Pictures from Harbor

As promised - here are some pictures from our weekend adventures:

Quinn was afraid of the lamb - it was as big as him!


Running on a very windy beach:


The gang at the look-out:


Bracing against the wind:


Ohhh! Cold water!!


Mmmmmmm - messy s'mores!

Harbor bound

Last weekend we went to visit Chris' sister Heidi and her family in Harbor Springs, MI. We try to go there every summer, and every summer it's a great visit. Well, this summer was no different.

The boys had a fabulous time playing with cousin Robert, and spent 90% of their time outside in the backyard or at the beach. They had sooooo..... much fun! The grown-ups had a great time too, and we love visiting with Auntie Heidi and Uncle Robert. I don't have any pictures from the weekend because I forgot my camera, but hopefully Heidi will e-mail me some that I can post later.

On Sunday we went to our friends Jett and Jesse's 5th and 3rd birthday parties. In January of this year Jesse was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and the fact that he has made it to his third birthday is truly a blessing. The fact that he celebrated his third birthday by running, playing and swimming in the pool is a true miracle. To follow Jesse's story, visit their blog:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessemorningstar

Weekend hi-jinks

Our weekend was relatively quiet. We hung-out, worked on the mudroom, had dinner with our friends the Culp's and then hit Rib-fest on Sunday.

I always laugh when we go to Rib-fest because our kids absolutely LOVE ribs! I swear Aidan ate at least half a rack of ribs on his own, and Quinn easily polished off a quarter rack. It was a carnivore's delight! It had rained on Saturday night, so Rib-fest was pretty much a mud-pit, but we soldiered on and the kids rode the rides and had a blast.

Sunday afternoon I took the kids to see Wall-e, which while cute - is just not a movie for young kids. The storyline is so beyond what kids can understand they just don't get it. Kung-fu Panda was a much better choice.

Here are some pictures of the cuties playing around on the weekend:

Brrr..... swimming

They boys had their first swimming lessons at the public pool today. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate fully, in that it was cloudy and quite cool (yeah I know - isn't it JULY?!?!).

Aidan went first and did really well - aside from the constant stream of chatter that kept going, and going, and going throughout the lesson....




Quinn was next, and this was the first time he had lessons in the pool without us. He did so well, but got sooooooo cold by the end of the class. When you have zero body fat it's hard to retain heat!!

A day in my life.....

I believe I have officially become a chauffer / soccer mom. Here is a breakdown of my day today:

4:30 a.m. - up with Shannon (briefly)
6:00 a.m. - up with Shannon (briefly)
6:45 a.m. - up with Shannon for good
8:45 a.m. - drop Quinn at daycare
9:00 a.m. - drop Aidan at the park program
9:15 - 10:30 - grocery shopping
10:45 a.m. - home to unload groceries and tidy
12:00 p.m. - pick Aidan up
12:15 p.m. - drop Aidan off at day camp
12:30 p.m. - feed Shannon lunch
1:00 p.m - 2:00 p.m. - work (actual work work)
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. - Shannon up - play
3:30 p.m - Hit Home Depot
4:15 p.m. - pick up Quinn
4:30 p.m. - pick up Aidan
4:45 - 5:30 make dinner
6:45 - 7:30 - coach soccer for Aidan's team
7:50 8:30 p.m - Home, put kids in shower and tuck into bed
8:31 p.m. - collapse.

Now here's a novel idea....

From the Toronto Star:
When you hear a siren, pull over now!
Lorraine Sommerfeld

Special to the Star

Jul 03, 2008
The fire trucks in my city have been told they will have to obey the speed limit from now on, even when responding to emergency calls.

From my admittedly unscientific research, this means they will be the only vehicles obeying the speed limit, but I digress.

Collision rates have been too high; trucks are equipped with a device that can change the light at an intersection before they reach it, and by doing the posted limit, it will give the light a chance to change.

The truck can proceed at a steady, legal pace, rather than dodging and speeding up and slowing down.

I can gulp down most of this argument, except for one comment from Burlington’s Fire Prevention Officer about the reason for even needing a life-saving emergency vehicle to have to stroll to a call in the first place: fewer people are pulling over to the side of the road.

Be still my cynical heart, but here’s an idea: Hold to account the morons who refuse to get out of the way.

Do you panic and freeze up when you hear a siren? Then you shouldn’t be driving.

If an approaching siren freaks you out, what are you going to do if a kid runs out in front of you? You are obligated to know and perform the rules of the Highway Traffic Act at all times, not just during your test when you’re 16.

Perhaps you didn’t notice the flashing lights in your rearview mirror, because the last time you checked in your rearview mirror was when you checked your lipstick or wiped the Big Mac remnants from your moustache. The mirror’s not just to hang crap from.

Maybe you didn’t hear the siren at all, because you were on your cellphone. Wouldn’t it be great if a siren within a kilometre radius was channelled through phones directly into drivers’ ears?

My favourite excuse? “It was rush hour; there was nowhere I could go.” Wrong. There is always somewhere you can go. Pull into a driveway; pull into a plaza. If you’re trapped at a red light – even in the left turn lane – you can make a legal right turn when safe and go a block out of your way.

Every other person out there is driving a 4X4, which, believe it or not, has the clearance to go off road and can easily climb a median.

Don’t worry about being the first to pull to the right and stop. Maybe the other ignorant “sheeple” on the road will get the idea and follow suit.

An emergency situation is the perfect time to be a keener who read all the instructions. Roadways are much wider than the lines painted on them, and cars can afford much needed space by pulling to the curb.

A fire will double in size every 30 to 60 seconds. An entire room can be in flames within three minutes. Smoke is a bigger killer, and moves at a rate of one metre every second.

If an emergency vehicle suddenly turns off its sirens and slows down, it was not “practising,” it was simply pulled off the call.

Is the fire truck coming from the other direction? Same rules. Pull over and stop.

You have no idea where that vehicle is heading, and it may need your side of the road to get there.

I see a lot of psychics out there mixed in with the cellphone babblers and others doing anything but driving.

The only cure?

Assume somebody you love made that 911 call.

Lorraine Sommerfeld’s column appears Thursday on wheels.ca. www.lorraineonline.ca

It's awfully quiet around here....

On Friday we drove down to Cincinnati to drop the boys off at my parents house. Yep, my Mom & Dad bravely volunteered to take the boys for a week. We've never been away from the boys for that long - EVER!! We left on Sunday and have only had one child for the last few days! It's very, very quiet around here!! I don't think Ms. Shannon has quite figured out what's going on, but she's having fun!


Our project while the boys are gone is to demolish our mudroom and re-do it. We have a great mudroom, except there are two MASSIVE closets along the entire length of one wall. Sounds great right? Well, the problem with the closets is that there isn't enough room for the kids to put their shoes on, and they can't reach things so everything ends up on the floor. Yesterday we finished the demolition, and now the re-construction begins! Here are some before, and during shots: