Canada Trip August 2013

Okay, I am going to go through my drafts folder and get some things posted before 2013 is over!  Aaaaand GO!


We went to Canada in August, staying in a cabin with my parents and my uncle, stopping overnight in Niagara Falls on the way up.  We had read books and watched videos about Niagara Falls before going, and the boys enjoyed seeing the stuff we'd learned about in person.

The hotel we stayed at was right across the street from the whirlpool aero car ride, so it was the first place we went.  Shane was not interested in riding the car (His response when asked if he wanted to ride it:  F#ck NO!) but we still enjoyed the views from the observation deck.

A kind stranger offered to take our picture.  I wish he'd have gotten more of the falls and less of the sidewalk in the pic but oh well.

The boys with the American Falls in the background

After strolling along the walkway near the falls, the boys started to lose interest.  After hours and hours of me painstakingly researching and planning which activities we were going to do, we scrapped my plans and decided to go up in the Skylon Tower instead.  (Except for Shane - see his response above to the aero car ride.)

There's the Rainbow Bridge in the distance.

Looking down at the Horseshoe Falls

View of the American Falls from the top of the tower.

View of the Horseshoe Falls from the top of the tower.  You can see the Maid of the Mist down be below.

After arriving at the cabin, the boys were ready to have some lake fun!

Boat ride with Grandma & Grandpa

Fishing with Daddy

and more fishing, this time with Grandpa...

and more fishing...

and more fishing...

Love that smile!

and more fishing...

Monkey lost a tooth while we were up there and we learned that the Canadian tooth fairy leaves loonies instead of silver dollars like the U.S. tooth fairy does.  We decided each country has its own tooth fairy.

All we had was one bathroom with a stall shower, so we had to improvise a bathtub for Bug.  He was okay with that.

My favorite misty morning shot.

My little fishie

Family pic right before we got on the road to leave.

The trip was a lot of fun, but also exhausting.  By Thursday the boys were really acting up - which we realized was their way of saying that they were homesick and missing the routine of home.  So we decided to leave a day early, so the other adults could have one day of peace, and so we could get back to home sweet home.

On the way there, we were detained while going through customs for a little over an hour.  We were directed to park our van and told to go into a waiting area which was absolutely crammed full of people.  I have never experienced being deprived of my freedom and I did not like it one bit.  My heart was hammering as I worried about how the kids were going to behave while waiting and wondering why we were there and how long it would be.  Amazingly, the kids did very well.  Finally we were called to the counter.  It turned out that another car near us had set off the radiation detector and they weren't sure if it was them or us, but it wasn't us so we were free to go.  Words cannot describe the relief we felt as we drove away and crossed the border back into our home country!


PS.  Good grief, I can't believe how long it took me to get around to posting this!

Had "THE" Santa talk yesterday...

I had "THE" Santa talk yesterday with Monkey, age 7 (almost 8) last night.  My father-in-law used to pose as Santa on the phone for my boys' cousins when they were younger, and we have continued that tradition.  Occasionally Monkey would want to talk to Santa, so I'd call their house, my mother-in-law would answer, and I would politely inquire if Santa was available.  She would give him a heads up and put him on the phone and the kids would proceed to talk his ear off.  Yesterday he decided he wanted to call Santa just to wish him a Merry Christmas, which I though was very sweet.  So we did.  After he got off the phone, he started thinking about the whole Santa thing and started asking me questions:

Monkey:  I think the moms just go out to like, Toys R Us, and buy presents when the kids are sleeping.  And then they wrap them and put them under the tree on Christmas Eve.
Me:  I think you are using very good logic.
Monkey:  So is that what happens?
Me:  What do you think?
Monkey:  Tell me!
Me:  What exactly are you asking?
Monkey:  Did you buy us presents when we were sleeping and wrap them and put them under the tree?
Me:  Yes, I have done that.
Monkey:  So is Santa real?

I always loved the fun and excitement of Santa Claus as a child, and I do not remember feeling traumatized at all upon learning the truth - just proud of myself and very grown-up.  I had decided that when he was ready to ask me directly, I would give him an honest answer - especially after reading and agreeing wholeheartedly with this post from Dale McGowan at his blog, The Meming of Life.

Me:  Let's go in the other room.  (Bug was sitting right next to him at the time)
Monkey:  Why?  You don't want Bug to know?
Me:  *makes laser eyeballs at Monkey*
We headed to the other room but of course, Bug heard Monkey's last comment and immediately ran after us.  So I had to postpone the rest of the conversation for a bit until they were in separate rooms and Bug had forgotten about it.

Me:  Okay, the conversation we were having earlier... do you want to talk about that?
Monkey:  Yes.  Is Santa real?
Me:  Well, yes and no.
Monkey:  Just tell me!
Me:  Santa is real in the sense that he is a symbol of Christmas, and magic, and of giving and delighting those you love.
Monkey:  But he's not real.
Me:  Does he literally fly around the whole world and give everyone presents in one night?
Monkey:  Of course not!
Me:  You are correct.
Monkey:  *throws his arms around me*  THANK YOU FOR GETTING US PRESENTS EVERY YEAR!
Me:  Haha, you're welcome!  You did a great job using your mind to figure it out.  Now, you are on the big people's side of the Santa game.  I need you to be very careful to keep the secret and not ruin it for any other little kids, ok?
Monkey:  Ok.  When Bug is a little older, then I'll tell him.
Me:  No, I don't want you to tell him.  When he is ready to ask these same questions, that is when we'll tell him.  Ok?
Monkey:  Ok.

