharge, spend time with friends and hear some good bible teaching, trusting that their children are receiving the same---at a price the average family can afford.
Perhaps Fair Havens needs to take a look at what the average family is pulling in.
Kent Fun Day: Carousels, Butterflies and Rainbows
24 July 2009
Sounds divine, doesn't it?!
Today was our fourth Kent Family Fun Day. Even though we didn't make it to Puddicombe Farms last week, we decided to maintain the schedule and go to the planned destinations for today.
Port Dalhousie
We got away from home around 11-11:30 am. I had neglected to plan for bagged lunches, so we decided to hit a grocery store and get those Snack pack lunches the kids beg for every time we go grocery shopping. By the time we got to St. Catherines however, we decided it would probably be just as cheap/expensive to get lunch for them all at Subway which is where James and I had planned to pick up our own food.
Or probably NOT!
Oh well, lesson learned. It was yummy anyways.
So we took our lunch to Port Dalhousie and ate under a bird nest infested covered patio. Yeah, that was kinda gross, but there weren't any other picnic tables nearby and we found a spot the birds seemed to have boycotted. We'd just gotten the food divied up when I realized we'd forgotten the drinks I'd bought for James and I at the Subway. Fortunately it wasn't far, so James went back for them.
After lunch we headed across the field for the Carousel and bought our tickets which came to a grand total of 60 cents. Love that!
The kids had a ball at this and thoroughly enjoyed it. After a quick romp on the playpark next to the carousel, we got back in the van to head to....
The Butterfly Conservatory
This stop had been in my plan, but not on our poster, so the kids didn't really know about it. They impatiently made the drive asking that classic question "Are we there yet?", about 37 times.
I was a little disappointed at how many people there were; I'd hoped that going on a weekday would make it less busy. Pushing a bulky stroller through the paths didn't help. But the kids didn't really seem to notice; they were pretty amazed at all the butterflies flitting about. At first it was a little creepy really! They might be beautiful, but you know what? They're still BUGS! Jairus was downright scared and I had to talk him through it. After a few minutes he was fine.
We didn't stay terribly long because it was really warm in there (James was pouring sweat) and we did still have one more stop....
Niagara Falls
I prepped the kids on the drive to the falls about what exactly they were seeing with talk about the seven wonders of the world and how amazing it was that we could go see the falls. We were a little shocked at the parking: twice what we had budgeted at 20$, and it meant a bit of a walk which I was annoyed at. I knew that at about 5pm, the kids were getting tired and wouldn't take the walking. I was also annoyed that we had to follow signs saying pedestrians had to follow a certain walkway to get to the railings--which conveniently led right through a large souvenir shop. ( I hate souvenir shops with small kids!). But once we got within view of the falls I forgot all about my petty annoyances. What a great thing to see with your family!
Honour was suitably excited to learn that she had been on the Maid of the Mist when she was 1 year old (on a trip with Auntie Lauren and Auntie Tatum). They begged to go on any form of transportation they could see (boats, buses, trams, ferris wheels, etc) but we were already over budget for the day.
Afton woke up just long enough for us to get pics of her admiring the water and then we hit the road. I was very proud of myself that I didn't try to talk James into stopping somewhere for supper....nope, we got home and I whipped something up as planned.
Another successful Kent Fun Day!
Today was our fourth Kent Family Fun Day. Even though we didn't make it to Puddicombe Farms last week, we decided to maintain the schedule and go to the planned destinations for today.
Port Dalhousie
We got away from home around 11-11:30 am. I had neglected to plan for bagged lunches, so we decided to hit a grocery store and get those Snack pack lunches the kids beg for every time we go grocery shopping. By the time we got to St. Catherines however, we decided it would probably be just as cheap/expensive to get lunch for them all at Subway which is where James and I had planned to pick up our own food.
Or probably NOT!
Oh well, lesson learned. It was yummy anyways.
So we took our lunch to Port Dalhousie and ate under a bird nest infested covered patio. Yeah, that was kinda gross, but there weren't any other picnic tables nearby and we found a spot the birds seemed to have boycotted. We'd just gotten the food divied up when I realized we'd forgotten the drinks I'd bought for James and I at the Subway. Fortunately it wasn't far, so James went back for them.
After lunch we headed across the field for the Carousel and bought our tickets which came to a grand total of 60 cents. Love that!
The kids had a ball at this and thoroughly enjoyed it. After a quick romp on the playpark next to the carousel, we got back in the van to head to....
The Butterfly Conservatory
This stop had been in my plan, but not on our poster, so the kids didn't really know about it. They impatiently made the drive asking that classic question "Are we there yet?", about 37 times.
I was a little disappointed at how many people there were; I'd hoped that going on a weekday would make it less busy. Pushing a bulky stroller through the paths didn't help. But the kids didn't really seem to notice; they were pretty amazed at all the butterflies flitting about. At first it was a little creepy really! They might be beautiful, but you know what? They're still BUGS! Jairus was downright scared and I had to talk him through it. After a few minutes he was fine.
We didn't stay terribly long because it was really warm in there (James was pouring sweat) and we did still have one more stop....
Niagara Falls
I prepped the kids on the drive to the falls about what exactly they were seeing with talk about the seven wonders of the world and how amazing it was that we could go see the falls. We were a little shocked at the parking: twice what we had budgeted at 20$, and it meant a bit of a walk which I was annoyed at. I knew that at about 5pm, the kids were getting tired and wouldn't take the walking. I was also annoyed that we had to follow signs saying pedestrians had to follow a certain walkway to get to the railings--which conveniently led right through a large souvenir shop. ( I hate souvenir shops with small kids!). But once we got within view of the falls I forgot all about my petty annoyances. What a great thing to see with your family!
