I’m going to have an additional 20lbs to lose at the end of the summer if this keeps up!  But it is sooo good!  I find myself craving icecream almost every evening.  I’ve resorted to “baby” cones to control the calories somewhat and I am going to curves.  When it comes to icecream, I just have NO WILLPOWER!!  It’s my kryponite.   Here are the girls enjoying their dilly bars…

Messy and loving it!

Yummy!

I didn’t always have an interest in photography. It wasn’t until I started working in a photolab did I become interested in the art of taking the perfect picture. Now, I have my camera with me at all times. Hubby thinks I should take wedding pics etc. But I think I would be too nervous.

For now, I enjoy taking pictures of the kids and nature. I’ve been chasing down bumblebees for the last few weeks trying to get a closeup shot. But the little buggers don’t seem to sit still long enough. I’m looking forward to taking lots of great pictures this summer and I will definitely share them with you all. Here are some of my favorites. As you can see, I am quite partial to Canon cameras…I have owned 3!
canon rebel

canon powershot A75

canon powershot A75

canon powershot A75

Happy Father’s Day to my hubby, my father and my father-in-law.

We took hubby and my father out to an all-you-can eat brunch. What better gift than food…especially for two men that like to eat! There was everything from bacon, sausages, seafood chowder, turkey and mashed potatoes to various pasta salads and tossed salads. The desserts were delicious also. I’ll probably prepare something “light” for supper as we are all still stuffed from brunch.

I had a few ideas of what to get hubby this year and decided on buying him a camping tent. We haven’t been camping since we’ve had the girls and I think it would be something they would really enjoy. I wanted one with ALL kinds of space and two rooms. I found this one at Walmart and thought it would be perfect. It has two rooms and sleeps 10. Lots of room there! Plus hubby still has his pup tent…so if he starts to snore, he’ll be sleeping in the pup tent.

So that was our day. Nothing too spectacular, but very enjoyable none the less.

Today was our church’s annual family day at sandspit, an amusement park in cavendish. I was hoping for a little sun, but it turned out to be a pretty crappy day weather wise. People were walking around wrapped in blankets and shivering. That didn’t seem to bother the kids though. As usual, there was LOTS of food and LOTS of fun had by all. Here are a few pics of the afternoon.

I don’t think Gabby stopped running all day!

I like this one…it makes her look like a giant.

Braeden enjoying himself

the roller coaster

Grace going for a ride on the helicopters

hubby and gabby

Yay! My lilacs are starting to bloom. Slowly, but surely my gardens are also starting to sprout. A sure sign of summer…I hope!

Having today off, I decided to spend a little time with Grace. I told her to grab her bike helmet and I would take her out to ride her bike.

I had no specific destination in mind, but as we came around the block, I thought why not take a stroll through the new subdivision across the street that has been growing rapidly. The community purchased the land and sold off the lots. It turned out to be a great money maker for the community. Well done!!! Among the newly built houses, there is this one house that I absolutely LOVE!! The for sale sign had a price of $199,000 which is fairly reasonable. I’m going to check out the website for the next open house. I’d like to get a better look inside…just out of curiosity. It has a deck in the back, hardwood floors and a nice size livingroom/diningroom (from what I could see through the window)

isn’t it gorgeous!!!

On the way over to check out the house, I spotted some lupins. So of course I had to stop and take a picture. Grace wanted me to take a picture of her also. She loves the camera!

We continued up the street and I spotted a huge rock placed in the field with a commemorative plaque. It had the name of the subdivision and the year it was incorporated. I was ready to snap a picture when I noticed Grace in the shot…she had scurried up the rock to get in the picture! As I said before, she LOVES getting her picture taken. It gave me quite a chuckle.

When we arrived home, Hubby was waiting to take Grace out for another bike ride. He wanted to test out his new set of wheels. I quickly snapped a pic before they left.

Grace really does love her bike, but I am thinking she may need a bigger one for next year. I’ll wait until the end of summer when the bikes go on sale. You can get excellent deals on bikes in August/September.

Tonight it’s just us girls. Hubby is working the night shift and Braeden is gone to spend the night at my parent’s cottage. After a busy day of working, cleaning the house, taking Grace to a birthday party and then helping my parents clean for 2 back breaking hours, I decided I would treat me and the girls to a good old fashioned banana split from scooter’s dairy bar. Oh it was divine. Hot fudge, strawberry and marshmellow topping…my favorite!!! The girls really enjoyed it. It was funny, when I came through the door and Gabby seen what I had in my hand, she yelled “whoa!!!!”. She knows a good thing when she sees it.

save some for mommy!!!

After finishing the ice cream, we had some nachos. Yes, I know…dessert should be last. But this is a girl’s night and anything goes!

mmmm…nachos!!

the aftermath!!

The girls are now in bed for the night and I am going to stretch out on the couch with a hot cup of green tea and a heating pad for my aching back…ohhhh, I feel old!!!

Well no, not really. Today was Grace’s tour of the elementary school she will be attending in September.   We have to pay $30 for her school supplies today which is great.   That means I won’t be scrambling in September to pick up her supplies.   The classrooms are a little different….there are only 3 walls and no doors.  Everything is open.  I spoke to the teacher who will be off on maternity in the fall.  There was another teacher there, but I didn’t get a chance to speak with her.  I actually went to school with her older sister and I know her a little bit.  I’m hoping she will be Grace’s teacher in September.

I did register Grace for the other elementary school, but there were too many kids registering this year so they had to distribute the kids evenly between the 2 schools. You see, there are two early french immersion schools. One has french from grades 1-6, the other only has french for grades 1-3 which is the school Grace will be attending. Once she is in grade 4, she will have to switch over to the other elementary school to continue her french. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I can’t understand why they don’t have french for grades 4, 5, and 6. I’m not sure if it’s funding or lack of french speaking teachers. Anyway, Grace was pretty excited about today. She has been wanting to go to school for the last 3 years! So today will give her a little taste of what she can expect in September.

Ha-ha! Thought I would throw a little humor in there. You have to have a sense of humor with all the miserable weather we’ve been having. Today started off grey, but mild. By mid afternoon the sun came out and it was actually a beautiful warm day. You could hear the lawn mowers going and smell the heavenly scent of a nearby BBQ. A typical summer day. I was planning to try out the gps this afternoon, but alas, all the batteries needed recharging and I still haven’t quite figured the thing out. It’s an older model, so it will take a little getting use to. What to do, what to do?? I figured I might as well do my flowerbeds before the weeds eventually took over. So I threw on some sunscreen, shorts and my “movie-star” sunglasses as I call them and headed outside. What a perfect day to weed a garden. The soil was moist, so the weeds came out effortlessly. I finished two beds and decided to hold off on the third. My back and knees aren’t what they used to be and I thought I better quit while I was ahead or I would be suffering tomorrow. So here are some before and after pics of my beds.

my front flowerbed before:

after:

second flowerbed…a little neglected.

good old PEI red soil:

I just have to pick up a few more plants to add this year, and I will be all set!

Now, off to figure out my gps!!