Weeks 4 through 10 of summer vacation

Well, it has flown by....

The drive to N.B was great. We left at 4am, and arrived at the Masons by 5pm. So a 12 hour drive was certainly a record for us, in the past 7 years anyways. The girls were excited to play with Christine and Nicholas. We stayed 2 nights with the Masons (thank you!) a visit with Grammie Eula, and a visit to Grampie's farm, we spent 3 nights at Fundy National Park with Grant's family. We had a nice time swimming, going for a hike, walking in the mud at Hopewell Rocks, roasting marshmallow's in the campfire and the girls loved playing with their cousins.

We arrived back in Ottawa, just after midnight on Thursday morning, and re-packed, as the girls and I, along with my mom, left for North Carolina on Friday morning. It was a LONG drive, the girls, again, were great. We had a really nice LONG stop at Chocolate World, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, followed by horrible traffic for 2 hours. All in all the girls were great, in took 20 hours to get there, but we made it in one piece and in one day!

The following 10 days were absolutely fabulous. The girls swam twice a day, on most days, were showered with attention from my cousins and uncle and aunt, while I got to lay in bed and relax, and get dressed in peace most mornings.

Grant joined us towards the end of of our vacation. The girls were happy to have Daddy around, to play with. We had a few outings, most memorable was Wrightsville beach. Maya is a water lover, she jumped waves, and floated in the ocean for hours. We had to pretty much drag her out of the water when it was time to leave.

We decided to do the drive back over 2 days, stayed in a hotel with a pool, and took it easy. Good decision. We got home on the night of Wed August 4th.

Once again, after unpacking a little, we were off again, Saturday August 7th, to ride in the annual MS RONA bike tour. Once again, it was a great ride. The girls had a great time. I'll try and write another post about that soon.

The month of August flew by. With the excitement of July, it was hard to keep that level of entertainment going. Once again, we reverted to daily swims at the parks, meeting up with friends, the girls and I even started a little running together. It was fun.

I found the last 2 weeks a little more challenging, BUT thanks to a trip to Toronto, we managed to end the holidays with a big ROAR...! We visited with our friends Ange and JJ, and just basically hung out and stayed up way to late. It was SO nice AND relaxing. We did manage to squeeze in a Stem Whistle Brewery Tour. On the way home we decided to spend the day at the Toronto ZOO...fabulous!! We spent the entire day there, ended by cooling off in the Splash Pad there.

With, Perth Kilt Run, Farewell Parties, Niagara Falls, Fredericton, Bay of Fundy, North Carolina, ZOO #1, MS RONA bike tour, Upper Canada Village, Tasha's yoga class, parks, pools and splash pads, bike rides, runs, Toronto, ZOO #2 and birthday parties. Made for a fun and busy summer.

I learned a lot this summer, but one thing in particular I am happy to have been a part of. I watched as the girls finished school not knowing how to spend their time playing together, figuring out what to do. Arguing over EVERYTHING... to watching them get to know each other, and learning to work together, compromising, playing really well together and most importantly, watching out for one another. It was at times infuriating, stressful, exhausting most days, BUT to watch them grow and love each other was absolutely worth it... I hope the girls had a great summer too!

Week #3 of Summer Vacation

I feel the need to keep track of what we've been doing. We've been having lots of fun. Don't get me wrong, we DO have 'moments' during the day, especially while I'm trying to make dinner, and I think I am as tired as the kids are, at the end of the day, but it is great to be home!!

This week we are getting into a groove. Champlain Park is our staple, when there is nothing to do, we go for a dip in the pool. There are always friends there so the girls love it!

Monday, we eased into the week, had a slow morning, packed a lunch and spent the afternoon at the pool. There were about 15 kids the girls know, and they had a blast. It was almost 5pm when we got home. I love days like these.

Tuesday we met Alyssa, Avery and Mikaela at the Museum of Science and Tech. The girls keep asking when we are going to go back, so they enjoyed it. I for one, found it incredibly crowded with children. I guess that is what you get for going on a rainy day. After the museum, Lyss and I, took the girls to Cora's for lunch. You should have seen the looks we got. People's concern with how we were going to manage lunch with our 5 kids. It was quite good and enjoyable...I thought!

Wednesday Maya had a play with Cleo, while Tasha, Jaida and I walked to the grocery store, before heading to pick up the van from Servicing. Had a quick lunch, did some quick errands, before having water play in our backyard. Amazing how much fun you can having with a kiddie pool and a "crazy dragon flower" sprinkler...!

Today, thursday, we walked into Westboro, looking for "sandal shoes" (as Jaida calls them) for Natasha. Got a great deal on Teva's at Bushtukah... $27! Had lunch, put super duper whiny Jaida down for a nap. The girls are packing their in van 'travel' bags, as we are leaving for Fredericton tomorrow. After their bags get an "Amma check" we are going to head to the pool.

