Michele’s Musings

My muse has been sadly absent this year, so I have another big update, I really would like to get back into the weekly posting again, but we’ll see how it goes.

James had his gall bladder surgery and it went fairly well. He had some complications which resulted in a transfer to another hospital and a 2 day stay there. He was supposed to be home that night, but he had some extra bleeding due to the gall bladder being extra stuck on his liver which made the surgery much longer, and he got burned! The probe in his belly button incision was a new type they were trying out, it was smaller which meant a smaller incision, but it overheated and gave him a toonie sized 3rd degree burn about an inch below his belly button where it was touching his skin. The surgeon says they are discontinuing it’s use and contacting the manufacturer, well I should hope so! He recovered well in the end, but the burn took the longest to heal! It was 5 weeks before the scab finally came off. He is doing well, he is eating anything he wants, but he is doing so in moderation, he is determined not to gain back the weight he lost on his “I’m to scared to eat anything” diet. The experience taught him to read labels and see the fat content in foods he was eating, it was really eye opening for him.

Just 3 short weeks after that, we were off to Orlando! Our friend Rachelle was getting married there which prompted the trip. We booked flights out of Calgary to save money, it was about $500 cheaper! We travelled with my best friend and her family to Orlando, we left Edmonton in seperate vehicles at midnight Friday and drove to Calgary, we met up with some crazy friends at Denny’s for breakfast between 3:30-6am. There were a couple of James and Stacey’s coworkers (my bf works with my dh) from the Calgary office and our good friend Arleen who was going through her breast cancer treatment at the time (she’s doing fab now!). It was SO good to see her, she looked fabulous and we’re so happy she’s doing well. The first flight was supposed to take off just before 8am, but was delayed an hour on the tarmac due to mechanical issues…. Which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Chicago. But I was impressed with the system they have, leaving the plane we were directed to a kiosk where we inputed our information and we picked the next available flight which was only 20 minutes later. The flight was packed with people because about 20 of us jumped on it lol but our bags made it to Orlando with us We also arrived only 30 minutes later than our original schedule because the 2nd flight was faster and got in earlier than planned.

Our first night in Orlando we stayed at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside resort. It was a cute room, themed like a cabin in the bayou, but it was pretty small, just enough room for 2 queen beds, a table with 2 chairs, a TV armoir and dresser. There is no way the 5 of us could have spent a whole week there without wanting to kill each other. That night we ate in the concession at the resort which was pricey and crowded and noisey, we would have preferred a restaurant but I didn’t know we had to book a table or wait till 10:30 to eat. After that we took the ferry to Downtown Disney and walked around for awhile, the younger kids splashed in a water feature and then we took a relaxing ferry ride back.

Sunday we had grand plans to hit Magic Kingdom, we had a extra magic hours to use because we were Disney resort guests but… between checking out, shopping for groceries, checking into our timeshare, Orange Lake Resort and Country Club, having a big dinner at our resort and then a few drinks…. we kinda ran out of time and energy lol We had a great dinner at our resort, it was Mother’s Day so Stacey and I treated ourselves to a couple of chocolate martini’s ($11 each) the boys shared a pitcher of beer, we had a couple of appetizers including gator bites (taste like chicken, really) the final bill for the 5 of us was $160 including the 18% gratuity added. That’s what I get for having 2 who eat grown up meals! Thank goodness most of our other meals were eaten in the condo lol

We spent the Monday at Hollywood Studios. It wasn’t a favourite of ours, there were really only a few rides the kids liked. I was surprised to see the park was mostly shopping and shows, our family is all about the rides! We left there late in the afternoon and took a monorail to Epcot, got our picture taken in front then left lol

Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom, it was a really fun park and we enjoyed the visit. The kids loved the rides and they had fabulous fireworks that night! We took a break mid day and took the kids back to the resort to swim, but we were under a tornado watch as a storm came in so that was cut short! Back to Magic Kingdom that night in the drizzle, but it was still fun, and the rain stopped before the fireworks!

Wednesday, Stacey and I enjoyed a spa day with the bride and her family. We got a facial, pedicure, massage and manicure. I enjoyed the massage and pedi, and my nails looked nice, but I’ll never have a facial again, didn’t enjoy that.

Thursday Stacey and I took the kids back to Magic Kingdom while James, Sheldon and Arran went on a swampboat ride, they had a blast! They saw alligators and all sorts of other neat swamp stuff Then back to the resort and off to the wedding! It was a beautiful service and fun reception, the bride was lovely, and the minister included their 3 daughters in the ceremony. We were so glad to be there for their special day!

