There is so much going on! And there was so much going on the week before last - in a good and chill-out way - at the cottage during our first visit of the summer. The kids LOVE it there, and told us several times. From dawn until dusk they are occupied and having fun and there are no complaints of boredom and no requests for technology. And the best part is - they fight less and get along MORE! They live in their bathing suits and spend most of their time at the water, swimming, fishing, and canoeing, reluctantly coming up to the cottage for meals and snacks. Memorable moments from our trip include Jordan's bellyflop "dives" off the dock (he would NOT jump feet-first even though he nodded "okay!" when we explained how we wanted him to jump), a Jordan, Mom and Hendrik canoe trip up the rapids to an island where we swam and planned more island trips, Alana's newfound love of fishing, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, Steve's lunker catch, playing "tip the untippable" with Hendrik (we try to tip each other off of an air mattress) and... there's more I'm sure. We played games, watched a few movies, and had some five-star meals, and we can't wait to get back. Planning this summer has been difficult - mostly because of the new house, and I'm glad we didn't book too much too early because as it turns out, we get our next house NEXT FRIDAY! I still can't believe we are moving (a block away). Anyways, it's been a plan-as-you-go affair (something I'm not used to with all of this time), and it looks like we'll go camping for a few nights next week, then spend the next few getting our new place move-in ready, or as move-in ready as possible. This means stripping wallpaper (that's been there for 60+ years so this may not be so straight forward) and hopefully replacing carpet, but the first order of business is finding a contractor (and packing). Bah! At least we have a sizeable window to do work and move, so hopefully we'll be able to get things done and transition smoothly to our new place.
We've been keeping busy with little day trips here and there, mostly in town and close by. We went to East Park for the first time last week, and the kids loved it - Jordan and I hung out by the splash pad for most of the day while the bigs enjoyed the waterslides and wave pool; we could have stayed all day! We went blueberry picking in Mount Brydges (at the Olde Drive Blueberry Farm) yesterday afternoon and then hit the park in Ilderton on our out-of-the-way home. We picked up a pizza from For Pizza's Sake (it was delicious) and picnicked in between skate park (with scooters) and splash pad visits... fun fun fun. This is one of Hendrik and Alana's newest favourite things - going to skate bowls with their scooters, and as long as there aren't any big kids or hard core skaters/scooters, it's fun and safe and entertaining for all.
What else what else... I have a heart monitor for two weeks right now (a Cardiostat - it's tiny!), so after the results get processed I should know more about how my heart is recovering / has recovered from the ablation, and what the next steps are. It sounds like I might have to have another procedure, but we'll have to wait and see what the docs say in the early fall. Steve's foot has fully recovered, and he's in throes of the last week of baseball, so is out at batting practice with Hendrik a few times this week before the playoffs this weekend. Alana is still loving soccer, and it's so fun to see her out there. And Jordan starts preschool this fall - so that will be a big change for everyone (I can't believe he's three!). The only constant in life is change, right? We have lots coming our way, but we're doing it together... lucky us!
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| as Alana's pet rat, in his home :) |
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| just before her last baseball |
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| with a teammate :) |
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| our trio on the 5 foot long space puzzle |
