Well worth the drive to Rochester!!!

While Brad was trekking it with friends in Algonquin Park the kids & I went to Rochester with Mom. We took what we thought would be a scenic route to get there...which I was wrong- it was not scenic. We stopped at a Berry Farm that had a play area for the kids & they had fun, but man was it hot...too hot. But we played a bit, got an icy cold treat, visited the gift shop & headed for the hotel dreaming of a swim. However, when we got to the hotel the pool was closed until the next day for maintenance! Talk about disappointment. So our evening was filled with getting something to eat, the kids playing in the room & settling in to get ready for the next day which was the main reason of our trip.

The next day we went to Strong's National Museum of Play. To say that this is a GREAT place to take kids is an extreme understatement. Parking is free, admission is only $9 for the kids & we were there for 7 hours & the kids still didn't play with everything. It was truly amazing & I'd love to take the kids back next year...so Brad needs to get working on his paperwork!

Brown's Berry Farm

The kids were not supposed to wear shoes on this huge inflatable "thing", but it was so hot there was no way I was going to have them go on in bare feet & burn their soles.

The duck race was a particular favourite for Jason.

Enjoying the pool at the hotel


National Museum of Play

The carousel, train, & butterfly conservatory are not included with admission, but still very reasonable to add on to your stay & play.

Sydney & I eventually got this balanced

They put on a play for us, Jason of course was a dinosaur


Going to a place like this definitely exposes you to different parenting styles. We saw many kids who ruled their parents, but this woman took the cake for the day. She is actually asking Jason to not touch the chess pieces because her son wants to play a game of chess. There were tonnes of kids running around & she really thinks her son is going to be able to play a game of chess! Hats off if the kid knows how to play & hats off to her if she would actually stand there and wait, but come on...this is a public place swarming with kids. Go home & pull out the board to have a game.

Year One of French Immersion Done

Sydney just came home from her last day of school & I am not sure who is more excited, her or Jason. I am not sure why Jason is so wound up, maybe it has something to do with all the sweets he had in Sydney's class for her mini-graduation ceremony.

We are currently loading the pictures that her teacher gave us on a disk that chronicle the class's SK year. Little did I know when I blindly agreed to copy the pictures to our computer that there would be almost 300 of them! Obviously I will need to go through them & delete many, but from glancing through I think this was a very considerate thing for her to do. I have been lucky enough to be in the class a few times a month & see all the kids every day, but as a parent that worked last year while my child was in school I would have loved to receive a disk of pictures that put her year better in perspective for me.

Sydney loved school this year. I think the major factors were that she loved learning French & she liked going to school everyday in the afternoon. She says she doesn't want to go to grade one because then she has to go all day. Although she is looking forward to having recess back, she is not looking forward to having to get up & get going early each morning. Sleeping Beauty will have a rude awakening come September.

The class, minus 2 kids

Like the hats? I think they are cute.
I made them on one of my volunteer days & unfortunately made one kid's upside down.
His mom said not to worry, that years from now they would look back & think Aidan made it which would make it even funnier.

These are Jason's best buddies, Aidan & Nicholas.
They are not in the same class next year, which academically is probably a good thing.

Sydney & Rachel have a much brighter glow when posing with Atticus than they did when posing on their own.

Groundbreaking Ceremony

Last week was the groundbreaking ceremony for Sydney's school. In September 2011 she should be moving into a new & improved school. I am looking forward to all the rewards of your child being educated in a brand spanking new building, but the one part that I am a little overwhelmed by is....the size. Sydney's current school has a population of 168 students. The new school is projected to be 636+ students...ikes! If I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the thought, I can imagine what it will be like for her & Jason.

Since it will be a new school, Jason will be in full time kindergarten for his SK year. I am very thankful that it is not for this year, because I personally think JK is too young for kids to be in school all day every day. Good grief, some of the kids will only be 3.5 when they start school. Time will tell if this gives kids the step forward they need in today's environment.

Since the school currently only goes to grade 6 & has no music program to speak of, but the new school has the facilities for grade 7 & 8 students and a bone fide music room- there is a team doing fund-raising with businesses to try and get some donations to fill our library with appropriate reading for the older grades & get instruments to complete a music program. On top of this there is the technological teaching tools that you would also like to have available to your kids & all this costs $$$. The t-shirts that kids are wearing in these pictures indicate that we currently are in the red for where we need to be to fill the school & with efforts from the community we are confident we can get where we need to be.

