tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392522080748745212024-03-13T02:47:20.192-04:00Keeping Up with the CharleboisCocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-1679905729291364742013-02-10T13:55:00.002-05:002013-02-10T13:55:55.050-05:00The First Years<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So we made through the first year. My baby is one!! I searched long & hard through thousands of photos and put together a little something.... related much?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-69329245996074714092013-02-03T13:36:00.000-05:002013-02-03T13:36:31.105-05:00Is there a right answer?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sorry... I'm really lacking in posts these days. It's this whole winter thing... I hate it. Our winters have turned into a life sentence of nothingness. Winter activities are a thing of the past. Skating & tobogganing don't work well in -25 or +10. At least not with an 11 month old. What happened to the amazing winter weather that is in between?? The weather that makes you want to play outside in the wonderful snow building forts and going on adventures. What ever happened to those days? Geez life has changed since I was a kid. Everything is so scheduled. Play dates... activities. When I was a kid you'd just run out the front door in the morning and come home to eat. You'd have a slew of best friends to adventure with on the street and it was just go go go 'til suppertime. There was so much time spent outside because the weather just rocked. Tobogganing... skating... playing in the soccer fields. Today I sent my son out to see if a friend of his wanted to play. Just walk over there. Knock on the door and ask if he can play. My husband said why don't you just call his mom? Cuz I don't want to. It was fun for Sam to get dressed up and wander down the street to his buddy's house. And it felt good.... until I started imagining the possibility that horrible things could happen to him and I would be to late to ever find him again. But they didn't. I sat by the window and waited. He came home. That's the problem. Too much worry. I wish kids could just go out and explore like we used to.... without all the worry. Did our parents worry? I guess I could let them wander... give them freedom. But then what if something did happen? How could I live with it? Wondering if it would have been different if I had just been more careful... more strict. Was it bad parenting when we were young to not know where your kids were? Out playing somewhere. Having fun. Is it bad parenting now? Highly likely. I could let my kids go up the street to the park to play. I'd know where they are. How much fun would they have going alone? It's a better adventure than playing in the yard. What makes them old enough? Age? Awareness?<br />
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Is there a right answer?<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-16401566842421779872013-01-24T20:17:00.000-05:002013-01-24T20:17:55.637-05:00CRAFT corner<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Color Science</h3>
So as you can see by my lack of posts it hasn't been a very eventful January. Not much going on in sub-arctic Ontario. I swear.... we're the only place in the world that can go from +10 to -25 overnight. Anyway I thought that I could probably use my school crafts as fillers for when my blog is.. well... lacking. I'm always taking pictures of the stuff we do but never get around to posting it. Even today during craft one of the kids asked "why do you always take pictures?". They're catching on to my craziness...<br />
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So I'll start this first edition of "CRAFT corner" with what we were doing in late November. We were mentally preparing for the crafting over-load that is the Christmas season and decided to take a break from crafts for a week...well sort of. I thought it would be fun to find some interesting science-y stuff to do that would really grab the kids' attention. So we spent the week exploring colors.<br />
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We started with cups of water & food coloring. We used red, blue & yellow. The idea was to show the kids how we could mix these three colors to create different colors. So we mixed the red & blue together... the blue & yellow together & the red & yellow together. Then we had six different colors. Next I gave the kids a ziplock bag with the same three primary colors and had them mix the paint together to get the different colors. They LOVED this. And they did a really great job of mixing the colors before turning the whole bag brown. All of this exploring led to the final project of painting a rainbow using just the red, yellow & blue paint. They each got a plate with these colors and had to paint a rainbow. Unfortunately there were many more brown rainbows than expected but the kids had a blast.<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-64043519924524064152013-01-05T13:50:00.000-05:002013-01-05T13:50:23.662-05:00On Display<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're coming to the end of the Christmas vacation... and I'm ready for it. In fact I'm straight up bored. The weather hasn't exactly been peachy keen so the lack of outdoor activity has been somewhat depressing. An 11 month old out in the winter weather isn't exactly my idea of fun either... not much she can do to stay warm. We did get out to do some skating and the kids had a few good hours of romping around in the snow. But aside from that... I'm ready to get back to school.<br />
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I've been meaning for a long time now to share some of the stuff we've been doing at daycare. It's more like we'd been doing now... going back as far has Halloween. We've got a huge display board in the front hallway of the centre so I thought I would take it upon myself to make sure it gets decorated by the kids instead of with plain old posters. I'm trying to keep it seasonal/current and so far it's worked out great. This was our Halloween display...<br />
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We made spiders from our hand prints & ghosts from our feet. The older kids made pumpkins & cats. It was awesome. For Remembrance Day we made poppies, first with our hands again and then with tissue paper. I basically did all the tissue paper flowers. Kids often have a short attention span for crafts when there are blocks & Lego to play with. It still turned out nice.<br />
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Then came Christmas. I had an idea in mind for a Christmas tree and found some velvet ribbon that fit the idea PERFECTLY. I made the tree and then the toddlers & kindergarteners made awesome ornaments to decorate it. I loved it.<br />
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Got any ideas for January? </div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-34522851137716535062013-01-01T15:48:00.000-05:002013-01-01T15:48:25.030-05:00The Year In Pictures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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January</h3>
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February</h3>
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March</h3>
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April</h3>
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May</h3>
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June</h3>
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July</h3>
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August</h3>
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September</h3>
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October</h3>
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November</h3>
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December</h3>
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-15661444058331645962013-01-01T15:27:00.002-05:002013-01-01T15:48:45.332-05:00holiday recap... a la "Night before Christmas"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
'twas the night before Christmas...<br />
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<br />
and all through the house... the kids were excited, as were I & my spouse. <br />
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Christmas jammies were donned & stories were read... the kids wrote their letters & got cozy in bed. Then I went right to work on my job as St. Nick... I wrapped all the presents & stuffed stockings quick. I was tired & anxious to get me some rest.. cuz Sofie no doubt would soon want her some breast. And then Sam would be up too excited to sleep... and Sofie, again, she would open her peep. And of course at 5:30 Sam was ready to rock... to get everyone up so we could all "share our socks". By around 6 o'clock I could no longer delay, a boy's sheer excitement to get up Christmas day. And then soon thereafter my bed overrun... with children & "sockings", with toys & with fun.<br />
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<br />
Santa left them a letter which was really quite neat, to say
thanks for the milk & the broccoli & treats. But they were way
too excited and just wanted to see.. the presents that Santa left under
the tree. Fun toys for Sofie to help her explore... Juliet, of course,
got babies galore. A DS for Sam who was excited because, he'd been
waiting 3 years to get that from the Claus. Presents were opened and
messes were made and then we had breakfast with my husband's friend
Quade. And then off to work went Christian to get pay to cover the costs
of the presents that day. Juliet played with her babies and the DS for Sam, then we packed up the car for a visit with Gram!<br />
<br />
Finally
at Grama's after a drive that's quite far, and the kids got spoiled
rotten, Sam got a guitar! Juliet loves to sing so a micro for her, there
will never be peace in my house that's for sure!<br />
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<br />
Lots of mimosas & lots of red wine, lost of good food & great
family time. Lots of good friends & tons of fresh snow... and today's a new year so we're ready to go!!<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">HappY New Year!!</span></h2>