Friday we went to Animal Kingdom, it was a another fun park. Our friends even made it into the parade that day! They got stopped just as they were ready to leave and were invited to ride a float! The girls thought that was really fun.

Saturday we flew home. I had caught a cold arond Wed, Cold EX kept it at bay for a couple days but by Saturday I was in rough shape, the flight home was miserable for me. By the time we landed in Calgary my nose was red and swollen and my eyes were watering. Then we had to drive home to Edmonton, I forced myself to stay awake to keep James company, but all I really wanted to do was sleep!

It was a really fun trip, but I have no desire to ever go back to Disney World, or go to Disneyland, for theme parks, I preferred Canada’s Wonderland, more rides! I would love to go back to Florida again though, and see more of the State, can you believe I never made it to a beach while there!

I don’t really make new years resolutions but sometimes I decide to do certain things differently or try new things with the passing of one year into another.   This year I endeavored to learn knitting.  I have been a crocheter for over a dozen years but was always intimidated by knitting.  I did try it when my daughter was a baby but gave up fairly quickly.  Since January I have been hooked on a crafting site called Ravelry which is for crocheters and knitters, they are a great group with a font of knowledge and support and LOTS of patterns and inspirational ideas.  At the moment I’m hooked on sock knitting, it’s been fun to learn a new skill.  Why socks?  They work up quickly, they are small projects I can take on the go and with almost every pattern I am learning a new stitch pattern and finding what I do and don’t like.  And in the end I have something wearable for someone….  I haven’t made any for myself yet, mostly because I wanted to practice first, so the kids (mine and Stacey’s) have gotten my practice ones to date.  I am working on another pair now that might end up being mine, they might end up being another pair for Keely… depends how they turn out ;)   Every spare moment has been spent knitting or crocheting (I have a secret project on the go I can’t mention details of online yet) not so much blogging as you can tell by the dearth of 2009 entries *yikes*  I have also been accumulating a LOT of yarn… it’s called a “stash” and I won’t admit to myself how much I have actually spent on it at this point, exspecially since I’m supposed to be practicing frugality for our trip to Disney in May.   I think it’s an official addiction, but there are worse ones….

Yes Disney.  World to be exact.  The one in Florida :)  My friend Rachelle is getting married on May 14th near Orlando, we were invited, as were many other friends.   I think Rachelle was quite surprised by the number of people who RSVP’d they’d come to her destination wedding, I think the Disney part hooked many of us ;)  When I got the invitation last summer I didn’t realize it was close to Orlando, although I immediately decided I would go to her wedding, even if I was flying alone or with another friend.  But then my bestest friend Stacey who is also invited said they were going as a family because it was near Disney World… ohhh… really?  Well then I can’t go alone… can you imagine my children’s reaction if they found out I went to Disney without them???? It doesn’t bear thinking about.  So in a mere 4 weeks time we will be there!  We are staying at the Orange Lake Resort and Country Club which is a timeshare, but we booked it through Expedia.  We have a 2 bedroom condo with kitchen, which will save on meals as we plan on eating breakfast and making lunches to pack, it’s a HUGE resort, with lots to do when we aren’t at a Disney park or the wedding.   We are all very excited! We have never been on a family vacation like this before, usually we take road trips back home to Ontario or go camping etc.  We had to get passports, book a resort and flights, buy park passes and travel insurance and book a rental car, it’s been a whirlwind of searching online for deals and information.  I have been glued to the Disboards so much great information on everything from what to pack, to resort reviews.   The BEST part of this trip is that we are going with our best friends, how many kids get to go to Disney with friends?  And we’ll be sharing in Rachelle and Morley’s special day :)  Did I mention there is a spa day booked for the girls?????

Adding to the never ending excitement in the Crocker house, James has been diagnosed with gall bladder disease and needs to get it out ASAP.  He thinks his first attack was around September of last year but he didn’t start getting lots of them until around the holiday’s in December/January.  We thought it would be awhile for him to get in for surgery, but after his u/s they saw it was distended and had multiple stones so he got in with a surgeon right away.  His surgery is going to be at the hospital in Stony Plain, just west of Edmonton, it was only a month wait to get in there as opposed to almost 2 years at our local hospital, it’s only an extra 2-30 minute drive for the quicker time so we jumped at that one!  It’s only day surgery now, back when I had mine out 15 years ago I stayed overnight.  Still the same laparoscopic surgery though *fingers crossed*.  It was booked for April 2nd, but then it got pushed back 2 weeks so it will be this coming Thursday the 16th.   I am taking the day off work to take him and I’ll hang out all day while he’s there (good thing I knit) and then Arran will be home from school the next day to take care of him.  Good timing for that!  Everyone says he’ll be recovered in time for our trip…. let’s hope so!

