Week 10 Day 6 - Wednesday, July 22nd - Cleaning Day

Today was a “clean up” day. It was sunny out so we enjoyed the nice weather and I kicked the boys out of the trailer. We had to put it “back together” as Kyler calls it. The boys played outside while I moved the beds around and made things a bit more livable for someone else, and packed the van up.
I caught these photos of the boys before I started working:



I moved Arnold and my bed from the table area back to where it belongs (along with getting some new sheets on there) and got it all set up. Then I moved all the things that were on there outside to the car (for storage in the garage) or back in other containers (for things we might need during our family reunion) or threw away. That part was nice. Some of the things I had I knew we wouldn’t use again!

Work in progress:



I managed to clean out all the bench seats and have some serious fun with that. It’s all clean (and a bit lighter) and then I started to repack it. Not that I wanted to but some of the things we need for the family reunion so I figured I might as well repack it while I can.

I cleaned off the boys bed and got it set up again for them. I did need to get a few things clean out from there (ie cereal they didn’t eat and left) but aside from that it was pretty good. Arnold and I were both shocked with how little ants there were. I honestly expected a lot more since you see them crawling on everything but nope! Not here.

I put the boys down for an early nap, since Monday’s soccer practice had gone so bad, and made them sleep. Arnold did call once and I told him how upset I was about the boys not napping and that there would be NO soccer at all and by the time I got off the phone with him they were out like a light!

While they napped I did some more ‘house stuff’ by calling all the numbers and getting bills set up for the house. It’s exciting but scary at the same time.

Once the boys got up we headed out early to do some fun things. We did get stopped at the front driveway, again, but this time the guy was nice. He explained who they were and about their reasons for going on strike and gave an example. I must say that is easier to understand/take then just being told to wait 5 to 10 minutes.
We headed off to Wal-Mart and looked for something for the boys room. I was excited to check it out but when I got there… there was NOTHING! It sucked. We are going to check out home depot and Rona later and see if they have anything (for those of you in TO or in Canada for that matter, we are looking for animal stuff for their room (Land animals and water ones, not like what they actually look like but ones that are a bit kiddish, if that makes sense).
We picked up our groceries there and headed out to the car. The boys did great. We then went to the Library and brought back our old books and checked out some new ones. Kyler picked a lot of books and I told him we would have to do a lot of reading since he was leaving soon for Nana and Papa’s house. We had to go over our countdown to their house again… it’s getting old.
After the Library we went to Price Choppers since we realized we forgot the powder doughnuts to get the kids to play soccer. We quickly went in and paid for them and back in the car. We went to a ‘new park’ with the kids today. This strike is getting old! I mean it doesn’t do much for us here (aside from being stopped sometimes) but the parks are GROSS. We ended up going to the slide and swings on the other side of the field from where we play soccer. We got there around 5pm and brought everything over there (the grass is bad, I can’t stand walking through the jungle but hey there isn’t any garbage there). We had our sub supper and then went to soccer.
Quinton and Arnold took the van and went to the garage and dropped off a load of things then back to the storage unit and packed up again. Kyler and I went to the soccer game! We tied, 3-3. K played in net and did a great job with kicking and such. I have some great photos I’ll post up here, sorry for the large amount.

When the game was over I called Arnold to see where he was and he said he was at the storage unit so we waited in the parking lot. Auntie Kristina and Uncle Tim waited with us (they used the time to clean their car) and we hung out beside them. It was nice to not wait by ourselves. That parking lot clears out as fast as possible. By the time 8:15 rolled around there was NO ONE there but us.

Kyler and I got in the van and headed out to the new house and unloaded everything into the garage and off we went home. We did stop at Dairy Queen to get some milkshakes (as we were too late for Reid’s and K played SO well). We got what we wanted and headed back to camp. No getting stopped. In fact no one was there but the security guards. It was kind of funny.

We put the boys to bed and went to bed ourselves shortly after. Soccer days are hard on everyone!

Week 9 Day 6 - Wednesday, July 15th - PJ day

We had another lazy day. Arnold talked to the people up at the gate before he left for work and told them we would be up there to renew for another week. He also was talking to the ‘nice one’ and she said she could get Mom and Dad in for the weekend. This made us VERY happy since Saturday is the Zoo day.

