Road trip!...and a crash and a bash

It was a whirlwind trip through the interior.  RKA had site visits to complete so we accompanied him to four different hotels and countless restaurants over five days.  R&B are turning into quite the little travellers.  They got the hang of sleeping in hotel rooms and can locate the mac'n'cheese on any kids menu. 

We checked out all of the pools...







...and we communed with nature...


















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As you can see everything was going swimmingly...then RKA was rear-ended on Thursday and my mom-mobile had to be towed away.  It put a damper on the trip but we were just happy that he wasn't seriously injured (and that we weren't with him).  We returned home Friday in a rental car.

On Saturday night B was trying out goggles in the hot tub and he rapidly ducked his head under the water only he couldn't see well enough and misjudged how near he was to the edge of the hot tub.  He bashed his mouth on the side of the hot tub and came up bleeding.  A lot.  At first we thought that he had knocked his front teeth out but as RKA was on the phone with the emergency dentist I finally got a good look (while he was howling) and noticed that the top two left teeth were actually completely pushed back up into the gums.  His mouth was x-rayed and the pediatric dentist thinks that the teeth will descend over the next three or so months.  But they will be black.  Fortunately, the dentist thinks that the adult teeth should be relatively unharmed.  So we have a new smile to get used to around here and somehow it seems to suit B almost as much as his old one!  He hasn't complained once about his mouth and was very cooperative at the dentist - even when he was being poked in the wound!  He is such a brave kid! 
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More photos from our trip still to come ...

That Summer Vibe

Okay, so we may not have the sun but at least we have the vibe of summer.  Summer is a time when life slows down and moves over to make way for fun.  We've been super busy with fun lately.  There has been daily swimming lessons, RKA took an impromptu business trip to Montreal, my friend visiting, a baby shower, a double birthday party, and now we're packing for a road trip.  Our summer is well underway.  Last Sunday we spent a blissful day in a nearby tourist town...it revolved around all of our favourite food groups....candy, ice cream, and strawberries - mmm!

Kid in a candy store...


"Can I have a lick of yours, little buddy?"


"Of course you can, I adore you big sis" (that's why I pester your relentlessly)...


Strawberry - pickin'




Yes, that is a bit of jam freshly spread on her forehead...


They still fit into the wagon




B ate as he went - note the red fingers...


Yes, 'twas a day of delectable goodness peppered with some quaint old fashioned charm.

A visit to a little train museum right beside a live line...


One tiny nose pressed against glass, viewing one tiny train...


Dropping a quarter into a juke box to choose a vintage song...


Covering your ears in disappointment and protest when the ancient juke box plays the wrong song...


Miniature benches to fit miniature ladies...


Picket fences and glamour...


Antiquing (teaching the young the value of old)...


A real live auction in front of city hall...


It was a Sunday for the books!

Yes, our summer is a vibin' and we have many more memories just waiting to be made!  Off now in search of sunshine!

Canada, Camping, & Calamine

Camping is like a rite of passage for a Canadian kid.  You've gotta grow up knowing what it feels to have campfire smell saturate your skin and hair, be covered in dirt, bug spray and sunscreen, wear clothes covered in marshmallow innards.  More than just the physical transformaton camping causes, it ignites a primal instinct that we all share...The urge to gather branches to whittle into weiner-roaster or fire-pokers...The comaraderie and comfort of sitting huddled in a blanket and staring at a campfire - everyone hoping that someone else takes the initiative to get up and put another log on the fire.  Showers are missed, toothbrushes are forgotten and even helmet rules are ignored with a shrug of the shoulders and the adage, "Ah, we're camping!".  Camping invokes a sense of freedom and exploration that simply can not be paralleled in the comfort of your own home. 

We set off to celebrate our freedom and exploration as Canadians with a family camping trip to a lovely tourist town not even an hour east of home.  Picturesque is a word that comes to mind.

It seemed as though most of Canada had the same idea for the weekend but we finally found a campsite off the beaten path...

Bikes? check.  Marshmallows? check.  Burly-man with an axe? check.

Ghost stories? check.

Staying up way past bedtime? check.

Happy camper? check.

The second day we were joined by our good friends and their kids.  It is so much fun to camp with friends!  The only problem was we were also joined by mosquitos.  The climate was perfect for them to hatch and they were buzzing like crazy!  R is allergic to bites and she got covered in welts, and then I covered her in calamine!  Poor kid. 

No time to wallow, though!  There were lots of Canada Day festivities...pancake breakfast, live music, flag raising, parade, fireworks.  The town was full of Canadians proudly decked out in their red and whites.  We took the kids to the flag raising and they may not have understood it but it meant a lot to me to be able to celebrate our country with them. 

 

R&B were definitely jazzed by the pedal car we booted around  town in and they waved their flags proudly...



...and they were thrilled by the  fact that they got to stay up until 10pm for the fireworks on the beach....

It was a  Happy Canada Day!!!

We woke the next morning to clear skies and we had a date with a lake.  It was like the kids were starved for the beach.  They were slinging mud, rolling in it, catching minnows, and generally acting like beach babies.

 

More friends joined us on the beach and it was an entire day of splashing, digging, sculpting, snacking, and chatting.  A perfect start to our summer!