Today is not only Easter Sunday, it’s James’ and my 18th wedding anniversary (21st anniversary of our first date!) We aren’t really doing anything to celebrate, although he keeps hinting we should take a “nap” lol  He really wants to go to the Keg for supper, he is craving steak, but it gives him gall bladder attacks so we’ll wait a couple of weeks for him to recover from surgery.  We have $250 in GC to use there!   Tonight we are invited to Stacey’s for turkey dinner, I’m bringing slowcooker mashed potatoes and Death by Chocolate Bundt cake it’s oh so yummy!

The kids are having a good year so far as well, they are very excited about the trip to Disney.  Rowan will be playing soccer again this spring, James will be coaching and Arran will be asst coach to get his volunteer hours in for religion class.  It doesn’t start till May though.  It’s still SO dirty and brown here in Edmonton, I really hate spring in Alberta.  Keely is busy making new friends and going through puberty which is a whole new experience for me as a mother!  It was somehow easier with Arran…. girls are just SO different!

 I got the tree and decorations put away the evening of Dec 30 so I wouldn’t have to spend New Years Day doing it ;)  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Ours was very relaxed and low key, we stayed home, only made one phone call.  The kids had us up at 7, we were done opening stockings and gifts by 9, then the day was spent playing Wii and watching movies.  We had a couple frozen lasagnas (low fat Eating Right from Safeway for James’ gall bladder) for supper, which I was told were not nearly as good as the one I make *VBG*  I also attempted to make biscuit’s using my new Kitchen Aid mixer but I obviously need more practice, they were a little HEAVY lol 

The kids liked most of their loot, Rowan could have done without the book though…. lol  Arran’s wireless drumset for Rock Band 2 he is having difficulting calibrating to the TV, so they gave up and went back to using the regular one.  Keely almost lost the Wal-Mart GC my mother sent her…..  When she opened her envelope she took the card out but the GC remained in the envelope and ended up in the garbage, which ended up in the dumpster because we thought we’d be smart and get our bags in before everyone else filled it up …. then about an hour later Keely pipes up and says “everyone got a GC but me”. James didn’t want to go digging for $50 but she was really upset and I knew where in the bag it would be because I remembered her throwing her envelope in my small living room garbage and it got dumped into the big bag last.  So he and Arran finally went out and dug out our two bags and I found it very quickly!  The two bags are now sitting in our yard rather than the dumpster which is where they will remain until after the garbage gets picked up because the dumpster is full!  Best laid plans foiled again *sigh*

So like I mentioned, I got a new Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas, it’s a white Artisan model.  I am very excited about it!   Watching the dough gets mixed up with no effort from me on Christmas Day was more thrilling than I expected!  I think I still have a sprained arm from mixing the batter for the 12 dozen cookies I made for Cheryl’s cookie exchange!  lol  I got LOTS of books for Christmas with more to come from Stacey who ordered me the Sookie Sackhouse boxed set at Chapters :D  How do I know this?  Because James and her conspired to order it using MY Chapters account for my IRewards # and I got one of the notifications in my email lol  More best laid plans foiled, but I appreciate the thought!

James….. his gifts were mostly electronic stuff.  He bought himself a small flat screen TV and a Tivo (selling for 1/2 price now) for our bedroom. But he is now going to return the TV because he’s got it in his head to use our old TV instead, he has grand plans to get it all set up over the holiday’s while he’s off work.  I don’t care…. I’ll just be happy to have something to entertain me while I fold laundry in our room.  That’s about the only time I’ll watch it!

So the one phone call we made was back home to my mom…..  She thanked me for the GC’s I sent (for a dinner out and a movie pass) but then told me she doesn’t like the restaurant (East Side Mario’s) and never goes to movies.  I told her she was welcome anyway!  lol  Mothers…..  later on she appologized and said she felt bad for saying what she did but she didn’t want me to think she liked the restaurant and then have me send more GC’s for it for other holiday’s.   Who doesn’t like pasta?????  She tried the restaurant ONCE and didn’t like what she ordered.  So I said try it again for lunch and order something else, it’s not like you’re paying for it.  Then she says “I guess the reason I don’t go to movies is that they are so expensive”  Hence the reason I sent a GC…. so she could treat herself and a friend to a night out and not worry about money!  So she said she’d use them.   Then I asked if my brother had opened his envelope because I had sent him a movie GC as well and I wanted to know if he liked it. She says “I don’t know, he’s being miserable today and hasn’t come out of his room yet”  This was 2 pm their time.  The conversation reinforced my decision to not visit family on Christmas!  I was able to hang up the phone and enjoy the rest of my day with no family drama!  James’ mother had called Christmas Eve but only spoke to him, Keely wanted to say hi but she wanted to go to bed so she refused to talk to anyone else….  Merry Christmas!  lol

December has been a busy month for the family, I guess November was as well since I haven’t posted anything here since Hallowe’en!  James and I had his work Christmas dinner in late November where he got his 10 year service award, a ring.

James and I at his Christmas dinner.

Keely celebrated her 11th birthday on December 5th.  I made a road trip to Lethbridge that weekend for a cookie exchange, and to see my friend Cheryl whom I haven’t seen in years!  I drove down with my friend Stacey and we had a blast, the weather was fabulous on Saturday! 

Fun times with friends, Stacey and I on the way there!

Of course me being me (did I mention I forgot my purse at home when we took Keely out to dinner for her birthday?) ….  I packed an overnight bag, which I forgot in Edmonton ….  I discovered this as Stacey and I hit Calgary so we of course HAD to go shopping, I had no clothing or toiletries.  Plus I apparently didn’t read my email invitation thoroughly, there was also a gift exchange, so I had to buy a gift as well lol  Oh and we were all to bring appetisers, when Stacey offered to bring certain things I just thought she was being nice!    I’m glad I ended up participating in the gift exchange I got a lovely Willow Tree figurine :)  The ride home the next day was a bit harrowing, a storm hit Calgary so the roads were horrible, lots of cars in the ditch and even a couple of semi’s!

More fun times with friends!  Stacey, Cheryl and I at Cheryl’s house.

So tonight is Christmas Eve, we are planning a VERY low key holiday season.  Tonight was appetisers for dinner with the kids, watching Shrek the Halls and It’s a Wonderful Life.  We’ll open jammies, play games, read The Night Before Christmas then shuffle everyone off to bed to Santa can come!  Well he comes for Keely and Rowan, Arran doesn’t believe anymore so Santa doesn’t visit him, the other two feel sorry for him! 

Tomorrow we will get up to see what Santa brought and what everyone has given each other!  We will spend the day at home so the kids can play with their new toys, then we’ll have lasagna for dinner, a low fat one for James’ gall stones….. I think that happened in November, he started having gall bladder attacks, the fun never ends around here!  Boxing Day I am making a chicken with all the fixings, I could make it Christmas Day, but I don’t want to be bothered with the fuss.  Saturday will be Arran’s 15th birthday (where did the time go?)  We will be taking him out to see a movie (The Day the Earth Stood Still) and maybe dinner… unless we get together with friends.  All the relatives mostly live in Ontario now so we really have no one to visit.  My mother says she feels sorry for us, not having a big dinner this year, but I think it will be nice for a change.

So Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope you all have the holiday you want to enjoy and Santa is good to you!

I used to be SO into Hallowe’en, decorations everyhere for a month, home made costumes, special treats made for the kids friends, dressing up for Hallowe’en dances with the kids, Hallowe’en baking….  just not feeling into this year :(   I feel bad for the kids because they only have a few Hallowe’en experiences left in their childhood, before long they will all be teens, no more trick or treating, no more little kids in cute costumes.  It’s October 30th and we don’t even have a decoration on the door for tomorrow night yet.  Life is just so busy, work, volunteer commitments, soccer practices, homework, it all adds up until there is no more time left that’s not devoted to sleep.   A friend of mine at work is giving us a pumpkin or two today and I won’t even be home tonight to carve it with the kids, after Rowan’s soccer practice I’ll be working on the community league finances at the hall.   I guess that’s up to James to supervise.

Alright, I went down to the basement and pulled out the Hallowe’en decoration bucket, the kids can go wild this afternoon decorating, James can help them carve the pumpkin, I’ll buy candy between work and soccer practice and I’ll suck it up and make myself celebrate tomorrow.

Hopefully I’m in a better holiday spirit for Christmas….

