Friday, August 8, 2008
Frog Follies
On Sunday we met up with my brother Daniel and his kids (Kieran and Danika) at the Frog Follies in St-Pierre-Jolys. The kids enjoyed some Henna tattoos, face painting and whole bunch of other fun stuff. It was really a great day. Emma loves hanging out with her cousins, Xavier just loves to be outside!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Brandon
MONDAY
We rented a minivan for the week to go to Brandon, this would ensure having enough room to house everything we needed without being too cramped. When we arrived at the rental place, the van was not yet ready. Apparently the people who had previously rented it had gone all the way to Toronto and the Niagara region, so the van was in desperate need of an oil change. We waited for an extra 30 mins for the van.
On the way home Xavier fell asleep, so I simple removed him out of the car with carseat and all, since I would eventually have to put it in the van anyway.
Finally, we were on our way, a little later than originally planned, instead of stopping in Portage-la-Prairie for lunch, we just stopped at Humpty's on the Perimeter before jumping unto the Trans-Canada. To keep Emma occupied during the 3-hour ride, we borrowed Memere's portable DVD player so she could watch her cartoons. Emma chose to watch The Simpsons! That's my girl.
To add a little drama to our lives, just as we pulled into the parking lot of our hotel .(Brandon Canad Inns), our cell phone rang. It was our alarm company, our alarm had gone off, apparently it was the sensors. They quickly contacted my sister (who has our spare key) and she promptly and bravely (along with my mom) raced over to our house to see what was up. Everything, thank God, was as it should be. The door to the attic was left open, and since we occasionally hear a squirrel rummaging around, we assume that a little critter made its way down and caused the sensors to go off. Crazy!
Finally and peacefully, we were able to check into our "Under the Sea" themed room.
TUESDAY
Having a pool in our hotel, we definitely took adavantage of it. They had an awesome waterslide! It was two storey's high. Richard took Emma with him on his first go. Emma got a little scared and didn't want to return. We got this little baby float for Xavier, which he really enjoyed. Emma spent most of her time either jumping off the side of the pool or swimming in mine or Richard's arms.
WEDNESDAY
We decided to get out to nature. We drove about 1 hour south of Brandon to William Lake. Both kids had a great time in the lake, however Xavier seemed to enjoy it more than Emma.
After a good swim, Xavier was ready for some breastmilk and a nap, whereas Emma was ready to go play in the little playpark next to the beach. She enjoyed very much swinging on the swings, however, the slide proved to be dangerous. Richard tried to stop her, but she was too quick and slid down the slide which had a small jagged edge. She ended up having a pretty nasty scratch all the way down her back. She did not complain about it, but did not go back on the slide. This makes me ask why such a slide is allowed to stay put in a Provincial Park right next to a public beach where children play?
We headed back to the hotel in the evening where we enjoyed room service for supper and a nice movie called "Juno". I highly recommend it, very enjoyable.
THURSDAY
First thing in the morning I headed down to the pool with the kids. While we were enjoying the water, Emma had a bowel movement without telling me (oh the joys of toilet training) must credit the little swimmers she was wearing for not revealing her secret right away. However, a little swimmer can only do so much, as Emma jumped into the pool her secret was let out, so to say. Immediately we got out of the pool and called the front desk. They promptly closed the pool and had to perform a chemical clean for about 6 hours. We took the opportunity to go pick up some items from the local Wal-Mart, including more little swimmers. When we arrived at the Wal-Mart, we noticed one of those big busses that go from town to town marked as Brandon Bus Lines parked in front of the store. We thought that was odd, but didn't really pay too much attention to it. As we were leaving the Wal-Mart, just outside of the parking lot we noticed a news reporter from the city talking with a gentleman. We thought it was very bizarre to see a news reporter standing in the middle of a lane (with access to a different store) doing an interview, especially one from the city. Later on everything became clear to us, as we discovered that the prior evening an absolutely horrific scene had unfolded in a Greyhound bus. The other passengers (i.e. witnesses) were brought to the Wal-Mart to purchase clothes, toilletries and other items as their belongings had become part of a crime scene (Greyhound apparently picked up the tab). The reporter was standing outside the parking lot because Wal-Mart had prohibitted any reporters from accessing their property while the witnesses were inside. Crazy.