It was a little rainy for the ceremony, so we eventually moved indoors.

I sent Sydney over to Robb & Michele with an umbrella & saved them from the downpour that started minutes after they got their umbrella up.

The symbolic breaking ground turned out to happen in the gym & transferring dirt into another bucket. After all the kids left, Sydney & Jason were happy to do their part in cleaning up.

Little Ballerina

Sydney has asked to take ballet for months now. Last night she went to her friend Daisy's class & I think loved it. So, now comes the task of figuring out which RECREATIONAL dance program to put her in. There are some over the top dance schools around here & I definitely don't want her to end up in them. I am looking for her to have fun & learn some moves. If she only does one session & decides that's it...lucky us. If she learns great posture...lucky her. If she really likes it & wants to continue...we will cross that bridge if we get there.

Bye Bye Bunny School

A couple weeks ago Jason finished Benjamin Bunny Nursery School & it was completed with a trip to Hee Haw Adventure farm. I am really glad that Jason went to school & he seemed to like it, but never really got too social with many of the kids. However, I have since seen parents whose kids ask if they can have a play date with Jason...so maybe he was more social than I thought & when I wasn't looking.

I am hoping that when he goes to JK his socializing is somewhere between what he was like at Bunny School & what he is like at home. I don't want him to be like "one of those crazy boys" in Sydney's class.

Jason loved Mrs. Van Impe

Walk With Dinosaurs

A few weeks ago we took the kids to see "Walk With Dinosaurs". Jason is dinosaur-crazy and Sydney truly enjoys them too- at least I am pretty sure she enjoys them for herself & not just for Jason. It took me awhile to convince Brad that we should go, but he finally relented. The biggest issue was the tickets were quite pricey & we really were not sure what the show really entailed. However, since we have a boy that talks about dinosaurs about 75% of his waking moments and can say most dinosaur names better than he can say "Sydney"...it seemed a shame not to go.

We got the cheap seats, but that still cost us over $100. Obviously many other families balked at the top ticket price of $74 since the lower bowl was practically empty (until the intermission when people moved down). Since the event was targeted for kids, it seems to me that it would make more sense to have lower ticket prices & fill more seats. Instead the arena was maybe a quarter full. Hmm....

Before the show, Jason was very serious in his waiting.
Brad & Sydney on the other hand...not so much.
You will note that Jason shared one of his dinosaur shirts with his sister for the event.

Waiting with bated breath

This shirt is huge on him, that is why I rolled the sleeves on him.
I wasn't going for the Miami Vice look.

A baby T-Rex came out first before it was joined by its VERY LOUD Mommy.
This was Jason's favourite part of the whole show.

To this day Sydney & Jason are still playing Walk with Dinosaurs...in costume & with the myriad of dinosaurs in our house.

Little Gymnasts

This is pretty late, but this winter Sydney & Jason both took gymnastics. Our goal for their involvement was to do something active & have fun. I figure that this should be most parents goals for their kids at this age. However we were amazed by the attitude of a set of parents that rode their daughters the whole time- many times the oldest who is the same age as Sydney was in tears & one night was chasing her mother out the door crying & saying "you hate me!!!" I could not believe it.


It is a good job that Brad & I do not have that high of expectations for Sydney & Jason. They seemed to achieve our goals of being active & having fun.

First step for a new phase in his life

I realize I am not a frequent blogger anymore, but I rarely sit down at the computer for any great length of time anymore. I find that by the time I get the stuff done that needs to be done & check my emails, the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer longer. I miss my laptop. I realize that there are many who think I should have time during the day to do stuff like this since I am home with the kids, but I am hear to tell you...I don't. However, today is something I need to write about.

Today we had Jason's JK orientation. I was really looking forward to it & excited for this next step in his life, but who am I kidding? I am really going to miss having my little boy with me so much. Especially when I watch some other little boys out there. I am disappointed that Jason won't be going to school with two of the friends he has made since they will be in school during the afternoon, but I do hope that he finds another friend in class that helps to make this transition easier for him. He doesn't exactly embrace change & is very shy in new situations. Thankfully the teacher he is assigned is one that I have only heard glowing endorsements for.

We visited the class today & the teacher read them a story & the kids did a very good job of sitting & listening. Jason discovered that there are some great toys in his class & I will need to remember what they were so that I can use that as the incentive to get Jason to walk willingly through those doors. I couldn't help notice that there were a lot of girls visiting the classroom, so I am curious to see the boy:girl ratio. After experiencing the 10:7 split in Sydney's class I am hoping that Jason's isn't quite that bad...or the boys in his class as crazy wild as the boys in Sydney's class.

