Wednesday, May 31, 2017

What's up Wednesday


What we're eating this week...
Sunday - Chicken Parmesan, pasta, garlic bread
Monday - Tacos
Tuesday - Chicken Gyro Salad
Thursday - Nachos
Friday - Homemade Pizza
Saturday - not sure yet

What I'm reminiscing about...
Thinking back to last spring/summer when I was pregnant and I was tired and found it hard to move around.  Even though Q has had a few rough nights lately when it comes to sleeping, and I am tired, I am still happy I can work out and go for walks and runs this summer. 

What I'm loving...
Instagram stories.  They are time consuming and I don't always sit through everyone's posts, but I do love seeing travels and everyday family stuff.  When I put Q down for his nap in the afternoon, then I usually take a few minutes to watch them.  Someone that I follow is in Turkey right now and Fethiye, Turkey, has shot to the top of my travel destination list.  It looks so beautiful.


What we've been up to...
We spent the past weekend in Ottawa and had a great time.  I wrote about our weekend here.


What I'm dreading...
Camping, or specifically sleeping in the tent with Q.  If this weekend was any indication, he may not do well in the dark tent, in an unfamiliar bed, etc.  At least this year, we have our own site (our camping friends will be at the site next to us) so hopefully we won't keep them awake too!
(Last year's camping trip)


What I'm working on...
Nothing specific, just keeping busy with mom stuff.  I am enjoying my time off from work while I still can.  

What I'm excited about...
Summertime.  It is my favourite time of year.  E will be home for the first week of summer and I'm looking forward to finding some new spots around the city to explore with him (and Q). 

What I'm watching/reading...
We are watching The Handmaid's Tale, Veep, The Keepers (on Netflix), and I'm watching The Bachelorette.  And we will start the new season of House of Cards.

I'm reading our next book club selection, The Ballroom. 

What I'm listening to...
My Spotify playlist that has everything from Drake to Adele to the theme from La La Land. However, I can't listen to many of my selections when E is around since there is more than enough explicit language. 


What I'm wearing...
I listened to Shay and Sheaffer and picked up a couple of Madewell t-shirts at Nordstrom the last time I was there, and I love them.  They aren't expensive, they feel so soft, and they have a comfortable fit.  I will be going back for more the next time I'm downtown. 

What I'm doing this weekend...
Making some homemade pizza on Friday night, one of E's friends is coming over on Saturday, and then we had a housewarming party on Sunday.  

What I'm looking forward to next month...
My birthday, another fun run with E, Father's Day, and the last day of school.  Excited to take the last day of school picture to see how E's changed.


What else is new...
We got a spot for Q in the daycare that we wanted so that is a relief.  

What is your favourite vacation spot?
If we are just going with summer vacation spots, then I will say the Maritimes of Canada (I can't just keep it to one province, so I'll include them all).  My hometown, Shelburne, is just beautiful in the summer, Halifax has so many fun things to do, and I always have a great time in PEI.

Linking up with ShayMel, and Sheaffer.


Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend in Ottawa visiting with family and running races!  We got back late on Sunday night and we needed to recover yesterday, so I am getting around to sharing our photos today. 

We were planning to leave around lunchtime on Friday so E stayed home from school in the morning and we got his hair cut.  Here he is after that with his sucker watching some of the condo construction in our area. 

Dave needed to do work from the car so I drove to Ottawa.  Here we are on the road

We arrived for supper.  There were twelve people staying at Dave's cousin's house but we all managed to eat together.  On this first night, it was yummy homemade pizza. 

We brought E's Perplexus ball with us and everyone had a turn with it. 

Darren showing E how to play guitar.

He's a natural (for the few minutes he held the guitar)

Lego time in the morning. 

Poor Q (and me and Dave and everyone else in the house).  He did not sleep on Friday night, it was almost unbelievable.  He had a stuffed up nose and was in an unfamiliar place and he couldn't seem to get settled.  We dozed on the couch for a bit, and he did get a bit of sleep into the wee hours of the morning, but it was a long night! He still looks pretty happy here for someone that didn't sleep.  Bring Dave and me all of the coffee!

Ottawa Race Weekend has a 2K, 5K, and 10K on Saturday, and then the Half and Full Marathons on Sunday.  E and I were running the 2K, along with Dave's cousin Adam and his 9 year old son, Alex.  It was 3:00 so we had the full morning and part of the afternoon for a trip to the playground and a picnic at Mooney's Bay Park.  Besides the 12 of us, some more family joined us and we were about 20 people.  Wings, ribs, corn on the cob, hot dogs, salad, chips, etc. - we were well fed!

E climbing the ropes course

The four boy cousins together on these things, whatever they are called.

Dave throwing around the Frisbee with the boys.  It was a beautiful day as you can see in this picture.

Q caught a few winks in his stroller

Darren at the grill.

Then Adam's turn


The best shot of the kids I could get.  

After lunch, we hopped in the car and headed to the starting line for the 2K.  
Before the race.


Amy managed to get a few photos of E and me in action.   This was his first race and he did so well.  He only wanted to walk a few times but mostly just kept running.  He was concerned about coming in last although we told him that wouldn't happen.  He loved giving high fives to the spectators along the route, but he was disappointed there were no water stations, he had been looking forward to just throwing his water cup on the ground as he kept running.


After the race with our medals and E's popsicle.  Our time was 15:26.

Adam and Alex stayed to watch Amy (Adam's wife) in the 5K but we just headed back.  It was just these three kids to play in the sprinkler and then start supper (chicken parm and garlic bread, my favourites!).

