Finally, an update! April & May

Can you believe that we're closing in on the end of the school year already? I can't! Since my last post we've finished up with our winter sports (volleyball for the older two and hockey for Jordan) and are just getting started with the summer line-up (beach volleyball and soccer for Alana, beach volleyball and baseball for Hendrik, and baseball for Jordan). The volleyball seasons finished on a high for both Hendrik and Alana, with Hendrik's team winning a silver in Division 1 Tier 2 to finish 10th in the province and Alana's team winning bronze in Division 1 Tier 2 to finish 11th in the province. Both teams exceeded expectations in terms of their results - we ended by beating a team we'd lost to a few times during the season (Guelph Jr Gryphons) and finished higher than our #20 ranking coming into the tournament, so we were all very happy with the results! The Ottawa road trip with just three of us (me, Steve and Alana) was also a treat; Alana had a great time with her teammates on and off the court (making clips and crafts, swimming, socializing) and Steve and I enjoyed a break from the usual routine of work, meals and evening run-arounds. It was almost like a little vacation! Jordan's hockey finished on a high note too - he won the most dedicated Green Dawg, one of only three awards given out to each of the four Ice Dawgs squads. We're thinking that he'll try house league hockey with another club in the fall, so hopefully we can manage the mid-week practice times. My women's league volleyball wrapped up a few weeks ago as well, but basketball is still going strong; it might be my favourite hour of the week! Long may it last!

So the winter activities are finished and the summer ones are almost in full swing. Beach volleyball starts this week and the boys have their first baseball tournaments next weekend... it's going to get busy! Thank goodness for this long weekend and a slower day today (Monday). It was Jordan's birthday over the weekend and we celebrated with a Blue Jays game - it was a blast! A Barbie blast. It just worked out that the best day to go was Barbie game day, so now we all have matching pink Barbie Blue Jays shirts which we wore to welcome Grandma and Gramps the day after Jordan's birthday. It's a lot of pink! There was so much going on at the stadium, so we walked around, camped out to try to catch a home run, walked around some more, climbed up to our seats way up at the top of the 500-level and enjoyed all the snacks and candy I carted in there. Jordan got a ball (from someone in the bullpen) and three of us got our first-game certificates (plus a happy birthday for J). Fun!

Other birthday highlights were waffles (always a highlight) and the many gifts: a fish (to be purchased - he has the tank now though), a new hoodie, a drone, a remote control car that climbs walls (so fun), stickers, a new t-shirt, and a gift card to PetSmart. And personalized art from Alana! I need to take a pic and get that posted (will edit to add later). He had a busy week with some of his own baseball games and an outing to watch the London Knights win their league (where he made it onto the "Dad cam" with Steve - hilarious!)

I know there's lots more to write about (like work: I'm doing the same job next year - core French to mostly grade 7s and 8s; I sometimes wonder why I choose this), summer plans, house updates (the attic is moving along, we got new windows upstairs that are a million times better than the old ones), Hendrik's school baseball, and more, but I'm running out of time here! I'll leave you with a few photos and captions. :) 

Jordan on third base, wanting to get home!

some Mother's Day art from Alana - love it!

bed of nails face at The Museum in Waterloo

bed of nails face

Happy Easter! Hendrik's provincials were this weekend in Waterloo, so he missed the hunt!

Talons boys

I love March break!

