Sunday, March 21, 2010

Goodbye Winter....Hello Spring!!!

If you can believe it, 21 days ago we had quite a bit of snow on the ground. We were shovelling and snowblowing for a few days in a row. I must say I wasn't the shutter bug I usually am this past winter so I thought I better grab some photos before I missed out. Payton and Andjela were playing outside in the snow so I took a few.



Check out how big the snow banks were and these pictures are from February 28th.



This past week was a beauty! The warm sun on my face sure felt great. I cant wait until it is an every day event. I find I dont really realize how much I miss the sun until I feel it for the first time. Paytons birthday is on the first day of spring and so far every one has been a nice spring day. This year for her birthday we went with Carolyn and the kids to Splash Lagoon in Erie, PA. We had a really good time. Payton really enjoyed herself. I took some pics of her the morning of her birthday while just the two of us were at the hotel pool. I have taken a picture of her every year the morning of her birthday and I cant believe she is 9 years old. Time has flown by so fast. Its gonna be hard to top this fun birthday. She had a really memorable march break and birthday.



More summery photos to come soon....I hope!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Reunion!

Jeff's brother Tim and his wife Donna moved up to Port Elgin a year and a half ago. They have 4 kids and 1 more on the way. Payton misses them tremendously. They have come to Kitchener for a night and were staying at the Waterloo Inn. So last night we went for a visit. When we got there and were walking into the lobby of the hotel, they were just unloading out of the van at the same time. All the kids ran over to Payton and they were all hugging and jumping up and down with excitement. I heard alot of "I missed you" and "I haven't seen you in so long". The girl behind the registration desk was giggling at all the drama. After all the hellos and a quick visit to their room, all the kids went swimming. They had a blast. It was difficult to get Payton out of there so we made arrangements for them to come and visit at our house the next morning.

Often she will say that she misses Zoe and the boys. Mostly she talks about Roin. He is the youngest right now at 2 years old. Payton has always been a little mother hen (actually we have nicknamed her "smother hen") so when a baby or toddler is around she kicks into high gear. She wants to feed them, carry them, have them sit on her knee, whatever. However with Roin she just can't contain herself.

Actually now that I look at this picture, it doesn't really look like Roin is resisting very much. He is probably just happy to be interacting with someone other than his two older brothers and older sister. He is very cute. We have all nicknamed him "squishy roey". As much as it is chaos with that many kids all at once, I do miss having them around too. Zoe is a brilliant 10 year old that is a delight to be with. Deign is almost 8 and loves soccer, video games and anything that Uncle Jeff likes to do. Quade is almost 5 and just fights for his place in the ranking. He is definately the fiesty one of the group. Brilliant just the same though. Roin is the youngest right now at 2 years old and other than being cute, I haven't really experienced his personality yet. I'm sure he will follow the others and be charming in his own way as well.



From left to right is Deign, Zoe, Payton, Quade and Roin in the front. A good looking group of kids if you ask me. Before they moved I used to think quite often that I was glad Payton had some cousins that were her age and that at one time in their life (high school), they would all be at the same school. With Payton being an only child, I was glad she would have some family to rely on at school. Her and Zoe can be two peas in a pod at times. Zoe has a very good understanding of Payton and her ways and is very patient and tolerant. Jeff has had conversations with her about Payton and Zoe just gets it. Like I said, a brilliant child to say the least.

With us putting our new trailer up in Port Elgin for the season, I am sure alot of time will be spent together this summer and I am sure some great memories will be made and some fantastic pictures to top it off. I am sure there will be some great scrapbook pages created from our summer fun and I hope alot of them contain these 5 kids.

"A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost!"

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Trailer season is coming......

Last spring, my mom and I went for a leisurely stroll through the annual Beechwood Community Garage Sale. I think she bought a few novels to read thru the summer and I bought a trailer. Yup, your eyes have not deceived you, I did type trailer. You know, the kind you tow behind a van or truck and you sleep in it. I think I probably won the prize for spending the most at a garage sale. I was sooooooo excited.

Below is a picture of what it looks like.



Payton and I had a great summer. We camped for almost 4 full weeks, as well as about 4 or 5 weekends. We were at Sherkston Shores, Long Point, Port Elgin (a few times), McGreggor Point, Six Mile Lake, and Happy Hills. It was a sad day when we had to pack it up and take it to the farm for the winter.

I think it was around late October or early November when I started looking every spare minute I had for a different trailer. I really wanted to get into a trailer that was hard sided and had a toilet and sink. One late November day, I dragged my mom and dad out to Harriston to look at one that I had my eye on. Of course when we got there, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It would have been too easy for us to go right back home so we decided to tour the countryside and came across a really nice one in Listowel. It was exactly what we needed. Separate bedroom for us and bunks for Payton. A bathroom, lots of storage and counter space and it was 29 feet. I thought for sure, it was going to be too expensive, but it was right in the range that I wanted to spend. I couldn't believe it. I was ready to pay for it right there and then.



There it is!!!! It is bought and paid for. We are picking it up on May 1st when the trailer park in Port Elgin opens for the season. I am so pumped. I think about it all the time and can't wait for the day to come to pick it up. I didn't think I would enjoy camping as much as I have. And now that it will be sitting there for me whenever I want to go there, makes it that much better. No more packing and unpacking every weekend. All we have to do is throw some clothes in a bag and away we go, even at a moments notice.

Can't wait!