</div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-57006181304815940102012-12-24T10:49:00.001-05:002012-12-24T11:53:21.160-05:00Tinsel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So I think the last time I wrote Tinsel was trying to go out the front door in an RV. Well because she couldn't take a trip outside of the house she decided to take a fishing trip INSIDE the house...<br />
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<br />
<a name='more'></a>The night after that I went to bed early so I had to shout down to my husband to remember the elf because I forgot. So he tossed her on top of the cupboard. Thanks.<br />
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On the morning of the 14th she hopped on a candle stick where she had a great view of all the goings-on & daily activities. She ended up staying there until the 18th because that's when I got really sick and my husband didn't clue in. She must have been worried about me and didn't want to leave. The important thing is the kids didn't question it.<br />
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Even though the kids didn't question it, when I was up & better I wanted to send them a reminder...<br />
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What a mess that was.<br />
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December 20th she appeared in a bowl of walnuts & the 21st in the Christmas moose... yep, still have that hideous thing. <br />
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You may call it a reindeer... I call it a moose. The 21st is when we had our first major snow storm so the next morning Tinsel was just as excited as we were.<br />
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The dog was also very interested in who was playing in the snow.<br />
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Yesterday she was in Juliet's stocking... or Christmas sock as they sometimes call it. This morning she hid among the presents I wrapped last night. Sam woke up at 6am asking if he could go look for the Elf. Day 23 and still going strong!<br />
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She won't be back tomorrow but I don't think the kids mind. After all, Santa comes tonight. At 9 o'clock this morning he claimed it was almost night time. I think tonight's the only night they're REALLY excited about going to bed. I am too.</div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-75762644748063616852012-12-24T09:27:00.001-05:002012-12-24T11:54:22.061-05:00Joyeux Noel!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-8434033135937038762012-12-23T14:55:00.001-05:002012-12-23T14:55:29.297-05:00Gangnam Style a la Sam & Juliet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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And who can forget about Sof...<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-60832721963788550782012-12-22T12:19:00.001-05:002012-12-22T12:23:44.644-05:00'twas the week before Christmas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What a CRAZY week it's been. Last Friday night was my staff Christmas party and believe it or not, I was home pretty early. I was in bed by 10 and sometime overnight got hit REALLY hard with the flu. I slept for 34 hours straight. Didn't even see the kids until Sunday morning when I was forced to parent because Sam had a hockey tournament. It was awful. Clinging on to life I did my very best to mother the girls while Sam & his hockey team cleaned up that tourney & took home the gold! Way to go Novice C1. Sam even got MVP for one of the games....<br />
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As soon as they got home I went back to bed and didn't get out until the next afternoon when my neck & tonsils were in such excruciating pain a trip to emerg was inevitable. Herein commenceth the cold sore. Talk about kicking me while I'm down. As it turned out, I started with the flu then got strep throat & a cold sore. Take that immune system. Merry Christmas.<br />
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So onto antibiotics I went. Now I think I have a sinus infection because they must have been feeling left out. My right eye feels soooooo weird & tender as does my right brow bone. Tender to the touch. And bending down? Not possible without it feeling like rocks are going to shoot out from between my eyes. Welcome old man winter... or is it old man working in a daycare full of germs? Pass the vitamins please.<br />
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On Thursday morning I jumped ship for Montréal to go to the Salon des Métiers Arts with my mom & sister. It's so awesome. And the best part of this year... no kids! It was so nice to wander through the artisans without worrying about bored, restless children. I picked up some treats for my husband and some delicious teas for myself. Mmmmmmmmmm....<br />
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I just stayed the night because I had to get up & home for the kids' spectacle de Noel. Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans and threw a few obstacles in my path. One of them happened to be a mile marker...<br />
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Seriously? Ya. First major snow storm of the season. I left Montréal at 9am and horrible driving conditions & visibility aside, was making pretty good time. Then, somewhere around Long Sault I decided to pass a semi that was spewing slush & crap all over my windshield. Wrong. My tires caught some slush in a way that was disagreeable to them which resulted in a total spin out off the highway and the complete decapitation of a mile marker sign. Awesome. Let me tell you... it's times like these that you realize just how useful CAA can be if you're ever wondering why you're paying for something you rarely, if ever, use. It just takes one time to make it worth it. While on the phone with the dispatcher he informed me that due to the sign casualty the OPP needed to be informed before they could send a tow truck. So I called them. I guess I should be thankful that they didn't write me a ticket for the sign and the fact that I didn't have any registration or current proof of insurance. And the "careless driving" as they called it. Careless driving in a snow storm? Really? I should also probably be thankful that I'm alive and that there were no other cars involved. AND... I should be thankful that the cops let CAA pull me out because most ditched cars alongside the highway were just that... ditched. They weren't pulling anyone out because the weather was so bad. Although the passenger door was pretty chewed up from the sign my car was fine so that's probably why they ok'd it.... I didn't even have to try playing the kids' Christmas concert card. After a quick yank I was actually on my way again.<br />
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Yay! Needless to say I didn't try passing any more semis. And I made it in time for the concert. Phew.<br />
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After school Sam had a special hockey practice & holiday gathering. Olympic silver medalist Conlin McCabe from the men's rowing team joined them on the ice and brought his medal along so the kids could oooh and awe. And the parent's too.<br />
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How's that for the week before Christmas. Time to relax...</div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-35960244409270020322012-12-11T13:15:00.000-05:002012-12-24T11:54:39.712-05:00deck the halls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In comes the holiday season out pour the crafts & festivities. Well, sort of.<br />
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In the past I've been known to go a little cookie crazy...<br />
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It's like a crazy 5-day extravaganza. You can see more about it <a href="http://nakedinthehouse.blogspot.ca/2010/12/bring-it-on-santa.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Unfortunately last year I forwent the cookie baking process because A.) I was pregnant and who wants to do anything when they're pregnant and B.) We were in the midst of kitchen renos. This year I have no excuse. Ok let's go with lack of time and laziness. But come to think of it... I should really bake this weekend.<br />
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What I HAVE been up to lately is Christmas crafts. We, we've been. It started when I saw this picture of some sticks dressed up like Santas.<br />
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I love them. So I gathered some sticks on my way home from work and made my own (by now my neighbours are all probably used to seeing me pick stuff up off the ground... what with all the leaves I gathered for my fall wreath). SO here are my Santas.<br />
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They aren't exactly the same but they're good enough.<br />
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Over the weekend at about exactly the time my kids were getting on my nerves I quickly sat them at the table with some paint, glitter & pine cones.<br />
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I had initially thought they could turn them into ornaments but after they were done I decided on something else. I think they did a pretty good job and now we have a lovely centerpiece. <br />
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Not too shabby. And I can just put the whole thing away after the holidays until next year.<br />
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Also over the weekend I decided to go all super mom on myself and we picked up our Christmas tree. Me, with all 3 kids, no husband, in the rain. That means choosing a tree that everyone agrees on, tossing it on the roof of the van, securing it there to drive home, bringing it in the house and getting it into the tree stand... all without cursing once. Booyah! Sunday we decorated.<br />
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This kids did a bang up job and were VERY excited. And now we have a lovely Christmas tree.<br />
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Now all we need is some snow and it might just feel like the holidays.<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-15393570020325558512012-12-11T11:41:00.000-05:002012-12-11T11:46:02.049-05:00Herself the Elf...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Got some more photos to share of Tinsel. So on day 3 she decided to have a party on the kitchen counter and got together with Ariel for some cake & sprinkles... a little too much of the latter.<br />
