Just another September Sunday

Just a lazy September Sunday here. We're saying adieu to September in an understated way, I guess. 

The leaves are looking purdy, the day is kinda grey and chilly. I broke down and finally put the furnace on - turns out an indoor temp of 16.5 is my breaking point. 

Here's the view from here on this lazy day.  
 

The maple is starting to turn

Sumac's gone hot pink - beautiful!

'Tumnal splendour

Time for toques, I guess

Mister saucy, out for a stroll

This is her 'I found a pretty leaf' face, or so she tells me

Chimps

We're thinking of Granny & Poppa today as they do the marathon drive home from New Brunswick.  Will be great to have them back in the province, but I'll try to give them a solid 24 hours before I recruit them for babysitting duties!!  (Oh, they'll be SO glad to be back!)

Happy last-day-of-September!  

Can someone come over and deal with this please?

Splash!

Ahh, summer fun! 

We spent a lovely afternoon in PoHo with Lee and the boys.  Pizza, a visit with Great Granny B and watched some of the Olympic closing ceremonies (I REALLY want one of those lightbulb hats!).  Good times.  

It's always fun to visit, especially for Henry, because Auntie Peepee does super fun things like contorting herself into a pretzel to take her wee nephew down the playhouse slide. This is after noticing that he climbed up the ladder on his own while the grownups had their backs turned for 12 seconds! 

Correcting that scoliosis will only require 47 treatments, Auntie Peepee

But, today's visit was EXTRA fun because Lee & Chris's neighbours have an AMAZING pool and have, even more amazingly, given permission for the unruly folk next door to use it while they are away.

The kids took to the water like, um, fish taking to water, and a jolly splashy time was had by all. 

Synchronized splooshing

Little water babies!

Henry wanted to jump too, just like the big kids!

The little sea nymph

The kids are (fingers crossed) on the mend after a full week of sickness.  Evy still had a wee fever this morning but them seemed grand for the rest of the day.  Hopefully that's the end of this mystery virus that knocked us out for a week.  Surely a litre of chlorinated pool water up the nose is a cure for almost anything?

It's not even mid-August and I'm already mourning the end of summer.  We've just been SO busy and have crammed so much fun into the past 6 weeks, I have to say I don't really want it to end.  Or maybe I'm just dreading the ridiculous sobby mess that I'll be next month when we walk Madame E to school for the first time?  Sniff.  

In the meantime, we will continue to cram as much splashing, hilarity, and fun as we can into what remains of summer. 

More cottage fun...

See? I told you I had a lot of pictures to get through! You know things are bad when you manage to fill a 4GB memory card. 

Here are more pics from our 2 weeks up at the cottage in June/July. The weather was FAN-freakin-TASTIC while we were there. I think we had an afternoon of rain, but otherwise it was very hot and sunny every day. Almost a bit too hot at times, so we had to immerse ourselves in the lake at regular intervals. 

We ate well, slept well (ok, except Henry), picked 12 cups of delicious Redrox blueberries for jam and pies, and were generally lazy and happy. 

The kids are getting to an age where they actually play together a bit and enjoy each other's company about 70% of the time. The rest of the time is screeching and hair pulling, but I think that's pretty normal.(I should says it's them doing the screeching and hair-pulling, but I think it's probably accurate for me too). 

Dollar-store streamers.  So much fun.  With minimal strangulation risk.

Cottage bathtime routine.  Remind me not to use those basting brushes on food anymore.

Two sweet little lookouts at the front of the boat.

Yep, that sand ended up in his diaper, via his intestines.  Exfoliating, I imagine.

A little Olympic swimmer in training?  She's a water baby this year!

At the beach in Quarry Bay.  A perfect playground for chimps.

Check out that hot beach bod! 

While having a shared cottage comes with its own special hassles and headaches, we do realize we're so lucky to have a little piece of this paradise.  And we're really looking forward to another week up there later this month.  In the meantime:  how to get Henry to sleep in past 6:30am up there?  I'm thinking if he sleeps in the hammock?  Or the boathouse?  Actually, forget that.  I'll sleep in the hammock and Rob can be inside with both kids.  Problem sooooolved!

August? What??

Where has all the summer gone? Wowsers! Not only is it August, but we're already a week into it! 

What can I say? Jetting (and driving) around Eastern Canada and the US, 2 weeks at the cottage, and lots of quality summer fun can make time fly, I guess!

 The annual trip to Nooby was great. Al and Jim are hosts extraordinaire and worked their butts off keeping the kids (including me) happy, fed, rested, and entertained. 

The drive back from NB was a little less relaxing, with Henry deciding that he could not handle more than 2 hours on the road at a time. Oh, and waking up at 5am-ish just for kicks. Gaaah. BUT, the scenery was AMAZING and if you haven't done the drive down coastal highway 1 through Maine, I would highly recommend it. Have dinner in Camden! And lunch! And breakfast - blueberry pancakes... yummm! 