So we’ve been home for 2 weeks and I figured I should update the blog about the rest of our trip!  It’s been a busy couple weeks getting back into the swing of work, while unpacking, doing laundry, getting kids to and from daycamp…..  I just got our suitcases put away this weekend lol  now that I’m home and on my own laptop, I’m going to go back some time this week to some previous posts and add pictures of our good times :)  So do scroll back and look at them!

I forgot to mention that on my trip I also met up with some friends from school on Thursday night, the night before we went to the CN Tower.  Nic(olina), Debbie and I had a great night out, we went to a bar (forget the name) and it was 80’s night, so the music was appropriate, if a bit loud…. we were on the patio and the music was blaring, although there was no one on the dance floor with the disco ball going lol  After that we went for a drive in the dark to our old high school, St. Robert in Markham.  It looks SO different from when we went, it was renovated after we graduated and our main entrance is now the back of the building, and it was looking a bit run down in the landscaping dept…. From there we drove around till we found a Tim’s that was open late and we sat and chatted till 1:30 am, through all that…. we didn’t think to take a picture!  We all brought our camera’s as well.  It’s too bad, because boy do they look great!  I would have loved to have a pic of the three of us, maybe we can photoshop one from our Facebook pics lol

Our last entry was leaving Wawa on the way home…… but I missed a bit of the info from that day so here we go.

We left my mom’s that morning at 8am with James driving, I don’t like those hwy’s around Toronto, holy crazy fast driver’s!  Stopped for gas (125.6/L) and breakfast at Tim’s, so we didn’t really get on the road till closer to 9.  We also had to fill all four tires up with air!  James had taken the van to Mr Lube the day before for an oil change and he told the guy “don’t do anything to the tires, they are fine” guy says “we know what we’re doing sir!”  really now???  As we were leaving mom’s in the morning our tire pressure light came on, James checks them to discover they are all at 25 lbs,  they are supposed to be set at 35 lbs!  Gee thanks guys, obviously you know what you’re doing…. we’ll never doubt the “guy” at Mr Lube again, NOT!  Thankfully we normally use our “guy” at Fountain Tire who is a friend of ours, we know HE knows what he’s doing lol

On the way north, we stopped in Parry Sound where I was born and lived till I was 5 y/o. I wanted to see the house I lived in there as I still remember a lot about it.  It was an old white house, with a big tree in the front, the tree had a knarl of some kind in the truck that formed a seat just big enough for my wee behind to sit in lol  Here is 18 Williams St today, its now a lawyer’s office, painted grey and the tree was cut down. And I’m pretty sure that 1st floor window was a bow or bay window in the early 70’s….

We stopped at McKerrow for lunch at Tim’s/Wendy’s, then I drove as far as Sault St Marie, stopped for gas (133.5/L FS) then James drove to Wawa, we made it there at 7:30 and my previous post mentions what happened there.  I have some photos I’ll add to that post later.

We left Wawa the next morning at 7:30 with me driving, an early start for a change!  I drove as far as Terrace Bay where we stopped for gas (138.9/L), then James drove.  We stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial and lookout at Thunder Bay.

Rowan squeezing the Sleeping Giant’s Head

Keely and I in front the Sleeping Giant (the island in the background that looks like a giant laying down with arms crossed over his chest), boy were those stones we were sitting on HOT!

I drove us from Thunder Bay to Dryden, we arrived at 7:45.  The restaurant in the motel was closed for renos, so we went to BP’s for supper.  Then back to the hotel for the kids to swim.

Then in the hot tub

Arran met up with the little guy who befriended him 2 weeks earlier on our way through.  He’s such a kid magnet lol

We filled up in Dryden (136.9L) James drove, we stopped at the Manitoba border tourist info for a washroom break, then onto Winnipeg where we got more gas (134.9/L).  Then I drove…. west of Sydney MB we came under attack by dragonflies.  James made a note in our journal …

“passed an area of hills and valleys, and alot of bushes.  Dragonflies and their mates opting out of their relationships.  They chose to kiss our windshield at 110km/h”  he has an odd sense of humour…

We stopped at 5 in Brandon for food, then on the road with me still driving.  James also made a note that we stopped at 6:30 for an “emergency stop on hwy”  I think he had to pee…. he says “kudos to province of Sask for rest areas”  oh yeah I remember… they had outhouses with with hand sanitizers and a picnic area.  I then drove onto Regina where we stopped for more gas (131.5/L) and James picked up the driving for the evening.  Now MY plan was for us to stop at a hotel for the night but James had other plans…. he drove till 12:30 am where we stopped in North Battleford for gas (he didn’t make a note of cost) and he then made me drive… I was exhausted, I made it to the Lloydminister tourist info center at the border where I stopped the van and napped from 2-4 am!    Then James drove us home from there, we arrived home at 7am.  Where I proceeded to crash and sleep until 2:30 in the afternoon!  I would have much preferred to stop for the night in North Battleford or even sooner…. then gotten up and driven through the day, Monday was still a wasted day with me sleeping and it wouldn’t have been as dangerous driving!