The boys and I went up on our walk with our PJ’s on for our pj morning! It was wonderful. When we got up there I found out that the night before Arnold had been up there visiting and the boys got to push the open and close button for the gate and they really wanted to do it again. The nice lady there snuck the kids in and helped them push the buttons. I double checked that it was ok for mom and dad and she said she would make it happen. Then we headed down the road back to the trailer taking our time. It was good. We had some lunch and then had a quick nap time. I made sure the boys remembered the rule about no naps means no soccer. They got so bad with it that Arnold had to call and talk to Kyler and tell him to go to sleep!

We left a bit early and went to the library and picked up some new books and movies and paid for our late fees from the weeks before. Then we headed out to the park for our picnic. The park was getting dirty. The garbage strike is really making the city look bad. The nice part is that the garbage bags near the playground at least are looking like they get emptied about once or twice a week so it wasn’t that bad when we showed up on Wednesday.

I was talking to Kristina and asking if Rob had called her. I told her about the email we had got the other day from him saying he was going to call people soon and I wanted to know if he called. Kristina said nope, not yet but she checked her machine and there was a message there! It was so exciting! She said she would call him back when she got some time. I was pumped!! One step closer to getting the house.

We went over for our game at 7:30pm. It was our first ‘late game’. It was rough too. These kids are not meant to stay up so late. Kyler did incredible but the other children and not late night kids! When we got in the car our phones started ringing. It turns out that Uncle Tim’s car had a flat. Arnold offered to turn around (we really weren’t that far) and help them fix it but they were going to call CAA. We should have gone back because we found it took about 1hour to get someone out there. We stopped and got some drinks just before Reid’s closed and then we headed home and off to bed.

Week 9 Day 4 - Monday, July 13th - Kyler's photos, soccer, and more

The boys slept in this morning, which was a good thing since I was tired. Q got up after Arnold left for work and I brought Q into bed with me. We played around for a bit and I asked him what he wanted to do. He reached for my camera and said CHEESE! I took the camera and took a photo of him. He said he wanted the flash on so I took another one with flash and by then K was waking up so here are my 2 cute little boys:



I read a lot of the day and the boys played around. K got a hold of my camera and took a few shots of his brother and the great outdoors.








I emailed the owner of the house we saw the other day with our references and told him we were excited to hear back from him. Our biggest issue wasn’t that we wouldn’t get the house but that someone would ‘outbid’ us for it. We were willing to pay what he asked for as far as the rent amount but not much more, not because it wasn’t worth it but because that price is already at the upper level of what we could afford. Plus he told us that he wanted to keep his word and let the other people view the house that couldn’t come to day. We knew he had at least one person coming on the Wednesday so we had to wait until then. It was hard to wait! I hate waiting!!!!

We had our soccer practice that night and we went to McDonalds for supper earlier. Uncle Tim brought E and we had supper with her but Auntie Kristina was working a bit later and taking the TTC in so we were alone with the kids. Man they take a lot of energy from us! We did manage to hold them off until we could order something for Auntie Kristina and Arnold and then we headed out to the soccer field. Arnold met us there and I took the kids to soccer. We had to have some ‘parental involvement’ on Monday night. That part sucked but what can you do! We got to work on passing with the kids and dribbling the ball. I didn’t have my runners on (I have been trying to wear them every week just in case but we were in a rush so I only had my sandals on). But we did ok. Auntie Kristina and Auntie Lori watched Quinton for me since Arnold was listening to the radio and eating his supper in the van.
We stopped for some milkshakes and it was a LONG wait. But we got our drinks/ice cream and headed home. We brought the boys right into bed since we were so tired and they knocked out about 30 minutes later.

Week 8 Day 6 and 7 - Wednesday and Thursday, July 8th and 9th - blah

Wednesday July 8; Thursday, July 9th

Aside from having Soccer on Wednesday evening I truly don’t remember much about everything. We had a lot of talks with my parents that week I remember. The agent took our stuff for the house and said our credit rating wasn’t enough for the landlord so we had to find a ‘co-signer’. We talked to my parents and they said they would do it for us but they didn’t want to give him their credit rating (we later found out we didn’t have to either; a score should have been enough). Anyway that started a whole big thing about getting someone to call that agent and tell him my parents were good to co-sign and to wait for the agent’s client to get back to him. The end result….. We didn’t get the house. I guess there was a tenant in the basement (which we knew about when we were look at it) and he hasn’t paid rent in about 2.5 years. He owes the landlord about 5 grand in rent and bills. The landlord came from the USA where he lives and said no, enough is enough and he didn’t want to rent so we lost out on the house. I can honestly say it was a hard day. Everything seemed so perfect for the house. It was just what we wanted and I was sure of the location and knew this was *it* and then to be crushed. I was so upset.

