Niagara Falls Trip 2011

So the boys and I just got back from our annual vacation to Niagara Falls (the Canadian side). We had a blast!Last year I actually put myself into labour with D-Man while we were there. This year I carried him around on the outside instead.We did a lot of fun things! Ripley's Believe it Or Not, a fun Maze that Mister M was amazing at getting through, the Skywheel, and the Rainforest Cafe.We found a pretty garden and went for a walk in it.
I think it was one of the boys favourite things. They could run/crawl around to their hearts content. D-Man explored everywhere and got a girlfriend and Mister M made some new friends and played tag with some puppies!We stayed at the same hotel as last year. The Comfort Inn on Clifton Hill. Its not fancy but its affordable, clean the staff are super friendly and they have a nice pool! For two nights including fees and taxes it came to $200 3which is way less than I paid for our Toronto mini vacation). Each night and morning we went for a swim! The boys love it. Mister M would live in the water if I'd let him.We took GO Transit to get there and back, which is a nice way to travel! I only have to pay for myself (kids 5 and under are free) and since its mostly by train D-Man can be down and playing instead of strapped into a car seat. The buses are nice too. Especially since I planned our travel time around Nap time, D-Man slept on both bus rides there and back! The GO bus from Burlington to Niagara Falls was even a double Decker bus. Mister M was thrilled! Its about a 5 hour trip one way from home to Niagara Falls, but worth it for sure!That pretty much wraps up our summer this year, we might have one or two more Toronto day trips, but I've got a two day CPR/First aid course this week, my drivers test on the 1st and D-Man needs his 12 month checkup and needles on the 31st, so we're pretty busy. Hopefully I'll pass my test and be able to drive us everywhere! Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

August Recap Part Four

So I've finally been to Ottawa.
I've never been before and was always curious. My family and I (most of it at least, my mom and one of my sisters didn't come) all went to Ottawa on the 20th to see the Caravaggio Exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada.Anyone who knows me in real life knows why this is such a big deal, but lets just say he's a painter whos very near and dear to our hearts.
We had a wonderful time, lunch and Mambo, where we ate outside and the rain was nice enough to hold off until we had just finished before it poored down on us.The boys had lots of fun running around outside under the giant spider sculpture with their Papa (my dad)The paintings themselves were amazing to behold. Mister M got a headset that explained each one, and we spend a long time learning about them. He kept impressing people, because he'd stand there and really listen and look and enjoy. D-Man liked the headset too... but just for the buttons lol.The paintings were so inspiring that Mister M even drew a picture.And yes it's hung on the wall of the National Gallery of Canada...who would expect less from my talented boy!It was a long busy day but we had a blast! We'll make sure to go back and explore Ottawa again soon!

August Recap part Three

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My baby is 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!D-Man celebrated his first birthday on August 19th. We had quite the birthday weekend too!On the 19th we went to Toronto for his 1st Birthday Pictures. I'm still waiting to see them all but the ones in the sneak peek are wonderful!Then we had his party on the 21st.He was spoiled rotten, toys, books, more toys you name it, he got so much that he was overwhelmed and didn't even notice most of the stuff until the next day!The party turned out just the way I wanted it! Everyone came, everyone had enough food, and everyone had a good time! What more can you ask for?Even D-Man, who is usually pretty cranky in the evenings had a good time!
Well.... for the most part at least...He may not have the conventional family, he doesn't have a dad. But it makes me so happy to know that he is surrounded by people who love him. My friends and family are the best people in the world, and he's lucky enough to get to grow up surrounded by love and stability!For his cake I didn't want to do something plain and boring, he's a funky kid and needed something funky. So I went with cake pops and cupcakes. I think they turned out pretty well... they got devoured which is all any baker can ask for!All in all it was a wonderful day with some wonderful people.
Happy First Birthday D-Man, Mama and Mister M love you with all their hearts♥♥♥♥

August Recap Part Two

So when I last posted I had told you all about the Toronto trip. So after that we were back home.The local Exhibition came to town and I took the boys and we went twice! The first time was with my sister Aunty G and the second time was with my friend JDud and her niece K. Mister M had an absolute blast! He went on pretty much every single ride. D-Man even went on a couple!
We played games, and ate cotton candy and pogo's and had milkshakes! D-Man is addicted to milkshakes, it's crazy he'll drink a whole one if I'd let him.It was so cute seeing Mister M with his new friend K. They hadn't met before and both were a little unsure of the other at the start. But it took about 3 minutes for them to warm up, and then they were like the best of friends. Riding every ride together, and racing ahead of everyone to get on the rides by themselves.Because the Ex was put on by the local Agricultural Society there was a petting zoo, and lots of farm animals. The boys got to pet and feed goats, donkeys, sheep, lamas, pony's, chickens, geese, dogs and some cooler animals like emu's and a porcupine! They loved it!This was my first time taking them, and I'm so glad we went! We'll be back next year for sure!!