It is officially 3444 km from my mom’s house (well the gas station where we stopped to fill up the tires anyway) to our door…..  James has done the math (ie looked at his Mastercard statement) and it cost us $1300 in gas for the trip there and back, including all the driving we did while there for almost 2 weeks.  We had figured on $2000, so that was a nice surprise!  We probably spent about $450 on hotel’s there and back, not including our side trip to Niagara.  And if we stopped another night each way (which we should of) that would have increased another $2-300, still well under what we would have spent on airfare for 5, plus a car rental for the 2 weeks we were there.

I am now off to work….. I will add the photos sometime this week and do an update on what we’ve been up to since we got home!

This time there was less excitement on the road, although we did pass a rolled over pick up with trailer attached, 2 OPP cars on the scene, looked like it might have hit a moose or something last night.  If you are planning a trip to northern Ontario, DRIVE CAREFULLY!

I drove through the afternoon yesterday while James did all the rest,  I had a wicked headache I fought all afternoon while driving, I think a combination of stress from the trip and the sun in my eyes.  When we arrived in Wawa last night, the entire town was without power!  Not sure what happened, but they let us check in anyway.  We grabbed our box of snacks out of the van and waited for the lights to come on so we could try a restaurant. 

Here’s the kids goofing off.

About 1/2 hour later power was back and we walked across the hwy to the “fine dining” restaurant.  A look at the menu (outragous prices and nothing for the kids) had us back out the door… then we noticed another restaurant at the Best Northern Hotel next door.  We stopped in there and looked at the menu hoping it would be reasonably priced and have something for the kids.  We lucked out.  James had their clubhouse sandwich, Arran had a burger, Rowan had the kids pizza (which was actually two small home made flat bread pizzas) and Keely and I shared the Greek chicken salad, it was really good!  (menu on the webpage) While I was exhausted, waiting for food I was thinking we should have just ordered a pizza to the hotel room, but after I started eating I was glad we didn’t, I have to say one of the best meals we’ve had on the trip.   |If you are every driving through Wawa on the transcanada hwy, do stop in the Best Northern Restaurant, you won’t be disappointed.  It’s right on the hwy as you enter Wawa.

This is the view of the river from the restaurant.

Good food!

Well off for another day driving.  We will be stopping in Dryden tonight.  Our plans for Russell did not work out, as they have no vacancies :(  So we are playing it by ear. 

PS, got my necklace back

Since my last post we have been busy. Last Friday we went to the CN Tower, actually got James to go up with us, he has a thing against heights

 Rowan and I on the subway heading downtown.  Rowan took the picture of me

The requisite “children with iconic Canadian symbol” shot

Views from CN Tower

Keely sitting on the glass floor

Cool shot of my feet on the glass floor

Little breezy up there!

James trying to call our friend Stacey…can you hear me now?  Darn she was out of the office on a lunch run…

The view from the ground

The kids had a blast, then we went to East Side Marios for lunch.

 Friday evening was spent out to dinner at Outback with Sheila and Stan, we had a great time, Stan and James seemed to hit it off. After dinner we walked to Archibald’s pub for a few drinks, James got to drink a Molsen Export, which made him very happy. They don’t sell Ex in Alberta and it was one of the beers he really liked when we lived in Ontario. From there we walked home to mom’s, only a 45 minute hike, reminded us of our dating days when we used to walk home from the bars lol

Left to right… James, Stan, Sheila and I

We cancelled our plans for the beach in Barrie on Sat. I wish we could have gone as we had plans to meet up with some of the mods from CPO, but the threat of thunderstorms was too great for us. This has been the wettest July in ages here, it has really messed with our plans! Sat night I dropped James off at London Pub for a reunion with some of his high school friends, I hung out for a couple hours then the kids and I met up with Sheila and Stan and we went to Dave and Busker’s for some amusement and Boston Pizza for a late supper. I went back to the pub to pick him up later, always fun to be one of the only sober people in a group…. but they seemed like a nice bunch and I’m happy for Jamie that he got to meet up with them.