We are off to Fredericton tomorrow. We are going to attempt what the Keans do, and leave at 4am. We are going to stay with the Mason's for a night or two, then head to Fundy, where we've rented cottages with Grant's family, for 3 nights. Last time we did a long road trip...it was NOT enjoyable...this time will be different, right?

Week #2 of Summer Vacation

HEAT WAVE.... It was insanely hot here last week, and for the first time in a long time, I wasn't able to sleep at night, even with all the fans running. We managed to keep cool during the days, playing at parks, splashing in water and swimming at local pools. We live in a great city!!

We kept ourselves very busy and had loads of fun!
- Parks, swimming and splash pads. Brewer Park is fantastic!!
- a little Hip Hop and Jazz for Maya and Tasha
- Delicious Dosa dinner with friends, catered by my mom!!
- Parkdale Market shopping, coming home with only half the fruit I bought,
and I bought a LOT!!! Hungry monsters attacked the strawberries and
raspberries...!!
- Hailey's birthday party!!
- Little pool action and dinner at a friends house!
- Backyard camping for 2 nights. Great fun for the girls! Not restful for us!!
- Jaida at 10pm out of the blue singing "uh huh uh huh, I like it!"
and waking up in the morning saying "And tonight's gonna be a good good night..I got a feeling!"
- and as always impromptu dance parties...and ribbon dancing!!

We did have to say goodbye this week, to our good friends Sofia, Giorgia, Teresa and Corey, who are moving to Victoria. Maya and Sofia have been great friends since Junior Kindergarten, they even have matching rain boots and rain jackets! We'll keep in touch!

All in all, it was a great week of fun!!

First week of Summer Vacation...

I have been looking forward for summer vacation for approximately the last 2 months. Waking everyone up and rushing the kids out of the house, packing lunches and running around for drop-offs and pick-ups was starting to wear on everyone...So when school school finished on June 25th I was thinking, ahh...relaxation time is here.

Here is a quick summary of the first week of summer vacation, followed by more details, mostly for my own recollection.

- picnics and swimming at the Park
- Perth Kilt Run
- house warming, Birthday party and BBQ
- Express renewal of Passports!!!
- hosted a Farewell dinner party with 13 kids!!! Where the parents DID get to sit
down for a meal!! The benefits of older children!!
- CANADA DAY downtown!!
- 3 kids with fevers
- NIAGARA FALLS!!!!
- spent the afternoon with relatives, including my dad's 2 sister's from India!!
- discovered 2 new wines that I liked! (not with the 'madi' relatives of course!)
- and back home to a 34 degree house...!!


Here are more details...

June 25th - Last day of school
- I had 4 four/five year olds over for an afternoon play
- walked everyone to school to pick-up Maya from school
- headed for a celebration picnic to Gatineau Park with Sofia and family. It was great, even Ajji learned how to throw a football. I hate to say, she is almost as good as I am!!!

Saturday June 26th
- relaxing morning, followed by a great afternoon/evening/night in Perth, to watch Kev BEAT Grant in the "Guiness Book of World Record - Perth Kilt Run"
- the evening was capped off with some Highland dancing followed by a 10pm Dairy Queen visit in Perth.

Sunday June 27th
- 9:00am House warming celebration at my sister's new house. That's right, 9am!!! I was hard getting the kids up and out after a late night!!
- after the house warming, the girls had a birthday party at the Science museum, and straight from there, we headed to the Keans for a BBQ to visit with the Masons..!!! Another late night, but was great to visit with everyone...

Monday June 28th
- woke up to Jaida having a fever...she was pretty happy, though it did explain her behavior for the days past.
- Maya woke up at 10:20am, and Tasha at 10:50am!!!! There sure were tired!!!
- we wandered to MEC, lunch and Starbucks with the Masons
- swimming at Champlain Park

Tuesday June 29th
- found out my aunts from India wanted to meet us in Niagara Falls
- Grant and I had to renew our passports, in a hurry!!!
- more swimming...at the park!

Wednesday June 30th
- took the girls the grocery story and LCBO, where they provided free and LOUD YMCA lessons to the customers as they entered!!
- Have you ever surounded your toddler in a double Chariot filled with Beer and wine? oh the looks you get!!
- Hosted farewell dinner, loads of kids and lots of fun!!!

CANADA DAY
- downtown Ottawa, wandering the streets. Got stuck in crowds of people, and met up with the Steiro's.
- found some Hip Hop dancers by the NAC, and the girls danced away!!
- came home to a Natasha with a raging fever!!