Honour was suitably excited to learn that she had been on the Maid of the Mist when she was 1 year old (on a trip with Auntie Lauren and Auntie Tatum). They begged to go on any form of transportation they could see (boats, buses, trams, ferris wheels, etc) but we were already over budget for the day.
Afton woke up just long enough for us to get pics of her admiring the water and then we hit the road. I was very proud of myself that I didn't try to talk James into stopping somewhere for supper....nope, we got home and I whipped something up as planned.
Another successful Kent Fun Day!
Kent Family Fun Day: Discovery Centre and HMCS Haida
17 July 2009
Today was Kent Family Fun Day #3, and again our plans were modified. I woke up this morning to hear the rain pouring down onto the veranda outside our window. Puddicombe Farms in the rain did not appeal, so we decided to backtrack and visit our choice for last Friday's outing, the Parks Canada Discovery Centre down on the waterfront here in Hamilton. This is a part of Hamilton I've not really seen much of....it's quite nice!
We started the day out however with a trip to Ikea to purchase some new dishes. I've been becoming increasingly concerned with the safety of our use of the plastic Walmart dishes I bought probably 5+ years ago. Ikea was having a sale on a set of plain chinaware and their sets of small glasses are quite inexpensive so for about 20$, we replaced all the the plastic. The kids were especially pleased about the change when we couched it in terms of them being 'old enough' now to use glass and ceramic dishes.
They were also thrilled to play in the ballroom there at Ikea....although I was not as thrilled as I thought I would be. I was trying to explain it to James: you'd think as a mom I'd be excited to shop at a place that offers to take care of my kids for free in a fun, safe environment. But there's just something about the staff there that rubs me the wrong way. James pointed out that they have alot of liability to consider. This is true, but how sad is it that the concept of liability causes the employees of a company to have to be so...cranky. I think it's just that they have to 'pete and repeat' the same stuff so often that they lose perspective on how to be tactful about it.
For instance, when we arrived and started to sign in, my kids were already getting their sandals off and socks on (the sock rule being one that I learned the hard way yesterday when Jairus and I went out to scope out the dishes) when the chick at the desk realizes that she's only got 2 slots left. It would be 20 minutes until there would be room for my three. So I agree to wait, but when I break the news to them, Verity is quite upset. They give me a pager to let me know when to come back and I hand it to her (it's got a lanyard attached to it) to placate her with the idea of getting to hold it and be the first to know when they can go back. The desk worker quite bluntly tells me that I need to hold onto it because "it's quite expensive" and she might drop it or lose it. I felt like a 10 year old.
And just the way they word the sign telling you that there's a 45 minute limit when it's busy. It doesn't ask nicely that you only leave your kids for 45 minutes when it's busy. It doesn't plainly ask or even state that the rules are that you only leave your kids for 45 minutes when it's busy. It tells you, yea orders you to only leave your kids for 45 minutes when it's busy. It irked me just to read that sign. At least now I can say that Jairus is toilet trained (they don't need to know that he has accidents, all kids do, right?). It downright angered me that they don't allow kids with pull-ups in the ballroom with no caveat for someone like Jairus. I've only let the kids in that playroom once before and it was quite a while ago. Back then I just let Jairus go in and didn't even tell them he was in pull-ups. They didn't suspect a kid his age so we didn't have any trouble, and let me tell you how ready I was to raise up a stink about discrimination towards a special needs child if they dared to.
Anyway, that's my gripe. Back to Kent Fun Day.
After we did our shopping, the kids talked James into staying for lunch at Ikea, so we then went straight to the Discovery Centre. I realized that I didn't have my camera so I had to make due with my cell phone. Some pics are not bad, but lots are kinda crappy....sorry! They'll do for the scrapbook, which we picked up tonight along with prints of the Storybook Garden pics. Can't wait to get started!
Though not in the plan, I should have known that if we were so close to the Haida, James would want to go see it. So for another 5$ added onto the Discovery Centre fee, we went over afterwards and romped around the old battleship.
We started the day out however with a trip to Ikea to purchase some new dishes. I've been becoming increasingly concerned with the safety of our use of the plastic Walmart dishes I bought probably 5+ years ago. Ikea was having a sale on a set of plain chinaware and their sets of small glasses are quite inexpensive so for about 20$, we replaced all the the plastic. The kids were especially pleased about the change when we couched it in terms of them being 'old enough' now to use glass and ceramic dishes.
They were also thrilled to play in the ballroom there at Ikea....although I was not as thrilled as I thought I would be. I was trying to explain it to James: you'd think as a mom I'd be excited to shop at a place that offers to take care of my kids for free in a fun, safe environment. But there's just something about the staff there that rubs me the wrong way. James pointed out that they have alot of liability to consider. This is true, but how sad is it that the concept of liability causes the employees of a company to have to be so...cranky. I think it's just that they have to 'pete and repeat' the same stuff so often that they lose perspective on how to be tactful about it.
For instance, when we arrived and started to sign in, my kids were already getting their sandals off and socks on (the sock rule being one that I learned the hard way yesterday when Jairus and I went out to scope out the dishes) when the chick at the desk realizes that she's only got 2 slots left. It would be 20 minutes until there would be room for my three. So I agree to wait, but when I break the news to them, Verity is quite upset. They give me a pager to let me know when to come back and I hand it to her (it's got a lanyard attached to it) to placate her with the idea of getting to hold it and be the first to know when they can go back. The desk worker quite bluntly tells me that I need to hold onto it because "it's quite expensive" and she might drop it or lose it. I felt like a 10 year old.