Sunday the weather looked good so we decided to go to Wonderland, it’s a good thing we did because our only other option was this past Wed. which turned into another really rainy day! It was a long day at Wonderland, but we had a lot of fun. We went with my mom and Jamie’s sister Melanie. Jamie, Mel, Arran, Keely and I went on the Behemoth, wicked fun roller coaster! The wait didn’t seem very long, we have a great picture of all of them minus me on the ride, I ended up in another group. It did rain a bit that day, but it passed over quickly. We closed the place down!

Arran, Aunt Mel and keely after riding Riptide…. just a little bit damp lol  Had to get Mel to cover herself to keep the pic g-rated, white tank tops don’t fair well wet lol

Mom and I

James and I

Arran and I, notice my boys can’t keep a straight face around a camera…

James, Mom, Keely, Mel and Rowan under an eaves in Hannah Barbera Land trying to keep dry

Monday we drove to African Lion Safari and drove through the safari in our van, luckily the monkey’s left our van alone, but we saw them ripping the trim off the top of another van and playing with torn off windshield wipers. It was really amazing seeing the animals. The kids played in the waterpark for awhile then we saw the 3 animal shows (parrots, birds of prey and eliphants) while they dried off. Then hopped back in the van and drove to Niagara Falls. We had dinner at the hotel *blech* it was all you can eat ribs, well no wonder, they were horrid and the service sucked. Oh well, so far it has been the only bad dining experience of our trip, and we have eaten out a LOT. After supper we swam in the hotel pool, then after it closed at 10, went for a walk down to the falls to see them lit up at night. I think I was the only one who enjoyed the 1.5 km hike *sigh* Everyone else grumbled about it and it made for a miserable night and following day. I loved the sight of the falls at night and the ferris wheel and Clifton Hill all lit up James and Arran were tired of playing tourist and we didn’t get to do nearly as much as I had planned for us in Niagara We did end up on the Maid of the Mist in the morning and went to the Guiness Book of World Records Museum, if I had known we were only going to do one museum I think I would have picked Ripley’s Believe it or Not instead. After the museum James and Arran got very grumpy so they left to go to the van. Keely and Rowan went into an indoor playland while my mom and I waited out in the heat for them. Then Keely, Rowan and I went on the big ferris wheel, the view from up there is beautiful! Then it was time to leave, I called James to pick us up and we drove home to mom’s.

Wed. was Jamie’s birthday, it was very low key, we took the kids to lunch, then glow in the dark mini golfing. Today I went out with Sheila for a pedicure I now have Russian Blue toes and very soft feet! This afternoon will be spent packing up our van, we have a ton of extra stuff we are taking home with us. What is left of my father’s record album collection (after my mom discovered my step dad throwing some of the albums in the garbage) my mom’s old aquarium (she mentioned she was throwing it out, and I had told the kids when we got rid of the cats we could get more fish, can’t say no to a free aquarium and all the supplies!) and a large glass terrarium that my mom was given when my father passed away. She had a philodendrun (sp?) in it for about 20 years! So I want to plant another in it when I get home. We are also taking back a couple cases of beer….. you should have seen Jamie’s face as he was leaving The Beer Store, just like the crazy lady in the Ikea commercial, I got out to open the back hatch for him and said “start the caaaaarrrrrr, start the caaaarrrrr!!!!!!” lol He not only had a 24 of Molsen Export, he found out they still make Golden, which was his favourite back in the day, he got 2 - 12 packs of it lol Stacey and Sheldon, we are bringing beer to the bbq next week I’m sure we’ll make it all fit!

Again I am on the library computer so not able to post pictures, but I have a lot! I will hopefully post some from one of the hotels on the way home. We have decided to make it a 4 day trip home instead of 3, we want to avoid the night driving. We will be stopping at the same hotel in Wawa on Friday night, I left a necklace there they are holding for me! Then we are planning on booking the same hotel in Dryden for Sat night, and then a stop in Russell MB, at the Russell Inn, it has a pool and waterslide and was recommended to me (thanks Krista if you read this) for it’s 50% off room rates on Sunday nights Then home on Monday……

Made it to Richmond Hill Monday evening around 8.  It has been raining almost constantly since we got here!  We had planned to go to Canada’s Wonderland on Wed. but it was just pouring!  One of the intersections near Wonderland (Jane and Major Mack) was flooded about an hour after we drove past it!  After making the drive by at noon, we decided to go to lunch at Montana’s and then to the movies to see the Dark Knight, very good!  We are hoping to get to Wonderland next Wed. for Jamie’s birthday or Thurs. which would be our last day here!  Fingers crossed the weather holds.  We are also supposed to go to the beach in Barrie on Sat, but there is a 40% chance of thunderstorms…..