Well, this year's March break wasn't quite as tropical or sun-baked as last year's trip to the Cayman Islands, but it was just what we needed - a slower, more relaxing week free from work and the usual after-school, pre-activity time crunch. And there was no hockey! Jordan's ice time is at 7:00 on Saturdays and 7 or 8 on Sundays, so it was incredible to actually sleep in a little bit and enjoy the weekend. He only has a few weeks of hockey left, and while he's had a good experience, it may be the end of the Ice Dawgs for us. We'll see! We are back to the usual today (Sunday), with volleyball practice for both big kids - and back to reality tomorrow. We tried to do something organized every day, and made it skating, to the sugar shack (we went to Fort Rose in Coldstream) where we enjoyed a delicious all-you-can-eat pancaked breakfast smorgasbord, did some beach volleyball, Alana did a clinic at Western, and all the kids had sleepovers. I went out for dinner with friends, Alana and I went to Crock-a-doodle (so fun), there was friend time for the kids, and Steve and I carried 70 sheets of drywall up to the attic; that was the victory of the week! We took two days to do it and did two at a time... I was (and still am) proud of us. We are inching towards attic completion, though need to make decisions about flooring, bathroom finishes, lighting and more. Decision-fatigue is real! It would be nice to have someone just do it for us... ha! That's what people pay for I guess.

Since my last post we've had lots of snow, and then the big melt! It definitely feels like spring is here, but I know that the warmer weather can take its time to be here for good, and there's almost ALWAYS another cold spell. So I'm resisting the temptation to pack up all of the winter stuff. Plus, I have enough on the to-do list anyways! Alana and I also had a volleyball tournament recently (we got bronze, and had a few special fans!), and a few coming up next weekend. The end is sort of in sight: Hendrik and Steve have provincials in Waterloo on Easter weekend, and Alana and I have provincials the following weekend in Ottawa. And then it will be full speed into summer sports! The boys are doing baseball, and Alana is doing soccer and beach volleyball. We have plans to go out to BC where we'll visit my parents on the island and then spend a few days in Vancouver to see my sister, my best friend from Australia and a few other friends (hopefully) - we don't get out there enough! I wish we had time to do the full tour - everyone would love to go back to Fernie, and Alana won't stop talking about going to Calgary. If only we could do it all! Alright, here are some photos and then I'm going to try to get out for a run before the day gets away from me. 

Catching up

We're well into the thick of the new year and I realize I never wrote about our holidays over winter break / Christmas. Most of us spent the majority of the break in Bowmanville with Steve's parents and the Calgary crew, and the kids loved cousin time, Christmas and its usual trimmings, and of course all of the meals and sweets and treats. It was the best! We did our best to get out and about every day, and enjoyed a walk by the water (even Steve and I got into the ice breaking games), went swimming a few times, skating in Orono (thanks to Hugh Pops), some baseball, and outside play. There was also lots of puzzling, games and arts and crafts. I was the only one to get sick, and instead of waiting in ridiculously long urgent care lines in town, Steve and I came back to London for a few nights where I was able to see my doctor and get antibiotics for pneumonia - ew! Because of the potential for contagion, I stayed home and enjoyed four days of quiet while Steve motored back to Bowmanville to ring in the new year with the rest of the extended family. I missed out on the New Year's day gathering and goodies, but am glad I didn't end up getting anyone else sick. And to be honest, I really did enjoy having some time by myself, even though I wasn't feeling great!

It's been about a month of the back-to-usual, and everyone is settled into their school, work and sports routines. Hendrik started a new semester and is taking French, English, Science and Tech, and seems to be liking his new schedule (but missing gym class). Volleyball is his extra-curricular right now, and he's loving it! They played in a few 16U tournaments and have done well (bronze last weekend), and have just a few more regular tourneys before provincials in early April. Alana's team is also gearing up for their (/our) last few tournaments, but because our final event is almost a month later than the first one, we get to fill several more weeks with practice and play. She's also loving it, which is great! Their spring/summer sports are going to get rolling soon - Hendrik has indoor baseball workouts once a week, and I just signed Alana up for summer rec soccer. Jordan is still playing hockey, and we like almost everything about it; the 7:00 starts on the weekend are definitely not our favourite, but once he's out on the ice it's all good. He has indoor baseball as well, so we're all keeping busy enough!

