Grampy showing the girls their video.


















Lovey, Honey & Sweetie aka Goofy Girls



















Auntie KK & Honey making a run for it!



























Louis trying to get the Kong from Murphy.



















Sweetie paying the "toll" at the Good Fairy's bridge.





Belle & the Beast!

Happy Birthday Grampy!









GG with Honey & Lovey
Storytime with GG
Grampy was happy to have new material for his frame.


Uncle Andrew & Martigan

Lovey


My 3 cuties!


Lovey giving me a taste of my own medicine!
Honey
















Nanny helping Sweetie "swim"

Back to the old grind

Well we're back from vacationing at the beach. We've managed to unpack, get a start on laundry, begin mowing the lawn and went out for berry picking & grocery shopping today.

I've gotten some of my pictures downloaded and have lots of work to do on those. There has been a considerable delay which can be fully blamed on my dear sister in law Karen! She gave me the longest book I've ever seen in the smallest font used in the publishing world I believe. Anyone familiar with Diana Gabaldon??? Holy addictive! I've done hardly anything else in my free time the last few days! Last night I stayed up til midnight and had to tear myself away from the pages, only to toss and turn as I pondered the plight of the characters. Finally around 3AM I turned to Gravol for some much needed drowsiness and stayed in bed til 10! (thank you Murray for getting up with the kids!)

I'd seen this author before & had a bad feeling& avoided her til now but since KAREN recommended it, I thought it was worth a try and although I was riveted the whole way through, I don't know if I can stand another one. I'll have to wait until I'm a lady of leisure and can afford to bury my nose in a book for 2 days straight without having other obligations. Any guesses on WHEN that will be??????? LOL It was a pretty intense read and I'm dying to know what happens next but I think I'll look for a Cliff's notes version! : ))) (or maybe Karen's notes...)

Our vacation went pretty well and all too fast! We've been going to the same 2 cottages since we were kids & Murray's parents rented the one next door to where my family was staying. (this is where we met when we were 12 or 13 yrs old). Every summer we look forward to "The Cottage" and so far we've had incredibly good luck with weather. I can't remember a miserable rainy week although we've occasionally had an overcast day or a shower or two.

This time, it wasn't warm and sunny every day, of all the nerve!! It was overcast, cloudy & windy more than it wasn't. We had 2 really nice sunny warm days and that was about it. We stil went down to the beach every day but the girls usually only lasted half an hour or so before the cool breeze put an end to sandy fun. Once they got wet, that was it & the shivers would set in and we'd have to go up. I did get in swimming a couple times though, played tennis twice (lost badly to a different opponent each time!) and ate verra well the whole time we were there. So all in all it was still a good vacation! The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but there were a couple days where I didn't know if I could stand one more bit of whining or defiance!!! I couldn't believe how rotten they were and then it seemed to improve and the rest of the week was more tolerable. Our last day brought the nicest weather & we decided to stay the full day and enjoy it. We took the kids out for some touristy stuff in the morning and went down to the beach for a good part of the afternoon. We flew the kite, buried Uncle Paul's legs and Lovey & Sweetie threw themselves in the water repeatedly and had a great time. Honey never got past her ankles I don't think. She needs to work up to things like "swimming" and since it was too cold to go in the water most days, she never got much of a chance. Maybe next year!

Murray's busy making his strawberry jam (I helped wash & cut up half his berries though) and I'm going to try and get some sleep!

Beach Bums

Got to have a little photo shoot with A&M while they were here & got some nice shots! and learned how to make a fancy matted frame around the picture. Pretty swanky huh?
Here's the birthday boy, enjoying a beverage! Happy Birthday Rick!

Quality control pronounced this one realllllllllly red & juicy!

Half of our haul, mmmmmm

We're on vacation! A week at the beach, our usual spot on the bluff and we loooooooooooooove it here! The girls are enjoying themselves most of the time.

I'm not sure if it's just my imagination or that I'm worrying what everyone around is going to think, but they seem to be misbehaving WAY more than they do at home! Lovey is acting up left right & centre as far as I can tell. She deliberately pushed Sweetie off a chair today, got a time out, then just smirked when it was over and we asked her to say sorry. Back in time out & had to wait before going to the beach while everyone else went ahead. She has crapped her pants more in the last 2 days than she has in the last month..... the list goes on but you get the idea! Soooooooooo frustrating when this SHOULD be a wonderful week! She's not alone either, Sweetie's whining has been ramped up to a whole new level and Honey threw a huge fit today after the bath when I didn't have enough dry towels and needed to share hers with her sisters. All 3 of them were whining and screaming and the next thing I knew, I whipped open the bathroom door and pushed out whoever was mostly dry, Honey, I think. Those sitting in the kitchen got a good chuckle out of that but I just couldn't stand the noise another SECOND! I'm sure they're tired from all the extra activity & people around, and they first couple of nights they were late settling down to sleep but last night & tonight were more reasonable so hopefully that'll help.

The weather has been a little disappointing, we've had such good luck in the past so maybe we're due for a crappy week. Even when we do get a bit of sun, it either doesn't last long, or it's accompanied by a cool breeze. The kids want to go down to play on the beach but inevitably they get wet and then as son as the cold air hits them, it's game over. They'd play down there much longer if they weren't freezing to death!