I am proud of him for figuring it out... and at the same time so sad that he's growing up so fast!  He is not the best secret keeper in the world, and there is a decent chance that he will accidentally say something and give it away.  We shall see what happens...

PS.  He never did figure out who that was that he was talking to on the phone!

Turbo Update

Hello, blog!  Long time no see.  Rest assured we have been doing all kinds of fun stuff, I just haven't gotten motivated to blog about any of it.  So I am going to do a turbo update of stuff we've done over the past few months...

We've taken several trips to the Akron Zoo, since we now have a membership.  This pic is from a day we went with a group of homeschooling friends.

 

The slide in the new Grizzly Ridge section of the zoo.  It goes underwater through the otter tank - so cool!

Side view of Monkey going down the slide.

Side view of Bug going down the slide.

The amazing view of downtown Akron as seen from the top of the slide.

In August, we went to the Civil War Reenactment at Hale Farm.  This was our first time going, and the kids surprised us by completely hating it.  I found it fascinating, though.

 

We've also done a good bit of hiking.  We're currently one hike away from completing our 3rd Fall Hiking Spree with the Summit County Metropark system.  In addition to the pics below, we also hiked at Furnace Run, Goodyear Heights, and Firestone.

Overlook at Virginia Kendall (July)

Virginia Kendall

Hand feeding the chickadees at the Seiberling Nature Realm (Aug).

I didn't manage to get a pic of Monkey with a bird on his hand, but he did get three of them to land on him that day!

Hiking at Silver Creek with Bug's stuffed kitty, Jake (Sep).

Checking out a Praying Mantis at Monroe Falls (Oct).

A kind stranger offered to take this pic of us at Cascade Valley (Oct).

A favorite spot - the Overlook Deck at Cascade Valley.

Deep Lock Quarry.  This is one of the discarded millstones along the trail (Oct).

Making friends with a worm at Deep Lock Quarry.

Deep Lock Quarry

In September/October, we bird-sat for a friend.  We learned all about Cockatiel handling and care and really enjoyed our little guest.  We're considering getting a bird and it was a good dry run.

Musical/theatrical performances:  We went to two outdoor Cleveland Orchestra concerts at Blossom Music Center (Aug/Sep), and we saw the play "Me and My Shadow" at Playhouse Square (Oct).

Blossom Music Center

Playhouse Square - Ohio Theater

In September, we went to the Wayne County Fair - an annual fall tradition.

Also in September, we had a fun trip to the Cleveland Zoo with my bestie and her daughter.  Monkey was being very helpful and took charge of wrangling the smaller kids...

Good morning, Elephant!

On the zoo train.

The boys LOVE climbing on this awesome bungee cord play structure.

Watching the giraffes

Giraffes

These two are so sweet together.

We checked out the temporary dinosaur exhibit at the zoo... Bug was thrilled to meet this Brachiosaurus.

And Monkey had to run for his life from the T. Rex!

But unfortunately, the T. Rex caught him and ate him.

In October, we went to the Algonquin Mill Fall Festival.  I hadn't been since I was a kid, but remembered it being great fun.  The boys agreed!

Pony ride

Pony ride

Mini steam train ride

 

Steam powered sawmill

Monkey trying his hand at building - the old fashioned way.

There was SO much going on!

Ice cream!

We also went to the Great Lakes Science Center for Homeschool Day (Oct).  The NASA Glenn Visitor Center area was a definite favorite, as well as the polymer play area.

Grandma went to Mars, too!

Fun with the stretchy mirror...

Also in October, we took a tour of a local fire station with some of our homeschool co-op group.

For Halloween, we didn't manage to get to a pumpkin patch or carve pumpkins this year, but we did save up milk jugs (7) and made this guy (using this tutorial):

Trick or Treat!

The day of trick-or-treat was cold, rainy and windy, but we went anyway.  We were all soaked by the end, and Shane and I were grumbling... but Monkey exclaimed, "THAT. WAS. AWESOME!"

Finally, in November, Bug turned FOUR!  I asked him who he wanted on his birthday cake, expecting him to respond with a super hero or video game character... his answer was, "Umm... DAD!"  He continued to insist on having Dad on his cake so I took a photo of Shane to the bakery and made a custom request.  Here is the fantastic and hilarious result:

Super Dad.  I'd say Giant Eagle knocked it outta the park.

Bug was delighted with his "Dad cake".

We had a birthday party with all of our family over the weekend... and on Bug's actual birthday day, I surprised the boys with a trip to Pump It Up, a giant indoor playground full of inflatables.

We played until Bug was completely worn out.

Whew!  I know there are a few things I've left out but that pretty much covers it.  One thing that's missing is our trip to Canada in August - that will have it's own dedicated post, coming up next...