Who Needs Sun???

Lovey woke up ridiculously early today, before 7am I'm pretty sure. She's pretty good about being quiet usually and just looks at books until someone else gets up. Murray was up super early this morning & went for a long run (and he was pleased with his time today, 4:36 avg pace/km and a total of 39km in 3hrs 55 seconds) So he was long gone when she first got up. Then Honey joined her and they played for awhile as I tried to force myself to get up (admittedly without great effort) but it deteriorated when they decided to set the table for breakfast. Honey was causing Lovey great distress by blocking her access to the cupboard. Lovey had accidentally knocked down a bag of toothpicks and desperately needed to get them back in their place on the shelf so Honey parked herself on the chair and wouldn't let her up to reach. So even when they're trying to be good and helpful, they're still rotten!!! Lovey was beside herself as her OCD sent her into a tearful panic and she came running into my room to let me know that the toothpicks, despite her best intentions and efforts, were NOT in their proper place! I told her it didn't matter as they didn't appear to be properly rotated and shuffled anyway. (hahahaha!!!) Actually I told her to leave them on the counter for me to put away later.

When I got out to the kitchen, Sweetie had also joined them and they'd all gotten bowls, cups and spoons, poured their milk & cereal and were all set for breakfast. So what did they need me to get up for anyway? "Mummy Mummy!!!! come come! Hurry!!!!! ....... See? we don't need you!" well thanks for that newsflash!


I went to my class at the gym and they did their morning jobs and then watched TV while Murray relaxed in the recliner. After lunch we jumped in the car and went for a swim at the indoor pool! They've been wanting to go for awhile but since we have a much better pool in our yard, we've been putting them off this summer. The whole way there they chattered nonstop at their excited high pitch level. They were wound for sound!

We swam and played for over an hour and a half when we finally pulled them out so we could go get some supper. The whole way to the restaurant they were still hyped up but managed to settle down once we got inside, thank goodness!

We went to a Mexican place and they were sooooooooo good to the kids! They each got their own menu and once we'd ordered, a guy came over and asked if they'd like a surprise and then came back with a helium balloon and a toy for each of them. This was much nicer than the surprise we got when I took the girls to the ladies bathroom and noticed the owner was using the wheelchair accessible bathroom with the DOOR OPEN!!!!!!!! Ay chihuahua!!

We had a great dinner and shared some dessert and they thought the whole thing was just awesome. Honey really wants to try chopsticks though so she asked if we could go to a Chiny (rhymes with shiny) restaurant next time. Lovey said she didn't want to go there, she likes Mexican food better! and what exotic authentic Mexican cuisine did she try? Some muy bueno chicken fingers and fries!

When we got home we were feeling pretty full so we took Murphy for a walk even though it was raining and the girls got to use their rain suits again. Not a puddle was missed on this outing! :)

Needless to say, they weren't long settling down to sleep tonight!

Cuz Staying Home's for Punks! ;)))

We were back from vacation a whole two days before we decided to do another road trip! A friend from my dorm in university lives several hours away now but is usually around for a few weeks each summer. Teena & I took the kids up to visit a couple of times 2 years ago and last year Leanne wasn't home at all so when she let us know she'd be back this summer, we planned a road trip.

Teena offered to take one of my girls in her truck so Boo would have someone to talk to and play with on the drive. Her backseat gets a little lonely (a concept we simply cannot grasp!) so this was pretty fun for her and I think it gave Teena a break from being entertainment director on the trip. She said everything went well but that there was an awful lot of discussion about poop! Lovey got a seat on the way there and Sweetie took a turn on the way back (Honey had had a turn on a previous excursion)

I got to travel with my "twins" and they also talked nonstop but their conversation was mostly "are we going to be there soon?". We finally arrived and the kids were keen to jump in the water so they got their suits on and splashed around a bit while we unpacked our lunch.

Leanne's son was away with other family members but her daughter was there and was just so cute I had a hard time not following her around with my camera all the time!! She's like a little doll!

The kids were in and out of the lake several times and we all had a great visit at their camp. The view is gorgeous and we once again had great weather!

An Apple A Day....

I'm not sure "sour green apple martinis" are what they had in mind for that saying but you can never be too careful!

I discovered the secret to solving vacation stress! Martinis! LOL I gave Rick this kit for Christmas last year and he saved it for the cottage. I helped him mix it up and since Teena was there, I thought we'd celebrate a bit. Besides he had the right glassware and the kit came with some yummy rim trim that looked too good to pass up. The drink was waaaaaaaaay too strong for my liking but the sour green apple taste helped to mask it a bit and I didn't gag! We stuck them in the freezer so they were pretty slushy and the iciness made them better too. I managed to get 2 of them down before my stomach got uncomfortably warm so that's my hardcore binge drinking for this decade I guess!

