An Ottawa trip

The kids and I had the opportunity to go to Ottawa for a couple of days after Christmas.

The trip up was a little eventful.

Packing for the kids and I after a busy Christmas then trying to miss the storm that was coming.
Meanwhile I have what I'm thinking is an eczema attack to my hands and feet, and something like heat rash or something?! (I did a google search before I left didn't leave me with any answers)

After a 40 minute stop in Tweed to go to the bathroom - not impressed! Come on Tim Hortons - seriously a 2 stall bathroom for a major stop from Ottawa to Toronto; where the child change table not only blocks a bathroom stall - but it is also in front of the doorway - with about 20 people in line behind me! So not impressed!
This is where we usually stop in the summertime, but these facilities are just not up to par!

We eventually got to Ottawa (well, really just outside of Ottawa).

When we got up past hwy 7 there was snow!
Actual snow on the ground!
Katheryn has been asking for snow for weeks! She wants to make snow angels and throw snow balls. We saw the little flakes of snow on the ground and Katheryn was so excited!

Little did she know what was waiting for us!

We stayed with my cousins Phil and Joy and their 3 kids.
I think everyone had a great time. Doing nothing.

That first night there was a little exciting. I realized I forgot all of Nick's catheter stuff at home. And that I really should get to a walk-in clinic, because I did not have eczema! I had a very contagious virus that luckily my cousins had all had before and that meant they couldn't catch it again.

So besides doing nothing, getting alot of rest and being outside (until we froze in -20C weather) and stocking up on tylenol and advil, they had a great train set that the kids kept playing with, taking apart, making changes and putting back together.

What makes a better family get-together than kids playing with toys in the midst of everyone catching up!

After a relaxing 5 days (extended because of more potential weather) it was back home to reality.
Luckily I wasn't driving - my parents were able to drive me home and help with the kids (my hands are still not 100% - I'm told the virus only lasts 10 days)
 This was some of the beautiful roadside views we had.
This picture doesn't do it justice. Snow covered trees! Something that I love the see in December - not so much in February!

We all had a great time in Ottawa, visiting and catching up.
I hope we can plan more visits soon!

Family Time

We need to schedule some family time, I guess with Kyle being home so much we always have family time. But we needed some stay-put family time. We are a bit over-booked as things stand anyways. So we had relaxing no-travel time for a couple of days and just stayed home and vegged. Of course by vegged I mean, I tackled the gardens - where weeds have taken over, vaccuumed, vacuumed again, did laundry, cooked, and packed for the next trip out of town. Because we are really busy on the weekends, cottaging, visiting, and our latest trip was to Ottawa for the weekend.

But then last weekend we headed to Ottawa - a 4 hour drive, for a surprise party, visiting time - and then heading back home again. The trip was very fun, we love visiting our Ottawa family. All of the kids get together so well. The kids did well on such a long trip, even Katheryn was able to travel puke free. She inherited her car sickness from her Daddy and so a 4 hour car trip was met with a type of dread. But some gravol and careful driving and things stayed where they were supposed to.

 Nickolas got his first taste of chocolate cake. Katheryn enjoyed feeding him from her (2) peices of chocolate cake that she had stoled from various plates. He really enjoyed the crumbs that he got. But was a bit shocked that he got caught!

I'll have to upload some other pictures. We stopped off at Tweed on the way home so that the kids could have some out-of-car time. It was just my parents and me and the kids because Laura, Mike and Jen decided to get lost. But Tweed has a nice lake beach that Katheryn loved running in and out of, and Nickolas just lounged under a tree, doing - what else - eating.
They had alot of fun (during the day) - and that's the important part. The night was a bit of a treat - think Katheryn getting caught under the crib, screaming for a couple hours, Nickolas waking up. I think we scared Laura away from children for a while. But we did get a couple of hours of sleep. And would totally do it again - hopefully without the rolling!