Day 296 ~ Ghosts

I didn't have a picture for today, so I sent Sean up to take a picture of the kids.  He came downstairs with this - the kids pretending to be a ghost.

Day 290 ~ Player of the Game

Connor played today - the kids played hard, but it was a loss nonetheless.  The day got better when Connor was awarded Player of the Game award!

Mommy finally got smart - this is how Mason spent some of his time at the game.  He is obsessed with hockey sticks, and the last couple of games all he sees are hockey sticks that he can't get.  These mini-sticks did the trick!

Day 282 ~ School Pictures

These proofs came home from school yesterday.

Day 276 ~ Hockey Star

Today was our first regular season game...we lost, but the kids had a great time on the ice.  Here's my superstar in action.

Mason's new favorite game.

Day 272~ Sleeping Boy

I took this picture last week....but since I forgot to take one today, here it is.

Day 263 ~ Rep Hockey Game Day Attire

So Connor made the rep team, which means that dress code for games is now as follows:  dress pants, dress shoes, white shirt and tie.  He was pretty excited about this - and wants to wear it for picture day as school.  I wonder how his 25 year old self will feel about this cute little boy in the shirt and tie?

Day 259 ~ Amoxicillan

Bi-lateral ear infection, and pink eye in both eyes.  I think tomorrow will be a much better day.

It was our school BBQ tonight, so I took Connor and Morgan...Mason and Daddy stayed home, where Mason stuck his finger in Daddy's eye...His Pink Eye finger!!!  Here is Connor with his friends.

And the evening favorite, Cotton Candy.

Day 250 ~ First Day of School

Wow!  Another school year has begun - and Mason started daycare today.  We did the traditional "photo shoot" for the first day of school.

Not sure where this rock star pose came from...

Day 227 ~ Home Sweet Home

Everyone was pretty happy to be getting out of the car after a two-day road trip. The kids were troopers - I never would have thought that driving from Toronto to Moncton would be this easy.

Day 222 ~ Friends

The kids had a great day with friends that we don't see often enough.

Day 219 ~ Crystal Place, Part 2

Another day spent at Crystal Palace...I remember when it opened in 1990 (I know this because the staff are all wearing 20 Year Anniversary shirts), we thought it was so cheesy.  And useless.  My 18 year old self had no idea what a blessing it would be when you have young children in tow.  If I lived in Moncton, I might never go.  But my children beg to go anytime we visit.

This time daddy was with us, so I was able to duck into Chapters to enjoy my Skinny Vanilla Latte and browse for a bit.

I bought these bags at Chapters - they were originally 25$, with a 75% discount, so 6$ a bag.  Three kids, 3 bags.  Love them.

And this is Morgan's favorite ride....she must have gone 20 times the first day we came, and another 20 times today.  This is her favorite seating position, under the 'M', for Morgan.

Day 210 ~ Crystal Palace

A trip to Moncton just isn't complete without a day in Crystal Palace.

Day 209 ~ Day at the Beach

Of course Mason has to try the sand.

This beach thing is hard work.

Day 208 ~ Breakfast at Mémére`s

Mémére makes the best breakfasts...way better than mommy`s cereal and milk.

Day 206 ~ Roadtrip to NB

We left our house at 5am, before the sun came up.  We saw the sunrise from the 401 as we were passing through Toronto.  Somebody told me that the kids would be sleeping until 8am.  Not these kids...chatterboxes until 6:30am, when Connor and Mason fell asleep.  Morgan was quiet, but not sleeping.

The one thing I always like about driving through Ontario are the rest stops.  I think they're awesome.  The last time we drove to NB was 2002, however, and today all we saw were signs saying the rest stops were closed.  At first I thought it was just the one, but as we were driving, we kept seeing the same signs.  They aren't just renovating these.  They were completely levelled.  Here is the spot of a former rest stop.

There was a new Canadian Tire rest stop called On Route just before we hit Cornwall...We could get gas and use the bathrooms, but there were only vending machines inside for now.  Eventually I think there will be a Tim Hortons and something else in there, but not until September.  I find it odd that they wouldn't be able to get these in before the summer travel season began.

We had been driving for 4 hours at this point, so I let the kids run around a bit while Sean got gas.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the police officer who stopped us for speeding.  Oops!  Morgan was very happy that she would get to see a real Speeding Ticket.  We stopped again around noon at a rest stop in Quebec where there was a playground for the kids.  We stayed for about 40 minutes, and didn't get out of the car again until 5pm when we hit Edmunston, NB.  We stayed at the Quality Inn, and as soon as we got in Mason started tearing around the room.  He was so happy to be out of his carseat!

We ordered pizza for dinner, then I let the kids do what my parents let us do when we drove from Alberta to NB in the summer of 1977 - jump on the beds!

All in all, it was a great first day.  I had never driven more than 3 hours with the kids, so I was very worried about how this would go.  The DVD players obviously saved the day, but the kids did amazing.

Day 202 ~ Splash Works

Went to Wonderland today - love these season passes.  This is Connor when the giant bucket was emptied.

Day 201 ~ Potions

The kids have been begging to make a potion, so today being a home day, I give them the green light.  I kept it to edible items in case they decided to taste it (Connor wanted to use OFF! bug spray), but it was pretty disgusting looking - nobody tasted it.  Some of the ingredients - Peanut butter, lemon extract, kitchen bouquet, sea salt, bay leaves, tea, crystal light, cocoa, mustard, BBQ sauce, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, food colouring, and many more.

The final result:

And quiet baby = trouble...man they love those kleenex boxes!

Day 200 ~ Al Fresco Dining

The kids and I had lunch on the new patio.

What have you been eating?

Ohhhh....Purple popsicle!

Day 198 ~ Family Playdates

I bought this beach towel in March 1989, when I went to Daytona for March Break with three of my friends.  It is still the towel I take with me everywhere.

Today was a playdate at a friend's house.  These are my "girls"...we met in 1999 as part of a Dragon Boat team, and as we added partners to our lives, we started to meet for brunch or dinner every once in a while.  Throw in a few kids, and the dates get further and further apart.  This is the first time we all met as families.  So what started as four girls has grown to 8 adults, 7 kids, and another imminent arrival.  Connor and Morgan loved the diving board.

Day 196 ~ Canada's Wonderland

Another fun day at Wonderland.

Morgan's favourite roller coaster.

This is the Riptide Racer,

And this is Connor coming down.  He had a HUGE smile on his face when he got to the bottom.

Mason enjoyed his first splash pad.