It’s my first week of vacation and after a weekend of camping, I find myself lazing around the house.  It’s 10:30 in the morning and I haven’t even showered yet.  We did some cleaning yesterday and a little re-organizing.  Hubby is doing the laundry as I HATE doing laundry.  He actually does a much better job.  I’m better at cooking, cleaning and organizing the house.  We went to see a movie last night, “The Dark Knight”.  I really liked it.  It’s a bit darker than the others and Heath Ledger was awesome as the joker.  He was such a talented actor and one of my favorites.

Today we are doing a bit more house cleaning as we are expecting quiltingmom and family over for supper tonight.  Which reminds me, I have to do up a grocery list for hubby.

Next week, we are taking Braeden to Halifax.  He is leaving august 6 to go to edmonton for 2 weeks to visit with his dad.  Of course the flight leaves at 7am in the morning and his return flight gets in at 6am.  Blah!  I am NOT a morning person at all.  I’m not truly functional until 9 or 10am.  Hopefully we can go over the night before but if not, I may just stay home with the girls and let hubby take him over.  Braeden has had quite the summer.  He has been to new york and now edmonton.  This will be his first time flying so hopefully he will get along ok.

As for the rest of my vacation, we’ll probably go to the beach a few times and of course a trip to the mill river fun park.  My best friend is home for a few weeks, so we usually get together and do stuff with the kids.  Tomorrow night, we are going to take the girls to an outdoor movie down at the boardwalk.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  I can’t believe today is the last day of July!  Where has the summer gone??

Every so often, I look around my house and get very cranky!  There are so many things I was going to change when we moved in and never got around to it.  We have carpet in our living room, hallway and bedrooms and I absolutely HATE it!!  YUCK!!!   It is a dark gray color in the living room and hallway and then 2 of the bedrooms have a dusty rose carpet and one has a light gray.  In the summer time, our house is so humid and the carpets are tacky when you walk on them.  Gross!! I don’t even want to think about the stuff that is living in them…barf!  We could have had new flooring two years ago, but never got around to it.  Boy am I regretting that big time!  So now we have to wait to get some other bills paid off which will be another year and a half before we can get new flooring.  I want to get the carpet shampooed, but I am too cheap.  I figure why clean it if it’s just going to be ripped up and thrown out.  But I may just have to give in.

There are other work that needs to be done too!  Our walls are all white except for the bathroom and the girls bedroom.  They are the only two rooms that I have painted.  Our livingroom, diningroom and kitchen are very open, so I would have to paint them the same color.  I can’t decide on what color to use.  Our kitchen counters are navy and then we have a burgandy checkered floor.  Whoever decorated the house must have been color blind.

Then there is the deck.  It is rotten and needs to be replaced.  I was hoping we could get that done this summer, but it looks like we will have to wait until next summer….blah!!!  I would love to have Mike Holmes come and do my renos.  Anyone have his number???

We just arrived home from our first family camping adventure.  What a great time we had!  We’ve already got a site booked for a weekend in September and we are going to book a site for next summer.

We arrived Friday around noon and attempted to set up the tent.  I made the foolish mistake of booking on the new side which is very open and windy.  We couldn’t get the tent up for the wind.  So we went up to see if we could get another site on the sheltered side.  We did, but for one night only….which meant we had to set up and then take everything back down again the next morning.  Oh well, we were there and that was all that mattered.  The next day we found a permanent site for the next 3 nights…thank goodness!  No more moving!!  We met up with quiltingmom and family coming up from the beach.  It’s funny when you see pictures of someone and then run into them face to face how you always second guess yourself about whether or not it’s really them.  I’ve met Cara once before and because her family is usually dressed in the same outfits, she’s very easy to find.  We bumped into them on the beach later that evening.  Saturday we spent the day on the beach again and that evening we went for a hayride.  They had an “Anne” character give a history of the campground.  It was pretty cool and the scenery was amazing. Saturday night we heading to quiltingmom’s for some pina colada’s. We were on our second drink when Cara and family arrived with some treats! We had lobster rolls, s’mores and a special pina colada drink Cara had tried while in the Cayman Islands.

Sunday, we took a stroll by Cara’s site to say goodbye and met up with Tricia and family. After chatting and getting some pics, we made plans with tricia and family that evening and headed our separate ways.  That afternoon, we hit the beach and went for a nice walk to the twin shores rock. We got some great pics and the rock formation was really cool!

Monday was the day I was looking forward to the most. It was chocolate bar bingo!! You bring a chocolate bar to play and the prizes are bags of chocolate bars. The first few games were prizes of 15-25 chocolate bars. The last game, which was a full card, the winner was awarded 92 chocolate bars!!! WOW!! I can’t even imagine the sugar rush! I was close once…one number away…I needed O71 and O72 was called for bingo. Oh well, it was fun. There must have been between 150-200 people there. Apparently chocolate bar bingo is very popular.

