Update
Well, it's been a very very busy summer and it's only half over.(GRIN)
Let's see...where to start.
Tamara got a wicked sunburn at the beginning of the summer...which many of you know about from M's journal...it's finally healed up enough that we can throw sunscreen on her and let her go outside for short periods of time again...it is however still pretty pink and sore looking at times. SIGH...guess that'll teach her to wear sunscreen at the waterpark...HEADDESK..
We did a huge BBQ for the July 1st weekend, there were probably 35 people here, 1/2 of them kids, who all came out to eat BBQ'ed meat and watch fireworks with us and as far as i know a good time was had by all. The BBQ was the start of what has been an eventful few weeks.
The 16th we left here with Tamara's best friend in tow and headed down to Niaraga Falls for a few days. We'd promised the kids a stay at Great Wolf Lodge so we decided we might as well take advantage of the fact that M is not working and go mid-week while the rates were lower and the park less crowded. We stopped by the falls when we got there and had lunch at the resturant in the welcome centre before heading to the Lodge itself. The Lodge is amazing, so incredibly kid friendly and the waterpark is definitely well worth the money we spent. We got an all-inclusive package for the one night we had planned to stay (more on that later) that included all of our meals plus crafts and minigolf for the kids and the room and waterpark for two days. So when we worked it all out, 100 bucks a person really wasn't a bad deal at all! The kids spent all afternoon in the waterpark on the 16th, we had to drag them out to go to dinner and they slept wonderfully once bedtime hit. The room had a lovely area just for the kids that was laid out as a log cabin. It had a set of bunk beds, a daybed and a tv just for them which they loved. They loved the place so much that when time came to check out the next morning and we got offered a great deal to stay an extra night they practically begged us to stay. Now who can honestly say no to 3 angelic-faced children begging to stay an extra night??? I know i can't! ( Not to mention i was having fun too!) We spent the day swimming, and doing crafts, and playing mini-golf (where my son kindly hit me with a golf club and cracked my ribs...grumble). Connor went to storytime in the lobby with about 500 other children and the girls spent the later part of the evening enjoying the tribute bands in the lobby.(I had to leave after the Hannah Montana impersonator...my head was trying to explode.)
On the 18th we decided since i was in agony with the cracked ribs, we would skip the waterpark. It was just too much to be in the water with a small boy climbing me every 5 seconds. Instead we decided to be tourists, in Niagara Falls, on a SATURDAY....not sure what we were thinking when we came up with that one...but either way we had fun.. We got a great package deal at the Lodge(since Great Wolf Lodge is owned by the Ripleys corporation) and spent the day at the Wax Museum, the Ripleys believe it or not museum and the Ripleys moving theatre. other than the crowds we enjoyed it immensely and we've decided that the trip shall be a yearly family vacation. Next year we're hoping to get some friends and family together to make the trip even more fun. My Brother and his family, M's brother's and their kids, maybe Barwitch and her family....hell, i'll even invite my dad and his gf...they are big kids at heart.
Anyways....after a long drive home, we all collapsed and spent the next few days just relaxing. My ribs are healing up nicely and i'm now only in excruciating pain if i move the wrong way...which is an improvement!
An improvement enough that we were able to head into Toronto this friday night with a friend of ours to see M's old roommate from his T.O. days and her hubby preform at the Drake. They're in town for the Burlesque festival and did a Friday night show. The Wet Spots are just as funny live as they are on youtube and i'm happy to say a fun night was enjoyed by all!
Wow...ok, maybe the summer just has FELT busy.... we've had my niece stay over 2 nights last week, and she'll be here again 2 more this week. My SIL had to go to England for her grandmother's funeral so we're helping my brother out while he's at work. She's not a bad kid but she's definitely a lot more work than my own two and she makes me very tired. M broke his glasses so we've had to replace them, hopefully they'll be ready today. We've been caught in the everlasting loop of security clearance paperwork for him to get back to work..i'm hoping that's finished now...oh gods PLEASE let it be finished now...... We had to do some paperwork for Rev Canada because they needed more proof of the support M paid this past year. Which meant fighting to get a statement of account from FRO since SOMEONE decided she didn't want to take the 5 minutes and write a reciept of what she recieved...grumble...Rev Canada said it was all they needed but instead we had to spend hours on hold with FRO, twice, to get them to mail out a statement of account.....either way...that's my vent for the day:) So that got mailed out, and hopefully we will have our tax return soon.....since we have plans for that money. An adult vacation being high on that list right after paying the lawyer to get my divorce done!
(Hrmmm.....since FRO is all caught up now...maybe it's time to recover what's left of last years tax return that went into the wrong account and hasn't been paid back to us yet.....that little bit of money might come in handy at some point!)
Ok, now i'm rambling...lol..... Tamara's at camp this week so i was up obscenely early to drop her off and now the boy is wanting breakfast so i should get on that.....wheeeeee
Let's see...where to start.