Teena & Boo at the Beach

I'm not tired of reliving my fabulous vacation yet so you'll have to bear with me!

Teena & Boo came for a couple nights and enjoyed our beach with us!

Teena & I even managed a quick (by our standards) shopping trip in the city while Murray watched all 4 girls. I believe he got some assistance from his mum for the tail end though. By the time we got b ack he was ready to get out of the house though!

Vacation Replay!

More beach pictures! We had such a great vacation at the cottage and we couldn't have picked a better time to be there. It was disgustingly hot at home almost the entire time we were gone. The weather there was also very hot almost every day but being able to jump in the ocean at a moment's notice makes it easier to handle!

The kids had so much fun on the beach, even more so than last year. We went down almost every day after lunch and stayed there til supper. They had a good 2-3 hours each time and we had to drag them back up to eat most days. They'd have stayed down there forever. Strangely enough, we had to put quite a bit of effort into reminding them of this when it came time to get them ready to go back down the next day!

The preparation was almost ridiculous. Scratch that. It IS ridiculous. Asking them to put their bathing suits on was a task they'd spend an hour on and still be half dressed when we went to check. Unless I was standing over them with the whip, they'd dilly dally the whole day away. It was getting pretty frustrating! Once they finally deigned to put their suits on, we could start the sunscreen process. Then they'd pick out what toys they wanted to bring, then a bathroom trip, get our stuff and go. Hopefully 6 year olds will have a little more focus!

It was quite a treat for Murray and I because we got assigned the downstairs bedroom while the kids' room is next to Nanny & Grampy's. We had uninterrupted sleep EVERY night! Try as we might, we just couldn't hear a darn thing up there! Not the talking in the sleep, the falling out of bed and not even the nasal, whiny "can somebody take me to the bathroom please????"

Not only did we have awesome weather and sleep well, we ate like champs too! Even though I wasn't hitting the gym or doing much in the way of cardio, I threw caution to the winds and ate like it was going out of style. Nothing within reach was safe, chips, popcorn, candy, dessert, pop.... I was powerless to resist it all. On our last day I made fruit pizza first thing in the morning so that I'd be able to eat it TWICE before I left. Nothing like some well planned gluttony! Apparently I'm none the worse for wear though. One of the instructors at the gym has been away all summer & I saw her today and she said I've lost weight. My jaw dropped in shock because I was pretty sure this couldn't possibly be happening! So diet and exercise are a thing of the past! I'm on a new "eat my way to a size 10!" plan!!!

We also got a nice restaurant meal at the traditional spot with the family. Rick & Nancy have been going to this same place every year for ages so it's a big deal when we get to go and we hate to miss it. The girls were well behaved and we enjoyed the outing immensely!

That day on the beach, Sweetie found a clam shell that had a round little hole in it and she insisted on getting some string and making a necklace out of it for me. Since we were going out to dinner, she allowed me to wear it. Then the girls discussed other suitable occasions that would call for some fine jewelry and I'm now allowed to wear my clam shell on a string for Mother's Day, my birthday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and to any parties I may be invited to. It's the all occasion accessory! We should set up shop on Ebay as I'll be setting a trend here in no time :)

We also celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary so the girls decorated a cake for us with all their favourite colours. There was also a blueberry pie which was great for me because it slowed down the cake consumption as I plowed through steadily and the others were distracted by the blue gooey pastry number :P

FIL Fun & Games

One night at the cottage, I decided to unload the dishwasher so my FIL wouldn't have to do it in the morning when he got up. My sister in law made the mistake of sharing some info on her dad that I just couldn't resist. He likes to re arrange the glassware so that it all gets used. So, if the glasses on the upper shelf don't get used in a day, he brings them down to So, unused glassware gets moved down to the bottom shelf where everyone grabs from first and then the used & newly cleaned glasses get put towards the back and on the upper shelf.

Now, while this is a good plan to ensure no glasses get neglected, she told me this late at night after I'd been in the sun all day and well it just struck me funny. I started to giggle and well, things went downhill from there. Here's what greeted my FIL when he opened the cupboard the next morning ;P

I'm sure he's missing me greatly this week as there's absolutely no one there now who can torment him into a tizzy like I can. What can I say? It's a gift! :)