And just the way they word the sign telling you that there's a 45 minute limit when it's busy. It doesn't ask nicely that you only leave your kids for 45 minutes when it's busy. It doesn't plainly ask or even state that the rules are that you only leave your kids for 45 minutes when it's busy. It tells you, yea orders you to only leave your kids for 45 minutes when it's busy. It irked me just to read that sign. At least now I can say that Jairus is toilet trained (they don't need to know that he has accidents, all kids do, right?). It downright angered me that they don't allow kids with pull-ups in the ballroom with no caveat for someone like Jairus. I've only let the kids in that playroom once before and it was quite a while ago. Back then I just let Jairus go in and didn't even tell them he was in pull-ups. They didn't suspect a kid his age so we didn't have any trouble, and let me tell you how ready I was to raise up a stink about discrimination towards a special needs child if they dared to.
Anyway, that's my gripe. Back to Kent Fun Day.
After we did our shopping, the kids talked James into staying for lunch at Ikea, so we then went straight to the Discovery Centre. I realized that I didn't have my camera so I had to make due with my cell phone. Some pics are not bad, but lots are kinda crappy....sorry! They'll do for the scrapbook, which we picked up tonight along with prints of the Storybook Garden pics. Can't wait to get started!
Though not in the plan, I should have known that if we were so close to the Haida, James would want to go see it. So for another 5$ added onto the Discovery Centre fee, we went over afterwards and romped around the old battleship.
Kent Family Summer of Fun: Week 2
13 July 2009
So this past week brought more fun than we had originally planned.
As you can see from our calendar, this week we were supposed to visit the Discovery Centre. A number of weeks ago, James told me that he had to do a job in Parry Sound and that we could all come with him and visit Ryan and Jenn. This sounded great to me!
The trip was scheduled for this past Tuesday through Thursday. We had already made plans to visit Tim and Rhonda in Barrie for Saturday....and it didn't make sense to drive all the way back to Hamilton for Friday's Fun Day and back to Barrie on Saturday. So we adjusted the plan and made use of our Ontario Fun Pass which had a free admission coupon for Discovery Harbour in Penetanguishine.
Little did the kids know until Tuesday morning, that this was going to be Kent Fun Week!
We got into Parry Sound just after lunch on Tuesday and went to Ryan and Jenn's first. Jenn had gotten the afternoon off. Ryan and James headed over to the job and worked until supper. We were treated to an excellent dinner that evening of BBQ pork loin, corn on the cob and seasoned baked potato.
After ice cream cones for dessert (do they know their nieces and nephew or what!) we went to the hotel (the kids were over the moon about this). The Georgian Inn and Suites didn't look nearly as nice as the photos, but there was a separate room for the kids (with a TV!! They were thrilled!) which I would not truly realize how great that was until our next hotel in Midland.
We passed Wednesday with a trip to the SA thrift shop to pick up a belt for myself and a few things for the kids to round out the debit minimum (hate that), a good long play at a nearby playpark, and an afternoon swim with Auntie Jenn at the hotel pool. It turned out that we were the first to use the pool after it's closure and renovation. In our attempt to keep to the budget on this trip, we brought a cooler and made sure both out hotels had fridges to keep enough food for lunches and suppers: breakfasts were provided by both hotels. I just love that our kids are young enough to find eating cereal from teeny-tiny boxes in disposable bowls with plastic spoons, in a hotel foyer, exciting!
After supper in our hotel room, we went back over the Ryan and Jenns and took a walk down around the water with Jenn's family who had arrived that afternoon. The day ended pleasantly with yummy pie on their deck.
Thursday was check out day with unexpected bonus free time for James as he finished his job a little early. He took the kids for a swim in the pool while I packed up and we requested a late check out so that we could put together lunch from our supplies while still in the hotel.
**Tip: Picassa seems to be a little erratic with the slide show timing, so you might just want to click it forward yourself. Also, some captions don't show up unless you mouse over the picture.
A little after 1pm we hit the road and got to Midland about 2. We were staying in a brand new, VERY nice Super 8 motel and they were nice enough to let us check in early. It was a relief that we didn't have to try and get into our bathing suits in the van.
After loading stuff into the room, we got ready for the beach. 10 minutes down the road (pretty much exactly, Honour had me counting down) was a nice waterfront called Balm Beach. Again, kiddies were thrilled to bits and we spent a nice afternoon making sand castles and waterslides and venturing out into the very cold water only a bit.
Another highlight was a special dinner out. Since we took care of James meals, he was able to use his work food budget to take us all out instead. We went to Boston pizza and ate out on the patio. Very yummy!
We had picked up a brochure from the hotel about Discovery Harbour. In the same brochure was information about Sainte Marie among the Hurons. I'd known about this place but hadn't been particularly interested because it was a historic location, which I've mentioned we were skirting this summer because of the kids' ages. However, after looking at the brochure, we decided that Sainte Marie actually looked more interesting than Discovery Harbour so we opted to change the plan again. The beauty of never quite telling your kids what you're up to.
After a yummy breakfast in Super 8's very nice breakfast cafe (make your own waffles!), James took the kids swimming yet again, and I headed downtown to pick up some groceries and hit the scrapbook store. Midland has these wonderful murals all over the place and Afton and I walked down one side of the street right down to the waterfront and back up the other, snapping pics of all we could find.
Then we rustled up some lunch at the hotel, with gratitude for another late checkout, and left just after noon for Sainte Marie.
I was really pleased with how the kids enjoyed it. A couple times Verity started wailing that 'she wanted to go home', but for the most part, they were enthusiastic and interested in everything. They made their own dipping candles, wrote with feather quills and made little clay charms which will likely stay hidden....I rely on far stronger means for keeping evil spirits away from my kids, thanks much.