Tamara got a wicked sunburn at the beginning of the summer...which many of you know about from M's journal...it's finally healed up enough that we can throw sunscreen on her and let her go outside for short periods of time again...it is however still pretty pink and sore looking at times. SIGH...guess that'll teach her to wear sunscreen at the waterpark...HEADDESK..
We did a huge BBQ for the July 1st weekend, there were probably 35 people here, 1/2 of them kids, who all came out to eat BBQ'ed meat and watch fireworks with us and as far as i know a good time was had by all. The BBQ was the start of what has been an eventful few weeks.
The 16th we left here with Tamara's best friend in tow and headed down to Niaraga Falls for a few days. We'd promised the kids a stay at Great Wolf Lodge so we decided we might as well take advantage of the fact that M is not working and go mid-week while the rates were lower and the park less crowded. We stopped by the falls when we got there and had lunch at the resturant in the welcome centre before heading to the Lodge itself. The Lodge is amazing, so incredibly kid friendly and the waterpark is definitely well worth the money we spent. We got an all-inclusive package for the one night we had planned to stay (more on that later) that included all of our meals plus crafts and minigolf for the kids and the room and waterpark for two days. So when we worked it all out, 100 bucks a person really wasn't a bad deal at all! The kids spent all afternoon in the waterpark on the 16th, we had to drag them out to go to dinner and they slept wonderfully once bedtime hit. The room had a lovely area just for the kids that was laid out as a log cabin. It had a set of bunk beds, a daybed and a tv just for them which they loved. They loved the place so much that when time came to check out the next morning and we got offered a great deal to stay an extra night they practically begged us to stay. Now who can honestly say no to 3 angelic-faced children begging to stay an extra night??? I know i can't! ( Not to mention i was having fun too!) We spent the day swimming, and doing crafts, and playing mini-golf (where my son kindly hit me with a golf club and cracked my ribs...grumble). Connor went to storytime in the lobby with about 500 other children and the girls spent the later part of the evening enjoying the tribute bands in the lobby.(I had to leave after the Hannah Montana impersonator...my head was trying to explode.)
On the 18th we decided since i was in agony with the cracked ribs, we would skip the waterpark. It was just too much to be in the water with a small boy climbing me every 5 seconds. Instead we decided to be tourists, in Niagara Falls, on a SATURDAY....not sure what we were thinking when we came up with that one...but either way we had fun.. We got a great package deal at the Lodge(since Great Wolf Lodge is owned by the Ripleys corporation) and spent the day at the Wax Museum, the Ripleys believe it or not museum and the Ripleys moving theatre. other than the crowds we enjoyed it immensely and we've decided that the trip shall be a yearly family vacation. Next year we're hoping to get some friends and family together to make the trip even more fun. My Brother and his family, M's brother's and their kids, maybe Barwitch and her family....hell, i'll even invite my dad and his gf...they are big kids at heart.
Anyways....after a long drive home, we all collapsed and spent the next few days just relaxing. My ribs are healing up nicely and i'm now only in excruciating pain if i move the wrong way...which is an improvement!
An improvement enough that we were able to head into Toronto this friday night with a friend of ours to see M's old roommate from his T.O. days and her hubby preform at the Drake. They're in town for the Burlesque festival and did a Friday night show. The Wet Spots are just as funny live as they are on youtube and i'm happy to say a fun night was enjoyed by all!
Wow...ok, maybe the summer just has FELT busy.... we've had my niece stay over 2 nights last week, and she'll be here again 2 more this week. My SIL had to go to England for her grandmother's funeral so we're helping my brother out while he's at work. She's not a bad kid but she's definitely a lot more work than my own two and she makes me very tired. M broke his glasses so we've had to replace them, hopefully they'll be ready today. We've been caught in the everlasting loop of security clearance paperwork for him to get back to work..i'm hoping that's finished now...oh gods PLEASE let it be finished now...... We had to do some paperwork for Rev Canada because they needed more proof of the support M paid this past year. Which meant fighting to get a statement of account from FRO since SOMEONE decided she didn't want to take the 5 minutes and write a reciept of what she recieved...grumble...Rev Canada said it was all they needed but instead we had to spend hours on hold with FRO, twice, to get them to mail out a statement of account.....either way...that's my vent for the day:) So that got mailed out, and hopefully we will have our tax return soon.....since we have plans for that money. An adult vacation being high on that list right after paying the lawyer to get my divorce done!
(Hrmmm.....since FRO is all caught up now...maybe it's time to recover what's left of last years tax return that went into the wrong account and hasn't been paid back to us yet.....that little bit of money might come in handy at some point!)
Ok, now i'm rambling...lol..... Tamara's at camp this week so i was up obscenely early to drop her off and now the boy is wanting breakfast so i should get on that.....wheeeeee