First fish of the year

Today was a busy day. We woke up cleaned the house, had lunch and decide to finally take the boat out. The weather was finally nice enough, so we headed off to Mississippi lake. ( It's a 5 min drive). We got the boat in, and in the first 5 minutes of Riley putting his lure in , he caught a fish. he is the luckiest fisherboy I've ever seen. We threw the fish back in and Riley caught another and Kiera caught one, (with the help of mommy). Once Kiera caught her fish, she was pretty much done. She was only interested in eating. The minute we step on the boat and take off, the first thing she wants to do is eat. Thank goodness I come prepared. I was able to catch a few fish, bigger than usual. Maybe it was with the help of using Kieras princess rod. No matter, I caught a fish bigger than a minow. Then Kiera wanted to try fishing again but with a different lure. She threw it in, and caught a small perch. Lucky girl. Ron wanted to try his hand at Bass fishing. So he threw his lure to try. And sure enough, not oly did he catch one he caught 2. So all in all it was a good day for fishing. Around 3pm we headed in, went for ice cream, went for a swim and had supper. A very productive day. Now if we could only get the patio finished!

Sandbanks

Last weekend was our first camping trip of the year. We were asked by our friends Chris and Beth if we wanted to join them to camp at the Sandbanks. How could we resist. The night before we left said the weekend was calling for rain so Ron, I and the kids headed out to buy a bigger tent. There was no way I was going to stay all weekend in our small dome tent. Anyway, we left friday afternoon when it was nice and sunny. We drove the almost 3 hours to the Sandbanks. It's very much like Grand Beach. Sand, Sand dunes and all. We arrived around 4pm. The kids dug in the sandy dirt on our site while Ron and I set up the tents. Chris and Beth arrived later and once they finished setting up we all headed down to the beach. The kids were so cute walking there. They played follow the leader the whole way. As soon as we hit the sand the kids ran to the water, but it was a tad cold. They played in the sand and started to make a moat out of someone elses sandcastle. After being there for awhile the kids wanted to swim. We didn't bring there bathing suits thinking we weren't going to stay so the kids stripped down(except Kiera) and ran into the water. Our little skinny dippers. Once the y finished swimming we headed back to camp, got changed and had a nice campfire. The kids got to stay up late and eat lots of treats. We put them to bed sometime after 10pm. The next day we woke up to rain. Rain all day. After breakfast we headed over to the beach where the sand dunes are.(about 10min drive) We walked the dunes for a bit then headed back as Kiera complained she was hungry and too tired to walk. We walked back to the car and met up with chris, beth and the Kids. Then drove back to the camp sites for lunch and a nap. Later the kids played, we enjoyed a nice meal, and a camp fire, the headed off to put the kids to bed. The next morning was better. No rain yet. but not alot of sunshine. So after breakfast we went to the big beach where the kids and the dads made a huge moat, went in the water. And of course just before were going to leave Zach and Riley wanted to be buried in the sand. So once they did that we headed back to camp to pack up and head home. A good weekend in all even with the rain

Our baby turns 5!

It's hard to believe my baby has turned 5. The time has gone too fast and now we have this beautiful little girl. Well actually a 5 year old going on 15. ( It's all in the attitude.) Kiera was lucky this year as she celebrated her birthday 3 times. The first was at school. Since she it was a school day on her birthday I made cupcakes for the class.


They sang happy birthday and evern went outside for games and a picnic. While Kiera was at school Ron, Grandpa and I set up Kieras birthday gift - a trampoline. We picked her up from school, riley hide her eyes and we got her out of the car to surprise her. She was happy but not really surprised.




The kids jumped around for a while then came in for Kiera to open presents. For her birthday supper Kiera decide to have pizza. So after eating crystal, lee and katie came over for cupcakes and more presents.




Then on Saturday we had Kieras birthday party. For her birthday Kiera wanted a lot of friends from school so we agreed to 8 friends. We also decided to have a butterfly/fairy party. Kiera was thrilled. I had her party outside since the weather was finally cooperating. We set the patio tables/umbrellas up and hung butterflys and balloons from them. Then I decorated the deck with streamers. I decided not have a party where luch was served so instead we had it at 1:30 and served snacks, cake and ice cream. I find the kids never eat their food anyway. As the girls arrived I painted butterflies on their faces.

Next the girls (and Riley) were given flower pots to paint and later to plant pansies. When they were done Ron watched the kids on the trampoline. Then it was time to do our scavenger hunt. Ron and I hide foam flowers with the girls names on them so it was their job to collect 4 flowers each. But before they could begin, I gave each girl a set of butterfly wings, and a butterfly net to collect their flowers. Once they finished we headed back up to have cake, and ice cream. I made Kiera a butterfly cake just the way she wanted it.

