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!

Golf Weekend and Canada Day

It was the annual golf weekend. Pretty much where we have fun, hitting some balls and hope they get within a fair distance of the hole. We (our team) is not there for the glory of the game. We are there to have fun with the cart, drink alcohol (well the other girls did) and an excuse to just have fun! We succeeded - we got 7 over!!! Kyle and his team won, with 3 under. So Nickolas got to wear the trophy hat! We have a picture of Katheryn and Kyle doing the exact same thing. - Kyle is a much better golfer than I am.

So Nickolas the flirt was in fine form. He was the centre of attention and LOVED IT! Being surrounded and adored by a bunch of blondes (yes I still think of Laura as a blonde even though she's a red head now). But batting those huge blue eyes at all the girls! And he knows he has it too!

We stayed at the cottage for 4 days, and it got nice and sunny and hot while we were packing the car! But it's nice being at the cottage, fresh air, family. And the kids just eat it up! They still enjoyed the water even if it was a little cold for the adults. We had a bit of a rough first night - mostly because Katheryn rolled off her bed (which is on the floor) and got stuck under our bed. Nothing like being woken up at 3am with a screaming toddler, and you are scrambling around in the dark and all you can feel is kicking feet sticking out from under the bed!!! Once I got her all calmed down, Nickolas woke up. BUT other than all of that, the weekend was nice and relaxing.

Here are some pictures of them just playing together. It is so nice that Nickolas can sit around, either in his bumbo or corner seat and then Katheryn is so much closer to him, he can be part of the action and the action - in the form of Katheryn - is not very far away from him.

Because I'm so late posting - I might as well include Canada Day as well - it seems all the days go by so fast that if I don't keep on top of my blogging I just need to squish everything together.

Happy Canada Day everyone. I took some days off to deal with some kiddies that were a bit tired and grumpy. We missed fireworks because Katheryn was a bit under the weather. But she's still young. We'll just have to have some fireworks for the August long weekend! Nickolas didn't really care either way. I don't have any Canada Day pics of Katheryn, but here is Nickolas wearing his red!

Happy and Healthy Baby Boy!

We had our neurosurgery appointment this week.

2 hours to get there, 30 minutes appointment - no waiting, and 2 hours to get home. We did the subway experience, and I wore him down and then carried an umbrella stroller - which I didn't really need. Everyone in the subway thought he was very cute.

Anyways, we got the A-OK!!! Everything looks great, we'll see him again in 1 year and get another MRI. Sounds great! So I'm officially labelling my kid. Yup, he is a happy, healthy baby!

The Walk!!!!

From Left to right - Kyle, Gwenda, Laura, Michael, Lisa, Amanda, Nickolas, Cheryl, Marie, Shannen and in strollers Katheryn and Nickolas (the others stayed off camera)

We had our Spirit Wheel Walk Run yesterday. And raised over $2400!!!! I still have more donations coming in, and won't have a final amount until the beginning of July. To say that I am surprised and flabbergasted by all the support we have received would be an understatement. Our goal had been $1000 and 10 walkers and we ended with 12 adult walkers and 4 kids in strollers.

Thank you to our walkers:

Amanda, Kyle, Katheryn and Nickolas Ridding, Gwenda, Michael, and Laura Bartley, Marie, Shannen and Madison Ridding, Lisa Aubertin, Cheryl Parsons, Mike and Devon McDonald and Andrea and Zivah Smith. My father Gord Bartley decided to sprain his knee 2 days before the walk and wasn't able to make it. Katheryn, Nickolas, Madison and Zivah were our junior walks, but enjoyed the ride in the strollers.

We walked along the Durham lakeshore, from Liverpool pier to Rotary Park in Ajax, and then turned around and walked back. The weather was.... interesting. It was hot and sticky, but nicer once we got a breeze from the lake, and then it rained off and on, but usually just enough to cool us down and put on rain jackets, before needing to take them off again. Afterwards we went to my parents for a party and the sun was out and we relaxed by the pool. And had a couple of dips as well (sometimes as a result of a couple of bear hugs).

So this is the kid we are walking for? He was wearing his shirt that says This is what Spina Bifida Looks Like. And he smiled and blew bubbles the whole way!

Sister Katheryn is celebrating the walk with the rest of us - with her lei's and pinecones.

I'm already thinking about how we can do this for next year! (I think doubling the walkers and the amount raised is a start)

We are in the news!

Nickolas in the news - Oshawa Express June 16