The kids have gotten to spend some time with their Aunt Melanie (Jamie’s sister) and Uncle Kevin (my brother) and of course grandma….  and her puppy Maggie, I will try to get some pictures up when we are at the hotel in Niagara, I can’t do it from the library computer :(  Tonight I am meeting some friends, then tomorrow, maybe CN Tower, then dinner with Sheila and Stan.

We have been doing some driving around town, looking at places we used to live, where Jamie went to school.  In a way it’s sad, so much has changed, we feel left behind.  I am a bit homesick for the green, green grass and trees, nothing like Alberta.   We also stopped for lunch today at Pizzaville and had a deep fried Panzarotti, can’t get THEM in Alberta!  Arran loved it, said he’s ready to move to Ontario lol   Will try to post again tomorrow afternoon from the library, otherwise it will be the hotel in Niagara Monday night.

Send me good weather vibes!

That last hour was spent in the dark, in the rain, in fog, avoiding moose…  I need a drink!

I forgot to mention yesterday that near Winnipeg we passed one of those solar cars on it’s treck from the US to Calgary, really cool!

 We left Dryden this morning ar 8:30, had a yummy breakfast at the hotel, would definitely recommend the Best Western Motor Inn, and they gave us $20 off for the 10 minutes of headache when we checked in :)  Between Ignace and Upsala we passed the Multi Faith Walk Against Violence heading west.  Then we hit construction (lots of it on the transcanada) and this is what you see passing you around a curve

If you think that is bad, imagine going up a hill to find one IN YOUR LANE coming AT YOU!  He barely made it back into his own lane, we had to slow down and get over onto the shoulder other wise he would have hit us.  Then James says “You should have taken a picture”  Well excuse me, I was a little busy freaking out and trying not to poop myself!  Then a bit further down the road we see a sign that says “Can’t See, Don’t Pass”….. thanks for the tip. 

We stopped in Thunder Bay at 1:30 for lunch, then hit the Wal-Mart so James could buy a cheap electric razor, apparently *I* forgot to pack it…. yup I’m sure that’s what happened…. The boys needed new sandels as well that we didn’t have time to shop for before we left and I needed a travel pillow, trying to stuff a regular pillow behind your head in the passenger seat just doesn’t work well.  Left Thunder Bay at 2:30, stopped a bit later at Pass Lake for gas ($145.9/L - $89) then headed to the Panorama Amethyst Mine for some digging fun!  Well we didn’t need to do much digging, they are just laying there for you to pick up!   All the purple stones below are amethysts.  You can buy them for $3/lb.  Picked up some souveniers as well

Kids and James poking for stones.

James and I with a scenic view behind us near the mines.

We left the mines covered in black fly bites at 4:30 and headed east.  At 6:15 we passed the Sea2Sea University of Lethbridge cyclists just before Schreiber.   Click the link for their blog.  We also ended up dining at the same restaurant in the town of Schreiber, saw them sitting as we were leaving. Back on the road at 7:30 and into Wawa Mystic Island Motel for 10:30, after a harrowing last 2 hours.  Today we saw on the side of the road, one young deer, one young black bear, one porcupine and 2 dead young moose.  Then in our harrowing last 2 hours we almost hit a young moose crossing the hwy, luckily it was still light out and it had started raining by then and James has slowed down (did I mention he drove ALL day today?) so we saw it and stopped in time.  Then it got dark…. and the rain started coming down harder…. and the fog rolled in…. did I mention it was harrowing????  But we are here safe and sound.  To finish off tonight here are a couple of fun pictures I took.  I probably won’t be able to update until next week but we’ll see how it goes!

Who knew we had a lake? This is slightly north of White River ON.

Blue skies….smiling at me….

That’s a very long road…. and only 1000 or so km left!

Keely in our rustic motel room, it’s quite nice.

The whole famdamily in the funny mirror in the roof.

ETA ….Found another pic, the boys sleeping in the van.

And I want to mention that the kids are behaving really well!  I thought maybe there would be a lot of fighting and whining, but there has been very little.  And Arran has done well entertaining the other two in the back, without any prompting from us even!  Rowan is being his usual Rowan self, but settles down when we remind him to.

Off to TO!