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Juliet was a bit freaked out to have her just sitting on the counter. "Mommy if I just reach out my arm I could touch her." Well don't reach out your arm then.<br />
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The next morning after we got dressed for school we came upon this mess...<br />
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All the way down the stairs from the upstairs bathroom. Even the cat was interested in this.<br />
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On day five she jumped in Sponge Bob's old fish bowl and day 6 got behind Sam's Halloween picture frame... which still needs to be filed with a picture.<br />
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On day 7 she was still in the frame. Oops. The kids were terrified that she lost her magic because someone touched her. I quickly made up the excuse that because we got home so late from the Nutcracker the night before and missed our usual bedtime she got confused and decided to just stay put. Phew.<br />
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Here are the kids at the Nutcracker... which was awesome, as usual.<br />
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We got our Christmas tree on Saturday so on Sunday morning she hopped in there.<br />
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We needed to move her so we could decorate the tree so I put her on the shelf with the Buddhas & Ganesha. She loved it so much she came back to hang with them again Monday morning (Oops again.)<br />
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So this morning, thankfully after I realized at 1 am that Tinsel was still with the Buddhas, She decided it might be time to go on vacation so she hopped in the RV and waited by the front door.<br />
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The kids walked right past her. It was when we were getting dressed for the bus and Sam was standing over her saying "we have to find the elf!" that I gave him a look and he followed my eyes downward. Really? How could you miss the elf in the RV in the middle of the front hall??<br />
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Only 13 more days to go.</div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-65758318427852726042012-12-03T23:12:00.000-05:002012-12-03T23:12:10.884-05:00Elf on the Shelf<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I just wanted to keep you up to date with the goings-on of our elf, Tinsel. I think she is going to be a trouble maker... talk about setting an example! Yesterday the kids found her swinging in the chandelier! Worse still... this morning she was hiding in the milk jug and had dyed the milk green! Sam was not interested in drinking the milk but once we showed him it was okay he had honey nut cheerios & green milk. I wonder what she'll be up to next....<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-14841940107917832082012-12-01T22:14:00.000-05:002012-12-01T23:24:12.439-05:00Happy December<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last year I talked about the little family <a href="http://thecharlebois.blogspot.ca/2011/11/traditions.html" target="_blank">traditions</a> we've started... the <a href="http://thecharlebois.blogspot.ca/2011/11/christmas-is-comin.html#more" target="_blank">Prescott Parade</a>, <a href="http://thecharlebois.blogspot.ca/2011/12/nutcracker.html" target="_blank">the Nutcracker </a>(which is this Friday night!!). Well, I'm happy to say I've got a couple more up my sleeve. <br />
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While browsing the web for craft ideas I came across some really cool ideas for advent calendars. Forget cheap chocolate hiding behind doors... this year, and every year thereafter, we're counting down the days to Santa's arrival with books! The idea was to get 24 Christmas themed books and wrap them up. I've numbered each one and every night beginning today the kids will find the number for the day & unwrap the book. That way every night they will get a Christmas story before bed! Once Christmas arrives the books will go away until next year when I will wrap them again in random order. The initial investment has been a little pricy because I've had to buy most of the 24 books, but then they'll just get re-used year after year. The kids will be so excited every December to get to read all their Christmas books again, all the while counting down the days until Christmas!<br />
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Unfortunately my book shopping backfired and I haven't received all 24 of my books. I really wanted to have ALL 24 books wrapped by today but I had to order quite a few of my books online. So I'll wrap them as they arrive & add them to the box.<br />
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Then I used a little heart-shaped punch & sticker paper to create tiny little hearts to hide the numbers on...<br />
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So today the kids opened # 1. Enter new tradition number 2...<br />
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Oh yes. I'm sure you've all seen it before by now. And I caved. I pretended that I just bought a book about this elf but that Santa must have come last night and somehow brought it to life. Oh that sneaky Santa... never ceases to amaze! So we sat on the couch and read the book. The kids were in awe. They hung on every word and by the end were fully engulfed in the story of our elf on the shelf. They just couldn't believe it! She comes to life every night and visits the north pole to report to Santa on their behaviour (good & bad)! First they needed to give her a name so the magic would work, but they can't ever touch her or her magic will vanish. Sam freaked out when Juliet "pretended" to try and touch her. Lol. Sam immediately wanted to call her Dairy Queen. Really? I don't know where he gets his ideas, but Juliet didn't like that. We couldn't even sell her on DQ. Then I suggested a name and both kids thought it was great.<br />
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So her name was chosen and then we decided on a place for her to sit & watch us for the rest of the afternoon. Sam panicked.... I told him it was okay for adults to touch her. "How do you know?" he asked. "I looked it up online." I said. "Oh. Ok." Phew...<br />
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So... here she is perched on the TV where she spent the day observing.<br />
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They are SOOOOOOO excited to wake up tomorrow and find her hiding in the house somewhere, and equally excited to open book #2.<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-40665187112398623972012-11-28T22:27:00.000-05:002012-11-28T23:33:54.163-05:00Rock My Wednesdays.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well it's probably a good thing that my last post fell on Tuesday, because if I had written something about my husband going back to work AFTER 2 Wednesdays ago there probably would have been a lot of swearing. Last week's & today's Wednesdays were A LOT better. In fact, I straight up rocked them. But let's go back a couple of weeks...<br />
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I work until 5:30 at the daycare and swimming lessons are at 6:30. In that hour I have to gather my oldest 2 (who are at daycare with me)... pick up Sofie from her daycare... feed the older kids & get them organized for swimming... calculate Juliet's carbohydrates & insulin requirements for supper... entertain Sofie... drive to the Y... get the kids changed & poolside STAT. Oh yes. Now if you don't think that any of that is a big deal then you can go read someone elses' blog. If you'd like to read about how I turned my worst nightmare into an organized evening with time on my side... do read on.<br />
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So my first attempt at this Wednesday evening thing was pretty scary. I managed to get the kids out of the daycare at 5:30 and was able to pick up Sofie and get home by like 5:45. I hauled everyone inside (my first mistake) and sat the kids at the table & Sof on the kitchen floor. She eats at daycare (phew). She was happy (lucky for me) to sit there with a cookie while I made the other 2 a gourmet meal of peanut butter sandwiches. Then it was time to grab the swimming gear... re-dress & get out the door. In the family changing room with babe in arms I probably sounded like a dictator the way I had to verbally maintain Sam & J's focus on getting into swim stuff. Time was not on our side and they aren't the best at staying focused. We actually made it in time, believe it or not.<br />
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Just when you think you can sit & relax for half an hour while the kids swim, the baby on your lap squeals & squirms because who wants to sit on mama's lap when there's a whole (wet) pool area to explore? Pool decks gross me out and there was NO WAY Sofie was going anywhere but on my lap. She didn't think that was much fun... nor did I after 15 minutes. Grrrrr. Then comes the end of the lessons. Getting the kids out of the wading pool after a lesson is always fun and it's even more fun when you have a 25lb baby to carry around who is trying desperately to escape. What is also loads of fun is the chaos in the awesome family change room after a lesson. Who's idea was it to make the FAMILY change room at the Y the size of a walk-in-closet anyway? Sofie wasn't going down in there either and so again with the dictatorship to attempt a quick & smooth transition from swimsuits to PJs... which was way too much to hope for.... but I totally kept my cool. Shocking, I know. <br />
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By the time we got home it was an hour past Sofie's bedtime so I hurried to get her down. It was an hour past everyone's bedtime for that matter, but I had to tackle homework & snacks before the other 2 were actually ready for bed. Trying to take bedtime snack away from my kids is like telling them Santa doesn't exist. END OF THE WORLD. Nine o'clock rolled around before they were getting tucked in. Awesome. Breathe.<br />