Week 8 Day 4 - Monday, July 6th - Rough night

Since we had such a late night last night Arnold was running a bit late in the morning. It was kind of funny since he had his new phone and the alarm didn’t go off as well. Big help there!

Once Arnold got on the road the boys and I did some reading and hung out inside that day. It was a bit yucky weather but doable. We read our books from the library and I read my books from the library as well. We also watched a few movies.
The boys went outside and played for a bit and then came in and got really excited about something. It took me a few moments to realize what they wanted. Kyler found a bug on the car and they wanted a photo of it. Here’s the one and only photo we took that day:




Cute hey?

After lunch and nap time we packed up and went out to soccer. We were early so we stopped at the library first to drop off the movies and books. I was late on them since there was no soccer on Canada day and I needed to get them back soon. I dropped what I thought was all of them but it turns out Kyler and Quinton had been ‘reading’ in the car and he didn’t put them all back in the same ‘general’ area. Oh well. Now we have a bit more of a late fine on those books.

Just a few moments after leaving the library I heard Q whimper in the back seat and I realized what was happening he was throwing up. All the way to McDonalds. I felt so bad for him since I couldn’t do anything about it. I do have some incredible friends though. Lori hadn’t left yet so since her oldest son and Q wear just about the same size she grabbed some clothes for him to change into at soccer. Tim met us at McDonalds and brought Kyler inside and got him a happy meal and got him all set up to eat something for supper while I used his container of wipes and cleaned up Quinton and the seat. It worked really well. I am truly one lucky woman!

We had a rough night at soccer as well. Everyone got hurt, and it was only a practice! We had to end practice early since most of the kids were crying or in pain or something. I know it’s not something to laugh at but it totally made my day! I couldn’t believe I forgot my camera for all the injuries there were.

We stopped at Reid’s Dairy and got a slushy for Q and I and Kyler tried out some ice cream and Arnold had his milkshake and picked up some milk we needed to have. When we got back to the campground we stopped at the top of the hill and used the washrooms and washed everyone up and then headed down to the campsite and had some snuggle time and then off to bed.

Week 7 Day 4 - Monday, June 29th, - Rained out

This morning the boys and I realized it was going to be a 'bad' day. Not because of the attitude of the boys but because of the weather. We hung out at home for most of the day and worked on keeping things dry.

We did find out that there are no new reservations being made in the campsite because of the strike. I freeked! We told mom last night and she did some e'mailing. In the morning we got a message from her saying that she got one back from the campsite saying that if there was no reservation/email before the strike there was no way they could let them in. I felt so bad. Arnold went up and talked to them at the office and they said the same thing. We went over different ways to fake e'mails and just renew someone elses pass but nothing was going to work. It was a big bummer for us.

After a quick lunch the boys headed off for a nap, because, yet again, I used the 'if you don't nap no soccer tonight' threat. It works well.

Right while the boys were heading off to nap the rain started, BAD. We figured out that it would eventually go away (as most places said it would be done before the afternoon was over) but it was still bad rain.

Around 4pm or so the soccer coach called and cancelled for our practice. Instead we cahnged our plans as well (Kristina and mine) and we went to a McDonalds on Markham because there was a playplace there. So the boys and I took our sweet time going over there. We got there a bit early, ordered what we wanted and headed to the play area.

Things seemed to be going well but there was an issue.. this mom I was talking to, she had a 4 week old baby girl, had 2 boys here to burn off some energy. Well wouldn't you know it one of her kids punches Q in the face! He came to me screaming. I felt so bad. I comforted Q but his face was so red. He went back into play and was doing ok until this kid caused problems for him getting back into the play area after coming off the slide. It was horrible. His mom couldn't/wouldn't do much about it. Then once Kristina and Tim got there the kids stuck everyone back on the slide. I went over, picked him up and told him it was time to let all the kids off (he had caused a back up of about 7 kids!). I was not impressed at all. Oh well it worked out. We hung around there and had fun for our time there and then when Arnold got there he ate and we headed home.

When we got home there was still some serious rain so we went right inside the trailer and watched a movie. The kids went to bed sortly after, as did Arnold and I.

Week 7 Day 2 - Saturday, June 27th - Soccer photos, sickie and picnics!