Steve has been getting the job DONE up in the attic, and we're basically ready to haul a lot of drywall up there to get going on the next phase of the project. We need to figure out bathroom design and get that ball rolling, but he's done so much up there and the progress is exciting for everyone. He's also been installing flooring for our friends, so is definitely keeping busy. Work has been mostly good for me, though there are some days where I question my choice to be a Core French teacher! Ha. I'd probably be doing the same no matter where I was teaching... it can be so challenging! I'll add a few photos and then get to some of these other things on my Sunday list: clean the kitchen floor and register kids for summer camp. Maybe I should add a nap to the list... :)  

new stuffies - he asked for lots of penguin-themed gifts!

indoor skydiving was a birthday present - it looked so fun!

matching jammies

Christmas dinner! It was incredible, as always!

Crock-a-doodle with Pam... so fun.

cousins by the dreaded creek!

milkshakes at breakfast!!

FINALLY we put up the corkboard... it's a miracle!

outdoor hockey during break

gold medals at a 14U tourney!

making sugar cookies

love this team!

Last call 2024

Well, the snow is all gone and so is 2024… almost. A few hours remain in the year, and it will be a memorable NYE for me as I'll likely be in bed long before the clock strikes 12. The holidays have been incredible so far (mostly), so I'll start with a run-down of that. The fall has been so busy with sports and coaching, so we were all really ready for some time in Bowmanville, where we could relax and hang out with family and get a break from all of the commitments. The Calgary crew came out this year, and the kids (Alana especially) were SO excited to see their cousins, even though it's only been a few months since our epic European trip to Holland with everyone (Hoogenboom logies!). There was definitely some reminiscing about the lodging and all that went with it (cows, smells), as well as the great day trips we had. Everyone enjoyed lots of down time during the first few days, and we were all spoiled with gifts on the Christmas Eve (or prior!). The kids opened presents here before we left, and some highlight gifts were vintage Archie’s and Crocs (for all), Uggs, Hedgehog toys, Roblox $ (Alana), Lego, an array of penguin merch - stuffies, PJs, slippers, socks, Roblox $ (Jordan), and clothes, a SIM card and golf lessons (Hendrik); Steve and I promised to only get each other drywall and the car fixed, and we both stuck to it. Jordan and Alana had hand-made gifts for everyone (crochet and sewing), and everyone loved them (will find and post pics!), and Hendrik very thoughtfully hid gifts for his siblings in the tree (Roblox $). Santa did bring us a few things in our stocking though, and we weren't the only ones (imagine?); even Jordan's stuffies with their last minute socks got something (!!). Everyone was happy and we were all spoiled.

Christmas dinner was an incredible affair, as usual, and the Brinkmans hosted 16 people for a feast! All of the fixings were there and it was delicious. We played the traditional post-Christmas dinner left-right-centre game, split into two tables this year and had a few victorious family members - Jordan won the quarters round on one table, and Hendrik won BOTH rounds (quarters and loonies) on the other table! Moneybags. It was a lovely evening of food, family fun, and friendly competition. 

Downtime has been the M.O. of most other days, but we have snuck in a few activities here and there: swimming, baseball (with Hughpops), skating, Crockadoodle (pottery painting), a few walks, and lots of playing at home. The kids made a hilarious video about mounting a protest to walks to the creek (there was also something about a murder), so "down with the creek" may be a theme or mantra of sorts to the holiday, which is hilarious. I'm still locked out of my Google account so hopefully this cut and paste works, and I can get some photos up too. All the best in 2025!!

Snowy days!

We have had a major dump of snow here in London over the last few days, and the kids have enjoyed lots of outdoor play time with school cancellations - yay snow days! I am so far behind in posting but am also somehow locked out of my Google accounts everywhere but my phone, and nothing is working to sign in… despite being already signed in here. Because I hate typing on my phone, I’ll just make this a photo-heavy post, and then get back outside to do some more shoveling. We have some neighbours to help, and the kids might try to make some money in the neighbourhood. Hopefully I can get back into my account and write a longer post soon!