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Needless to say some serious planning needed to go into the next Wednesday if I was going to A) tackle it again alone and B) do it without valium. Lol. So.....<br />
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Swimming bag was packed & ready to go when I left for work... towels, suits, goggles & jammies. There was no way we were going home after the daycare round-up. What a waste of time getting the kids out of the car to eat & then back into the car to head to the Y. This time I planned to hit up a drive-thru for supper and bring it to the Y but my husband actually cooked up some KD before he went to work so after getting Sofie I swung by the house and ran in to grab it. Sorta drive-thru-ish. The kids ate at the Y and I put Sofie in the play care because she was bound to have more fun crawling around in there then sitting on my lap poolside. GENIUS I tell ya! I was able to help the kids get ready for lessons and poolside with like 10 minutes to spare!! Tonight we did the same thing but hit the McDonalds drive-thru (ya ya I know... brutal) AND I squeezed in some nursing time for Sofie as well. Booyah! It was fabulous. So fabulous that I think in January I'm going to turn 2 of my weekday evenings into trips to the Y and add in some swimming for Sofie, floor hockey for Sam & some MUCH needed yoga for me. Ambitious? Maybe. Worth a try? Hell yeah.<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-53363809124272568302012-11-13T12:40:00.000-05:002012-11-13T12:47:23.176-05:00Here we go!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As my Halloween decorations still light up my front porch and my pumpkins decay on the steps people are frantically putting up Christmas decor as if Santa arrives next week. We saw the first sign of Christmas lights the day after Halloween and since then a good 7-8 more houses in our neighbourhood alone have plastered their houses with Christmas cheer. It's still November right?<br />
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So it's happened. That curveball I mentioned a few weeks ago? It's been thrown. And what better way to take the hit than with a sick baby. Oh yeah. Up all night with a runny nose, that with a sneeze becomes projectile, and a very painful cough. I decided it would be best to hold off Sofie's daycare debut to a day where she felt a little better.... today. She's napping right now, but we are off on a new journey in T-55 minutes. I think she'll do fine. My husband, on the other hand, is not so thrilled about being back at work. He sadly went off to work yesterday morning for the first time since February. CRAZY!! It's going to take some getting used to for all of us. Some getting used to and a whole whack of time managing & organizing. But we're the Charlebois'... we'll keep up.</div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-43361218404536674962012-11-04T14:06:00.001-05:002012-11-30T21:39:27.905-05:00TRICK or TREAT!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had another amazing Halloween in the country all thanks to the <a href="http://operationhealthybalance.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Purvis family</a> and their wonderful hayride. It was even better this year because A) Sam & J knew more kids on the wagon this year as Sam plays hockey with a few of them, and B) I was not pregnant. That's always a bonus.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The kids got up in the morning & into their costumes to celebrate Halloween at school. Sam was the red ninja, Kai, from Lego Ninjago and Juliet was a Halloween fairy/vampire/princess of darkness. We couldn't really decide which one. <br />
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It's hard to tell in the picture but her dress was layers of lace & frills and her hat was covered in black glitter & glittery bat stickers with black ribbons hanging from the tip. Her wings were covered in spider webs and her tights were all ripped. She decided not to wear the hat to school and ultimately not at all so that was a useful project. The teeth made it to school but not trick or treating. Also for the night we added some glow-stick earrings.<br />
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It was a pretty cold night, like below 5 degrees, which was a total drag because the night before was 18. Go figure. It could have been a lot worse though with rain & wind & anything else Sandy wanted to throw our way but it wasn't. Just cold. We got comfy with tea & blankets and had a steady supply of hot chocolate to keep us going. The kids did so much running on & off the wagon that we didn't have to worry about them getting cold. Evidently trick or treating has become some sort of high paced action/adventure game where you have to be the first in & first out. There's no such thing as walking.<br />
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They insisted on bringing pillow cases this year because last year their
bags were "too full" so before we left home Sam ripped the pillow case off of
his pillow in a fury of excitement. Couldn't even stand to wait for me to hand him a case from the closet. I got a ton of great photos from the night and it's always so hard to just choose a few. So I didn't. And I'll let them tell the rest of the story.<br />
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By the end of the night the kids hauled in a ton of candy and were very pleased with their score. A real diabetic nightmare.<br />
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I don't know why it looks like Sam has twice as much. He was a ninja so he must have been sneaky. Oh well the less candy for Juliet the better. When we got home our neighbours had some special treats for the kids. They are always thinking about Juliet & her diabetes so instead of candy Juliet got a skeleton doll from one neighbour and pencil crayons from another. Pretty awesome. Even Sofie got some treats.<br />
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I'm glad it's over. It's such a time consuming event with decorations & costumes & bla bla bla. It's all worth it though. I guess it's time to starting thinking about next year...</div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-77718126211779620682012-10-31T00:48:00.001-04:002012-11-30T21:42:05.686-05:00THIS is HALLOWEEN.. this IS halloween.. halloween HALLOWEEN hallowEEN HALLOWEEN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I LOOOOOOOOOVE Halloween. It's fun, it's exciting, it's creepy, it's scary, it's full of CANDY!! It's a chance to go out on a school night! My kids love it too. They are soooooo excited to wake up tomorrow.<br />
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I like to think that I put a lot of effort into Halloween. I really hate the way it's become so 'commercial' with blow up everythings and aisles and aisles of costumes in every store. When I was a kid people were creative with their decorating and there were TONS of haunted houses. Decorations were creepy. My mom made our costumes and I try my very very best to make our costumes too.<br />
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Here's what I came up with this year.<br />
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If you remember <a href="http://thecharlebois.blogspot.ca/2011/12/belated-halloween.html" target="_blank">last year</a>
my husband and I won best couple at our friend's Halloween
party. This year we only won runner up although I think we should have taken
first. That's not to say the winners weren't good, they had great
costumes too... but ours really turned out amazing. AND I made them. I sewed pieces of material together to make the dress and strung every piece of yarn into that wig. I ran out of time to paint stripes on one of my husband's black suits so I did have to go out and find a pin stripe suite... but I did make the bow tie. The makeup was all me and might I add a REAL pain in the ass.</div>
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The party was great and the hosts REALLY go all out. The decor is incredible and they go as far as changing every light bulb in the house to either black or orange. Here are some photos from the night.... followed by some (mostly) unfortunate costumes...</div>
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Did I mention that most of the party go-ers work in some form of law enforcement? Pretty awesome.</div>
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It was a bit of a mad rush tonight to get everything finished up for the big day tomorrow. The kids are wearing their costumes to school and then I won't see them again until I dash outta work early to hit the trick or treating hay ride. This year Juliet is going as a vampire/princess and Sam has now specifically requested to be Kai... the red ninja from Lego Ninjago.</div>
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I managed to find a pair of red jeans at Walmart and a red shirt that I painted the flames onto...</div>
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I finished it off by painting some flames on the red balaclava we found for his Ninja mask and got him a ninja sword. For Juliet I finished sewing her dress down to a size that will fit her and sealed her hat with Modge Podge. I sent them off to bed before I finished so hopefully everything will come together in the morning.<br />
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We also tackled our pumpkins tonight. The kids each gutted their pumpkin & drew faces that I carved out. They turned out great!<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-64927260182142978792012-10-23T00:18:00.003-04:002012-11-30T21:40:00.295-05:00Drummond's Haunted Hay Ride (of Terror)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Let me start this post by saying that if you'd like a shot at getting your name on the list of nominations for 'parent of the year' I would strongly suggest that you pile your young children in the car and take them to Drummond's Haunted Hay Ride in Spencerville. There's nothing that screams parent of the year more than subjecting your kids to a forest full of psychos, evil and death, leaving them breathless, shaking & scarred for life. Take it from me, because I did just that this past Saturday night.<br />