After a long but good afternoon at Sainte Marie, we headed south once more for Barrie, and James brother and SIL's house. James' parents were there that evening so we got some visiting in with them. Saturday had us taking in cousin Elijah playing baseball with his Rep team, a lazy afternoon playing in the sprinkler and on the neighbours trampoline and a witnessing a wicked storm/mini hurricane around supper. We ended up staying one more night in Barrie to get a chance to actually visit with Tim and Rhonda without 8 kids racing around.
Finally, Sunday was headin' home day...which was nice after such a whirlwind week.
The girls are right now enjoying a "Flower Camp" that a homeschooling friend is hosting....another event that I sprung at them just last night. I'm hoping my friend will document with pics that I can nab off her.
Hope you're enjoying some Family Fun this summer too!
As you can see from our calendar, this week we were supposed to visit the Discovery Centre. A number of weeks ago, James told me that he had to do a job in Parry Sound and that we could all come with him and visit Ryan and Jenn. This sounded great to me!
The trip was scheduled for this past Tuesday through Thursday. We had already made plans to visit Tim and Rhonda in Barrie for Saturday....and it didn't make sense to drive all the way back to Hamilton for Friday's Fun Day and back to Barrie on Saturday. So we adjusted the plan and made use of our Ontario Fun Pass which had a free admission coupon for Discovery Harbour in Penetanguishine.
Little did the kids know until Tuesday morning, that this was going to be Kent Fun Week!
We got into Parry Sound just after lunch on Tuesday and went to Ryan and Jenn's first. Jenn had gotten the afternoon off. Ryan and James headed over to the job and worked until supper. We were treated to an excellent dinner that evening of BBQ pork loin, corn on the cob and seasoned baked potato.
After ice cream cones for dessert (do they know their nieces and nephew or what!) we went to the hotel (the kids were over the moon about this). The Georgian Inn and Suites didn't look nearly as nice as the photos, but there was a separate room for the kids (with a TV!! They were thrilled!) which I would not truly realize how great that was until our next hotel in Midland.
We passed Wednesday with a trip to the SA thrift shop to pick up a belt for myself and a few things for the kids to round out the debit minimum (hate that), a good long play at a nearby playpark, and an afternoon swim with Auntie Jenn at the hotel pool. It turned out that we were the first to use the pool after it's closure and renovation. In our attempt to keep to the budget on this trip, we brought a cooler and made sure both out hotels had fridges to keep enough food for lunches and suppers: breakfasts were provided by both hotels. I just love that our kids are young enough to find eating cereal from teeny-tiny boxes in disposable bowls with plastic spoons, in a hotel foyer, exciting!
After supper in our hotel room, we went back over the Ryan and Jenns and took a walk down around the water with Jenn's family who had arrived that afternoon. The day ended pleasantly with yummy pie on their deck.
Thursday was check out day with unexpected bonus free time for James as he finished his job a little early. He took the kids for a swim in the pool while I packed up and we requested a late check out so that we could put together lunch from our supplies while still in the hotel.
**Tip: Picassa seems to be a little erratic with the slide show timing, so you might just want to click it forward yourself. Also, some captions don't show up unless you mouse over the picture.
A little after 1pm we hit the road and got to Midland about 2. We were staying in a brand new, VERY nice Super 8 motel and they were nice enough to let us check in early. It was a relief that we didn't have to try and get into our bathing suits in the van.
After loading stuff into the room, we got ready for the beach. 10 minutes down the road (pretty much exactly, Honour had me counting down) was a nice waterfront called Balm Beach. Again, kiddies were thrilled to bits and we spent a nice afternoon making sand castles and waterslides and venturing out into the very cold water only a bit.
Another highlight was a special dinner out. Since we took care of James meals, he was able to use his work food budget to take us all out instead. We went to Boston pizza and ate out on the patio. Very yummy!
We had picked up a brochure from the hotel about Discovery Harbour. In the same brochure was information about Sainte Marie among the Hurons. I'd known about this place but hadn't been particularly interested because it was a historic location, which I've mentioned we were skirting this summer because of the kids' ages. However, after looking at the brochure, we decided that Sainte Marie actually looked more interesting than Discovery Harbour so we opted to change the plan again. The beauty of never quite telling your kids what you're up to.
After a yummy breakfast in Super 8's very nice breakfast cafe (make your own waffles!), James took the kids swimming yet again, and I headed downtown to pick up some groceries and hit the scrapbook store. Midland has these wonderful murals all over the place and Afton and I walked down one side of the street right down to the waterfront and back up the other, snapping pics of all we could find.
Then we rustled up some lunch at the hotel, with gratitude for another late checkout, and left just after noon for Sainte Marie.
I was really pleased with how the kids enjoyed it. A couple times Verity started wailing that 'she wanted to go home', but for the most part, they were enthusiastic and interested in everything. They made their own dipping candles, wrote with feather quills and made little clay charms which will likely stay hidden....I rely on far stronger means for keeping evil spirits away from my kids, thanks much.
After a long but good afternoon at Sainte Marie, we headed south once more for Barrie, and James brother and SIL's house. James' parents were there that evening so we got some visiting in with them. Saturday had us taking in cousin Elijah playing baseball with his Rep team, a lazy afternoon playing in the sprinkler and on the neighbours trampoline and a witnessing a wicked storm/mini hurricane around supper. We ended up staying one more night in Barrie to get a chance to actually visit with Tim and Rhonda without 8 kids racing around.
Finally, Sunday was headin' home day...which was nice after such a whirlwind week.
The girls are right now enjoying a "Flower Camp" that a homeschooling friend is hosting....another event that I sprung at them just last night. I'm hoping my friend will document with pics that I can nab off her.
Hope you're enjoying some Family Fun this summer too!