After lunch, since the pool was still closed, we found a schoolyard where Emma could frolic and play on. Finally we went back to the hotel and spent at least two hours in the pool, including Emma's favourite place to be, the whirlpool!
FRIDAY
Our final day, we got up early, had some breakfast and went down to enjoy the pool one final time before we needed to check out. Richard tried to convince Emma to try the slide again, but it was a no go. We had fun anyway. On the ride home Emma watched her favourite "Max and Ruby" DVD. We stopped in Portage-la-Prairie to have lunch and then made our way back to Winnipeg. We did some groceries and vowed not to have anymore take out for at least a month! LOL!
All in all we had a good time, however we found that staying in a hotel and needing to go out to restaurants is just too expensive. We're going to stick to renting cottages and bringing our own food/linen
We rented a minivan for the week to go to Brandon, this would ensure having enough room to house everything we needed without being too cramped. When we arrived at the rental place, the van was not yet ready. Apparently the people who had previously rented it had gone all the way to Toronto and the Niagara region, so the van was in desperate need of an oil change. We waited for an extra 30 mins for the van.
On the way home Xavier fell asleep, so I simple removed him out of the car with carseat and all, since I would eventually have to put it in the van anyway.
Finally, we were on our way, a little later than originally planned, instead of stopping in Portage-la-Prairie for lunch, we just stopped at Humpty's on the Perimeter before jumping unto the Trans-Canada. To keep Emma occupied during the 3-hour ride, we borrowed Memere's portable DVD player so she could watch her cartoons. Emma chose to watch The Simpsons! That's my girl.
To add a little drama to our lives, just as we pulled into the parking lot of our hotel .(Brandon Canad Inns), our cell phone rang. It was our alarm company, our alarm had gone off, apparently it was the sensors. They quickly contacted my sister (who has our spare key) and she promptly and bravely (along with my mom) raced over to our house to see what was up. Everything, thank God, was as it should be. The door to the attic was left open, and since we occasionally hear a squirrel rummaging around, we assume that a little critter made its way down and caused the sensors to go off. Crazy!
Finally and peacefully, we were able to check into our "Under the Sea" themed room.
TUESDAY
Having a pool in our hotel, we definitely took adavantage of it. They had an awesome waterslide! It was two storey's high. Richard took Emma with him on his first go. Emma got a little scared and didn't want to return. We got this little baby float for Xavier, which he really enjoyed. Emma spent most of her time either jumping off the side of the pool or swimming in mine or Richard's arms.
WEDNESDAY
We decided to get out to nature. We drove about 1 hour south of Brandon to William Lake. Both kids had a great time in the lake, however Xavier seemed to enjoy it more than Emma.
After a good swim, Xavier was ready for some breastmilk and a nap, whereas Emma was ready to go play in the little playpark next to the beach. She enjoyed very much swinging on the swings, however, the slide proved to be dangerous. Richard tried to stop her, but she was too quick and slid down the slide which had a small jagged edge. She ended up having a pretty nasty scratch all the way down her back. She did not complain about it, but did not go back on the slide. This makes me ask why such a slide is allowed to stay put in a Provincial Park right next to a public beach where children play?
We headed back to the hotel in the evening where we enjoyed room service for supper and a nice movie called "Juno". I highly recommend it, very enjoyable.
THURSDAY
First thing in the morning I headed down to the pool with the kids. While we were enjoying the water, Emma had a bowel movement without telling me (oh the joys of toilet training) must credit the little swimmers she was wearing for not revealing her secret right away. However, a little swimmer can only do so much, as Emma jumped into the pool her secret was let out, so to say. Immediately we got out of the pool and called the front desk. They promptly closed the pool and had to perform a chemical clean for about 6 hours. We took the opportunity to go pick up some items from the local Wal-Mart, including more little swimmers. When we arrived at the Wal-Mart, we noticed one of those big busses that go from town to town marked as Brandon Bus Lines parked in front of the store. We thought that was odd, but didn't really pay too much attention to it. As we were leaving the Wal-Mart, just outside of the parking lot we noticed a news reporter from the city talking with a gentleman. We thought it was very bizarre to see a news reporter standing in the middle of a lane (with access to a different store) doing an interview, especially one from the city. Later on everything became clear to us, as we discovered that the prior evening an absolutely horrific scene had unfolded in a Greyhound bus. The other passengers (i.e. witnesses) were brought to the Wal-Mart to purchase clothes, toilletries and other items as their belongings had become part of a crime scene (Greyhound apparently picked up the tab). The reporter was standing outside the parking lot because Wal-Mart had prohibitted any reporters from accessing their property while the witnesses were inside. Crazy.