July 2nd
- woke up to find out that Maya too had a raging fever
- got everyone 'Advil'ed up and in the car headed to Niagara
- stopped at Maleta's winery for a tasting
- my sister stopped at Thirty Bench, where she bought delicious Riesling!
- stayed in Niagara on the Lake for 2 nights, and wandered around Old Town

July 3rd
- Headed to the American side to meet up with my relatives
- first time seeing the Falls from the 'other' side.
- saw the Falls at night, with the lights and caught some GREAT fireworks!

July 4th
- wandered around Old Town, Niagara on the Lake
- stopped at the Ravine vineyard for lunch - delicious and great place for kids to play!
- here I found more delicious Riesling!!!
- back home to Ottawa...to a hot hot house!

July 5th
- woke up to a nice warm house...pretty sure I have just stopped sweating!!!
- we spend the hottest part of the day at the Park, swimming and playing in the shade...

It has been a great week, busy but so nice for the kids to be out of school!!! Life is pretty good...!

Perhaps I'll post some pictures soon...

Random thoughts of a 4 year old

While walking to school this morning, I noticed that Tasha is not capable of just walking. She skipped, hopped, jumped, danced and ran the whole way. All the while chatting and singing to herself. My heart melts just watching her being so happy.

A friend of mine said something to the effect of "I wonder what magical thoughts are going through her head" Here was her well thought out random thought of the afternoon.

After listening to a phone message from a friend whose son, who comes over weekly to play, is just getting over the Chicken Pox, Tasha and I were pulling weeds from our garden. While taking a 'break' on the swings, she was chatting to herself and suddenly announced "Anyways Amma, it's good that you are pulling all those weeds, so we won't get the Chicken Pox"

So, anyone who had pulled out a lot of weeds lately, it seems you are safe...!

Helping out around the house...

Tasha came to me while I was doing dishes after dinner tonight and said "Amma, can I vacuum?" I was a little perplexed, but quickly jumped at the offer or help!

As she went to get the vacuum out, she proudly announced to Grant
"Daddy, I'm vacumenting!!!"

She proceeds to clear the toys off the family room floor, vacuums, puts it away, comes back to check out her work and says "Ahhh..now that's better!!"

What a girl!! She IS great!!

Never say no to that kind of offer!!

Life at home...

Well, it has been a very long time since we've posted anything. Time has been flying by.

For those who don't know, I took a leave of absence from my job at Canadian Heritage, last August, to stay home with the kids. It is not the first time I've been home, but it is certainly very different. I was home for two and a half years after Natasha was born. That was very very busy, living out of suitcases for 7 months, moving from house to house as our house was under construction. I can barely remember it, and don't really remember enjoying it too much. It seemed very chaotic, running around from construction site to hardware stores with a toddler and crying baby.

This time around is very different. It is so busy, but also a lot of fun. 3 kids is so incredibly different that two, in so many ways. And yes Dana, very very frustrating and exhausting!! There are so many more combinations of trouble by adding just 1 child...!!!

The girls are incredible. They are so much fun, full of new ideas everyday, always keeping me on my toes. They are growing up so quickly, it is no nice to share all of this time with them.

Here are some things that have been going on here:

Tasha - started school. JK in the morning. She loves it, didn't even think twice about heading into the classroom. She has been learning so much, and having loads of fun with her new friends! She loves riding her bike, and is pretty fast. It is a workout trying to keep up with her, on foot! She is still always smiling, constantly chattering, and pretending not to hear the rules... she loses them in her head!! :) How do you argue with that?

Maya - Maya started Grade 1. She has a rough start, but has now adjusted. She has mastered the monkey bars, she loves reading and writing. Of course her favorite part of the day is 'gym' or DPA, "Daily Physical Activity" , and the 'monkies' (monkey bars) at recess. Swimming is a hit with her. She is quite a fish. She loved our trip to Calgary, jumping off the 1m spring board, over and over again. She even did the run and jump, and canon balls!!!! She loves her bike, and is scary on her scooter. She tries all sorts of tricks going full speed downhills. It freaks me out!!

Jaida took some time to figure out what do to without the other 2 girls, but now thrives on the time where she gets to play with toys that she otherwise doesn't get the opportunity to play with!! She is such a clown, always being funny and dramatic!!! She is great at copying what the other two are doing, and when Tasha and Jaida come up with a plan, you'd better watch out, they are out of control!!
Jaida is super girl, has been out of diapers since the beginning of January. (This was unplanned but certainly encouraged.) We had more incidents that with the other two, for a few weeks, but now she's a pro!!

This stage is really great! Life is getting easier is many ways (ie: sleeping through the night, following directions...) and so much busier in others. The days of diaper bags, strollers and tantrums are nearing and end, and being replaced by days of family fun!

I won't speak here of the incredible effort it is to get everyone up and out the door in the morning, to get the school on time, or the challenge in getting kids to listen, and eat and wash hands... I will just say, I love PD days, and holidays!! :)

Grant and I are looking forward to family bike rides this summer, and I am looking forward to hanging out with the girls...