Kent Family Fun Day: Storybook Gardens
01 July 2009
We had a great day today at Storybook Gardens. My parents took Ryan and I here when I was a little kid and I remember with vague snapshots in my head. I plan to scrapbook all the pictures we took between now and our next Kent Family Fun Day so that perhaps it won't be a vague memory for my kids.
Kent Family Summer of Fun!!
OK, so I'm not blogging again.
I've thought about it alot.....I may post a few things, but I don't think I could keep up with actually posting beyond the summer. I do feel like I have a bit more time right now, what with MountainKids, choirs (HCC and Strings Etc!) and homeschooling on hiatus.
So this is what our summer is looking like!!
I wanted to post an imbedded calendar that you could click on the links and go right to the site of what we're doing, but it would seem that neither Google nor Yahoo are capable of this. (Leave a comment if you know of one!) So here is a list of links to what we're doing this summer. We decided that instead of taking one or two weeks as a chunk, James would take his holidays one day per week, and that day would be Kent Family Fun Day! (KFFD on the calendar). Today was our first day (I'll post a Picasa show of the pics above!).
I also wanted to say that I got this idea from the Cheapskate lady, Mary Hunt. I looked specifically for activities that my kids would enjoy (not too many historical places, as they really wouldn't appreciate them yet) and things that weren't too expensive (so, Canada's Wonderland and even Ontario Place were out....another summer perhaps). I also got some Ontario Fun Passes sent out (learned of this through my homeschooling group) which has given us some good coupons. Perhaps later I'll post some of the budget I worked out so you can see what this whole summer is costing. Today's trip specifically I got a 10$ coupon just by signing up for their newsletter. Cool!
I've thought about it alot.....I may post a few things, but I don't think I could keep up with actually posting beyond the summer. I do feel like I have a bit more time right now, what with MountainKids, choirs (HCC and Strings Etc!) and homeschooling on hiatus.
So this is what our summer is looking like!!
I wanted to post an imbedded calendar that you could click on the links and go right to the site of what we're doing, but it would seem that neither Google nor Yahoo are capable of this. (Leave a comment if you know of one!) So here is a list of links to what we're doing this summer. We decided that instead of taking one or two weeks as a chunk, James would take his holidays one day per week, and that day would be Kent Family Fun Day! (KFFD on the calendar). Today was our first day (I'll post a Picasa show of the pics above!).
I also wanted to say that I got this idea from the Cheapskate lady, Mary Hunt. I looked specifically for activities that my kids would enjoy (not too many historical places, as they really wouldn't appreciate them yet) and things that weren't too expensive (so, Canada's Wonderland and even Ontario Place were out....another summer perhaps). I also got some Ontario Fun Passes sent out (learned of this through my homeschooling group) which has given us some good coupons. Perhaps later I'll post some of the budget I worked out so you can see what this whole summer is costing. Today's trip specifically I got a 10$ coupon just by signing up for their newsletter. Cool!
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Weaning
25 September 2008
No, not the baby.
Me.
I'm attempting to wean myself from the computer.
It's perfectly amazing how this little machine, that 5 years ago I didn't even own, has imersed itself so firmly and seemingly irreplacably in my life. It was about 5 years ago that James and I broke down and got the internet (at the time, the absolute cheapest dial-up service available). We had had it before, living in Stoney Creek, and before that in Chicago, but we had cut it for while to try and get a handle on our budget.
But people without the internet now are definitely in the minority. And considered weird. And are harassed by family, friends and co-workers until they give in and make the call to Rogers. Or whoever. It's true that one significant reason that we got the internet back then was because it was the chief way one of my jobs communicated to it's staff. So on came the email.
And then a few years ago I started this blog. And another. And another. Blogs need to be updated, and as you can see, I'm not so hot at it.....I'm getting to that.
Then there was the Facebook stint. I've had about 45 seconds of regret that I got away from that.
Recently I got into MSN. It was a quick little phase, still used sometimes, but man, that one is a real time snatcher. It's like the livechat function my budgeting program, Mvelopes uses. You can't just phone up a tech person if you're having problems, you have to do a live, msn-style, chat with a tech. I find that I'll be on for at least an hour, or a good part of one, and when I read back over the conversation, it takes me about 1/4 of the time it took to type it all. And I'm a pretty fast typer.
Tick, tick, tick.
Not that some of my time spent on the computer isn't completely useful. Like I said, there's the email for work purposes. And my budgeting on Mvelopes--completely online. There's always the odd google search for map directions or definitions of "eye twitch" to help me figure out if I have a brain tumor causing my eyebrow to quiver all the time. See? Useful stuff.
And who knows what powerful forces in my life would be non-existant if I didn't spend time on the computer. Like knowing about this Kirk Cameron movie that I'm dying to see and have woefully realized I'll have to wait until the dvd comes out. Or the many blogs my mom points me too about homeschooling or interesting devo's. Good stuff.
But here's the bottom line: I have four children. One is an infant. One is a tyrant. Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh. Let's just call her, "my adventurous one". One is, well, fairly normal. The other needs much more of my attention than he usually gets. He needs to get toilet trained. He needs to learn to speak more clearly. When he says grace it sounds like:
"Mm-mm-hmmm" (Dear Jesus)
"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm" (thank you for my food)
"Uh-men" (You can figure that one out)
I'm homeschooling them.
I teach 2, soon to be 3 choirs.
I'm helping run the children's program at church. (http://www.mountainkidsministry.blogspot.com/)
I have a horrendously messy house. I'm trying to get in with Flylady. (What constitutes 'trying'? Hmm, wishing? Thinking? Planning? Am I fooling myself?)
I have a husband. He needs....attention.
I have a Lord. I need my relationship with Him to be stronger.
