Spoiled for a Day!

Adam and Rachel arrived last night for the weekend, and Lauren's family arrived this morning for the weekend - so we have been preparing for a full house! We knew we would be in for a fun day, but we didn't know we would end up spoiled! Chad, Adam, Rachel and I left around lunch time for Wasaga Beach Provincial Park while Aunt Lauren and Uncle Paul babysat Matthew. It was the nicest beach I think I've ever been to. It is very clean and safe, the sand and water are beautiful (and warm - even I was in!), and it is huge. We just stayed a couple of hours, but had a great time. We tossed the football, had a dip in the water (yeah - no salt!), and lounged on the beach. We will definately go back!
Then we got home and Adam showed off his cooking skills, which have vastly improved from our Acadia days!! He made not one, but two meals - one for him and Chad, and another for Rachel and I. For the boys - fettucine with sauce from scratch - highly impressive and delicious!

For the girls - salmon with Adam's own seasoning mix and sauce he also made himself - very tasty :-) Throw in a salad that Rachel made and a cake from the store and we had a gormet meal! MMMmm - thanks guys! Come again!

Handsome Dude

Matthew looking handsome in some more new duds from Nan and GrampyMatty leaning in to give Riley a big hug!!

He finally feels my pain!

I have major issues when ants invade the kitchen and up until this weekend, they were only out in full force when it was just me home, err! Their home base is a concrete block at the base of our deck stairs. Anyways, we can no longer use ant killer b/c despite our best efforts (including not even letting Riley in the backyard!), some inevitably gets on our shoes or something, and Riley gets exposed, which upsets his stomach - no fun for anyone.

Finally on Saturday the ants make a resurgence in mass proportions and Chad was a witness - he realizes when I say thousands of ants are on the pad, I really mean thousands. Having no means to instantly wipe them out without poisoning our dog, Chad marches into the kitchen with the gas can saying "I'm gonna gas 'em"??? I kindly pointed out that it was not very safe and certainly not environmentally friendly - Chad is normally very on the ball about this stuff, but I'm telling you - thousands of ants will make you go a little crazy! Well, he came up with a new safe, and environmentally friendly way to get them - he brought out the hammer!! It's probably hard to appreciate how many ants are in the pic, but anything that looks remotely dark is a massive pile of ants (i.e. the entire crack b/w the two blocks).

My Dad

I have the best Dad. When he gets home from work, he scoops me up and I give him a big hug!

I Love Riley!

I really love my big dog Riley - he lets me climb him and chase him around the house. I am learning to be gentle with him, and he never gets mad when I forget and play a bit rough.

Aunt Regaan's Visit

Aunt Regaan and Lissa came to visit on Wednesday - we had a great time! They played with me while Mom slept in a bit on Thursday, we went for walks, we went out for lunch at the bakery, and aunt Regaan brought me a tractor - cool! Today they left to go visit Lissa's friend - thanks for visiting!!

Father's Day!!

This was Dad's first Father's Day and we had a great weekend!! Me and Riley have the best Dad ever!! Here is me showing off at my walker - who needs the seat when you can just climb up yourself and play :-)

Here is me and Dad and a dog park where Riley could run everywhere. There was another Golden named Daisy there and she and Riley played fetch together.

Here is Dad opening his presents - both Ghostbusters DVDs, some "outdoors" ornaments, and a really nice pic of me and Dad to take to his office.

Here we are reading frog-tastic - a great new book from Grampy and Grammie!

I give Mom lots of kisses everyday :-) Today I gave Dad one too!

MMmm - I love blocks!

Other weekend randomness...

• We were out to the early years centre yesterday, the grocery store, and the haircutters - I had never noticed how many dad's and kids are out together on Saturday's - very cute!
• Sign up for July programs was on Saturday starting at 9am (you have to physically go to the centre to sign up - no phoning in). We arrived before 11am and got the second to the last spot available for Babies on the Move! Crazy!! We have been going to Babies on the Move on Wednesday's and it is great!
• Chad and I were cooking machines today - in a span of less than 2 hours, we made spaghetti, brushetta, soup, and salad (and cleaned up!). Not all to be consumed for supper of coarse - multi-meal planning was in effect.
• We used ground chicken instead of beef in the soup and the spaghetti - a bit different, but not bad. It is amazing how much less fat is in it!
• Lauren and I drove to Kitchener on Friday to go to a craft store sale - it is only 40 minutes away and was well worth the drive. Afterwards, I had the most delicious grilled salmon pita - we must go back to Kitchener!!
• Less than 5 weeks until we come to the Maritimes - yeah!!

Arrowhead Provincial Park

Arrowhead was located only 3 km from our cottage so we made a brief visit to check it out. It was beautiful - really the entire area was quite nice. This trip was a almost like a screening and next time we will know to plan a longer trip (and go when it is not so buggy!!)

Me and Matty at the beach area at Arrowhead

Making our way towards the water...unfortunately I didn't bring his little swimmers, so he couldn't sit in the water.

This just might be my new favorite picture of Matthew - if you look closly you can see the dirt on top of his big toe. I think he will love playing in the water! We will be taking him to the pool at Bronte Creek Provincial Park lots this summer!

I also love this photo of the park...makes me want to go back...

Algonquin Provincial Park

This weekend while the big boys were roughing it in the backcountry, Lauren and I rented a cottage in Huntsville with the little boys. Even though we were only in the area for one full day and we had a babe and pup in tow, we did get to see and do lots of stuff.

We drove up to Algonquin and through the park to the other side where the Visitor Centre is. It is a beautiful park and I hope that Chad and I will have a chance to go back and tackle some of the trails.

Here is a moose display at the visitor information centre in Algonquin - we did see a real moose on the highway going through the park, as well as a heron and a deer.

Matty and Aunt Lauren at the look out point at the visitor centre where we saw a deer.

Matthew and Mom

Me with my two boys :-)

Getting Ready for the Weekend!

Sporting a new summer shirt from the latest Nan and Grampy shipment of clothes.

I thought I should try out all Dad's gear before he headed out into the backcountry at Algonquin Provincial Park to make sure it worked. It is a pretty good tent...but not as fun as mine!

Man on the Move!

Creeping and rolling are old news now that I can crawl (well not really, but crawling has taken centre stage)...the mission - rescue Teddy

And I'm off...

Almost there...but first I must stop to pose for the camera

Fewf! Got him!

He Keeps Growing and Growing...

Climbing Mom...

Standing with Aunt Lauren...

Playing with Teddy...

Matthew had his 9 month check up last week. He is now 21lbs (52nd percentile), is 29.5 inches long (81st percentile - though I had measured him at 30 inches...), and his head circumference is 47 cm (87th percentile). After measuring his head Dr. Hana said "he's still got a big head, eh" - thanks Grampy B :-)

Matthew and Teddy

Teddy used to just be a bedtime and naptime stapple, but now it is important for Teddy to get out of the crib and play! Teddy is the only boy to get kissed every day - normally only Mom and Aunt Lauren get the coveted Matthew kiss, which is really an open mouth lick (clearly Matty spends a lot of time with Riley).

Matty also loves to clap - this comes in handy when he falls on his bum. The initial look of terror is quickly forgotten once I start cheering for him with a "yeah Matthew" and a clap. He joins right in and the world is a happy place...