Running, Running....

Each day flies by! This morning we went to the gym (no stair time today), and then zipped downtown to pick up an order for a certain someone's upcoming birthday, then raced over to the library to pick out some new books to read. We weren't sure if Teena & Boo were going to join us for lunch or not but I wanted to get home in time, just in case. We got from place to place, the girls traipsing along without a complaint and they selected their books in a hurry and we were back home with time to spare!

It's not often that one of them will do as asked without a bunch of questions or resistance first. To get that much done without any hassle was pretty impressive! We had lunch with our guests and then the girls played Barbies for awhile, sharing and not a single fight! We headed out to the pool for the rest of the afternoon but Lovey & Honey got cold and tired so they got out before the other 2. They ran in to change and brought back some of their library books to read on our thousand dollar "hammock" !!!! or maybe I should just call it a multipurpose trampoline???

Fun in the Sun!

We had another nice day and made good use of the pool today! We even found 5 friends to come over and play!

In the morning I went to a class at the gym and then squeezed in 15 minutes on a lovely little thing I like to call "stairway to he!!" I see the really really fit kids using this beast all the time and decided maybe there was something to it. So after 3 years of studiously avoiding the darn thing, I hopped on a couple weeks ago. Knowing I'm not at those other girls' level, I thought I'd start out for 20 minutes at oh, I don't know, let's try level 3. It was tough! and although I was sure my heart was about to explode out of my chest at several points during that session, I made it to the end! Whew! After I got off, a couple of the aforementioned superfit girls asked how long I'd been on for and were surprised that I'd gone for 20 minutes. Then one of them thought to ask "What level did you start on?" I explained that I was just testing it out and wasn't sure I could do it so was only on level 3 that day. A quick look of understanding flashed in their eyes and they tried to change the subject. I wasn't having any of it! I hounded them to find out what level they start on. They tried to evade the question but that just made me more curious. Obviously it was WAY more than level 3 and they didn't want to make me feel bad. My persistence paid off. They do 15 minutes and START on level 10 and jack it up throughout the 15 minutes. Instead of being discouraged, this gave me a target! So for the last couple of weeks I've been increasing my level and every time I do, I'm positive I'm not going to make it. The machine is pretty high up and it's already warm and sticky in there at floor level. Take it up a few steps and the air gets even hotter. Do some high speed stair climbing and voila, I'm barely breathing!!! I totally have to cheat a bit by leaning on the arm rails but I figure that will get better over time right? Anyway, I'm excited to be now up to level 8 for 15 minutes! That's not too far from level 10..... theoretically anyway! How's that for exciting summer vacation plans???

Ok enough about the gym! We went into town to pick up a parcel, my newly repaired lens! How I missed that!!! Once we got home we were starved so I whipped up some french toast and we got ready for the pool. Honey ran next door to round up the troops over there and then her friend from school arrived with her older sister and a little later, Tulip joined us! They all had a blast, jumping and splashing around, making whirlpools and getting out to bounce on the trampoline and hang out in the playhouse. We had some freezies and watermelon to cool off and I finished reading a book while they played. It was a great afternoon!

Apparently it was too much activity for Honey though! She was so tired she had trouble finishing her supper! At 6pm, she asked to go bed and brushed her teeth and tucked herself in! I didn't really think she was going to go to sleep. When I peeked in, she was reading a book so I expected her to run back out at any moment. Fifteen minutes later there still wasn't any sign of her so I went back and she was out! She wasn't feeling well on Sunday after Lovey got sick and had a bit of a fever last night so I guess she's not fully recovered yet. Hopefully a good night's sleep will do the trick.

Gym & Swim

Who needs the Y programs???? We went to the gym yesterday and I got my workout done before the morning was out. After that we headed to the strawberry fields and filled 5 boxes in no time. The berries are awesome!!! We got home and grabbed some lunch and then hit the pool. It was a great day to be near water. The laundry on the line dried super fast. Tulip and her family came over and it was a party in the pool! We love having company and they played outdoors all afternoon.

Since there was leftover turkey dinner that needed our help, we went to their house for supper and made out like bandits. :))) Well, not Lovey of course but the rest of us had a good feed!

We left just in time to head to Tball and enjoyed watching the girls play and Sweetie kept Murray busy with the playground, play catch, racing around the field..... everything except actually playing ball like her sisters! Honey's friend from school was there to pick up her sister so we invited them over for a swim the next day.

Surprisingly, it took them awhile to settle down to sleep but not too long. I thought they'd crash out instantly but they had lots of questions etc. Seven minutes after tucking her in, Sweetie was at the top of the stairs lamenting the fact that she just couldn't fall asleep!!! Ummm, go back and try again, for MORE than 10 minutes would ya??? Apparently she thinks it should happen faster too!

The busy days and late bedtimes drive me a little bonkers by that time of day. I just want to sit and relax and have limited patience for any "I want to draw out this bedtime thing" situations!!!

Lovey signing the guestbook: I ate chips. Happy Canada Day.

my quilt!
Honey's evening beach wear, we should all look so elegant for a sunset stroll!!

Murray trying out his new kite!

Every year one of my aunts invites all 4 generations of my family to her & her husband's cottage for the long weekend. Most years we have too much other stuff going on to make it. This year we did it anyway. They had a pretty full house so we actually slept at Murray's parents' cottage since they're only 9 doors down (I think it's 9 but Rick will let me know for sure right?) It was a fun filled weekend as they always are at just about any cottage! We had Grammie/GG, Auntie Ruth, Uncle Howard, Matthew, Jessica & Madeline, David, Uncle Ralph, Aunt Caroline & Clara, Mum & Dad, Aunt Wendy, Aunt Cathy as well as myself, Murray, the three girls and then there were the dogs, Murphy, Pip, Tory, Jazz & Max.

GG has a pile of leftover flannelette pieces so at least half a dozen quilts, including one for my house, were assembled over the weekend. It's quite a process to pick coordinating colours and patterns of fabric to design a decent looking quilt. Luckily Aunt Caroline has an eye and a flair for this and all I had to do was follow her excellent advice! I make a great gopher :)))

We spent most of Saturday down on the beach and Murray, Sweetie & I all ended up with some sunburns to show for it. The girls were excited to see G again this summer. I saw her come down with her dad & sisters, to head out kayaking. I went over to where my girls were playing and asked if they had seen her yet. Honey popped right up and wanted to go say hi. They all made a beeline for her and the next thing I know, G has abandoned her kayaking to play in the clay with 3 little adoring fans.

At night we went to the other cottage & tucked the girls in and then I ran back for more fun and games. We played cards, Dutch Blitz and Quiddler. Hilarity ensued as various escapades unfolded. These things are never as funny when described later but suffice it to say that we had a lot of laughs!!! GG is such a character, very inventive and sharp for 92 going on 93!!! and whatever you do, keep her away from your chips!!! oh and she cheats but what can you do??? As kids we always played lots of board games, word games etc so it was fun to recapture a bit of my youth (not that I'm overly adultlike the rest of the time....)

The weekend ended with Lovey coming down with the flu so we cut things short and headed home early on Sunday. Honey seemed to come down with a touch of it on the car ride home but it never developed into much. Lovey was still sick this morning but was doing much better by midday!