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When friends of ours asked if we wanted to go with them to a haunted hay ride, for some reason I had it in my head that these types of things were good family fun. Perhaps that is because the majority of them are. Perhaps it is because our friends, who have done it before, didn't suggest that Sam & Juliet might be too young. So sure. Why not. My kids would love to see some skeletons, witches, ghosts & goblins. They love Halloween. It'll be fun. I don't think I could have been more wrong. <br />
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Once you arrive at the location, somewhere between hell and the middle of nowhere, other than a couple of spotlights you'd think the world shut off the power. Waiting in line alongside a dark hay field bordered by the forest isn't exactly comforting. In the distance you can hear screams, screeching fireworks, creepy music and smoke from a bonfire drifting through the naked trees.<br />
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I thought it was fabulous. My children, not so much. Every so often masked men would run from the forest to the lineup of us unsuspecting visitors and give us a taste of what's to come. Now even though I wasn't phased by this let it be known that while costumed people are good old fashioned fun, jean & sweatshirt clad people with masks that look like they were stolen from <a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=slipknot&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=DOm&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnsl&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=vceFUJL9OaSEygGDx4GgBQ&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=766" target="_blank">Slipknot</a> or "<a href="https://www.google.ca/search?q=the+strangers&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=kceFUOLYJanQyAGIwYHABw&sqi=2&ved=0CEgQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=766" target="_blank">The Strangers</a>" are plain old psychotic. It took <u>a lot</u> of repeating "this isn't real" to keep the kids having fun. And they were... for the time being. You could even say Juliet was excited. Sam was mostly quiet and seemed to have no problem with the situation. Even when he bumped into someone, turned around and came face to face with this...<br />
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He held his cool. And despite the menacing advances of the psycho clown, Sam even managed to stare it down until it ran off into the darkness. Congratulating Sam for "scaring him off" seemed to ease the tension and made Sam feel good. Or at least pretend to. Still, no one asked to go home. No one had second thoughts. Even after encounters with this..<br />
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and this..</div>
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and this..</div>
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no one asked to go home... and I still thought this was good family fun.<br />
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After a good 45 minute wait we finally made it to the wagon. The kids over heard the tractor driver say something along the lines of "if you're brave sit on this side & if not sit on this side". The kids wanted nothing to do with the brave side... although in retrospect I really don't think it would have made much of a difference. We found a spot to sit at the front of the wagon and Sam decided he preferred to sit on the floor where everything was less visible. As we waited for more people to board the wagon various creatures began climbing the sides of the wagon. I'm sorry did I say creatures? I meant psychopaths.<br />
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Juliet asked if they would come in the wagon and I honestly believed it when I told her no. I even kissed one on the cheek to show her they were harmless. She wasn't buying it.<br />
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It all started out ok. Sam stayed on the floor and Juliet clung to my side. The tractor pulled us through the pitch black forest filled with REALLY creepy noises including the piercing sound of a crying baby. Totally inappropriate, in an awesome way. There were masked psychos in the woods that approached the wagon and some even grabbed onto the sides. There were (real) decrepit old cabins and just enough light to barely see anything clearly, a great way to play with your eyes. At one point in the distance you could see something hanging, or rather swinging lifeless from a tree way above our heads. It was pretty cool and was clearly meant to mimic a hanging dead body... until the wagon was directly under it and it began thrashing & screaming hysterically. It was a real frickin' person!!! Who got stuck with the 'awesome' job of hanging from a tree for 4 hours scaring wagon after wagon! Excuse my language but holy shit! If you ask the kids now they'll tell you it was funny. Really they just didn't understand.<br />
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After that lovely spectacle we were back in the darkness and everyone was still ok. Then in the distance you could just barely see what was coming up next...<br />
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That was one thing that made it so freaky. Most of the route was total blackness until you were about to come upon another horrifying scene. And you could tell by looking at this one that it was something that just wasn't right, although nothing about this night was right. When we got close enough you could see & hear that it was a baby. A giant, creepy, horrific baby looking for it's mother.<br />
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The creepiness of this scene, luckily, went right over the kids heads, and everyone was still doing fine. That is until we were back in the blackness of the forest and the wagon was finally boarded by death itself. Fabulous. It was all downhill from here. In the darkness all you could see was a black figure and the outline of his white scythe approaching our end of the wagon. All Juliet could see was the white scythe. I could feel her tense up and when he finally reached us he flashed on his bright red eyes. Oh lord have mercy. That was all it took. Juliet let out a blood curdling scream of sheer terror and began crying hysterically. Don't even ask me why... I must have had a big 'ol helping of stupid pie for dinner, but I did not expect it. I guess I thought that I had done enough explaining that it was all pretend that I was convinced they would know. FAIL. There was little I could do to calm her down. I held her tight and repeated over and over again that it was okay... it was all pretend. I don't even remember what Sam was doing. I think he was completely silent, but I can guarantee that he too, was terrified. I abandoned my camera and held Juliet. More and more psychos continued to jump ON and IN the wagon from ALL SIDES. In front of us, in back of us, beside us. Everywhere Juliet looked (and anyone for that matter) there was some new masked psycho and she just kept screaming. The more simple, the more terrifying. Yep. Simple, and terrifying. Like... A white mime mask is great in the light of the fair... but in the darkness of a haunted hay ride it's down right terrifying. I'll tell ya, It's one thing to hold your child as they scream... it's another to actually FEEL their terror. Although I was laughing, mostly because I just couldn't believe what was happening, it was pretty intense.<br />
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Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, you hear it. The beloved chainsaw. Awesome. And before you know it, who jumps on the wagon? Why none other than Jason himself! With his very loud and very REAL chainsaw! YAY!! I couldn't believe what was happening. I had to laugh. It was just too crazy. He crouched on the ground swinging his (bladeless) chainsaw and revving the motor. Smoke and the smell of gas filled the air and Sam quickly decided that the floor just might not be the safest place. Having Jason ask "who was gonna be first" also didn't help the situation. He was on the wagon for what was probably the longest 45 seconds of my children's lives before cranking the chainsaw full blast and disappearing into the darkness. CRA-ZI-NESS. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe how scared Juliet was. All I could do was laugh and, as horrible as it sounds, think "this is awesome". Of course my children being scared wasn't awesome... but I knew they weren't in any danger. This was the greatest hay ride ever.<br />
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There was a long stint where nothing terribly traumatizing happened and the kids began to calm a little. Well, Juliet did. Sam was eerily silent the whole time from what I can remember. Come to think of it, I really can't remember Sam's reaction to much of anything because Juliet was so hysterical. After narrowly missing a head on collision with a train, which was quite well done, I had to coach her through the horrible sounds of blood thirsty wild animals accompanied by red eyes in the darkness of the trees by telling her it's just a radio. The next scene we fell upon didn't scare the kids as much as I thought it might so I was able to loosen my grip on Juliet and pull out the camera again. The picture might not show it but it was a very real electrical execution. <br />
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"I can see the end" I said to the kids who were quite happy to know that it was almost over. "Can we go right home?" Juliet asks. Well... not before passing by a clown that makes Pennywise, the clown from IT, look like a fluffy rabbit. And who so graciously stood up from his display of hanging balloons and baby parts to approach the wagon. I covered Juliet's eyes and told Sam not to look if he didn't want to... to put his face in my lap. I can't even remember what he did.<br />
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So the worst was over. The end was near. The kids were able to catch their breath and were so excited that they could see the end they were able to suffer through the remaining psychos jumping at the wagon. What an experience. A little less good old family fun and a lot more terror. I was certain I would never, ever sleep alone again. <br />