After lunch, since the pool was still closed, we found a schoolyard where Emma could frolic and play on. Finally we went back to the hotel and spent at least two hours in the pool, including Emma's favourite place to be, the whirlpool!
FRIDAY
Our final day, we got up early, had some breakfast and went down to enjoy the pool one final time before we needed to check out. Richard tried to convince Emma to try the slide again, but it was a no go. We had fun anyway. On the ride home Emma watched her favourite "Max and Ruby" DVD. We stopped in Portage-la-Prairie to have lunch and then made our way back to Winnipeg. We did some groceries and vowed not to have anymore take out for at least a month! LOL!
All in all we had a good time, however we found that staying in a hotel and needing to go out to restaurants is just too expensive. We're going to stick to renting cottages and bringing our own food/linen
Sunday, August 3, 2008
This, that and a little bit of everything else
It's been a while, I know.
First and foremost, let's go back in time a little bit. Friday, July 25 marked my dad and stepmother's 10 year wedding anniversary, which I mentioned in a previous blog. To mark the occasion, we all got together for a supper at Le Routier in St-Pierre-Jolys (where my dad and stepmother live). My supper was really good, but apparently the others didn't have such a good meal. Pretty much everybody else had ordered the rib special, and none of them really enjoyed it. That's what happens when you order meat! LOL!
After supper, we all headed down to my dad's place for ice cream topped with freshly picked raspberries from the garden. Yummy!
Saturday, July 26, was a day I had been looking forward to. My cousin Christine's wedding! It was a beautiful wedding, just perfect, well except for the fact that it was like 30 minutes from the city. The ceremony was outdoors, short and sweet. Christine looked absolutely gorgeous. When you are growing up and are older (not by too much however) whenever you see your younger cousin, you always see that young child in them, then it happens, one day without even expecting a beautiful woman emerges in front of that child and that's all you can see, the child fades away. That's what happened at Christine's wedding, all of a sudden the person I grew up with was completely gone and this beautiful woman was standing in front of me. In case I am not clear in my analogy here, I have always seen Christine as an adult since she became one, but that sometimes akward little kid was always kind of there, now she's gone. Okay, I'm babbling now. All said, the wedding was great.
The one thing that surprised me the most was my aunty Giselle! I haven't seen her since she had moved away from Grand Forks ND (she now lives in San Antonio TX). She moved away probably 18 years ago or so. It was really nice to see her and my kids took to her like they've always known her. That was great fun.
That's aunty Sylvia (mother of the bride) on the left, aunty Giselle in the middle and uncle Gabe on the right.
Emma and Xavier had a blast. Emma danced the whole night away. As a matter of fact, I had to literally carry her off the dance floor to go home. I swear, if we had let her, she probably would have danced until dawn!
2nd generation cousins
Emma blowing bubbles
Emma dancing with Maddy (Christine's daughter)
Xavier trying to get in the action.
Oh yeah, I believe I had previously forgotten to mention this, but Xavier is now crawling! He's been crawling for about 3 weeks now and can really get around!
The wedding really was a lot of fun and very elegant. Although it's probably the first wedding I can ever leaving at 10 pm! Sacrifices we need to make for our little ones :-)
On Sunday, July 27 we enjoyed a lovely bbq dinner at Evelyn and Lauchie's. The great thing about going over to another veggie's place for dinner, you never have to worry about making sure they know you don't eat meat! We had a great evening, the time just slipped away. Evelyn and Lauchie were also generously gave us some of their old camping gear they don't use anymore, plus a few other things. Very nice people they are.
On Monday we left for Brandon, but I'll leave that for another post.
First and foremost, let's go back in time a little bit. Friday, July 25 marked my dad and stepmother's 10 year wedding anniversary, which I mentioned in a previous blog. To mark the occasion, we all got together for a supper at Le Routier in St-Pierre-Jolys (where my dad and stepmother live). My supper was really good, but apparently the others didn't have such a good meal. Pretty much everybody else had ordered the rib special, and none of them really enjoyed it. That's what happens when you order meat! LOL!
