Puppets and bikes

It was a fabulous weekend in the nations captial -- or at least for the inhabitants of Inverness Inn!

Saturday saw us heading out to the town of Almonte for the Puppets Up! festival. This was the first time we'd gone, almost changed my mind because of the high entrance fee, but weather was to be good so I figured we'd give it a go. We arrived and went to the first tent we saw, it was almost time for that show to start so we waited.


It was a great show -- about a sailor with a magic story book, but the story book gets stolen by StinkyBeard and the rest of the shows storyline revolves around finding the book. The kids laughed for most of the show. Their favourite part was the parrot 'Crackers' who, when asked to sing twinkle twinkle little star breaks out in another song at the top of this lungs. The other song escapes me right now, but it's one we all know, I'd have to wake Nathan up to sing it for me as he's been doing it non-stop yesterday and today :-)



We watched the parade and then attended a second show, this one about Robin Hood. Again, the kids had some good laughs. I would have liked to have done one more show but consensus said to call it a day :-)

Of course there was a craft tent. Claire and Kyle decided to make headbands. Kyle didn't take very long for his :-) Left Claire there, looked at the water,

Claire still wasn't done, went to get lunch, ate lunch, Claire still wasn't done, took a trip to the port-a-potty, Claire still wasn't done, another little while and then she finished -- or they kicked her out! Haha!



Today was family bike ride day. Kyle had drawn a bike on the calendar so we would know that.

We all biked as far as the Bank St. bridge and had a snack. As we got back to Hogs Back the kids fed the ducks -- Kyle laughed at the duck that almost took his finger with the piece of bread :-)

Then Rob headed home and the rest of us spent some time at Mooney's Bay where the kids played in the sand and water. Of course, the big pile of sand at the end of the beach was the biggest hit!


They are all going to have a great sleep tonight!

Herbfest 2008

The call came shortly after 10a.m. that the Herbfest express was leaving Rosehill Manor. Those at Inverness Inn were unsure of their plans, but given that little push it was decided to also head out to partake in this year's festivities.

We had gorgeous weather and a good time!

Goodbye Diane!

It was a sad day today as Kyle finished up his last day at Diane's. Claire, Nathan and Kyle have all been fortunate to have had the love and care of Diane. We are very pleased to have found her all those years ago. We will miss seeing her every day, chatting and getting advice. We wish her all the best as the dynamics of her daycare change with her new kids!



Now Kyle will go to daycare with Claire and Nathan! New adventures await!

20 Minute Challenge

Mom and Dad arrived on the red-eye flight Tuesday night -- just in time for this year's '20 Minute Challenge' at the Running Room Wednesday night. It was dubious as to whether we would get everyone out and for awhile it looked like the weather was not going to cooperate. Earlier that afternoon there was quite the thunderstorm -- lost power for a few seconds at work and home! By the time the challenge was to start the weather had really become nice!

The hat colour this year was green :-)




Rob is all set for next year's Running Room celebration -- he's the only one of us with all the coloured hats!




Of course we needed to celebrate after completing our challenge!

Trail-A-Bike

First trial run tonight with the Trail-A-Bike!

After searching around for a used one of these (they are snatched up right away) I finally called around and we bought one new (it will have good resale value! Haha!). Turns out the one we bought was the last one of this particular model at Fresh Air Experience and had been sitting there reserved for someone since June! They decided to sell it now to us :-)

I LOVE IT :-) Course, I haven't had it attached to my bike yet, but Rob says you barely notice it.




Kyle had a smile on his face the whole time and Rob says he talked non-stop (what else is new!). Kyle needs to grow just a *smidge* more to really be able to pedal well, but I saw him doing it a bit. I'm sure with more practice he'll get the hang of tilting his body a bit more to pedal properly.

Hopefully the rain will hold off and we'll see how far we get on our Sunday bike ride :-)

Traci's Birthday...

For *MY* 12th birthday I was finally allowed to get my ears pierced... but then, so were Trish and Mom! Claire has been asking for awhile to have her ears pierced, how appropriate is that to let her do it on *MY* birthday!





Boo, Julie, Hope and Charlotte stopped over and surprised me with a fancy "fruit-cake" :-) It was so delicious and too bad we devoured it so quickly :-)





I opened my birthday gift from Donna early (at Kyle's birthday party) and have this new beautiful purse to strut around town with :-)



I received a card where the mouse ate my birthday cake and a card where the pig talked to me in a scottish accent! :-)

With lunch out with my coworkers, all this excitement, and being one year older it was no wonder that I went off to bed before the kids and slept through until the morning :-)

To go with my new birthday bike we got a Trail-A-Bike which Kyle will use on our Sunday family bike rides. We'll be able to go *much* faster now :-)



Big thanks to everyone!

Happy 4th Birthday Kyle!

We had Kyle's birthday yesterday and it was suppose to be a Hockey Camp. Claire and Nathan worked on the posters. Claire's was "Welcome to Hockey Camp" and Nathan's was "Register" for the camp registration table :-)



Unfortunately it was so hot that all the athletes were not interested in playing hockey and simply hit the pool instead.



Then it was time for supper, cake and presents!







Everyone had lots of fun. Kyle says Thank-you for all the wonderful gifts he received!

Happy Canada Day!

We have had a great long weekend! We enjoyed a family bike ride on Sunday (along the parkway, which is closed off to traffic on Sunday mornings) where we made it as far as the Bank Street bridge this time. Nathan and Kyle both commented on how much fun they were having. Until the way back that is... then we almost had mutiny as Claire refused to continue biking and Kyle kept saying he was tired. Regardless of the whining we still made it home and in a week we'll try again! Maybe by the end of the summer we'll make it all the way downtown :-)

We spent Canada Day at the HBC Run in support of our canadian athletes. We met up with the Coffin/Corning clan and their neighbours. All the kids (accompanied by the parents) ran the 1K Fun Run and then we all did the 3K Family Walk. Everyone earned a medal :-)



We partook in some of the festivities and then went home to spend time in the pool.

Happy 141st birthday Canada!

School is out for summer!

The kids are done school now for the summer. They are very excited. Claire asked me today if we have to go to work during the summer. Yes Claire, we do. :-)


Nathan's class had a "graduation" ceremony where Nathan received a certificate for completion of senior kindergarten. Only about a dozen more years to go! Haha!







We went out for our end-of-year ice cream celebration tonight after Claire's soccer game. Yum Yum! Thank goodness the rain held off!

Pool is open!

The pool boy worked hard and completed the pool set-up two weekends ago. It was just in time for some very hot weather! The kids had completed a 5K walk in support of Juvenile Diabetes that same day and really enjoyed coming home to splash in the refreshing pool. :-)

Next season the pool will be replaced by a larger oval pool (rigid sides with side supports). Much better for the adults as they can congregate in one end of the pool while the kids are in the other :-) Right now the parts are sitting idle and will be placed aside for winter storage.

Welcome!

First post telling nothing about what's going on :-)