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The owners & volunteers that put this together did a FABULOUS job. It was well worth the money & well worth the wait. I would do it again in a heartbeat... But perhaps there should be a disclaimer to the tune of "not suitable for children under 10". I have to say... calling it "the SCARIEST ride around when ghosts & goblins, witches & phantoms take over Drummond's Sugar Bush and turn it into a very EERIE place" is putting it mildly. It's kinda false advertising. And by kinda I mean completely & totally. Like I said earlier, it's definitely more of a "... SCARIEST ride around when psychos, evil and death take over Drummond's Sugar Bush and turn it into an experience that will leave you breathless, shaking & scarred for life". My children, Juliet especially, narrowly escaped death by heart attack. That's way more than an "eerie" place. When we got back to the comfort of the van and started home they both voiced how they'd like to never do that again. And even though I knew the answer I asked, for fun, if they liked it or hated it. Sam, who is always trying to be tougher than he is, says " a little bit like, but a little bit hate. I like more the hay ride at Edgewood Farms. They just have cows".</div>
Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-17214563357358143722012-10-21T20:11:00.001-04:002012-11-28T23:57:21.915-05:00why hello strangers..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted on here. Actually I can. Life is crazy. With Juliet on the pump & me starting work it's been a crazy whirlwind of ups & downs and it only really feels like we're getting the hang of it now, which is fabulous because who loves nothing more than finally settling into a routine and managing to get Juliet's sugars somewhat under control just in time for a change that will throw a wicked curveball at life as we know it? Me that's who. And what is that curveball you ask? My husband goes back to work in 3 weeks. And not back to a 9 to 5 job that would cater swimmingly to a smoothe transition into a new routine. No no no. Back into shift work that bumps us here and there and up the creek. That means I've got as much time to find daycare for Sofie and (hopefully) settle into a whole new routine. Oh how do I love change, let me count the ways. Zero. Totally not looking forward to this. So lets look back instead.<br />
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It's been a crazy past few weeks. October is Halloween month and so what little spare time I have has been devoted to costume prep etc. Since I started working at the daycare I've developed crafting fever and so along with costume prep I've been trying to do crafts with the kids. Here's what we've accomplished thus far...<br />
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For Halloween this year I am going to be Sally & my husband will be Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas. That means I have to turn this..<br />
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into a patchwork dress, and this..<br />
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into a wig. This is great because I don't really know how to sew let alone design a dress. It's a good thing it's supposed to look ragged. I've been working on it for a few weeks now and it is coming along. I'll have the final photos up as soon as it's done. I haven't even tackled Jack yet and the party is on the 27th. High five.<br />
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Juliet wanted to be a princess again but I didn't want her to wear the same dress as last year so I found a black puffy dress in my closet that I could easily transform into a "bad" or "evil" princess. She agreed and then went even further to decide on a vampire princess. It's going to be awesome. I painted her fairy wings black and covered them in spider webs. I got a cardboard cone that I am turning into a "princess" hat using black paint, black glitter & bat stickers. I'll have pictures of that soon too. Every boy from kindergarten to grade 6 is going as a ninja so Sam decided to be original and go as a ninja. Lol. I honestly don't really know what I will do for that but it shouldn't be too challenging.<br />
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So like I said I've been doing a lot of crafts with my little guys at school and I've been experimenting at home with ideas and doing crafts with Sam & Juliet too. I found this really cool melted crayon art project and decided I wanted to give it a try. Crayons melt a lot quicker with a hair dryer than you'd think...<br />
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Pretty cool eh? I didn't bring this idea to school in the end, at least not yet. But I did find this awesome pumpkin craft and we did make some cool pumpkins with the kids...<br />
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Love them. And so did the kids. At home I also turned one of our pumpkins into what I like to call a "Steampumpkin".<br />
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So those have been our pumpkin projects. We have yet to buy carving pumpkins... but may not even do any because there might not be anyone home on Halloween night. I guess it'll depend on what Sam & J want to do. So I guess we'll be carving pumkins...<br />
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I saw another cool craft that I knew I couldn't do with the kids at school so I did it with Sam & Juliet at home. They started by painting picture frames in Halloween colors and then glued googley eyes all over them. Then we embellished them with Halloween ribbon & a wooden Halloween decal.<br />
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I'll get pictures of them all dressed up to put in the frames. I love them!!<br />
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At school I've been doing some hand & footprint art with the kiddies too. They love how it tickles and it makes for some really cute art. Here's what I've done with the board at school... The older kids did the pumpkins & cats & my guys did the spiders & ghost footprints.<br />
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On Friday we made Frankenstein magnets. They were awesome.<br />
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See what I mean when I say busy?? And that's not even all. Yesterday I made a wreath out of leaves that Sam, J & I gatherd from the ground. I had no idea what I was going to do but as it turns out, with a wire circle and a glue gun you can do wonders. It's hanging on our front door.<br />
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Ok. Done with the crafting segment. Moving on...<br />
<br />
Sofie is officially crawling and has 2 bottom teeth. All of which have occured in the last week. Up until now she'd been rolling everywhere she wanted to go. Like ninja style. She'd roll right across the room if she wanted something on the other side. She's also got a fierce temper and an even fiercer appetite. Lol.<br />
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Before figuring out the crawling all she did was plank.<br />
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Core of steel. <br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-36568617331912877762012-09-13T12:15:00.001-04:002012-11-30T21:56:16.636-05:00New Beginnings! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you recall, Sam lost his first (top) front tooth back in <a href="http://thecharlebois.blogspot.ca/2012/07/finally.html" target="_blank">July</a>. Well it only took 7 weeks for him to finally lose the other!<br />
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He
pulled it out the day before school started, which was 3 weeks ago!!
Unfortunately the tooth fairy completely forgot to pay him a visit and
he was surprised to find his tooth the next morning right where he left
it, under his pillow. "It must be because you crawled into bed with me
in the middle of the night Sam... the tooth fairy didn't know where you
were." Sam took care of that the next night. Before climbing into bed
with me he pulled the tooth out from under his pillow and left it out in
plain view so that the tooth fairy was sure not to miss it. Thankfully
she didn't.<br />
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SO as I said... school started 3 weeks
ago. Back into the swing of things... school, homework, extra-curricular
activities. Sam is into his pre-season hockey full swing & Juliet
has begun her various dance classes. This year we are doing ballet, tap,
jazz & lyrical... I'll tell ya that girl is gonna have moves like
Jagger she will. Lol. Juliet also started something MAJOR yesterday....
da da da da da da daaaaa......<br />
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</h2>
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insulin pump therapy!!!!!</h2>
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Yes!
Just the right dose of drive me crazy & pull out my hair. Holy
moly. We spent the day at CHEO yesterday learning "advanced carb
counting" & bla bla bla so that we can adequately take care of our
little girl over the next 10 days (& the rest of her life for that
matter) but the next 1-2 weeks happen to be REALLY strict and
frighteningly scheduled. That's what it takes to establish her insulin
amounts accurately. Of course she's hooked up to the pump not half an
hour before she slips into a state of hypoglycemia and almost passes out
unconscious. Awesome start. Nothing a little juice couldn't fix. With
that snafu out of the way we managed to drift through the afternoon
without issue. Well... I shouldn't say "without" issue. Leave it to us
to decide to host a BBQ for a few friends on the first night we have to
measure Juliet's carbs at supper time to within 1 gram of her carb
target. Again... for the non-diabetics... she is allowed to eat 45 grams
of carbs at supper time, and has the flexibility to eat 44g or 46g....
but no further. As my husband tends to the plethora of crap on the BBQ,
here I am half an hour late for supper, trying to lug a crying Sofie
around the kitchen & heat up her supper... listening to Sam complain
about how hungry he is & "what can he eat while he's waiting"...
