Happy New Year

A new Year. It's amazing how fast a year can go bye. It feels like yesterday that we were in Mexico or for that matter Florida. Now I guess I will have to plan another.
Now to tell you about our christmas. Grandma and Grandpa came down for christmas and New Years. The holidays were quiet with the 6 of us. On Christmas Eve Ron had to run downtown to pick up his christmas present (I don't really know what it was), and the rest of us headed to walmart then home for some family photos and then to our friends The Barr's for some celebrating.


On Christmas the kids woke us at 7:30 to show us what Santa left. They were so excited that Santa had left them a letter and ate the cookies.

The kids were so fun to watch. This was a perfect age for celebrating Christmas with them. Riley and Kiera opened their stocking while Grandma, Grandpa, Ron and I got up, got ready and had some coffee. Then we were ready for the presents to be opened. Of course they opened Santas present first and both were excited that they got what they asked for. Riley - Star Wars Darth Vader set and Kiera - 3 Muskateer barbies. Then it was on to the rest of the presents. Both kids were happy with what they received (which was alot). Riley spent most of his time playing with the stars wars lego and Kiera tried all her toys. I didn't do a great job this year reading instructions. I should have known that I would need a light bulb, but who has a 100watt light bulb that isn't a compact florescent?! So I had to venture over to the Warywoda's and steal a light bulb from Joey's room. Then we could try the oven. A lot of work for an oven that makes 3 cookies at a time. But the kids had fun.

Both Riley and Kiera received a Karaoke machine and loved it. Now they have something to listen to in their rooms. Grandma got a digital picture frame, Grandpa a PSP go and I got a guitar. Everyone was happy.


For dinner me and mom made Turkey, Stuffing , mashed potatoes and veggies. Very yummy.

Then on Boxing day we were stuck in the house, due to the snow and ice storm. The next morning everything was covered in ice. By afternoon it started to melt and the kids could go outside to play without slipping and killing themselves. Me and mom went after Christmas shopping but it was not very rewarding.
The rest of the day we hung around, played, scrapbooked etc..


New Year's Eve was very quiet. The kids were exhausted and went to bed at their regular time,mom and me scrapbooked for a while, while watching a movie and Grandpa, Ron and I stayed up to watch another movie.
Now it's New Years Day and were getting ready to have a Prime Rib dinner. My favorite. So we wish everyone a Happy New Year. Hope to see everyone soon.
Mel

A trip to paradise

On November 17th Ron and I left the kids and boarded a plane to Mexico. My mom and dad came down for 10 days to watch the kids as we headed on our first adults only vacation in 10 years. We left early Tuesday morning and arrived in Cancun around noon.

We maneuvered our way out of the airport, found our shuttle and headed to the hotel. It was about 30 mins away. When we arrived to check in we were greeted with cold cloths and champagne. Then we received our key and were taken to our room - ocean front.

We were on the 2nd floor

Once we got to our room we changed into our swim wear and headed down to the beach and to check out the resort. Our hotel was amazing. The beach was nice. It had loungers and nice huts to lay under when you needed some shade. And the big sandbags in the water ( they looked like big rocks to me) were great when we snorkeled , since the fish liked to be up against them. The waiter that walked the beach asking what you wanted to drink was always nice. No need to move at all. The pool area was also nice. Two of the bigger pools had Bali beds around, so you could lay around to get out of the sun or if you were tired. They were nice but I never really seemed to lay on them. I usually chose a lounger in the sun near the pool. Our favorite pool was the games pool which was a little hidden. It was not the main pool but it did have a bar. At the beginning of our week it was quiet but picked up near the end. Our big dilemma was to decide between laying on the beach or around the pool. We finally figured out go to the beach in the morning, the pool after lunch and then back to the beach to finish the day.

One of our days we spent touring. Ron and I don't like going on tour groups so we did it on our own. When we asked at the front desk about how long it takes to bus to Playa del carman, the desk staff looked at us like we were crazy. Anyway we did bus. It was a 10min walk from our resort to the highway. Then you stand on the side of the highway and when "the bus" has seats they flash their lights and if you need a ride you way them down. So we did this, took the bus to playa, caught another bus and headed to xel - ha. An Eco park where you can snorkel, swim, etc.. It was nice a nice place but we could not spend all day there so after lunch we caught the bus to Tulum. There we were let off on the highway and walked 10mins to the entrance. We stayed about an hour and left. It was beautiful to see the ruins and the water behind them but didn't stay because we didn't go for a history tour. Another one of the days we thought we would shop at Playa and then go the the cenotes. We made it to Playa but we were so hot and didn't feel like shopping so we went back to our resort. We would rather lounge around.