To try and keep freak out fits, fighting and whining to a minimum we've been trying to get them out of here so we've visited the playground a couple of times and one morning we took them strawberry picking. The trip to the U Pick was a big hit and they did a really good job! We didn't get any berries in our basket that weren't mostly red. They sometimes forgot to check the bottom before taking them. We got quite a bit picked before the farmer came over and told us that the girls should be doing some sampling for quality control. They would eat a bit & then pick a bit but eventually it shifted so they were just eating so we decided to pack it in at that point. It was a couple of days ago & we still have lots left so hopefully that means there's strawberry shortcake in our near future!

We still have a few days left so we're hoping for a few improvements weatherwise AND temperament wise!! Wish us luck....

Also, we're on dial up so updates & new pictures are a little tricky at the moment so I don't think I'll be adding much more before we get home. Sorry blogfans!

Day One with a singleton

Oh my, what a difference! We got up, she had breakfast then we baked cookies (ruined the batch, sent them to Murray's office where Andrew quickly claimed there's no such thing as bad cookies!) & banana bread, then we went swimming, then for lunch at McD's, to the bank, to a gift shop for a baby present, to the library to renew my books then to the mall to pick up pictures & Walmart of misc, and browsed a few other stores.... We were gone for hours & it was all easy peasy!

Lovey is totally soaking up the attention and hasn't had a single time out (knock on wood). She did get a little cranky when the swim was over and her eyes were stinging from the chlorine and it was 1:30 & hadn't had any lunch yet but other than that it's been a charm. She's soooo happy & content! I asked her at supper if she missed her sisters and she started to say yes but then changed it to "nope" LOL stinker!

I talked to the other 2 girls this morning & they both immediately said "I'm being a very good girl" and Mum said they really have been. They're probably having a blast up there but if they had their own blog we'd know for sure.... ; )))

Having one girl is fun as a temporary thing but I can't imagine it being like this all the time! Wouldn't it get boring after awhile???? I'd miss the hustle and bustle, the giggles and squeals (the multiple tantrums, not so much!) and all the activity. It is a lot easier to pick up after one kid though & get some housework done but I wouldn't trade my trio for a clean house!

Playgroup at the Park

Outdoor playgroup started this week, and it's sort of nice to go to the park instead of the gym but I find it a bit more work actually. Plus, the whole business of the bathrooms being way over in a different section can be a bit of a problem.

One of our regular blogfans was there with her kids today so I mostly tried to get some shots of her kids & didn't get too many of the girls today. Hi Carla!

Oh to be a singleton!

Lovey's loving life as a single child! Mum called today & offered to take 2 kids up to her house for a day or two. She felt bad leaving Lovey behind but she shouldn't, that girl couldn't be happier to have us all to herself.



We were a bit afraid of a scene so we kept Lovey busy with a video as they were all leaving and then I went & watched it with her. She asked where Grammie was & I told her Grammie had gone home and that her sisters went too. She looked at me and said "I want my sisters back." Then I explained that she & I could so some fun stuff tomorrow, that she could swim in the pool all by herself etc and she perked right up. She sang all the way through supper and ate up every bit of the attention from Daddy when he got home! She hasn't asked for those sisters again since.

I'm sure they'll be whipping up their own blog up there to recount all the adventures of "Twins in TV Land"....

Long Weekend Fun!

a very small sampling of my cousins!

Murray & I debated going to Family Weekend at Auntie Ruth & Uncle Howard's cottage and in the end the pull was too strong. We cannot resist even a quick trip to this wonderful spot!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and weren't long getting down to the beach. Lots of my cousins were there & as usual, a good time was had by all. The water wasn't too too warm but they enjoyed playing in the sand, building a castle and splashing in the waves. Honey even spent some time throwing Murphy's kong for him. The 2 foot retrieval wasn't overly challenging for him but he followed her every command nonetheless.

The girls especially had a blast! My cousin Jane was there with her husband and their 2 young sons and the kids all chased each other around the cottage. It was pretty cute to hear them squealing and laughing with other children. Usually our visits with other youngsters are of a short duration and they don't get to get this comfortable.

a little trip to the playground while we waited for the tide to go out

for a little girl who was so unsure about the teetertotter, she sure came around!

The downside was that it took forever to get them settled down for bed. After a long busy day I was hopeful that they'd be tired enough to drop off if I let them stay up a bit later than usual. Totally didn't work. They were sooooo hyped up from playing, being at the cottage and using brand new sleeping bags that it was 9:30 before they crashed. It didn't help that it was bright as day in the room (it didn't occur to me to cover the windows until the next night!).

She looks tired doesn't she?

I was so glad we decided to go (even with the crazy bedtime). It's been ages since Jane & I got to spend any length of time together and we always had so much fun as kids. There are only 3 months of my life that don't have Jane in it (she was a little late getting born) so we were pretty close growing up & would spend vacation time together, sometimes at her house or sometimes together at Grammie's. So much fun that is so hard to fit in now as adults. We were able to chat & reminisce and it was great to see her for more than 15 minutes! She & Kevin taught us all a new card game and even Murray enjoyed himself. (Auntie Ruth found him with his laptop and made him join in hehe!)

my Janie!

Even though the weather wasn't the best we've ever had, it was still a great family weekend. I love having so many people around! I can still hear how much the girls laughed while we were there.