I'm a big proponent of simplifying one's life. I plan to fight tooth and nail before I'm racing my 4 kids from activity to activity day in and day out. We'll see how that goes, eh?
And so, back to weaning.
I'm thinking of giving this blog up. And likely the kids' one too. This is kindof a hard decision. I love to write, love to have a creative outlet. But I scrapbook too---I could just pick that up again. And I can journal. As my mom would say, there you go.
I just feel like if I have one more thing hanging around my shoulders that's calling out, pay attention to me!! I need to be updated/cleaned/worked on/read/filed/putaway/wiped/changed/taught/corrected/run after/rescued/washed!---I might, well, to quote my SIL, jump out a window!?
I met my husband at the door yesterday and said, "Sometimes I wish we were still 17". He chuckled and asked why. "Simpler?"
I nodded.
"Then again", I added, "When we were 17, we couldn't imagine there would be a time in our lives with more stress and concerns than we had then". Such a vicious cycle.
So read and enjoy, if you commonly do. I don't think leslife-morelife will be here much longer.
:-(
Me.
I'm attempting to wean myself from the computer.
It's perfectly amazing how this little machine, that 5 years ago I didn't even own, has imersed itself so firmly and seemingly irreplacably in my life. It was about 5 years ago that James and I broke down and got the internet (at the time, the absolute cheapest dial-up service available). We had had it before, living in Stoney Creek, and before that in Chicago, but we had cut it for while to try and get a handle on our budget.
But people without the internet now are definitely in the minority. And considered weird. And are harassed by family, friends and co-workers until they give in and make the call to Rogers. Or whoever. It's true that one significant reason that we got the internet back then was because it was the chief way one of my jobs communicated to it's staff. So on came the email.
And then a few years ago I started this blog. And another. And another. Blogs need to be updated, and as you can see, I'm not so hot at it.....I'm getting to that.
Then there was the Facebook stint. I've had about 45 seconds of regret that I got away from that.
Recently I got into MSN. It was a quick little phase, still used sometimes, but man, that one is a real time snatcher. It's like the livechat function my budgeting program, Mvelopes uses. You can't just phone up a tech person if you're having problems, you have to do a live, msn-style, chat with a tech. I find that I'll be on for at least an hour, or a good part of one, and when I read back over the conversation, it takes me about 1/4 of the time it took to type it all. And I'm a pretty fast typer.
Tick, tick, tick.
Not that some of my time spent on the computer isn't completely useful. Like I said, there's the email for work purposes. And my budgeting on Mvelopes--completely online. There's always the odd google search for map directions or definitions of "eye twitch" to help me figure out if I have a brain tumor causing my eyebrow to quiver all the time. See? Useful stuff.
And who knows what powerful forces in my life would be non-existant if I didn't spend time on the computer. Like knowing about this Kirk Cameron movie that I'm dying to see and have woefully realized I'll have to wait until the dvd comes out. Or the many blogs my mom points me too about homeschooling or interesting devo's. Good stuff.
But here's the bottom line: I have four children. One is an infant. One is a tyrant. Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh. Let's just call her, "my adventurous one". One is, well, fairly normal. The other needs much more of my attention than he usually gets. He needs to get toilet trained. He needs to learn to speak more clearly. When he says grace it sounds like:
"Mm-mm-hmmm" (Dear Jesus)
"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm" (thank you for my food)
"Uh-men" (You can figure that one out)
I'm homeschooling them.
I teach 2, soon to be 3 choirs.
I'm helping run the children's program at church. (http://www.mountainkidsministry.blogspot.com/)
I have a horrendously messy house. I'm trying to get in with Flylady. (What constitutes 'trying'? Hmm, wishing? Thinking? Planning? Am I fooling myself?)
I have a husband. He needs....attention.
I have a Lord. I need my relationship with Him to be stronger.
I'm a big proponent of simplifying one's life. I plan to fight tooth and nail before I'm racing my 4 kids from activity to activity day in and day out. We'll see how that goes, eh?
And so, back to weaning.
I'm thinking of giving this blog up. And likely the kids' one too. This is kindof a hard decision. I love to write, love to have a creative outlet. But I scrapbook too---I could just pick that up again. And I can journal. As my mom would say, there you go.
I just feel like if I have one more thing hanging around my shoulders that's calling out, pay attention to me!! I need to be updated/cleaned/worked on/read/filed/putaway/wiped/changed/taught/corrected/run after/rescued/washed!---I might, well, to quote my SIL, jump out a window!?
I met my husband at the door yesterday and said, "Sometimes I wish we were still 17". He chuckled and asked why. "Simpler?"
I nodded.
"Then again", I added, "When we were 17, we couldn't imagine there would be a time in our lives with more stress and concerns than we had then". Such a vicious cycle.
So read and enjoy, if you commonly do. I don't think leslife-morelife will be here much longer.
:-(
One of those moments...
03 September 2008
There are some posts where I extol the virtures of my beautiful children. Like most families, we have many wonderful, exciting, happy times where I think "This is why we're doing this". You know those moments.
And then there are the moments where I want to crawl under the nearest table, or perhaps rush back out the door of the restaurant....
Yes indeed, I had one of those mortifying moments....much worse than Verity continually announcing that her bum hurts at the family dinner table (that would be my parents' dinner table, you know, with all the siblings and spouses and boyfriends sitting around...).
Yesterday was grocery day. When James got home, we needed to go out and get groceries, an adventure that the kids love and look forward to; a harrowing torturous experience that James and I are growing to dread every two weeks.