Q was a hot, sweaty and sniffly baby but felt better after a bath and some cooler clothes for sleeping in.  He had a better night's sleep on Saturday, thank goodness!

The boys played Settlers of Catan on Saturday evening while the girls chatted and then went to bed.

On Sunday morning, these guys headed out for the half marathon.

Then E and Q and I headed downtown so we could see the start of the race.  I had my route all picked out but I got there after the road was closed so I was worried we wouldn't be able to get close enough to park and then make it to the race route before Dave ran by, but we did.   We went to the same place  that we went last year, along Elgin Street at Minto Park (conveniently across the street from a Starbucks).

Here he comes!

And look who else was in Ottawa for the weekend - Cindy! She was there for a conference and staying downtown so she walked to meet us at the start of the race and then we had coffee before her flight back to PEI.

After we said goodbye to Cindy, we walked over to where Amy and Lindsay (Darren's wife) and the kids were watching the race.  The kids made posters and then the racers started coming by.

Our sign says "Free High Fives".

We got to see all three of our runners go by.  They said they were all in rough shape by the time they got to us, but they had big smiles for us anyway.  Dave's time was 1:42, Adam's was 1:51, and Darren's was 1:57.
After the race, they went to get a few beers before coming back home.   

After the race, it was back home for some water play in the backyard. 

We had supper and then drove home.  It was a late night, arriving around 11:00 pm, but it was good to be back home in our own beds and ready to take on the week on Monday morning.  

A big thanks to Darren and Lindsay for looking after us and feeding us great food all weekend, we had so much fun!

Here is my recap of last year's race weekend.


Friday, May 26, 2017

Friday Favourites

Linking up with AndreaErika, and Narci for Friday Favourites.

Dave and I celebrated our anniversary on Tuesday.  We chose to have a low-key evening rather than getting a sitter and going out.  We put the kids to bed and then ordered pizza from our local Italian restaurant and enjoyed a nice bottle of Italian wine.  Dave had also picked up a bottle of champagne but we decided we didn't need to drink that too (#schoolnight).  For dessert we each went to Bake Sale, separately, for some treats.  Dave got a cake and I picked out macarons to honour the France part of our honeymoon travels.   Cake, wine, pizza, hanging out with my favourite guy, I can't ask for more than that.


I recorded the Billboard Music Awards to watch later in the week.  I didn't really care about the awards and some of the performances but the ones I did love - Drake, Celine, and Cher.  Drake performing in the middle of the Bellagio Fountains is the perfect combination, I love both.  I loved hearing the Titanic theme and seeing clips from the movie in the background.  And Cher is just a force of nature, love her.  I had to look up this clip from Will and Grace.  This is when Jack meets Cher in a restaurant.  

Speaking of Will and Grace, I am excited to see the remake although I wish it was called Jack and Karen, as I'm sure most people do.  No offence to Will and Grace, but Jack and Karen are the real stars.

While we are on the topic of entertainment, I am excited to hear that there will be a sequel to Top Gun!  I love old Tom Cruise movies and he has gradually made it back into my favour, so it was probably good that they waited until now to make this sequel.

E started soccer this week (as I said yesterday) and it is so much fun to see how he has improved over the years.  He lacks no enthusiasm for much but he was so excited to be back on the field this week.  After three years we know so many people at the field now, it is nice to be part of this community. 
This year - Sprinkles

Last year - Cinnamon Rollers

First year - Honey Dippers

Happy Friday!!






Thursday, May 25, 2017

Three Things...

Three things going on with each of us at the moment...

Q (7 and a half months)
1. He has grown out of his bucket carseat and we've installed the bigger one.  He likes being higher up and can see out of the window now.

2. Now that Q is eating solid foods, his presence in a restaurant requires a bit more work now. I wrote this post about taking kids out to eat and I need to review it!  We're getting the hang of it again. 
3. Q is also sitting up in the grocery cart.  I had this cover for E and kept it for Q.  See the resemblance between the two.
(Q)

(E)



E
1. Soccer started this week.  He is on the Sprinkles team this year (remember all of the teams are named after Tim Horton's donuts) and they are in the purple jerseys.


2. E's biking has really improved and I feel more confident that he can stop and make the turns.  There are a few large hills in our area that we try to avoid for now.
3. E had show and tell this week (it was actually last week but I forgot about it), and they were to talk about their favourite holiday.  He chose Halloween because he likes the costumes and candy.  He brought his Captain America shield (his costume from last year), and his Spiderman (what he wants to be next year).  

Dave
1. We have had a leak in our basement since about January.  The water would come in between the old part of the house and the new extension.  Anyway, long story short, Dave dug a hole on the outside of the house and then patched the leak and the problem seems to be fixed.  It is a relief to not have to worry every time it rains.
2. There was also a leak in the roof of the shed and he fixed that too.
3. He also has his annual golf trip coming up.  This year they are going to Nova Scotia, not PEI, and golfing at Fox Harb'r a couple of times and some other courses.


Me
1. We have been getting The Star delivered for free from Thursday to Saturday for the last couple of weeks.  I don't know when it will stop but I am enjoying doing the crossword puzzles.  I used to get the Globe and Mail delivered on Saturdays but I never really had time to read it and then I would just throw it out.
2. Watching the Bachelorette.  I've got to say, they do a good job of creating reasons for me to keep coming back.  This year is the first black bachelorette and she is adorable.
3. Working out in High Park.  Our exercise class has outdoor classes now and I love it.  I went on Monday and Wednesday and ran there with Q in the running stroller.