The food at our resort was amazing. We ate so much food I'm amazed we didn't gain 20lbs. We would go for breakfast at the restaurant that overlooked the pool. For lunch we would eat at the restaurant on the beach or at the pizzeria. Supper was at one of the six restaurants. Ron's favorite was the one on the beach. It had a tequila chicken pasta dish he liked and I like all of them as they all had some sort of shrimp dish or steak. We found that we would order off every part of the menu. Usually for supper we would have an appetizer, then a soup or salad, main course then maybe a dessert. It was nice that it was all inclusive so we could try things we would usually not order.

On our final day we packed , ate breakfast and sat around the pool til our shuttle picked us up. We were sad to go. We had an amazing time. I hope we can do it again.
Mel

Fall Happenings

Butterfly Show

Pumpkin Patch

It's been a busy month around here.First we had Ron's parents down for a visit. While they were here we went to the butterfly show, the town of Perth, the pumpkin patch and to the kids activities. Then we've been busy with Riley's hockey, Kiera's sparks, and Ron going to hockey. And I was busy preparing for the Halloween Fun Night at the kids school. Since the kids are not allowed to dress up at school, the school holds an event after school where the kids can come in costume. It is a big night with lots of games and activities. Luckily it wasn't cancelled due to the H1N1 like the other schools. The night was a huge success according to the kids, and parents. Everyone seemed to have fun. My friend Tracy and I were there from 9-9 the day of and I'm glad it's over for another year.
On Friday, Ron and I attended our friends costume party. It was a great night. I'm not much for dressing up but I did. Then on Saturday we all carved pumpkins and then Ron and the Kids went trick or treating. It was a windy night but that didn't stop them. But I can tell you we only had 25 kids between 6p-8p. I guess when you live in an area with lots of land and long driveways, you can't expect many kids.



Now for November. I'm hoping it doesn't snow, and if it does I hope it's when Ron and I are in Mexico. I'll update when we get back
mel

Another Summer has Gone

Another summer has gone and the kids are back in school. Summer went by so fast, I don't feel like we accomplished much. The weather didn't make it easy to do things either. Between cool weather or rain we fit in some swimming and fishing.
Near the end of June my brother in law and soon to be sister in law came for a visit. The kids were excited and we had lots planned. During the first few days we hung out then we had a nice day and headed to Mont Cascades water park. We were a bit disappointed but the lack of slides and the kids were not to happy to be there. Once they went on a couple slides they were better. Kiera loved going on the kiddie slides and Riley liked the carpet race slide.


As for having summer free of injury, we didn't disappoint. My soon to be sister in law Becki, ended up have a pancreatitis attack early Monday morning and had to be driven to the hospital. Once there they admitted her. She was in the hospital for just over 2 weeks. Most day we spent going with Sean to visit her. At first she was on meds for pain. Then they thought she had some sort of infection and put her on antibiotics. Her white blood count didn't get better and they sent to her to one of the city hospitals for a ct scan. They said they saw something on her pancrease and would be moved to another hospital in the city. When she arrived there they did another scan and saw nothing so she was sent back to Carleton Place hospital. Then the told her she was very sick but had no idea what was wrong. She was then put on a very high dose of antibiotic and needed to be at the hospital. Eventually the hospital gave Becki day passes where she could come to the house for about 5-6 hours then go back get some antibiotics then come back to the house for a few more hours etc... During this we went to the children's museum, a movie and celebrated Ron's birthday. While this was happening they were to have gone to Montreal and be back at home. Not a very exciting trip for them but we were glad they came.


A few days after they left my mom and dad came down. Everyone had been bumped for vacation time, so they arrived Monday. We spent a couple days with them then headed to Sandbanks with our friends to camp. Camping was great except for the day it rained. I hate camping and rain. they don't mix well. We had fun at the beach, around the camp fire, going through the dunes etc... Once we were home we visited with my parents. We went shopping, went to a few small towns, down to the states to shop, went to the balloon festival and even to the drive in. Then it was back to school for the kids. Kiera and Riley started on Sept 8th. Both were happy to go back and see their friends. Both kids love their teachers. On Thursday Sept 10th my parents left for home and we were a family of four again. Now a little break before we have more visitors. Although Sept is so busy with planning Riley's birthday party, running the schools meet and greet, Riley starting hockey and drama club, Kiera starting sparks and gymnastics, Ron's hockey and my cake decorating class and school council stuff. It will make for a busy year.