all while trying to weigh & calculate a meal for Juliet that has a
carb count of exactly 45g... no more no less. I manage to eek out a
43.3g meal and top it off with a whole 2.4g (50ml) of milk to push it up
into her target at 45.7g. "SO what does the pump do?" asks my husbands
friend... to which I replied rather quickly "drive me crazy". </div>
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</h4>
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Note to self: Do not host a BBQ on the same day life sustaining treatment is introduced into your daughter's life.</h4>
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So
for the next 2 weeks we will be running to & from school testing
her blood before meals & 2 hours after and giving her insulin
boluses at lunch. That's not crazy at all. I figured it would be easier
to deal with the next 2 weeks ourselves and then teach the school how to
do it once ratios are established. No need to overwhelm anyone else in
addition to ourselves. I know it will get easier but geez... makes
giving needles a friggin' walk in the park!</div>
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While
it sucks that the summer is over I must admit I am really looking
forward to the end of allergy season and a stop to my horribly itchy
eyes and equally, if not more annoying nose. My allergies (hayfever)
went into remission for a few years but last year during my pregnancy
they came back with a vengeance. As they did this summer. Yay me. On a
good day my nose is just stuffed with thick mucous (your welcome.. in
the event you've just thanked me for sharing that) but when it really counts my eyes, nose & throat are so itchy I'd like to swallow sandpaper just to relieve the itch. It's really quite wonderful.<br />
<br />
So one more new little thing before I sign off... just thought I'd mention that I'm a working mother again.<br />
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What? What's that you say? You have a job?? </h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
YES!!!! </h4>
I
decided that I didn't get enough craziness taking care of my own 3 children so I
went out a sought employment taking care of other people's children too! Oh
yes I did. I am the
newest teacher for the school age program at the daycare in Sam &
Juliet's school. I
just started last week and will be working part time after school with
the JR & SR kindergarten kids... Juliet's classmates. Needless to
say I got a lot of strange looks from the kids wondering why "Juliet's
mom" was there. Lol. Now after a few days I have become "Madame" and not
"Juliet's mom"... although every so often one of the kids reminds me. Today I get to tackle the whole brood by myself. My co-teacher (the one who has been doing this for YEARS... the one who's lead I follow...) is needed in another program. Awesome. Toss me in with the wolves! Me against eleven 4 & 5 year olds (13 tomorrow). Should be interesting.... <br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-91275779909184195102012-09-08T17:29:00.001-04:002012-11-30T21:31:53.241-05:00"three tomatoes are walking down the street- a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato. baby tomato starts lagging behind. poppa tomato gets angry, goes over to the baby tomato, and smooshes him... and says, catch up!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
September already. Who knew summer would go so fast.... which is pretty much what everybody says, every year, at about this time. It was a busy one... and before we get into all things school & routine I wanted to do some "catching-up" from the summer. There are a couple of things I never got around to sharing.<br />
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PARKWAY ADVENTURES </h3>
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At the beginning of the summer we had so much time... or at least it felt like it. We spent a lot of time exploring areas of where we live that we'd never been before. One of those spots was the 1000 Islands Parkway. We've driven it a lot, but never really stopped along the way. So in mid July, we did.</div>
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Can you believe this sign? When I first caught sight of it all I saw was "White Section". I almost tripped. At second glance it's clearly not racially motivated (I hope), but just for a second I was worried about what kind of a beach we were on.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
BROCKVILLE CEMETERIES</h3>
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I love exploring graveyards. I could honestly travel the world with an itinerary based solely on where the coolest & most ancient graveyards are. There is a pretty cool cemetery right here in Brockville and if I don't ever buy an island in the river to lay myself to rest I wouldn't mind having a plot in this cemetery. Some of the graves date back to the 1700s!!</div>
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Another thing about old cemeteries is the amount of graves you will come across that belong to babies. It was shocking. I took tons of photos and debated as to whether or not I should post them. I decided that I would as a way to remember them by. Everyone who reads my blog will see the photos and each of these little babies will be thought of once more.</div>
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-5424675204797107152012-09-02T19:25:00.001-04:002012-11-28T22:54:37.190-05:00peaches & green beans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-17785349460109240512012-09-01T00:12:00.000-04:002012-11-30T21:31:38.266-05:00Old Forge, NY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Charlebois family adventure day one. Up at 7am. The aim was to leave
home by 10 and I think we actually managed to get out of the house by
10:30, which is an AMAZING feat for my family of slo-mo's. Not a bad start... But by the time we hit the 401 a whole 2kms away it was just after noon. That's more like our schedule. Taking too much time to do the simplest of errands. We managed
to merge and accelerate to almost 80kms/hr before we hit traffic at a
standstill. Construction. Fabulous. There's another 25 minutes tacked on to our
already 90 minute, 3km voyage.<br />
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We finally arrived in old forge around 5pm. So taking into account we
left at 10:30ish and made a pit stop at Target, we only took 7 hours to do a
3 hour drive. Not bad timing for a family of 5 including an infant and a
diabetic on a strict eating schedule.<br />
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After checking in we drove into the campground in search of "Kabin #15" in "Chipmunk Cove" or something like that.<br />
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"Where is our cabbage?"asks Juliet.<br />
"Our what?" I reply.<br />
"Our cabbage" She says.<br />
"It's a cabIN Juliet, not cabbage. Cabin"<br />
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We found our spot & settled in. It was awesome. Clean & cozy. We lit a fire & cooked some dinner & got the kids ready for bed. We have some excellent campers... and Sofie was right on in there.<br />
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Kids asleep, my husband and I were sitting by the
campfire enjoying the relaxing sounds of camp life. On this particular night those sounds included our neighbour shouting "hey! Shoo! Get outta here!" ... We chuckled. Must be a skunk. Maybe a raccoon. Better him than us. Lol. [Insert
growling bear noise here]. Excuse me?! What was that you say? And not just one bear... No no. It was mama
bear and her cubs. Are you kidding me?? What happened to skunks & raccoons? I'm a little surprised
that I didn't fly from the comfort of the fire through mid air and
straight into the comfort, & safety, of the cabin. I didn't even
wet my pants, which is very possibly more than I can say for the campers
one over from us who turned around from their fire to retrieve their marshmallows off their picnic table that just happened to be
covered in BEAR. Geez. ON the picnic table? Really? I decided at this point that it was probably a
good idea to get rid of our garbage that was sitting on OUR picnic table. The campground did warn us about bears, but we've been warned before about bears in Lake Placid and NEVER even came close to seeing any. And they warn you against leaving food out or in view when you aren't around or are sleeping... they don't warn you about the bears that will steal your food WHILE you are eating it!! So, we proceeded to watch as the bears devoured the poor kids marshmallows
& graham crackers a whole 20 feet away. So much for relaxing by the fire. More like sitting on edge with flashlights on trying to decide if that's a bear or your eyes playing tricks on you. As the bears moved on, the lovely relaxing
sounds of camp life turned into the distant honk of a car horn, the
occasional shouts of "bear" and another "get outta here!" before the
bears mounted a second assault on our area from the rear! I swear... If
we didn't have a cabin to sleep in I probably would have been wearing one of
Sofie's diapers, if someone was even able to talk me out of the van and
into sleeping in a tent. It's amazing how much courage knowing you can
retreat into a [somewhat] safe cabin can give you. Oh, and we decided
that we'd have our s'mores for breakfast. Although if the bears are coming right up & joining you for meals I guess it doesn't really matter. Here's a pic I took from where the bears were eating their treats, just to illustrate how close they were.<br />