After supper, we all headed down to my dad's place for ice cream topped with freshly picked raspberries from the garden. Yummy!
Saturday, July 26, was a day I had been looking forward to. My cousin Christine's wedding! It was a beautiful wedding, just perfect, well except for the fact that it was like 30 minutes from the city. The ceremony was outdoors, short and sweet. Christine looked absolutely gorgeous. When you are growing up and are older (not by too much however) whenever you see your younger cousin, you always see that young child in them, then it happens, one day without even expecting a beautiful woman emerges in front of that child and that's all you can see, the child fades away. That's what happened at Christine's wedding, all of a sudden the person I grew up with was completely gone and this beautiful woman was standing in front of me. In case I am not clear in my analogy here, I have always seen Christine as an adult since she became one, but that sometimes akward little kid was always kind of there, now she's gone. Okay, I'm babbling now. All said, the wedding was great.
The one thing that surprised me the most was my aunty Giselle! I haven't seen her since she had moved away from Grand Forks ND (she now lives in San Antonio TX). She moved away probably 18 years ago or so. It was really nice to see her and my kids took to her like they've always known her. That was great fun.
That's aunty Sylvia (mother of the bride) on the left, aunty Giselle in the middle and uncle Gabe on the right.
Emma and Xavier had a blast. Emma danced the whole night away. As a matter of fact, I had to literally carry her off the dance floor to go home. I swear, if we had let her, she probably would have danced until dawn!
2nd generation cousins
Emma blowing bubbles
Emma dancing with Maddy (Christine's daughter)
Xavier trying to get in the action.
Oh yeah, I believe I had previously forgotten to mention this, but Xavier is now crawling! He's been crawling for about 3 weeks now and can really get around!
The wedding really was a lot of fun and very elegant. Although it's probably the first wedding I can ever leaving at 10 pm! Sacrifices we need to make for our little ones :-)
On Sunday, July 27 we enjoyed a lovely bbq dinner at Evelyn and Lauchie's. The great thing about going over to another veggie's place for dinner, you never have to worry about making sure they know you don't eat meat! We had a great evening, the time just slipped away. Evelyn and Lauchie were also generously gave us some of their old camping gear they don't use anymore, plus a few other things. Very nice people they are.
On Monday we left for Brandon, but I'll leave that for another post.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Happy 10 year anniversary Luc & Lucille!
A heartfelt congratulations goes out to my dad and stepmother on their 10 year wedding anniversary! Woot woot!!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
week full of visits and fun
We had quite the busy little week.
On monday we took Pascale out for lunch at Chez Cora, to celebrate her officially becoming Canadian. We had some yummy food, Emma of course had her favourite Nutella and banana crepes.
Afterward we went to the new Splash Park in Parc Provencher. It was a little cold, so although Emma had a lot of enthusiasm, she did not want to get wet :)
We'll have to try that again on a warmer day.
Tuesday we had Bebes, parents et gazouillements, which was okay. A little disorganised this time and we were in the same room as the older kids, so much more distrating and noisy! It was okay though. In the afternoon I had an eye doctor appointment. It had been 10 years since my last appointment, so naturally my prescription has changed leaps and bounds, I'm looking forward for my glasses to be ready, I also took advantage of a two for one deal and also purchased some sunglasses! Woohoo! I will soon be able to see again.
Wednesday was a rainy cranky day, even though Emma bugged me all day to go out somewhere, once we finally did, she wanted to come home right away. Ah, kids!
Thursday we had a lovely visit with Pepere and Memere (Girouard) who came over for a seafood bbq supper. I love seeing how Emma plays with her Pepere, it reminds me of myself when I was little. My Pepere (Grandpa) was one of my favourite people and we had a great relationship. Emma has so much fun with her Pepere, I hope they end up having a great relationship together as well. Xavier also had a great time as well.
Yesterday we had Morris and Till over for another seafood bbq supper. It was a great week filled with lots of friends and family.
On the down side my mom's cousin Maurice passed away on Tuesday after a lengthy battle with cancer. I'm going with my mom to the funeral on Tuesday.
Sebastien is in Winnipeg with Jasmina right now, unfortunately just 3 days after arriving, Sebastien had to be admitted into the intensive care unit at Children's hospital. Once Sebastien is able to fly again, Jasmina and him will return to Toronto as Jasmina has more confidence in the specialist team at Sick Kids. Poor little guy, I really hope they can finally find the source of his bleeding (which he's had since January).
Today we're getting ready to go for a ride in the country with Memere (Gendron).
On monday we took Pascale out for lunch at Chez Cora, to celebrate her officially becoming Canadian. We had some yummy food, Emma of course had her favourite Nutella and banana crepes.
Afterward we went to the new Splash Park in Parc Provencher. It was a little cold, so although Emma had a lot of enthusiasm, she did not want to get wet :)
We'll have to try that again on a warmer day.
Tuesday we had Bebes, parents et gazouillements, which was okay. A little disorganised this time and we were in the same room as the older kids, so much more distrating and noisy! It was okay though. In the afternoon I had an eye doctor appointment. It had been 10 years since my last appointment, so naturally my prescription has changed leaps and bounds, I'm looking forward for my glasses to be ready, I also took advantage of a two for one deal and also purchased some sunglasses! Woohoo! I will soon be able to see again.
Wednesday was a rainy cranky day, even though Emma bugged me all day to go out somewhere, once we finally did, she wanted to come home right away. Ah, kids!
Thursday we had a lovely visit with Pepere and Memere (Girouard) who came over for a seafood bbq supper. I love seeing how Emma plays with her Pepere, it reminds me of myself when I was little. My Pepere (Grandpa) was one of my favourite people and we had a great relationship. Emma has so much fun with her Pepere, I hope they end up having a great relationship together as well. Xavier also had a great time as well.
Yesterday we had Morris and Till over for another seafood bbq supper. It was a great week filled with lots of friends and family.
On the down side my mom's cousin Maurice passed away on Tuesday after a lengthy battle with cancer. I'm going with my mom to the funeral on Tuesday.
Sebastien is in Winnipeg with Jasmina right now, unfortunately just 3 days after arriving, Sebastien had to be admitted into the intensive care unit at Children's hospital. Once Sebastien is able to fly again, Jasmina and him will return to Toronto as Jasmina has more confidence in the specialist team at Sick Kids. Poor little guy, I really hope they can finally find the source of his bleeding (which he's had since January).
Today we're getting ready to go for a ride in the country with Memere (Gendron).
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
The paint is on the fence and Wall-E
Yesterday I spent ALL DAY and I really mean ALL DAY putting paint on our fence (in the front). It's a beautiful green colour (Rosemary Sprig from Benjamin Moore for the curious like Pierrette ;-)). Our plan is to put the same colour on the house. We need to caulk around the windows, prime and then we can put up the same paint. Unfortunately, the heavens opened up today, so we were unable to continue working on the outside of the house. So for now, we have a green fence with a baby blue house. D'oh! I can't wait to paint the house, it's going to look great! As a matter of fact almost everyone who walked by yesterday remarked how much they liked the colour.
My uncle Gabe also came by yesterday and exchanged our rhubard for some strawberry, raspberry and tomato plants. I hope they all take! We won't know if the strawberry and raspberry will bear fruit until at least next year, but here's hoping the tomato plants will produce.
Since it was a rainy day today, we decided to go see Pixar's latest effort "Wall-E". The little short beforehand was excellent, as always. The movie itself was really good and super cute. Emma was absolutely transfixed, I've never seen her so attentive on anything for that long ever! Xavier seemed to like it as well, he kept laughing and doing that little baby squeal. I had to put the soother in his mouth, just so I could hear!! LOL! I definitely recommend this film.
My uncle Gabe also came by yesterday and exchanged our rhubard for some strawberry, raspberry and tomato plants. I hope they all take! We won't know if the strawberry and raspberry will bear fruit until at least next year, but here's hoping the tomato plants will produce.
Since it was a rainy day today, we decided to go see Pixar's latest effort "Wall-E". The little short beforehand was excellent, as always. The movie itself was really good and super cute. Emma was absolutely transfixed, I've never seen her so attentive on anything for that long ever! Xavier seemed to like it as well, he kept laughing and doing that little baby squeal. I had to put the soother in his mouth, just so I could hear!! LOL! I definitely recommend this film.
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