It's a blur

I cannot believe the summer is gone. I have not blogged, heck I have barely edited the pictures that we took. However, there are some moments that I definitely want to be sure to capture. Here is some of what we've been up to...

Camping with the Bisbees
We went to Bronte Provincial Park to test out the tent we got for Christmas. We had fun, but it was an interesting weather weekend. We had blue skies, lots of wind, black clouds & hail. Neat to be able to "get away" close to home, but they really need to fix the fact that to do anything at Bronte you need to leave the camping section, travel the QEW to get to the day park where the activities are...don't really feel like you are "getting away" when you need to go on the highway.

waiting out the hail & rain
the hail was no joke...
what can I say???
snug as a bug

Soccer
As stated, Jason didn't really embrace soccer this year, but Sydney really seemed to enjoy it.


Bisbee North
We had a great weekend with the Bisbees & it brought a close to celebrating Jason's birthday for almost a week. We always appreciate their hospitality & like to see how much fun the kids have together. This year Sydney informed us that she was going to marry Matthew. However, Matthew says he's "not ready yet". :)

I joked that they were discussing which finger the ring will go on.

Visiting Cousins
We had a full house for a few days when Regan, Brooke & Bailey came for a visit. Sydney returned home with them for a day & was devastated to leave the fun that she has with her cousins.

Jason finally started putting his head under water, willingly.

Camping at The Pinery with Robb, Mich, & MGM
There are two words that describe this week. Hot & dirty. The first night was interesting with Maddie being the last one to go to sleep. Tent sleeping was a bit of a challenge with the twins. The other noteworthy happening was that Jason finally embraced peeing standing up. Apparently all it took was the opportunity to pee in the woods to finally move him to this stage in life. Gracie liked to accompany him on each of his journeys.

Jason loved chasing the seagulls

The are apparently supposed to be a 5-headed monster. The guy in the background clearly thinks they are nuts.

Sydney found a new jumping board

Camp Fisherman
Mom joined us for a few days at the cottage & was really nice to have her there. She got to see the results of Sydney's first day on two wheels, no more training wheels for her! This kids loved that she took them for ice cream & we loved that kids played so well together for the week. I was a little worried when they had spent the week before with the company of their cousins. By the end of the week Sydney was sad that when she goes to school all day she will miss playing with Jason all day...ah. Our week was a little cool, but we had plenty of time to enjoy Sandy Lake, the trampoline (the kids favourite), Peterborough Zoo & thanks to Mom Brad & I had a date night.

The biggest change for this vacation was Jason's love of the water. He was typically the last one out of the water & at the splash pad he played while Sydney sat out for most of it.

Sydney is a swinging, climbing machine

Hanging out with friends
When we finished our weeks of holidays we connected again with friends and found a new place to play in Hamilton. There really are some nice spots and they just are not "advertised" enough.

Four Years Old

Wow, here we are at your fourth birthday and in about 6 weeks you will be starting school. I cannot believe it. It may be because you are my "baby", but I do not think you would be ready to be going to school for the whole day. Lucky for you (& me :)) school is every day for 2.5 hours. I am sure that you would adjust, but I am thankful that the full day, every day kindergarten isn't available at your school until next year. We are wondering what type of boy you will be at school. Will you be the shy, timid boy at Benjamin Bunny Nursery School? Or will you be the clown & the kid who will always go for the laugh that we see at home? We don't mind you wanting to make other people laugh because laughter is a wonderful thing, but we do hope that you ensure you use this "specialty" properly.

But what can we say about you as you enter your fifth year of life? The biggest thing about you right now is... dinosaur CRAZY!!!! You talk about dinosaurs, read about dinosaurs, watch dinosaurs, and play with dinosaurs probably 80% of your waking moments. You love to play house with your sister, but even that game involves dinosaurs. Although you have plenty of really nice shirts to wear, this summer you have rotated between 4 dinosaur shirts & your dinosaur bathing suit. When we leave for vacation next week I am not packing dinosaur clothing so that we can see the other shirts that you have.

You are still always willing to share and you are a kind little boy. Your greatest loves seem to be me, your sister & your cousin Gracie. You definitely like to be with girls. However you have seemed to develop some "friendships" with a couple of boys- Aidan & Nicholas. You three are quite entertaining when you are together & you play so well. You & Aidan share a love of dinosaurs & with Nicholas you love to be silly.

We signed you up for soccer this year, but I don't think it was your cup of tea. You were great for the first half hour where you did drills with your dad or I, but when it came to playing the game your "head wasn't in it". I think part of that is your kind nature as you weren't willing to be kicking at the feet of someone else. I think the other part was that you just wanted to run around with a game of your own in your imagination- which probably involved chasing dinosaurs or being a dinosaur & chasing others. However, you were always willing to play & were a great team player.

You are a happy kid and fun to be around. The volume always seems to be high when you are in the mix, because you seem to only have 2 level...loud or very quiet. Your speech is getting better and we continue to go to a speech language pathologist. You work hard at it at the sessions and enjoy the attention when doing "homework", but if you don't want to do it you fall back to your "silly" side. This is the side that doesn't show up too much at school!

...and one more thing, you are a MESSY eater!!!!

Thank goodness of OXY methods of cleaning!

Sun, fun & friends....

Exactly what summer is about...

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