I think Jason enjoyed today at some level. He seems to think that he should be getting Sydney's teacher & her classroom, but I think after seeing the toys he gets we can get past that disappointment. I am truly praying that the only tears we see on his first day are mine after he walks in the school!

Since we are on the topic of Jason, I thought I would share a few pictures of him that make me smile.

This one is from a couple months ago when Sydney had to bring a living thing for show & tell. We kept a spider for Sydney to take & every morning Jason was eager to see Brad feed her. That spider had a very well fed week, but unfortunately show & tell did her in.

Seated with Jason (left to right) Papa Elephant, Baby Ella (constant companion), Teddy, and Diny (newest constant companion- thank you Aunt Debbie).
I don't know what he is watching, but I am sure it was the birds. I just had to run & grab the camera when I came down in the morning & saw him sitting there...I thought it was too cute.

This past weekend we went to the Burlington Model Train club.
It was a big hit with both kids.
Those of you who grew up with outdoor pools may, like me, find it sad that this is now a Model Train club. Why do we no longer use outdoor pools unless it is part of a huge water park?

Great Wolf Lodge

Sydney, Wolfie, Jason & Howler

Since I suspect that I may have some people checking for pictures, I thought I should get these up. We spent Sunday/Monday at Great Wolf Lodge with the kids & although for the first hour I thought it was going to be a horrendous two days it turned out to be fantastic. The kids were not ready to leave, but Brad & I were exhausted.

The last month or so the kids started taking swimming lessons at the Y & the results are good. (so thankful that I switched from the city rec program). Jason is again warming to the water & enjoying himself, but he still hates splashing & getting his head wet. So when you walk into a water park where there is splashing everywhere & people spraying water at you as you walk around...what do you think Jason does??? Brad of course was off with Sydney having fun on the slides that she could go on while I was stuck with the boy who didn't even want to go near anything. I knew that if I could just find Brad & Sydney & that if she played with him he would get over the fear hump & start having fun. Once that happened it was all good!

We took advantage of most everything: meal plan, activities for kids (except the 8pm story time- figured we would have meltdowns the next day if we tried that, good call), kids got stuffed wolves...it was great! So thank you to my friends at TU for the gift card...I finally used it & I know that we will go back again.

I think one of their favourite parts was having a t.v. in their room.
Enjoy it on vacation, because it won't happen at home!

See, once he got over his fear he had a blast (& I did too!)
I don't have a good pic of Sydney on the water slide because she was going too fast!

Another of the kids favourite.
I think Brad wishes he had the video on when I was crossing the lily pads.

Sydney & I coloured a pillow case for her and

Jason & Brad (mainly Brad) coloured a bag for Jason.

Life size Connect 4 in Kid Club

The firetruck in the arcade moved without you putting tokens in!
Worked great when we only had one token left.

Egg hunt, egg hunt, egg hunt...

Easter for us was filled with many, many egg hunts which equals A LOT of candy. Since there are many sweet teeth in this house, it is amazing how quickly it disappears. We had Brad's family for brunch on Good Friday & the kids all participated this year in the egg hunt. It was pretty cute. Later that day we took the kids to see The Backyardigans & although I think they really liked it, the show was pretty lame. There was no "story", they just did some songs. I guess that is why the tickets were so cheap.

Sunday morning we of course had to find all the treats that the Easter Bunny hid around the house. Sydney was up before Jason & could hardly contain her excitement. She decided this year that she was going to dress up as a bunny, but when she made ears at school- they were all she wanted. We give the kids 'stuff' at Easter & it usually consists of different things that they may "need" at that time. One of the things I thought they needed were some more dress up clothes to match what they typically play- so Princess Sydney got a cape & Jason got a T-rex costume (which is really supposed to be a dragon costume- but you can't tell him that).

Sunday afternoon we headed to Uncle Ron & Aunt Lois's for more time with family & of course ANOTHER egg hunt. Thankfully our time there was as "sweet" as all the loot we brought back home.

Jason & Grace were putting in time waiting for the egg hunt to begin. These two are hilarious together (most of the time, the other time they can be trouble ;))




Remember Hayleigh's long hair from Family Day?
Some lucky person will be getting it now.
I love this cut on her, very chic.