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The next night was more of the same, although the bears didn't come up and steal the food from our plates. Sitting by the fire I nonchalantly mentioned that there was "a bear over there"... similar to the way you might announce the presence of a raccoon. Black bears are a little difficult to see in the dark so just to be sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on my my husband shone the flashlight behind the fire. Sure enough, a HUGE bear strolling right by our site. Seriously? He was even closer than the cubs the night before! Gave us a look like "S'up?" & carried on. Really? I couldn't help but pat myself on the back for renting a cabin over tenting it. Good call. And that wasn't even the end of it! In the morning when we woke up early with the kids we noticed that our neighbour's car door was wide open. Early risers as well? Ha! Upon closer inspection we noticed that the front seat was covered in dirt while the back seat was all messed up and covered in empty wrappers. Oh yes. These bears open doors!! A park employee informed us that mama bear has already taught her cubs to open car doors. Yep. You read that right. BEARS OPEN CAR DOORS FOR FOOD. How funny would it have been to get up in the night to pee and find a bear eating chocolate in your back seat? Probably not as funny as it would have been to see the bear in your neighbours back seat...<br />
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So that was the end of our bear encounters. Not like that wasn't enough. They were still around though because you could clearly hear the shoos & yells from all angles of the woods. 24-7 we were told... and this was the worst summer yet. Urban bears... they like their chocolate & s'mores and will open your car doors & smash through your cabin windows to get it. Awesome.<br />
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Now let's get back to the real reason we went on this trip. We wanted to end the summer with a bang so nothing screams fun more than camping & an amusement/water park!! Yes indeed! A day and a half of water slides & kiddie rides! WooHoo! The campground has a wonderful package deal where you can camp for 3 nights & get a day pass to the water park. Bonus... if you go to the water park one day after 3pm the whole next day is free! AND... there's a shuttle bus to & from the campground to the park. What more could you want? (No bears perhaps??). So the kids patiently (somewhat) waited until 3 o'clock rolled around and off I went with them to the water park. We had 3 hours until closing so I decided we should walk around and get a feel for the park so that when we came back first thing in the morning we would know exactly where we wanted to be. After we walked around we could hit a couple of slides.<br />
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First order of business... a gondola ride that the kids INSISTED we go on. Lovely. It barely secured us in and made my legs jello the entire ride. The kids thought it was wonderful but all I could think about was falling to our death. And the thing moves so damn slowly you get a whole half hour to think about it. Barf. Juliet even cried when I said we would NOT be doing that again. On the plus side it gave us a fantastic aerial view of the park so we knew exactly where we wanted to go. We went on a couple of slides after that I had to basically coerce Sam into. I'm really not that mean... He's just scared of everything the first time and I knew he would like them. Which he did. Then I decided that we should try a slide called "The Shadow". The kids were a little skeptic but I assured them it would be fine. "It won't go fast" I said. I decided that the best course of action would be for me to go down first so I could wait for them at the bottom. They agreed. So we climbed up the 6 story slide and got in line. "Go ahead" the lifeguard says as he looks over the edge waiting for the person ahead of me to reach a certain point. Off I go. Holy s#*t. My life flashed before my eyes. Never in all of my life have I felt speed like I did on that slide. I thought I was going to die. As you slide you naturally lift your head up a bit to try and see where you are going... even if they tell you to lie down and cross your arms & legs. Oh my god. There was one part of the slide that was so friggin' fast it whipped my head back so hard my neck hurt for 3 days afterwards. When I finally shot out of the bottom of the slide like a bullet and regained some sort of equilibrium all I could think of was little Juliet coming down behind me. "Oh Shit" I said to the lifeguard. But it was no use. They start the next person at the top before the first even reaches the bottom. At this point all I could do was wait for Juliet to shoot out the bottom and do damage control. I was sure this was the end of the water park. I couldn't even imagine Juliet being able to breath at that speed... I barely could. And Sam... he would never forgive me. I stood there anticipating the hysterics. <br />
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Lucky for me (& them I guess), it turns out that kids don't go nearly as fast as adults do! Phew. Juliet plopped out of the bottom and Sam came down sitting up!! I couldn't believe it! They even wanted to do it again! Yay! Of course I had yet another near death experience and got another dose of whip lash but the kids loved it. Not even Papa went down fast. <br />
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As we walked around the park the following day Sam decided he wanted to try racing Papa down a slide that was pretty steep, and we decided we were not going to stop him (thus giving up our chance at the parent of the year award). I knew I had to get a picture of this the first time because there was no way there would be a second. As soon as Sam hit the water and proceeded to swim from the pool like there was a shark on his tail I could tell we were going to have tears. "How was that?" I asked excitedly, knowing full well what the answer was going to be. "BAD" he barked... and burst into tears. I couldn't help but laugh as I gave him a hug. I know, I'm horrible. But it was too funny... and I knew he was fine & just a bit shaken up. We tried to make him feel better by telling him that he won. It worked... even though the pictures say otherwise...<br />
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Brave little man! There was only one other time that I might have forced Sam, crying, into a tube
& down a slide. Juliet wanted to try it first but when we got to the top she chickened out. When I went up with Sam and he did the same I wasn't taking no for an answer. It's not like he had to ride it alone. It was a double tube & I was right there with him. I might have looked like a horrible heartless mother... and my tattoos probably didn't help the image, but I did it because
I knew that in the end he would love it. Which he did :o)<br />
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The rest of the time was great. I didn't get on too many slides because we had Sofie but the kids had a blast. It really is a great spot. Lots of water activities & just enough amusement rides to keep the kids entertained, with NO LINEUPS. It was great. I've done enough talking for one night so I'll let the pictures say it all. Well definitely be back again next year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvmAHP0jMqnUt_8urYhywjNgBA7zFg7Sfu27m4nCeEaIHJ1T7BAw7Gk-XURxpss_NlLGVXGh8JjixsmOCy-yNHPc7nmTvO-cUk6qW7BrU_4pUk2MpovUJX6CfdY4Itub32UlNYus3_GLS/s1600/old+forge9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvmAHP0jMqnUt_8urYhywjNgBA7zFg7Sfu27m4nCeEaIHJ1T7BAw7Gk-XURxpss_NlLGVXGh8JjixsmOCy-yNHPc7nmTvO-cUk6qW7BrU_4pUk2MpovUJX6CfdY4Itub32UlNYus3_GLS/s640/old+forge9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-539252208074874521.post-4233235022026703162012-08-09T22:27:00.001-04:002012-11-30T21:35:42.796-05:00un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, SEPT!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Happy birthday to Sam... Happy birthday to Sam... Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to Sam!!<br />
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My baby boy turned 7 today. Wow. 7!!!!! He was very excited. Yesterday we went to the grocery store & he picked out a cake. A mint chocolate mousse cake... which Juliet understood to be a MOOSE cake.. and wanted NOTHING to do with it. Sam tried to explain to her that it's not made of moose but just called that because the chocolate on the top is in the shape of a moose. I almost didn't want to intervene in their conversation to explain what mousse was... but I did. "Ohhhhhhh".<br />
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We didn't have any plans for the day really. Sam wants to have his birthday party at the movie theatre so we have to wait until there's an appropriate movie playing. Sam has decided that "Hotel Transylvania" will be the one but it doesn't open until the end of September. So all he wanted to do today was..... go to McDonalds. We hit McD's for lunch & East Side Mario's for supper where Sam was serenaded by the waitstaff in a loud ESM version of happy birthday. Sam had the cutest look on his face... a mixture of happiness, shock & embarrassment. It was good. We got video but I'll have to post it tomorrow... for now here are some pics.<br />
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Cocohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14347381138455250926noreply@blogger.com0