We had such a great time, it was hard to leave this morning.   After unpacking the car and seeing all the laundry that needs to be done, looks like I will be pretty busy the next few days!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

If you are coming to PEI and you get a chance…go to a dinner theatre!  I go every year with a few friends and i’ve yet to be disappointed.  If you are not familiar with the concept, it involves an interactive performance while enjoying a fantastic meal.  Last night we went to see “Victoria’s Secret” in summerside.  What a hoot!!  I love the way they interact with the crowd and the food…yummy!!  They serve a light salad followed by some bowls of mussels…double yummm!! Then you have your choice of chicken or salmon with dill sauce with smashed potatoes and veggies….sooo good!  The dessert was a chocolate/vanilla layered cake with creamy vanilla/chocolate filling.  Here are some pics of the show:

Keith, the brides brother and geek extraordinaire

interacting with the crowd:

us girls with some of the performers:

the performers

Braeden is 14 yrs old and has always been a really great drawer, but these last few years his drawing abilities have really developed.  The detail he puts into a drawing is phenominal and he draws images over and over again until they are perfect.  He went through a spell of drawing titantic and spiderman.   Now he is into comic book drawings and alien vs preditor.  He did go to a 6 week art program and even the art teacher was impressed.  Below are a few samples of his drawings.

We are all going camping for 4 nights this friday and I CAN’T WAIT!!!!  There is so much to do, I don’t know where to start.  Friday morning I have some running around to do.  We have to pick up some lanterns, a tent shelter ( I waited too long for the one I wanted and they sold out…grrrr!), and some groceries.  I’ve been browsing the internet and cpo for some camping recipes and I have my grocery list complete.  We’ll be taking both cars with the amount of stuff we will be taking.  We talked about putting the dog in a kennel, but I think we’ll take her.  She loves the beach, she just gets a little excited when she sees other dogs and there will be plenty of other dogs at the campground.  For being a medium size dog, she is VERY strong.  It takes every bit of my strength to hold her when she spots another dog.

I’m hoping we’ll have nice sunny weather.  There has been discussion of a hurricane heading to Nova Scotia.  Hopefully it won’t amount to much.   I’m really looking forward to having some daiquiris and pina colada’s with quiltingmom and ladybugmom.   Break out the s’mores and the doritos girls…..woohoo!!!! Twin Shores will never be the same!!

It is a given that during the summer months, Sundays are our day at the beach.  We usually start the day off by attending church and then coming home for a quick lunch and to pack up the car.  The afternoon is spent laying on the beach, playing in the sand, swimming and when the tide is out, we’ll walk across the beach.  Today was a great day.  The weather was warm and the water was great!  Braeden even joined us.  At 14, it’s getting harder and harder to convince him to hang out with the family, so I was thrilled when he wanted to join us today at the beach.  He is staying at the cottage with my parents for a few days and then he will be home in time to go camping.  What a life!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!  I am starting my vacation this thursday and it feels as though time is literally standing still.  Once Thursday does arrive, it will be a worldwind after that.  We are going camping fri, sat, sun and monday night.  Nothing set in stone for the following week, but we have talked about camping a few nights in Souris.  I have some close friends that live there and I love the beach up there.  Basin Head beach is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island.  They call it the “singing sands” because the sand makes a squeaking noise when you walk on it.   I think the last time we camped there was before we were married and my brother and his wife were with us…no kids!!

The following week, hubby’s brother and girlfriend are coming for a visit.  We all worked for the same company a few years back and we always have a great time together.  I’m really looking forward to their visit.   A few days after that, we will be getting ready for Gabby’s 2nd birthday party.  We don’t usually have any kids over for birthdays.  We make it a family event with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents instead.  Braeden had a sleepover this year for his birthday and when the girls get a little older we may do the same.

I don’t go back to work until August 11th.  Of course once I am actually “ON” my vacation, time will pass by super quick and I will be back to work again…blah!  Summer is just too short!!!

I took the girls berry picking last night with a friend.  I must say I was very disappointed with the berries.  I went to the same place last year and the berries were amazing.  This year, they were small and not as plentiful.  I guess I waited too long.  The girls had fun though.  Gabby was eating the berries faster than I could put them in the bowl.    Below is a pic of this year and last years berries.  As you can see there is quite a difference in size.  Gabby is a little bigger too!

Grace and Gabby ~ 2008

Apparantely Abigail Breslin, the actress from the movie “Little Miss Sunshine” was on the island recently.  She is a big fan of Anne of Green Gables and came to the island to for a visit….very cool!

Anne fan Abigail Breslin visits P.E.I.

Last Updated: Friday, July 18, 2008

CBC News

Prince Edward Island treated Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin to an Island holiday this week.

The 12-year-old actor read Anne of Green Gables as part of her private school curriculum, and is a big fan of the book. Taking in a performance of the musical at the Confederation Centre of the Arts Wednesday was one of the highlights of her visit.

The Confederation Centre invited Breslin to the Island when they heard how much she loved the book. Tourism PEI flew Breslin, her mother and a 12-year-old cousin to P.E.I. from New York, at a cost of about $4,000. Dalvay by the Sea provided complimentary accommodation.

In return, Breslin said she will mention P.E.I. The Confederation Centre will use her glowing comments about the musical in promotional materials.

The provincial government described celebrity endorsements such as Breslin’s as valuable.

Breslin is currently starring in Kit Kittredge, An American Girl.