The biggest problem yesterday is that the larder was empty. I'm not sure what happened our last grocery trip because we horrifyingly went over our budget by fully a 1/3, but by yesterday there was absolutely NO food to prepare for supper. We couldn't even do pancakes because we had no eggs. I do plan a menu, but I never actually plan out 14 meals, usually about 10 and then leftovers and a few dinners at my mom and dad's takes care of the rest.
So when James got home, we sat and talked for a bit (mostly about how tired we had been all day from staying up until 1am watching Lord of the Rings the night before--go ahead, give my hand a slap) and then decided we would hit Pizza Hut for a quick dinner before we went to the grocery store. Truthfully, we didn't really have the money to do that, but we didn't have the time to make two trips to the grocery store for something to make up for supper and then head back out for the big haul.
Alas, the Pizza Hut was closed for renovations. So down the road we went and spotted the East Side Marios. I LOVE East Side Marios, but I always feel a little guilty going there because it's a little expensive. But we decided we'd order a pizza there and nothing extra (sigh, no salad or garlic bread) and then it would probably be no more than Pizza Hut would have been.
The kids were all very excited, especially Verity. In fact, she was a little off the wall. As we all walked in and the Hostess appeared, she immediately went running up to her and started screeching away about something in one of those so-excited tones of voice that you could hardly understand what she said.
But I understood what she said.
Our server was a beautiful, very dark skinned young woman with many braids. She was one of those black people who you can truly call black. To my horror, Verity looked at her and said something along the lines of "You're brown!! I don't like brown!".
At first I wasn't sure she actually said such a horrible thing. She came spinning around to me and I caught her by the chin. "Verity", I said, "WHAT did you just say?". But she was too excited to comprehend and I was trying to speak on the quiet side. I waited until we got to our table and then a got my face into hers.
I determined that yes, my ears had heard correctly. I was so stunned. Why in the WORLD would she come out with such a thing? How could MY child have said something like that?
When I sat back down, James and I looked at each other with concerned looks. We discussed whether I should take Verity over to apologize to the hostess. James thought yes, but I was unsure because frankly, I didn't think the woman had heard or comprehended what Verity had said. But after a minute, I decided that she needed too: even if the woman hadn't heard it, Verity had said it and she knew she had. This apology would be more for Verity's benefit than the hostess.
So I put Verity on my hip and explained what we were going to do. She seemed agreeable. I went over to where the hostess was setting a table and told her that my daughter needed to say something to her. She was gracious and smiling, clearly touched at the cutesy apology of a three year old. I don't think she had quite heard what Verity said originally, but that was ok.
It's still a mystery why she said that. I think it was a combination of typical not-thinking-before-she-put-her-mouth-in-gear, intense excitement and perhaps a little awe over being so close to someone with such dark colouring.
But jeepers I hope that doesn't happen again!
And then there are the moments where I want to crawl under the nearest table, or perhaps rush back out the door of the restaurant....
Yes indeed, I had one of those mortifying moments....much worse than Verity continually announcing that her bum hurts at the family dinner table (that would be my parents' dinner table, you know, with all the siblings and spouses and boyfriends sitting around...).
Yesterday was grocery day. When James got home, we needed to go out and get groceries, an adventure that the kids love and look forward to; a harrowing torturous experience that James and I are growing to dread every two weeks.
The biggest problem yesterday is that the larder was empty. I'm not sure what happened our last grocery trip because we horrifyingly went over our budget by fully a 1/3, but by yesterday there was absolutely NO food to prepare for supper. We couldn't even do pancakes because we had no eggs. I do plan a menu, but I never actually plan out 14 meals, usually about 10 and then leftovers and a few dinners at my mom and dad's takes care of the rest.
So when James got home, we sat and talked for a bit (mostly about how tired we had been all day from staying up until 1am watching Lord of the Rings the night before--go ahead, give my hand a slap) and then decided we would hit Pizza Hut for a quick dinner before we went to the grocery store. Truthfully, we didn't really have the money to do that, but we didn't have the time to make two trips to the grocery store for something to make up for supper and then head back out for the big haul.
Alas, the Pizza Hut was closed for renovations. So down the road we went and spotted the East Side Marios. I LOVE East Side Marios, but I always feel a little guilty going there because it's a little expensive. But we decided we'd order a pizza there and nothing extra (sigh, no salad or garlic bread) and then it would probably be no more than Pizza Hut would have been.
The kids were all very excited, especially Verity. In fact, she was a little off the wall. As we all walked in and the Hostess appeared, she immediately went running up to her and started screeching away about something in one of those so-excited tones of voice that you could hardly understand what she said.
But I understood what she said.
Our server was a beautiful, very dark skinned young woman with many braids. She was one of those black people who you can truly call black. To my horror, Verity looked at her and said something along the lines of "You're brown!! I don't like brown!".
At first I wasn't sure she actually said such a horrible thing. She came spinning around to me and I caught her by the chin. "Verity", I said, "WHAT did you just say?". But she was too excited to comprehend and I was trying to speak on the quiet side. I waited until we got to our table and then a got my face into hers.
I determined that yes, my ears had heard correctly. I was so stunned. Why in the WORLD would she come out with such a thing? How could MY child have said something like that?
When I sat back down, James and I looked at each other with concerned looks. We discussed whether I should take Verity over to apologize to the hostess. James thought yes, but I was unsure because frankly, I didn't think the woman had heard or comprehended what Verity had said. But after a minute, I decided that she needed too: even if the woman hadn't heard it, Verity had said it and she knew she had. This apology would be more for Verity's benefit than the hostess.
So I put Verity on my hip and explained what we were going to do. She seemed agreeable. I went over to where the hostess was setting a table and told her that my daughter needed to say something to her. She was gracious and smiling, clearly touched at the cutesy apology of a three year old. I don't think she had quite heard what Verity said originally, but that was ok.