So, I have a million things to update on, but let me begin with a few shots of the 12 days we spent with Granny and Poppa. The weather was AMAZING and I think we had picnics 3 different days. Evy got so spoiled by the surroundings that she has been asking to go to the beach.  I don't have the heart to tell her that Ontario beaches aren't quite the same as the Fundy ones! So dreeeeammmy!

Hopping along the Salmon River suspension bridge

Brown's Beach with Granny

Al & Jim's neighbour's private beach.  Spectacular.

Henry is DOG CRAZY.  Luckily, this crazy-eyed St Bernard was VERY friendly.

A Bald Eagle (or a speck on my lens?!)

The spectacular West Quaco lighthouse

Striking an (unsolicited) pose on Duck Pond Beach

Yum!  Salty sand is soooo delicious says Henry.

I have SOOO many more pictures and will put them up soon, or at least before the end of 2012 - swearsies.  

We're now having a quiet week at home.  Henry and Ev and I have been fighting a nasty summer cold.  Hen's fever this morning was above 102 degrees, so we're taking it easy and just trying to get everyone feeling better.  

So that's your quick update from here!  Is everyone else's summer going by this fast?!

Run for fun

These two. 

I'm pretty sure they could have fun just about anywhere. 

This marathon running effort (they must have run back and forth down the sidewalk 55 times) started with a simple walk out to the car as we were leaving Port Hope one night a couple of weeks ago. 

So. much. fun. 

Oooh, chase me, Evy, chase me!

Nothing like a little pre-bed pyjama exercise!

Sam smiling + running multi-tasking

C'mon Evy, you'll catch him (someday!)

And, the finish line!

We've had a rough couple of weeks here, with a never-ending stomach bug for both kids last week (H barfed 6 days in a row.  So gross.).  This week's medical delight was the little man developing periorbital cellulitis at the site of a bug bite he got on the long weekend.  Basically, a very ouchy infection under the skin.  It was around his eye and we had to go to the doctor's 2x for them to monitor it because it can be quite bad for the wee babas.  Anyway, 4 doses of antibiotics a day for 10 days plus a topical cream should do the trick.  Poor little dude.  He is certainly keeping me on my toes.  Here's hoping that's all for ill-health for a couple of weeks (or the whole summer!?!).

Non-stop rain here today but so far the basement is dry (phew).  Makes for a grey day, but hey, it's a perfect opportunity to update the blog!

Happy June to all (and happy 14th-month b-day to Sir Hen!).  Have a great weekend!

Family Fotos

It was around Henry's birthday when I realized that we don't actually have any photos of our happy little family of 4. Hrm. Only 12 months passing without any familial record! Don't get me wrong, there are about 1.2 jillion pics of the kids, just none of all of us together. Which, isn't horrible considering the grey hair I've sprouted this year, but I would like the kids to have some proof that we all spent time in the same room, at least for their baby books.  Or for when they request family counseling in the future. 

Auntie Yumyum (aka Emily) to the rescue with her keen photography talents. She snapped these gems, and a whole bunch more. So, family portrait crisis averted. Now I just need to remember to actually get some printed! 

Mom and two sprouts

Who is this grown-up girl?

Two lil' munchkins

The Fab Four

Rollin'

What says Springtime like a little hill rollin?  (Also captured here by Lee).  

Oh, to be young and bendy!  Evy thought this was the most fun ever, and Henry, Sam and Charley had to agree.  Pure entertainment for the adults too.  Can't wait to spend lots more time at the Peterborough Zoo this summer! 

What a morning! Henry and Stanley!

>

Helpful hint: don't leave baguette in backseat on drive home from grocery store

The year in review

I'm a bit delayed in properly reflecting on the fact that the wee man is now 1 year old. 

Everyone says you should cherish these years because they go by so quickly. I'll have to agree. You would think that endless sleep deprivation and various other forms of torture such as intermittent shrieking and being subjected to a barrage of crap, piss and vomit would make it seem like an eternity. But alas, it has passed in the blink of an eye. 

Am I being sentimental? Absolutely. Is it because he slept until 9am this morning? You'd better freakin' believe it. 

Without further ado, here's a glimpse of the evolving man over the past 12 months. 

April 1 2011

May

June

July

August

September - first Pablum!

October - squeaky mouse

November - getting chilly out there

December

January

February

March

April 2012

Isn't it amazing how much he has changed? And indeed, he's gained 16 lbs this year, and has gone from a tiny little man to a big strapping lad who was launching himself off the couch cushions today. Not long left of babydom I suppose. Sigh. Oh well, at least one thing has stayed the same.... his jaunty elf ears! (Now with ears that perky, why can't he hear me when I tell him not to eat rocks? A mystery for the ages!). 

Thank you, Henry, for bringing an astounding amount of joy to everyone you meet, you unruly adorable endearing and infuriating beautiful little man. 

Love forever, 

your mommy. 

p.s. just kidding about your ears, they're totes adorbs