After cake we went down on the grass to open presents, and then back to the playstructure to do the pinata.

The pinata was a hit. Actually they didn't need to hit it as it was a pull string. And luckily everyone had a chance to pull a string and it was the last one pulled that opened it. Before we knew it the parents were here to pick up their kids. The time flew bye, and everyone had a great time.

Where has the Time Gone?

Like everyone, it's hard to believe it's almost June. I think where has the time gone? It has been TEN years since I moved to Ottawa. Hard to believe. In that time I have lived in 3 different homes, had 2 jobs, had 2 kids, got married, have 3 nieces, 1 nephew and one on the way and did a lot of travelling to Winnipeg. As I think back, it was hard being away from family but over the years it has gotten easier, especially having a family of our own. As our nephew Daylons birthday approaches it reminds me of how many years I have been gone and how old he is getting. Even though we can't be there we hope he has a wonderful birthday.

Mel in 1999 before I moved

Daylon is born

Daylon Almost 10

Since it is spring it is so hard to determine the weather. One day it's hot and sunny, and the next cold and rainy. Not easy for planning activities, And it always seems to rain on the weekends (like today) That being said Ron has finished his canoe paddles and is trying to figure away to work on his canoe. Kind of hard since there is no space (He needs at least 18 feet to build it. ) I've been training for a triathlon on June 14th. So far running and biking aren't too bad but I need to get in the pool. I'm excited and nervous. But my main goal this year is to complete the race. The kids have been enjoying playing baseball in the yard. But when asked if they wanted to be signed up and on a team they both said no. So Ron and I don't feel to bad as our nights won't be jammed packed throughout the summer. On our nice days or evenings after supper, we have been trying to go for walks or bike rides. We are lucky if we make it to the end of the road without some problem occurring. And since Ron and I have been running, Kiera is constantly asking to go for jogs. It's pretty cute. This past week the kids actually went in the pool. We had a nice sunny day and the pool got to 78F. So with some more sunshine and less frost at night we should have some nice pool temperatures for summer.


Our March/April Update
Since we have no family here, we usually celebrate holidays with The Warywoda's. This year the kids came over to dye Easter eggs and then came over for our Easter dinner. It was a nice quiet evening. We were also invited over to the Quartermains' for an Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had so much fun searching for eggs outside despite the cold weather.
Riley was excited this month as he received the french award in school. He was so proud.

Also this month Grandma came to visit us. The kids were so excited. We had some descent weather so the kids could show grandma how they ride their new bikes. And to teach Grandma how to ride the ATV. A few days before Grandma left, Kiera and I took her to see if the tulips were out since the tulip festival was going to start that weekend, but unfortunately we only found one bed of tulips that were ready. After Grandmas left the kids found out Grandpa will be visiting for a week. They are excited. This is the start of our many visitors this summer. Between our company , trying to get out camping, and working a bit around the pool we will have a busy summer.

Backyard Visitors
Speaking of visitors, we have had a new one this week. A fox! I was about to take the kids to school when I saw something near the pool. At first I thought it was a cat but when I got a second look I realised it was a fox. So I yelled to the kids and Ron to see the fox that was drinking from our pool. It stayed long enough for Ron to get some pictures.
I know we live out in the country but really. Among our visitors we've had wild turkeys running through the yard, a family of deer (even the baby), garter snakes and a snake that was not a garter! (they are definitely not welcome), skunks, raccoons that like to help themselves to our compost bin and frogs. The kids love seeing all these animals. we haven't seen the raccoon yet but we know they have bee here. And by far their favorites are the frogs which they catch and play with like they were pets.

Well I think that's it for now. I'll try to update more as this seems to be the time more things are happening and when we take more pictures.

two and four wheel fun

Kiera did it. She decided this weekend that it was time to ditch the training wheels. She was obsessed with it, we basically spent all Sunday riding bikes and she finally got the hang of it. For her efforts she got to pick out a new bike.

Riley discovered how easy it is to do donuts on snow/ice last weekend.

Mother Natures cruel joke

Well yesterday in Ottawa the weather was beautiful. Our first real spring day. Most of the snow had melted a couple weeks ago, leaving huge puddles that then froze again. But yesterday the kids could wear spring jackets and rubber boots. Ron took out the bikes and the ATV and off they went. They spent most of the day outside, biking and playing. I even had a chance to get a picture of kiera dressed for the occasion.




And after such a beautiful day, we woke up today to see mother nature dumped some freezing rain and snow on us. Oh man. It seems like it will never end. But before I speak too soon, at least we didn't get 56cm of snow like last year at this time. Let's cross our fingers!