Pre-School Time

Back to school for this guy means getting his hockey stuff ready to go.
This will be his first time playing in a local league.

This guy still lives here .... just for the record ... this is the only picture I could get.

And ..... Ern is here!!
And she is here to stay.

This is a working copy of what is in store for A this first term.

While the boys are off on a Western Adventure the puppy is getting snipped. 

Poor little guy. 

Vacation Countdown

What's making this guy smile when we're almost at the end of our summer vacation?

It's the Sunset Ceremony at Fort Henry. 

 

We were all impressed with the show.

 

And part two of our trip South ..... the Kingstn Pentntiary.

 

It was incredibly eye opening and it emphasized for us all how much we wouldn't want to be contained behind walls.

We heard stories about the '71 riot and the construction of the buildings and their purposes.

It was great to meet some of the wardens who had worked in the prison and hear their first hand stories.

 

And before leaving town we had a quick lunch in the waterfront park ... with some ducks.

Swimmin' in the Rain

Things you can do at camp in the rain:

... swim in the pool ...

... keep your parents amused by imitating teen pop stars ...
... goof off while doing the dishes ...

 
... board games, lots of board games ...

(This photo was taken during the raining + power outage section of the trip.)

... and frog catching, lots of frog catching.

 

It's possible we may have even started to catch the same frogs over again!

  
But frogs, boys and dogs don't mind the rain.

They also don't mind when the rain stops and the sky clears.

We spent a great last morning out on the lake.

  

It was nice for M to enjoy the ride while E did some of the driving this time.
 

I feel like these pictures pretty accurately show the personalities of the two boys. Thoughts?

 
And just to prove that I was on this trip ... I snuck into a picture.

Smilin'

Today ends the 'stay-at-home' portion of our family holidays.

The Museum of Nature never ceases to be interesting.

We spent the biggest portion of our time in the earth section.

And this little man got his front braces off. Woohoo!

Looking handsome buddy.

Tourists#1

For the next three days we'll be tourists in our own town.

We've lived here three times now, for a total of 11 years, and there are some things we want to do.

Today, the weather was right to be spent downtown.

However, getting up early enough to see the Changing of the Guard was a shock to some of us.

Definitely worth it though.

 

I'm hoping this year we get down to see these two rooms in use.

 

The library looks amazing.

This was the kids first trip to Parliament Hill but we'll be back a few more times between now and 2017. 

It's closing in two years for reconstruction and won't be open for 10-15 years!! 

The kids figured that would make them at least(!!) 23 and 25 when it reopens. Wow!! 

Camp Bday

This cutie had a birthday recently and we got to celebrate this weekend!

Thankfully there was a pool to cool off in because it was hot and humid.

 
After a BBQ and some delicious cake ... the 4 boys started a pick up football game.

 

My youngest with Jnn's oldest. And my oldest with Jnn's youngest.

 
The game ended in a tie and the boys cooled down with a last jump in the pool.

The awesome group shot.