It's still a mystery why she said that. I think it was a combination of typical not-thinking-before-she-put-her-mouth-in-gear, intense excitement and perhaps a little awe over being so close to someone with such dark colouring.
But jeepers I hope that doesn't happen again!
New from Kirk Cameron
19 August 2008
I HAVE to see this movie. It looks AMAZING. And so close to my birthday....(wink, wink, nudge nudge)....wait, my husband would have to read my blog to see that......
Not the Same
08 July 2008
I'm at camp and I miss Neesha.
...and Sarah and Phil and Melissa and Jeff and Karen and Ron and Josh and Greg and...
...and Sarah and Phil and Melissa and Jeff and Karen and Ron and Josh and Greg and...
We live in Hondaworld
28 June 2008
Ever since we were expecting our fourth, I've been eyeing a new van. We got our first mini-van after Verity was born, in 2005. Before that we all fit into our Accord wagon. (We're somewhat fond of Hondas). (Ok, we're Honda fanatics). (Blame my uncle, he started it).
But when I had to ride squeezed into the 10 inch space between the girls' carseats in the back seat of the Accord, we realized we needed to give in and get a minivan. An Odyssey, of course. There didn't really seem to be any way we could afford that though. The Accord had come second hand from the aforementioned uncle who gave us a sweet deal. But I looked at the autotrader anyways. To my surprise and excitement, there were some old Odysseys out there that we could possibly handle purchasing. We went out to the Kitchener area to check out the cheapest. This 95' was going for about $3500 and once we got there it was obvious why. As I went to shift into gear during a test drive, the gear shift got stuck and wouldn't move. The salesguy nervously suggested that I just needed to really reef on it. Ok...buh-by now.
We ended up buying another 95' (earliest year Honda made the Odyssey) from some little place in TO for 5K. We were thrilled.
Now, this isn't actually our Odyssey. I realized when I went looking for a photo of big red, that we got our digital camera after that point, hence no pics of our first minivan. But google obliged me with this pic, quite close to ours. Except we didn't have a sunroof. Or those funky visors over the windows.
I'll bypass our unfortunate Hyundai experience...(You stray from the formula, you pay the consequences) and move onto the next Honda purchase, a little civic for James to take to work.
Unfortunately, we made the mistake of buying privately and that wasn't so rosy an experience. By now however, I would think you're starting to see our trend....
So back to the present. I got pregnant and we realized that our decision to buy a van with two bench seats was not so practical for 4 kids in carseats. Space overall became a bit of an issue, as the early Odyssey's were quite small. And I was having heartattacks in every parking lot with three kids trying out their independence on a four door (read: no sliders). So last week I started looking at Pilots. My brother had been razzing me that we should get a Pilot next, so I went to the Honda site to check them out. I clicked away, deciding that nope, I still liked the Odyssey better. On I clicked to autotrader and what did I find?
A mere 5 minute drive, over on Upper James, this 2000 (Yes!! Into the 2000's!!) Honda Odyssey was going for $5449. It wasn't red...but I didn't care...could we do it?
YES WE CAN!!
Say it ain't so
11 June 2008
The other night I was at my moms, looking over her shoulder when she was checking her email, and my eye caught a news story on yahoo that made my heart sink.Last Saturday, James and the kids and I spent a good portion of the day at a friends house, celebrating her youngest child's birthday with a BBQ. There were lots of friends over, and James and I met and spent some time talking with a couple who had two teenagers. We talked about all sorts of things, one of them being a discussion about our children's names, what they meant and why we had chosen them. Our new friend, who had a rather unique name himself-----Gideon--- joked that just as his daughters name----Hannah--which had been fairly uncommon when she was born and now is not, our children's names might someday be commonplace as well. I laughed and thought in my head about how completely impossible that was.
And then Jessica Alba had a baby. Do you know who Jessica Alba is? I think she might have started out as a pop singer, kind of like Mandy Moore, but turned actress and model. She's quite gorgeous. I remember her best from a fav movie, Never been kissed with Drew Barrymore. She played one of the stuck up popular kids, who dressed up as a Barbie Doll for the themed high school prom, and got in an argument with her equally popular and ditzy friends about which Barbie doll she was (Malibu Barbie? Disco Barbie? Truly mindboggling stuff).
I'm sure by now you're getting the idea, if you didn't see it on the news yourself.
Babies
Honor Marie 'Looks Just Like' Mom Jessica Alba
Originally posted Tuesday June 10, 2008 06:55 PM EDT
Jessica Alba and Cash Warren Photo by: Alex Berliner / Berliner Studio / BEImages
tiiQuigoWriteAd(757767, 1348046, 240, 190, -1);
Jessica Alba has passed on her natural beauty to 3-day-old Honor Marie Warren, according to the star's brother, Josh. "She is gorgeous. She looks just like my sister," Josh Alba told E! News of his newborn niece. "Jessica did everything natural ... It went really well." Born June 7 in Los Angeles, Honor Marie is the first child for Alba, 27, and husband Cash Warren, 31. In recent months, Alba has been in full nesting mode, and now that the baby is here, the Alba family couldn't be happier. "We are all just ecstatic," Josh said. "She definitely looks like an Alba to me."– Arnesa A. Howell
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!?!
Sure, she spells it American, but still, this spells death for the uniqueness I've cherished in my babies' names. Ach, I'm probably overreacting....but I guarantee there will be a few more Honour's out there in the next few years. Alba might not be a superstar like Julia Roberts or something, but a quick google tells me that she's got a significant following.
Sigh. Maybe she'll pop out 2 more kids in the next 2 years and we won't hear diddly about her...she'll slowly fade from the public eye......Is that an evil thing to wish? So sorry.
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