This morning I was the first out of bed. I headed off to the washroom and when I got back the ‘fun’ began.

When I opened the trailer door and told the boys it was time to get moving nothing really exciting happen then Q started to fuss. The bad kind of fussing. And sure enough Arnold’s hand got under his mouth just in time to deal with the puke. Yep he was sick! Dang our luck sucks!

We managed to get Q changed into some different clothes and he seemed ok. We found out later that he wasn’t. He was just getting ready for the next bout of puking. I felt so bad for him. He won’t spit forward (sorry if TMI) he would rather stick his head back and just swallow. This proved an issue in the car later.

Anyway we got him changed, loaded up the car and he puked again. Then we headed off to get Arnold’s wheel fixed. Q got sick again in the car. Arnold and I had to trade places because his arms were longer and he could pull Q’s head forward to puke instead of him swallowing everything. The poor boy. We brought it to the shop and they said it would take until Tuesday… hum no thanks! So Arnold started to call around and find a new place while I drove to Wal-Mart. We got some dugs for Q and some snacks for our picnic later in the day. We went from there to Old Navy and got our Canada Day Shirts. I can tell now that K is going to have the $$ taste. We had some Canada Day shirts and he told me he didn’t like it and wanted a different one so we got that instead… 7.50 more than his brothers shirt. Oh good… teenage years will drain our bank accounts.

Arnold and Q came out of the car and went in with us to Old navy to get cleaned up then headed out just as we were paying. When we got out Q was sitting on Arnold’s lap on the side of the parking lot thing throwing up again. I just wanted to scoop him up and snuggle him but he wouldn’t have it. I put him in his seat and called the Drs Office. We have a WONDERFUL doctor’s office. They have walk-in’s for the kids on the weekends and they had one at our office so Kyler and I jumped out of the car at Lawrence and Midland and brought our soccer stuff and Arnold and Q went to the doctor’s office and the bike shop (we found one that would have it ready by 1pm that day). K and I stopped for some quick breakfast and walked over to the school.
Kyler and Mommy having breakfast - K’s new favourite breakfast “hotcakes!”










It took us a bit but we got there in time. At least what I felt was in time. He got a super cute photo of him in his uniform and the team photos. We were missing some people but that’s ok. I’m going to bring my camera and get a photo of the whole team later this summer and just e’mail everyone.












We waited around for a bit and the kids had some ice cream.

Arnold showed up shortly after we were done, like around 11:30 or so and we all drove down to the Bluffs. The doctor told Arnold that it was most likely food poising or the flu. Just to treat the symptoms and stay off dairy. Lori and her family stopped and got something to eat at a subway. Kristina and her family along with us, stopped and got something to eat (some had bigger issues getting food than others). We met up and found a picnic table and had our lunches. Kristina, Tim and E had to be home around 2pm so they left as well as Kevin, Lori, Lo and Ke. So the boys and I went down to the ‘beach’ area. We stopped and got some popsicles and headed down. Q threw up again so when we got there he and daddy change their shirts. We played for about 45 minutes to 1 hour and then headed home. Our packing pass was up by then but we had A LOT of fun. We will go back again once Q is feeling better and without a stroller. Arnold and I figure a backpack, some snacks and a blanket and we are good to go!























On the way home the boys took a nap. Arnold drove nice and slow and we even got to stop at McDonalds and get something to drink. We headed home and took our time. We opened up the van and let the boys keep sleeping while I relaxed on the hammock and Arnold chilled out on a chair. When Q got up he came and snuggled with me and seemed to be better. K got up shortly after and came out and snuggled as well. They went biking and met a new friend. He was visiting his grandparents so they got to hang out. He plays soccer as well so he and K were kicking around the ball. They had a blast.

We eventually got hungry and wanted something good for supper. We packed everyone up and went to M&M’s and got some turkey wrapped in bacon, and double stuffed potatoes. WE started to cook and found out we had no propane left! That meant supper was delayed. Actually by the time we ate it was closer to 7:30pm or so. We had a great supper once it was cooked, but we did come to realized that we need to go shopping! WE wanted to use some butter and we had left it in the microwave and it got warm, melted and molded! Can you tell it’s been a bit since we needed the butter? So yeah shopping list was started then and there!

We headed off to bed after the boys went for some bike rides. They had a lot of comments on our ‘mini-van-bike’. It was fun! On the last ride with the boys I stayed home and did some catching up and got to visit with our neighbours who were leaving the next day. They have been here for a month from Texas visiting her mother and some family members. They gave us their left over wood (2 bags worth) and we got to visit a bit about things around the campground and such. It was fun.