Boo to me :(

So I'm officially the worst blogger ever :( I failed at one new blog a week, I have no idea how the daily bloggers do it. I guess I'm too boring to have a good blog lol.
Well summer is almost over and we've had some awesome adventures and still have more to come! I'm trying to use my blackberry to blog today. So hopefully it will work and I'll be able to put pictures up!
It is August 22 so I'll try to recap some of what we've done so far!
We went on a mini vacation to Toronto! We started out having a play date with some of my birth group mama's and their little ones, which was a blast!
We stayed the night in the Delta Toronto East hotel (well two nights actually) Mister M loves it there, they have two pools and everything!We went to the Toronto zoo for the second time this summer. Spent a lot more time playing at the splash pad and in the kids zoo than we did looking at the animals but it was loads of fun.We made sure to stop by stingray bay to touch the stingrays and D-Man loved it so much he started to cry every time we tried to leave, so we ended up staying for 20 minutes longer than planned to keep him happy. It was so cute to see him splashing around with all of them.The last day of our trip was Carribanna. We went to the parade for a little while but didn't really stay long. Everyone was tired, and I'd like to wait until D-Man is a bit older before we go back, it was so busy we didn't enjoy ourselves all that much. He went crazy for the steel drums though, danced like a mad man!Mister M is getting an adult molar which he is pretty proud of, and he's going through a growth spurt, so all of his new summer stuff I got him at the start doesn't fit him anymore, and he's almost as tall as me! It's crazy how big they get. D-Man is a walking fool! He's walking everywhere and doesn't want to be carried as much, he just wants to explore everything on his own.

Beginning of Summer

So we've had some exciting things happen around here so far this summer.
Mister M is mastering reading! He's doing so well, it's awesome. D-Man has had his first real haircut, you'll be able to see more in pictures. I did it myself at home! I've never cut a babies hair before. I'm almost completely ready to start school in the fall, just need one more thing and I'm set.The boys had a blast at our Canada day celebrations, we went to the parade and the multi-cultural food festival. We've gone to the beach a few times with our good friend RPN-D. He's such an amazing friend, he's great with the boys, Mister M loves him, and he was even in the room when D-Man was born. Both boys love the beach! We go to Sandy Beach in Buckhorn Ontario, it's awesome. We went yesterday, and went to the restaurant there. It's so nice to be able to get out and do things with friends! It's hard to be a mom sometimes, when all your friends don't have kids it's easy to lose touch. It happened to me after Mister M was born, but luckily this time I've kept my best friends, and it's wonderful.
We've got some exciting plans for the rest of the summer too. For sure more beach trips, a trip to Burleigh Falls, some country drives with my Dad.

We're going to Toronto for the weekend of the 29th for some fun! We've got a get together with some moms from my birth group, then we'll be staying at a hotel for the night, going to the Toronto Zoo the next day, all day, and staying at the hotel again the next day! It's going to be a lot of fun, Mister M is thrilled about it. At the end of the summer we're going on our annual vacation to Niagara Falls for three days. We went last year and had a blast, I was still pregnant with D-Man at the time (actually went into labour on the way home lol).
I went to my college today to write my english and math assessments, it's so boring :( But it's done, and I got a tour from my friend RPND who was a student in the same course I'm taking there last year. So he was able to show me everywhere I needed to go for my classes, and I even got to meet a professor. It's nice to know somewhat how to get around. I've got to get an affidavit for OSAP stating that I'm a sole support parent and my kids live with me year round, hand in all my information to the Financial Aid office, and I'm good to go for the year! I can't wait to get started. It'll be super hard to leave D-Man, but it will be nice to be out and interacting with adults again. I kind of missed it.

Start of summer

Well it's almost summer vacation here! Mister M has two days left of kindergarten and then he's done until September!We don't really have much planned this summer, we like to take it easy and just chill. And since this summer I'm on Mat leave it's going to be even more relaxed.
We've already done a few things though. Gone for some country drives in the new car to see the baby cows/horses/sheep. Gone to the beach! Yeah, you read that right... we we're actually swimming in the lake the last day of May, how awesome is that?!?!?We've done a super fun trip to the Toronto Zoo as well. We went up on the GO train, spent the day there, and then spent the night in a hotel. Mister M loved it! D-Man wasn't as impressed, he didn't like sharing a room with his brother but not sharing a bed. I think he was a little scared to wake up in a strange place
I think for the rest of the summer we're just going to keep it simple. A few day trips to Toronto, another trip to the Toronto Zoo, a trip to the Bowmanville Zoo, and our annual vacation to Niagara Falls for three days and two nights.
On the college front. I've paid my OSAP deferral fee! Now all I've got to do is scrape together $190.00 for a parking pass, and find a stupid Notary Public to sign my effing affidavit. It's so freaking hard to find one in this town, it's driving me crazy!!!!!