Week 6 Day 7 - Thursday, June 25th, Zoo day and a storm!

Thursdays are the Zoo days! Today was no different. The weather forecast was hot and a 60% chance of rain in the afternoon evening. It was so hot when we left we had down all the windows in the trailer (I’m sure you can see where this is going)

Anyway we headed on our way. We got there shortly after 9:30am and went into the zoo. We had our normal ‘first snack’ as soon as we got in there and waited for Lori and Logan. Today Kevin was home so he got to have some bonding time with Keaton.
Our traditional “In-case-you-get-lost” photos:



*Kyler




*Quinton

Once we got there we headed straight for the only splash park in Toronto that is open (due to the strike) and we were a bit early so we hit up the washrooms and changed the boys. Here’s some shots of us waiting for the doors to open:



*The Splash Park!




*Everyone waiting, and asking Auntie Lori why it’s not open yet.




*A peek inside, the water is running to flush the systems for a bit before we get in there.




*Kyler waiting (again an “In-case-you-get-lost” photo)




*Lo’s ICYGL photo




*Q’s ICYGL photo

When we got in Q headed right for the slide, right after his brother actually. Kyler LOVES the slide but Q just went because his brother was; at least I’m pretty sure. Here’s what happen after that:




*Down he goes




*Almost there




*Crap water!




*and he slips!




*Trying to climb back up the slide.

I had to put the camera down and run in and get him. Silly boy.

The rest of the boys running around:





























I put the camera down and went with Q. After Mommy got wet (thank goodness I was in my swim suit!) he went more willingly into things. We had a great hour in there with the boys.

After the splash pad we went for super. There were about 4 or 5 schools there today (odd with it being the last day of school and everything) so it was good to go early. By the time we left the lunch area was PACKED!

We walked over to the Zoo mobile (choo choo) and did our normal last ride before we headed out.



*Our three boys




*I Love this shot of Kyler




*Lo being a cutie.

I asked the attendant if we still go in the rain. (Just before we got on Kevin called Lori to tell her a storm was coming and Arnold texted me and told me the same thing) Their response was yes in rain, no in lightning since it’s basically a big metal box filled with propane. Make sense. I did snap these at the African stop:










We kept going but at the Americans stop (2 before ‘home’) we had to leave the choo choo. The lightning had gotten way to bad to be in there. So we all went and hid out in their little area there. It was some serious rain and thunder and a lot of lightning. We got the boys a snack of a beaver tail and they loved it. The extra sure was a *great* (hahaha) idea while stuck in a small area.



*This was our little friend while we were stuck in there




*I kept trying to take photos of the lightning. I never managed to get them right on time. But this gives you an example of how quick we were. This was before the lightning.




*And after. It was SOOO close but never right on it.




*Well wouldn’t you know it, over 300 photos later I managed to get this photo,




*and this one! Cool hey?




*When I came back under the waiting area the boys had found my cell phone had music! Luck Logan! They were dancing! I missed taking a photo of Q break dancing!

We headed home right after this and it was crazy what we found. When we drove into the camp this is what the first site looked like:




When we got to our trailer (I’m sure you remember the statement at the top about my windows being open and no rain scheduled to come until the afternoon/evening?) everything was SOAKED! I was almost in tears and I called Arnold. I managed to get some change to do laundry and I cleaned everything up the best I could. We went upstairs and got the laundry started. Auntie Kristina really loves us! She said we could come over and do some more laundry. We brought over the towels I had used to clean up and a few other things. Seriously it was crazy how much got wet! Everything from my knitting, the computer, the beds, the sheets, the clothes, a library book, my own books, manuals, everything. I was so upset.

We did the laundry while the boys slept in their ‘bed’ in the van (some not so wet blankets made that up for them). Then we went to Auntie Kristina’s and Uncle Tim’s to do some laundry and to have supper. We ordered pizza and hung out. The Dads took the kids downstairs and they got to play outside with their soccer balls. They had a blast! Kristina and I managed to get the living room cleaned and the kitchen. It looked much better after the kids were horrible in making a mess.

By the time we headed home it was about 10:30 or so. We got in and checked and everything was basically clean so we made beds and the boys went right to sleep. I hate rain!

Here’s how I dried the boys mattress and bed area: